Now, empty taxis, often bought with redundancy pay, prowl the streets in search of non-existent customers.
From May this year, redundancy pay will be capped at 78 weeks, down from 104.
Some had also benefited from redundancy pay-outs and pension deals offered by Ford.
Unions have said they are "bitterly disappointed" that 1, 200 Ethel Austin staff will miss out on redundancy pay.
Vauxhall was good with the packages, the over-50s could take their pension in full, and the redundancy pay-outs were generous.
"The factory went into administration with five minutes notice, the administrators were going to give our people statutory redundancy pay, " he said.
They won't get redundancy pay or benefits for a number of weeks.
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But several long-serving employees said the company was avoiding hefty redundancy pay-offs by putting them into a pool of staff awaiting redeployment.
Earlier this month Mr Maude announced plans to bring forward a bill to limit the cost of future payments by capping all compulsory redundancy pay-offs at 12 months' pay and limiting amounts for voluntary severance to 15 months' salary.
If the talks fail or Mr Maude refuses to agree to them, the union says it will ballot its members, with a recommendation to reject the deal, and press ahead with a challenge under the Human Rights Act to the government's attempts to cut redundancy pay.
During the debate, QC and independent crossbencher Lord Pannick branded the scheme "unrealistic" and warned it would be "damaging to industrial harmony to allow employers to buy off basic employment rights" such as the right to statutory redundancy pay and the right for parents and other carers to request flexible working.
The Scottish government said its policy of no compulsory redundancy and pay restraint was working.
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Staff losing their jobs at a theatre were asked to pay for their redundancy letters when the council sending them failed to pay the correct postage.
The argument made by ministers - of the previous government and this one - is that a redundancy scheme that gives staff a pay-off of up to six years their salary is overly generous in the current economic environment.
Under the terms of the revised scheme proposed by the coalition government, permanent staff will see their payouts for compulsory redundancy capped at a maximum of 12 months' pay.
The new bill ensures that, like other employees, domestic workers will build up a fund of money paid by their employers, equivalent to 8% of monthly pay, to be made available upon compulsory redundancy, death and other contingencies.
It includes enhanced redundancy payments, as well as compensation in lieu of notice and holiday pay.
"The NHS board, in common with the rest of Scotland, has a policy of guaranteed no redundancy and no detriment so that organisational change won't affect staff pay and conditions, " he said.
Their pay is being frozen, their pensions may be cut, and now their redundancy protection is threatened.
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