Company announce 500 jobs cuts in the run up to Christmas

14 December 2007

Unite members at Electrolux in County Durham have today been told by bosses that their jobs are being exported to Poland.

The site in Spennymoor which makes cookers will close some time in 2008 and production will shift to Swidnica in Poland with the loss of 500 British manufacturing jobs.

Electrolux’s decision to close operations in County Durham comes on the back of closures from manufacturing companies like Black and Decker, Rothmans, Philips and Samsung. The most recent being Hartlepool based Stadium Plastics who yesterday announced it will close in January making 300 workers redundant.

A proposal put forward by Unite and local management to retain some production and save 300 jobs was rejected by the company in favour of moving the entire site abroad.

Jeff Morland, Unite Regional Officer says: “This is another shameless example of British workers being dumped in favour of low wage exploitation in Poland. There had been no political will to keep manufacturing in the UK and save British manufacturing.

The company’s decision to move production to Poland where workers are paid a quarter of a British wage will not be profitable in the short run. The company will have to pay back £1.4 million to the Government in grants plus huge redundancy costs.”

Electrolux will still be servicing the UK market by hauling the cookers across Europe and shipping them across the North Sea.

Unite will be meeting with management next week to ensure our members receive the best terms and redundancy packages we can negotiate for them.