The UK’s largest union has called on the Government to provide support for Jaguar Land Rover workers as the automaker continues to deal with the after-effects of a devastating cyber attack.
Jaguar Land Rover continues to battle against a cyber attack, which has knocked out production and IT systems first identified at the start of the month.
The iconic British brand stated that it was working diligently to restore its systems and apologised for the disruption.
The Unite union highlighted how thousands of workers throughout the Jaguar Land Rover supply chain remain impacted, with hundreds being told to remain off work.
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Unite have called on Labour to introduce a furlough scheme to help workers in the JLR supply chain
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They said workers were at risk of losing their livelihoods unless the Government intervened, including the use of a furlough scheme to support them.
Jaguar Land Rover said its UK factories in Solihull, Halewood and Wolverhampton would remain closed until next week.
Production lines have been forced to shut down due to the highly automated nature of its factories and their links to the impacted IT systems.
Unite said a scheme must be introduced as soon as possible to ensure jobs remain open while JLR continues to repair its systems.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, said: “The Government needs to defend jobs when our industries are under attack.
“Many UK workers in small and medium automotive manufacturers are already facing insecurity because of the low volume crisis in the sector.
“Thousands of these workers in the JLR supply chain now find their jobs are under an immediate threat because of the cyber-attack.”
She said Ministers must work as quickly as possible to introduce a furlough scheme so jobs are not lost while the JLR supply chain returns to normal.
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Des Quinn, national officer at Unite, added that workers at JLR were being impacted by the production line closures, although their jobs were not at risk.
He confirmed that Unite was working with Jaguar Land Rover to ensure staff receive their wages while the cyber recovery is ongoing.
An English-speaking collective has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack, with evidence posted on social media appearing to show compromised IT systems.
The group is also believed to be behind the hack on Marks and Spencer which devastated the company by keeping its online service offline for months.
A JLR statement said: “Since we became aware of the cyber incident, we have been working around the clock, alongside third‑party cybersecurity specialists, to restart our global applications in a controlled and safe manner.
“As a result of our ongoing investigation, we now believe that some data has been affected and we are informing the relevant regulators.
“Our forensic investigation continues at pace and we will contact anyone as appropriate if we find that their data has been impacted.
“We are very sorry for the continued disruption this incident is causing and we will continue to update as the investigation progresses.”