Bethan Jenkins AC/AM South Wales West

Bethan with Visteon workers at a protest in Swansea in the autumn. She will be joining them at another protest next week

BETHAN Jenkins AM has received assurances from First Minister Rhodri Morgan that the case of 700 former car workers fighting for their full pensions is now being considered by Yvette Cooper, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Responding to a question from Ms Jenkins, the Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales West, over what assurances he had received from the UK Government after he made representations to the Secretary of State for Wales over the plight of Visteon pensioners, Mr Morgan told the Assembly that Peter Hain had written to Ms Cooper, and was now waiting to hear back from her.

Former workers at Visteon could lose as much as half of their entitlements after the company, which was spun out of Ford in 2000, applied to enter the government-administered Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

Ms Jenkins said: “The First Minister acknowledged that Visteon workers have been disadvantaged and that we must do all we can to help them. The Visteon Pensions Action Group is not only claiming that Ford reneged on a promise over pensions made when Visteon was created. They also argue that a £1.3bn black hole in the PPF makes the scheme unsustainable, which would make the paying out of their pensions at least difficult, if not impossible.

“Mr Morgan felt that meeting Visteon workers, as I had requested, would not advance their case. I will now call for a meeting with Peter Hain to further impress upon him the seriousness of the situation for many of these workers, who have done nothing more than work hard and save hard, sometimes for up to 30 years. They deserve better.”

Visteon, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, was spun out of Ford in 2000. By 2004, it employed 70,000 staff at over 200 sites in 27 countries around the world, including the UK, and turned over $18.7 billion in sales.

In 2005, Visteon offloaded 17 unprofitable plants and six offices. In 2006, Visteon delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after its share price dropped to two cents. On March 31 this year, the company’s UK operation went into administration with debts of £669m. Some 560 staff at plants in Enfield, Belfast and Basildon were given less than an hour’s notice of the redundancies.

Those workers then occupied their factories, claiming that they had been given guarantees on pay and conditions when Visteon separated from Ford. Several weeks of protest led to assurances from both Ford and Visteon that severance packages would be improved.

However, shortly afterwards, the Visteon UK Pension Fund had entered the assessment period for the Pension Protection Fund.

The PPF had been established by the Government following a long campaign involving Cardiff steel workers and Welsh politicians, after the collapse of Allied Steel and Wire in 2002 left those workers without pensions.

However, the 3,000 ex-employees of Visteon UK – including 700 in Swansea and workers who have been paying into a Ford pension fund for up to 40 years – have since discovered that they may receive less than half of what they are owed if they are paid through the PPF.

The Visteon Pension Action Group is now planning to take Ford to court, claiming it was promised safeguards for the fund when Visteon was spun off. It also argues that the PPF may well be unsustainable in the long run. The pensions regulator is also examining the group’s claims.

- This story also appeared in the Western Mail

Bethan with Andrew Jones at Shelter Cymru's Swansea office

BETHAN Jenkins AM has visited Shelter Cymru in Swansea and used her time there to shadow one of its caseworkers.

She met with Andrew Jones, the Regional Housing Services Manager, to discuss various aspects of services, such as what it provides, casework trends and specific cases of interest.

After that, Bethan met and shadowed Isabel Griffin, a Housing Law Caseworker, in Shelter Cymru’s Swansea surgery, which takes place in the city’s Citizens Advice Bureau.

Mr Jones said: ”Bethan got to see first hand what a Housing Law Caseworker at Shelter Cymru does and met some of the many people we help. We also had the chance to discuss casework trends and how they inform the charity’s policy and campaigning work. I’m sure it’s given her a real insight into the scale of the problem in Wales.”

 Ms Griffin added: “It’s been really great to have Bethan here with us today – it’s so hard to understand the range of problems people have and the breadth of work we undertake at Shelter Cymru without experiencing it yourself. We really appreciate her taking the time out to do it.”

Bethan said: “Shelter Cymru deals with some incredibly complex and sensitive matters in ways that are both sensitive and professional. Its staff carry out invaluable work, and I’m grateful for them for taking the time out of their busy day to accommodate me.”

BETHAN Jenkins AM has secured support from the First Minister after a constituent complained to her about the absence of Welsh on Victim Support’s new website.

During questions to Rhodri Morgan on Tuesday in Plenary, Ms Jenkins said: ”The new Victim Support website purports to serve both Wales and England yet has nothing in Cymraeg. Would the First Minister join me in registering our disappointment in Victim Support, and urge them to rethink their language strategy?”

Mr Morgan said he sympathised with the case, but unfortunately as charities were not compelled by the Welsh Language Act to provide content in Welsh, the Welsh Government could only ask Victim Support to take the argument into account.

