Test and trace app isolation warnings are on the 'verge of shutting' factories across the UK, Unite, the UK’s manufacturing union, warned today (Wednesday 14 July). 

The union has received multiple notices from across industry, particularly the automotive sector, that a huge increase in the number of staff being advised to self-isolate by the NHS app is causing havoc on production lines.

Some sites are struggling to operate due to hundreds of staff being off at once, with one major engine supplier telling Unite that delays to orders are so severe that work may be permanently moved to China.

Unite is aware of a trial being held at a UK auto maker to reduce the amount of unnecessary self-isolations, which it said industry leaders are keen to replicate to prevent UK manufacturing being ‘crippled’. 

The union said government ‘absolutely must not wait’ until August 16 to find a solution to the issue, which it said will lead to people deleting the app and refusing to engage with it in future.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said: “No one is advocating for coronavirus controls to go out the window and Unite’s number one priority remains the health and safety of our members.

“But the reports Unite is receiving from our members and their employers are extremely worrying. It is not an exaggeration to say factories are on the verge of shutting and that at some sites hundreds of staff are off work.  

“One major engine supplier has said that so many people are absent and orders so far behind that work may to be permanently relocated to China.

“The government absolutely must not wait until August 16 to come up with a solution to significantly reduce the amount of people self-isolating unnecessarily. 

“We know that industry leaders are keen to adopt a trial currently being held at a major car maker to safely reduce self-isolation absences to prevent the sector from being crippled.

“It is clear that something has to be done in time for July 19, or else people will simply start deleting the app en masse to avoid isolation notices. There will be public health consequences if test and trace becomes seen as a nuisance rather than an infection control measure.”

ENDS 

During the coronavirus crisis Unite is working to keep workers and the public safe, to defend jobs and to protect incomes. 

For media enquires ONLY contact Unite communications officer Ryan Fletcher on 07849 090215.  

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Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.