Some 200 workers occupied the Visteon car parts plant in Belfast in Ireland's north in response job cuts on March 31. The workers acted after the bosses summarily announced the closure of the plant with the loss of all jobs. Visteon took over the plant from Ford in 2000. All plant makes parts for Ford.
The Belfast occupation was followed the next dayby the occupation of Visteon plants in Enfield and Basildon in Britain as well, where the slashing of 400 jobs have been announced. Eighty workers occupied the car component factory in Enfield, north London, while 40 workers at Basildon, Essex, also occupied their plant.