Ms Jenkins is now preparing to write to Mr Morgan, asking him to write in turn to Victim Support to ask it for a response.

Bethan with Keith Drury, BASW chair, and Hilton Dawson, its chief executive

BETHAN Jenkins AM is backing a new programme that aims to champion the good work of social workers in Wales.

The Plaid AM for South Wales West hosted the launch of The British Association of Social Workers’ Ambassador and Patron Scheme on Wednesday evening, November 25. It was used to demonstrate the good work that social workers are achieving, providing BASW members with extra support and advice, where experienced social workers can champion others and help them achieve their goals.

Ms Jenkins told the event in the Assembly’s Senedd building: “In recent years, the national media has reported on a number of high profile cases that involve children at risk, often highlighting negative aspects of social work. These cases are often shocking. Nonetheless, the BASW are motivated to implement this new programme after they become concerned that such negative reporting could be having an impact on the morale of social workers and the industry as a whole.”

She added: “There are many reasons why we should celebrate the work that social workers do. BASW has gone on the front foot because it believes – rightly – that too much focus is given to occasional, if terrible, mistakes, leading to an impression that the industry is poorly served. I wish them all the best with this laudable idea.”

BETHAN Jenkins has welcomed the report by the All Wales Convention suggesting a majority of people favour the Welsh Assembly gaining law making powers as in Scotland.

The All Wales Convention, chaired by Sir Emyr Jones Parry,  which has hosted public consultations to gauge opinion on further powers for the Welsh Assembly, received 700 pieces of evidence and spoke to 2,000 people. 

Bethan, who represents South Wales West, said: “The people of Wales have spoken, and what they have said is very encouraging. They see the need to improve our system of government. 

“We have spent a number of years burdened with a cumbersome system that slows the pace of legislative change to a crawl. No matter how anyone feels about more powers for Wales, this situation benefits no one and I think many people would agree that it needs sorting.

“If we quicken the enactment of legislation, people in South Wales West will see how Plaid intends to implement our priorities – ensuring more affordable housing, giving our children safe travel safely on buses, providing greater powers over the Welsh language, and allowing us to legislate to tackle climate change.

“Who in Wales believes that we are less capable of legislating than the people of Scotland? Who thinks that decisions about Wales taken in London are going to be better than those taken in Wales? I don’t. We are providing Welsh solutions to Welsh problems – now let’s clear the path and let us get down to the important business of politics – changing lives for the better.”

Bethan, left, visiting the Tenovus Mobile Cancer Support Unit

TENOVUS’ Mobile Cancer Support Unit parked outside the National Assembly for Wales on  Tuesday (November 17) and welcomed more than 30 Assembly Members on board.

Wales’ leading cancer charity launched the unit nine months ago and has so far had 3,000 people on board in 24 locations across Wales. Designed to deliver cancer services to patients, the unit is a World’s first – bringing care and support to people in their communities through chemotherapy, practical advice on welfare rights, bereavement support and counseling, health awareness and nutritional advice.

Clementina Cortani, from Cwmbran, was the first patient to receive Chemotherapy on board the Mobile Cancer Support Unit. She said: “I’d always known about Tenovus but never had any experience of cancer.  Originally, I was due to have chemotherapy once a week at Velindre Hospital but now the new mobile unit is on the road, I’m having my treatment on the bus at the Cwmbran Sports Stadium.

“It’s fantastic because it’s just 10 minutes from my house. The road works and the traffic on the M4 combined means it takes such a long amount of time to get to and from the hospital, so the mobile unit really is a god-send.”

Bethan added, “The unit is striking in both its facilities and size.  It is already benefiting people across South Wales and I hope that they can develop their service more broadly and across the whole of Wales.

The mobile unit is based in the McArthur Glen Retail Park in Bridgend every Monday. Tenovus Freephone Cancer Support Line is 08 08 808 1010.

Bethan signs the WWF petition

BETHAN Jenkins played detective when WWF Cymru staged a Climate Crime Scene at the National Assembly in Cardiff Bay recently.

This year is the most important ever for our climate with UN negotiations concluding in Copenhagen next month. To raise awareness of this critical time for action in the run-up to Copenhagen, WWF Cymru staged a Climate Crime Scene at the Senedd on November 17.

WWF Cymru staged an outline of a life-sized polar bear cordoned off by police tape to depict the possible sign of things to come. WWF invited Assembly members, visitors and staff to the Senedd to view the crime scene and to sign up to a petition for a strong global deal to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

Bethan said: “WWF Cymru has demonstrated with this innovative photo call what the future holds unless climate change is tackled now. Climate change left unchecked will have devastating impacts for people and wildlife across the planet. We simply must secure a strong deal between nations in Copenhagen in December to seriously tackle this problem. I hope people in South Wales West to sign up to WWF’s campaign to show their support and help safeguard our planet.”

