Workers at GKN have vowed to fight the company's decision to close two sites in Birmingham and Walsall and make hundreds of redundancies.

Workplace representatives are to hold an emergency meeting with senior officials from Unite in West Bromwich today, to draw-up counter proposals to protect as many jobs as possible at the company. The union expects GKN to give the plans the plans serious consideration.

Last week the engineering group confirmed it would cut 564 jobs in the UK.

 It said GKN's forge facility at Hamstead near Birmingham would close by the end of the year and its car parts facility in Walsall will close by the middle of 2010, with the loss of 323 jobs.

 Other jobs will go across other parts of the company.

Unite joint general secretary, Derek Simpson, said: "The workers have vowed to fight these closures and Unite will be doing everything in its power to support them. We believe there are genuine alternatives to the number of job cuts the company is currently proposing. We expect GKN to give the union's plans serious consideration."

The recession is beginning to have a devastating effect on British manufacturing and the car and components industry are one of the worst hit sectors.

Mr Simpson continued: "Unite is urging the government to learn the lessons of past failures to support manufacturing and begin a programme of emergency support for strategic industries of which car production is most certainly one.

"We are calling for a £13 billion fund to be made available to provide interim relief for producers and to cover employment costs during the crisis period. We need a strategic support package from Government, similar to the support provided by the German, French and Swedish governments to their manufacturing sector.

"We can't afford to let a short term problem deprive Britain of the skills we will depend on to compete in the world economy in the long term."

Senior union representative working at GKN claim that workers in the UK are bearing the brunt of the European job cuts because UK workers are cheaper and easier to sack than workers from other countries in Europe.

Weak employment laws mean that UK workers are becoming the target for global companies to cut costs during the recession. The laws that successive UK governments claim help Britain's competitiveness threatens to leave Britain hamstrung once the economy begins to turn around.

Unite is calling on the government to level the playing field and strengthen employment law in the UK to protect Britain from the worst effects of the recession.

The West Midlands will receive more than £1 million through the Government's Urban Congestion Performance Fund after exceeding congestion tackling targets, Transport Minister Paul Clark has announced today.

The money from the Department for Transport will be used to continue to help tackle urban congestion, particularly targeting routes in Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.

 Total reward funding to date for this area is now almost £2.5 million.

 "I am delighted that the West Midlands is being rewarded for beating its congestion targets," said Mr Clark.

 "The money will help local authorities give road users in these areas faster, safer and more reliable journeys - benefitting the local economy.

"Congestion has serious consequences for the economy and the environment and is a frustrating experience for all road users. Across England we have now provided nearly £23 million to the participating authorities to tackle urban congestion which is responsible for 80 per cent of all our congestion problems."

The West Midlands is one of ten urban areas across the UK sharing a total of £10.7 million for beating congestion targets. The other areas are Nottingham, Leicester, Tyne & Wear, West of England, London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.

The £60 million Urban Congestion Performance Fund has been set to help England's ten largest urban areas identify and tackle the causes of congestion on the major routes in their areas.

Further funds will be available over the next two years provided the areas continue to exceed their target performance.

The latest awards follow the publication of national statistics this month that showed congestion had fallen by an average of three per cent across the ten largest urban areas between the baseline (a mixture of 2004-05 and 2005-06 data) and 2007-08.

Sandwell Council is to host a networking event next month to mark the start of a multi-million pound regeneration project across the borough.

 The free Made in Sandwell event on March 5 is for business leaders in the borough who want to raise their profile and meet those who are involved in projects.

The event at Bethel Convention Centre, Kelvin Way, West Bromwich, will comprise three zones: the manufacturing, regeneration and learning.  They will showcase the 50+ manufacturers who are pioneering in their fields, offer the chance to discuss developments with leading business professionals and see presentations on products.

 There will also be the opportunity to speak to sustainable development teams who are involved with regeneration programmes.

 The event takes place between 9am and 2pm.

 For more details, email Stephen_Massey@sandwell.gov.uk