Sacked workers from Midland black cab maker Manganese Bronze have taken to the streets in a bid to keep taxi manufacturing in the region.
Redundant employees urged shoppers in Broadgate, Coventry, to support its campaign to ensure that the black cab continues to be built in the city and join a Facebook group in support.
The campaign is also being backed by Unite’s London black cab members who will be playing a key role to save the black cab.
Manganese Bronze went into administration in October, putting the future of Britain’s only black cab maker at risk.
Administrators PwC, who are managing the sale of the company’s assets, sacked 156 workers - and unions now fear the company could collapse entirely, or the black cab could end up being built abroad.
Unite is urging PwC and any potential buyer to keep manufacturing in Coventry and the black cab on the road.
Unite regional officer Peter Coulson said: “The black cab is part of Britain’s manufacturing heritage, but they are at risk of being built abroad or even disappearing from our roads altogether.
“We will be in Coventry city centre to gather support to save our black cabs because we believe a British icon should be built in Britain.
“We expect the administrator PwC to do everything possible to ensure any potential buyer commits to building the black cab here in Coventry.
“Over the coming weeks we will be stepping up our campaign and gathering support to persuade PwC to do the right thing because you can’t put a price on a world-famous icon.”
Meanwhile, administrators PwC announced that an engineering solution to the steering fault, which had led to production being suspended, had been found for the TX4 model taxi.
Matthew Hammond, joint administrator and PwC partner, said: “I am pleased to be able to report that the company’s employees will be part of a massive effort to begin fitting the new UK-supplied steering box to the recalled fleet within the next 48 hours.”