To find out more on WWF’s Global Deal Campaign please visit: http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/tackling_climate_change/getting_a_global_deal

BETHAN Jenkins AM has continued to work to find a solution to plans for 19 redundancies at Wall Colmoney’s Pontardawe factory.

On Tuesday, she raised the issue in plenary, and secured a promise from the Welsh Assembly Government that it would look into the threatened job losses. Yesterday, Bethan both asked for a meeting with Wall Colmonoy’s Pontardawe managing director and also asked Deputy Skills Minister John Griffiths AM to investigate whether the company is eligible for funding.

Bethan said: “Since the start of the recession, ProAct has to date been offered to 139 businesses, and has helped retain 7,149 employees in work. I am also asking if our other fund, ReAct, might be applicable if ProAct is not.”

Wall Colmonoy has been based in Pontardawe for 40 years and employs 172 people, achieving an annual turnover of £22 million. The company operates three core businesses including: alloy products; processing departments; and engineering components.It has since told WAG that, during the course of the last six to eight weeks, its engineering components division has suffered a severe set back, with orders falling rapidly. Turnover, including custom from the steel, aerospace, food processing sectors, has dropped by approximately 35%. With the exception of Rolls Royce, all of its customers are predominantly located overseas.

 The company has told WAG that it was forced to take such steps because otherwise the future viability of the business would have been in jeopardy, and it remains 100% committed to Pontardawe. Those people who have lost their jobs were told on Wednesday and are expecting to leave the company early next week.

Bethan added: “We must move quickly, but I still believe there is time to help here. I hope we hear back from Wall Colmonoy soon and then we can discuss what the Assembly can do to help these workers.” 

Bethan Jenkins AM is seeking urgent meetings with unions and management at a Pontardawe engineering materials firm after learning of threatened job losses there.

The South Wales West Assembly Member has been told by workers that 19 people are to lose their jobs at Wall Colmonoy, an international provider of materials for welding and brazing that recently celebrated having a factory in Wales for 40 years.

Plaid’s Bethan Jenkins AM said:

“I have been told that staff are angry about this. They are angry because they claim that Wall Colmonoy staged a high profile, back-slapping event while planning redundancies, and because they suspect that a planned 19 job losses will mean that the company will not have to make an announcement about redundancies.

“I have raised this issue in the Assembly this afternoon because it is an urgent matter. The Leader of the House, assured me that the Welsh Assembly Government would move swiftly to establish a dialogue with Wall Colmonoy.

“In the mean time, I will also be asking for a meeting with both the company and any unions that represent workers there with a view to finding a better outcome for staff.”

Bethan Jenkins with Nick Ireland, Pam Stanton, Tania Davies and Sue David, Usdaw members and shopworkers

Bethan Jenkins AM put herself in the shoes of shopworkers who have to decide whether a young person is old enough to buy alcohol.

The event in the National Assembly was part of retail union Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign. This year the campaign is focussing on the difficult decisions shopworkers face on a daily basis when trying to decide whether someone looks old enough to buy alcohol or other age-restricted goods.

Bethan said: “This exercise made me realise just how hard it is to tell the age of a young person. Shopworkers have to make that on-the-spot judgement all the time. Refusing to serve someone who is underage is often a flashpoint, but even asking for ID is often enough to make many people abuse a shopworker.

“But if a shopworker serves someone who is underage, they are liable to an £80 fixed penalty notice, with repeated breaches incurring a court appearance or a fine of up to £1,000.

“Shopworkers aren’t paid huge amounts and they are in a difficult position of having to guess who to challenge. I hope that shoppers in Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend and Ogmore will be patient with shopworkers and produce ID if asked.

“I am also asking the Government to look at whether the balance is right on this issue. I believe that there is too much responsibility on the shopworker and not enough on the person who is attempting to buy under age.”

John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, added: “We want to raise awareness of this issue amongst young people at schools and colleges, so that they know to carry proof of age when buying restricted goods. We want employers to understand the pressures that their staff face and to support them with simple reporting systems, prompt response when a threatened worker calls for help and banning persistent offenders from stores.

“We are asking the Government to introduce a single, national proof of age card, to make it easier for workers to check the person’s age when needed. And we want to see a change in the law to make it an offence for an under age person to attempt to buy any age-restricted product or for an adult to proxy purchase any age-restricted product. This would make things simpler and fairer, allowing the authorities to take action against purchasers as well as sellers.”