Ford leaves workers gobsmacked over UK flag ban at work-plants during Euros

2012-06-11

Car giant Ford has left hundreds of workers gobsmacked by banning St. George's flags at work, ahead of the country's first match against France in Donetsk, Ukraine, tomorrow.

However, the bosses at Britain's biggest-selling car manufacturer ruled that the flags were a "safety hazard" and "inappropriate", forcing the workers to take them down.

"Flags were put up at our Daventry site but it is a parts warehouse and objects are moving around so the flags were a safety hazard," the Daily star quoted Ford UK Corporate Affairs Manager, Brian Bennett, as saying.

Staff at the plant in Daventry, Northants, the company's biggest -distribution warehouse in Britain, where left fuming by the order as they wanted to show support for the Three Lions.

Meanwhile, Ford Europe's Robert Wallis heated confusion by claiming, "It's not a 'no flag' standpoint, it's a 'will not tolerate acts of - discrimination, harassment and bullying' standpoint."

A Ford spokesman said workers' flags had to be taken down as company policy bans activities, which "interfere in the place of work".

The crackdown also indicated that thousands of other Ford workers at five other major UK sites would also face a ban on flying flags, if site chiefs say it breaches company regulations.

The other sites are in Dagenham, East London, Southampton, Halewood, Merseyside, Bridgend, South Wales, and a research facility at Dunton, Essex.

Source: Europe News.Net