This Christmas will be difficult for Rolls-Royce workers in Barnoldswick, a town on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales in northern England. Workers there last month launched the company’s first strike in 41 years, in a bid to protect 350 jobs due to be lost as Rolls-Royce reorganises its manufacturing sites.
If the strike fails to win a reprieve, there is little prospect in this largely rural area of these workers finding similar employment, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Supporters cite the historic nature of the Barnoldswick facilities. Established in the second world war, it was where the world’s first turbojet engine was built. History can be a powerful contributor to corporate culture. Unfortunately, history alone is not enough to save these jobs or other historic sites in Europe.