A MAJOR demonstration opposing the government's plan to award the Thameslink rolling stock contract to Siemens is set to go ahead in Derby today. Thousands of people are due to take part.

The protest is being led by four unions – RMT, UNITE, TSSA and GMB – who are calling for a rethink over the government's decision to have some 1,200 vehicles for the Thameslink Programme built in Germany.

The marchers are assembling at Bass’s Recreation Ground in Derby (DE1 2PB) at 10.00. 

The transport secretary Philip Hammond has maintained that the terms of the competition had been decided by the previous government, and under those terms of reference there had been no choice but to choose Siemens.

Critics of that decision say there are major question marks about the bogies in particular -- Bombardier would have used a tried and tested design which has existed for ten years, while the Siemens offering is still on the drawing board. They also maintain that the Department did have room to manoevre and could have taken local conditions into account when considering value for money.

Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT, said: “The decision to award the contract to Siemens for the manufacture of Thameslink trains is a national scandal with dire consequences for Bombardier at Derby, First Capital Connect fleet maintenance depots and the wider economy of the East Midlands.

“Despite bogus claims by the Government, this EU-inspired stitch up is not a done deal and there is still time to get this outrageous decision reversed as it will not be signed off until the end of the year."

There has also been fallout after the prime minister cancelled an invitation to Bombardier's UK chief Colin Walton to join him on a trade visit to South Africa, where trains built in Derby are running. After the sudden withdrawal of the invitation became known, Mark Young of UNITE said: “Cameron stabbed Bombardier’s UK workforce in the back. Now it looks like he’s trying to avoid the embarrassment of being seen with their boss.”

Bombardier has announced that it is to shed just over 1,400 jobs at Litchurch Lane, although the debate has been complicated by claims that the company was planning some reductions in any case. However, these would have apparently affected only temporary contract staff, but the cuts actually announced also envisage the loss of more than 400 permanent staff, whose skills may now be lost to the rail engineering industry.

The company has started a 90-day consultation period over the job losses.