The secretary of the Trades Union Congress blamed the Prime Minister's Brexit uncertainty for the Honda plant closing.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said it was a "devastating blow" for workers and UK manufacturing.
"The Prime Minister's refusal to take no-deal off the table is putting thousands of jobs in jeopardy. She must end this crippling Brexit uncertainty by extending Article 50 and dropping her destructive red lines.
"Workers at Honda must not pay the price for the Prime Minister playing to the hardliners in her party and we urge Honda to sit down urgently with Unite to discuss a way forward for the plant."
Rosie Rogers, Transport Campaigner at Greenpeace UK said: "This is a real tragedy for the thousands of workers whose skills we need to build the cleaner, greener cars we'll all be driving in the future.
"As Honda says we're seeing a massive shift to electric vehicles, which we need to tackle our climate emergency.
"To the Government's shame they say the right thing but still haven't woken up to the pace of change, and British workers are paying the price.
"Instead slowcoaches like Transport Secretary Chris Grayling have kept us hooked on polluting diesel."
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