The BMW-owned car manufacturer has been lambasted by trade union officials after making redundancies at its branch in Cowley, Oxford.

Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of trade body Unite, says: “The manner in which these cuts were announced was disgraceful. Sacking an entire shift like this and targeting agency workers who have no rights to redundancy pay is blatant opportunism on BMW’s part and nothing short of scandalous.” 

A statement from the manufacturer  says: “As of Monday 2 March, the plant will go from a three-shift to a two-shift pattern, operating five days per week instead of the current seven. The company regrets that this change will result in the release of around 850 agency workers from the business.”

The statement from BMW says the cuts were needed in response to “continuing volatile market conditions”.

An agency worker from the site told news network the BBC he felt like a “second class” employee compared to the permanent staff, and several news outlets said fruit had been thrown at senior management during the annoucement.