Unite pledge to fight factory closure plans

Trade union group Unite fear the closure of a chicken production plant will affect around 450 jobs '“ with many staff coming from the Motherwell and Bellshill areas.
Two Sisters chicken processing plant, CambuslangTwo Sisters chicken processing plant, Cambuslang
Two Sisters chicken processing plant, Cambuslang

The Two Sisters factory has been in Cambuslang for 35 years and is a major employer in Lanarkshire.

A union convenor said that what was at stake was jobs and the future of the local community.

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The current owners informed workers at the plant last week that it faces complete closure by the summer of this year.

The company told the union, Unite, there were serious problems with the fabric of the plant, on-going unsustainable losses, and ‘an inability to meet customer and consumer needs’.

Redeployment to a sister site in Angus has been offered to staff.

Unite understands the company has delivered similar redundancy notices to the workforce at two plants in Birmingham. Those closures put a combined total of 500 jobs at risk.

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Scot Walker is the trade union convenor at the Cambuslang plant who has worked there for almost 30 years.

He said: “Obviously we are dismayed at the news of the possible closure. But it is far too early to accept that this is the final word.

“Unite will negotiate with the company to find a way to safeguard the future of the site.

“The company say there are problems with the ageing plant. That’s hardly a surprise.

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“I’ve worked there for 30 years and there hasn’t been a brass farthing spent on the place in any real sense for decades.

“You might say it looks like those particular chickens are coming home to roost.”

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