Visteon Workers Protest At 3 Closed British Plants

LONDON (AP) — Laid-off workers at three plants which car-parts maker Visteon suddenly shut down this week mounted protests Wednesday in hopes of winning better payoffs and pension guarantees — and even a possible bailout from U.S. motor giant Ford.

Workers at two England plants joined their jobless colleagues at the third plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where a sit-down protest began immediately after Visteon chiefs announced the immediate closure of all three facilities Tuesday.

Visteon Corp. was spun off from Ford in 2000 but has struggled to make a profit since, particularly in the United Kingdom, where the Visteon U.K. Ltd. division has accumulated losses of 669 million pounds ($960 million) over the past 8 1/2 years. On Tuesday, the British unit formally sought bankruptcy protection and outside accountants ordered the three plants to be shut immediately.

The Michigan-based parent company announced later Tuesday that it, too, might soon file for protection from creditors because it cannot keep up with payments on its own debts. Visteon Corp. employs 33,500 people worldwide, including more than 600 at its three British sites.

Scores of workers camped overnight inside the Belfast plant, and their example inspired colleagues at the other two plants in Basildon and Enfield, England, to mount similar demonstrations Wednesday.