A PLAN aimed at securing the future of one of Britain’s biggest car-parts makers by cutting costs has been roundly rejected by the company’s workforce.

Staff at Visteon UK, which supplies Ford, Toyota, Honda and other car companies, have voted overwhelmingly against a wage freeze and pension cuts.

Unions said they would sue the company for breach of contract, and are holding ballots for industrial action. Company sources said unofficial action was possible in the next few weeks.

Managers at Visteon, which is heavily loss-making and has a big pension deficit, have said the company faces administration or receivership.

The general secretaries of two of Britain’s largest unions, TGWU and Amicus, are due to meet Visteon UK’s management, led by managing director Steve Gawne, for talks on Thursday.

Stoppages at Visteon could bring big headaches for British car plants. The company employs just over 3,000 staff at six plants across the UK, and is a key supplier to Ford, in particular its engine plants at Bridgend and Dagenham. Lean manufacturing techniques mean carmakers rarely keep large stocks of components.

Visteon UK is the British arm of Visteon, a global car-parts maker spun off from Ford six years ago. The company has struggled to stay solvent in the face of high pension and healthcare costs in North America and fierce competition from rivals in low-wage Mexico and China.

In the UK, managers want to stem losses by cutting a contractual link between salaries at Ford and Visteon. While Ford staff will receive a pay increase this year, Visteon wants to freeze wages for two years, reduce pension benefits, cut holiday entitlement and shrink manufacturing.

The company is in talks to sell its Swansea plant to GKN.

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