Trade union raises concerns over future of 180 jobs at RAF Valley after claiming they could be under threat

A trade union has claimed 180 jobs could be lost at RAF Valley by 2033 as a result of changes to a contract relating to the Hawk aircraft.

Union reps said the fears stem from the contract negotiations between BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence for the T1 & T2 Hawk aircraft.

For the T1 Hawk, Unite said they’d been made aware of an active proposal to move all maintenance work to RAF Leeming by 2023, accelerating the loss of 50-70 jobs at Valley.

Officials said the proposals made “no sense” from either a financial or operational perspective.

Whilst the T1 Hawk aircraft is currently due to go out of service by 2027, reps said they were aware of a separate discussion that is likely to see that date extended to 2035 and possibly beyond.

Unite has alleged there could be a political motive for the changes as the MP for the Leeming area is Tory Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has publicly championed bringing more work to RAF Leeming.

But reps are adamant it will not happen at the expense of our members jobs at RAF Valley.

In relation to the T2 Hawk, there is said to be a threat of greater job losses in the proposal which could see a further 100 plus jobs lost by 2033 based on figures supplied to Unite.

Peter Hughes, Unite Regional Secretary said: “Unite are alarmed at the proposals presented to our representatives that could slash the number of jobs on the Hawk contract by 2033, with many of the job cuts potentially coming in the next five years.

“Anglesey has suffered a significant loss of skilled work recent years and the prospect of the further loss of aviation jobs at RAF Valley must be reversed otherwise the economic damage will be another hammer blow to the area.

“The rationale for moving the T1 Hawk work to RAF Leeming does not add up, especially as the MOD are seeking significant efficiency savings as part of the new contract.

“Chancellor Rishi Sunak needs to keep his hands off our member’s jobs at RAF Valley.

“It is also time for Anglesey MP, Virginia Crosbie to start demonstrating the same commitment and support for jobs at RAF Valley as her Tory Party colleague does for RAF Leeming.

“Unite welcomed the decision to base the Texan aircraft at Valley in 2019 and the corresponding skilled jobs but we cannot accept those gains being eroded by proposals that could see significant reduction in jobs on the Hawk contract in the coming years.

“As the contract negotiations between the MOD and BAE Systems have recently been put on temporary pause the job cuts are not a done deal but there is still a significant threat to overall job number at RAF Valley in the coming years.

“Unite will campaign to save the jobs under threat at RAF Valley. We believe these are the wrong proposals at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons.

“The MOD should be investing in the RAF Valley workforce for the long term rather than looking to cut jobs”.