The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacture Of Chemicals And Pharamceuticals Manufacture Of Chemicals And Chemical Products 20 - Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products
140 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
27 October 2004
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
31 December 2005
Description
American firm Huntsman is closing its chemical factory in Cumbria and shedding 140 jobs. The announcement will mean the plant, which used to employ 2,000 workers, will be manned by just 10 people by the end of 2006.
Ged Caig, spokesman for the GMB union, said the move was a "betrayal" of workers. The jobs will be phased out over the next 15 months. But Mr Caig condemned the move. He said: "Only a few months ago workers agreed to retrain and multiskill. A statement released on behalf of Huntsman blamed an "increasingly competitive environment" for the job losses. Huntsman took over the site three years ago promising a bright future for chemical production in the town. But last year the wind-down of the operation began when 85 jobs were shed.
Sources
28 October 2004: BBC News
Citation
Eurofound (2004), Huntsman, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 60781, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/60781.
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