Visteon Workers Protest At 3 Closed British Plants

LONDON (AP) — Laid-off workers at car-parts maker Visteon's three closed British factories 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 site in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where a sit-down protest began immediately after Visteon chiefs closed them down without warning Tuesday.

In the north London suburb of Enfield, 70 to 80 fired workers climbed on the roof of the closed factory there and pledged to maintain the protest until Visteon managers agree to negotiate on a potential reopening of the facility. The company offered no comment.

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.