Cement workers in pensions row
March 27, 2002
Union officials representing workers at the doomed Weardale cement plant have vowed to fight to get them the same pension rights as white collar staff.
Officials of the GMB union were stunned to learn that 60 workers at the Blue Circle UK headquarters in London had negotiated their own redundancy package, including a lucrative pension and a year-and-a-half's salary.
The issue was raised at a stormy meeting between workers, union officials and management at the former Blue Circle UK plant, now run by French company Lafarge, in Eastgate, Weardale, yesterday.
North-East Euro MP Stephen Hughes was also at the meeting, which was held on the day after Lafarge UK announced the closure date of the Weardale plant, August 9 this year.
Alan Black, national officer for the GMB, said afterwards: ‘When Lafarge UK took over Blue Circle last year they did not require two head offices, so they made 60 workers in London redundant, including financial and administrative workers.
‘But the workers there were able to negotiate their own enhanced pensions from the pension fund and walk away with a tidy little sum, including a year-and-a-half salary. It was a highly unusual arrangement.
‘We say that as the Weardale workers also contributed to the company pension fund they should have a similar agreement.’
Rob Davies, Lafarge UK's operations director, said: ‘We are expecting a fight with the GMB over the pension issue.
‘ But we cannot really comment until we look closely into it. There are a number of different divisions of Lafarge UK.’
Euro MP visits beleaguered cement works
March 26, 2002
Workers and the GMB union were to hold a mass meeting today as of the on-going campaign to keep the Blue Circle Cement factory in County Durham open.
North East MEP Stephen Hughes will be touring the factory in Weardale and talking with workers.
Yesterday Lafarge, the French owners of the firm, announced their closure plans for the factory in Weardale.
The firm - which took over Blue Circle UK last year - says production at the plant in Eastgate, Weardale, County Durham, will cease on in August.
The announcement in January shocked the rural community.
The plant which makes a profit of around £1m a month but Lafarge has rejected bids to sell the plant as a going concern.
A company statement said production of cement from the work's two kilns would cease on Friday, August 9. At that time up to 50 workers will transfer to other UK operations within the company. Site restoration
A team of a further 50 will stay on site for a mopping up operation, although that will fall to 30 as the year progresses. A core of ten will stay on until next year, to manage the transfer of equipment, demolition and site restoration.
The announcement came on the day the Office of Fair Trading appeared to rule out intervention to allow the sale of the site to another cement manufacturer.
John Griffin, from the Competition Enforcement department at the OFT, said in a letter to local county councillor John Shuttleworth: ‘Firms are free to dispose of their assets in accordance with their commercial judgments and interference with this freedom would only be justified in unusual circumstances.’
Coun Shuttleworth, who tried to broker a deal for a local haulage boss to take over the plant, said: ‘If a British company decided to close a plant in France and block any bids by another company to re-open it there would be mass protests. The consequences of this plant closing will devastate Weardale.’
Lafarge UK managing director Richard Olsen said: ‘We have identified over 160 vacancies across our UK operations for which our Weardale employees can apply.
‘Interviews with the 49 people who have applied for these vacancies have already started and we are continuing to work with the unions further refining the support packages.’
Blair backs efforts to save February 22, 2002 The Prime Minister yesterday threw his weight behind the campaign to save 147 jobs at a closure-threatened County Durham cement works.
In a private meeting Tony Blair backed proposals for local MP Hilary Armstrong to approach Blue Circle in a fresh bid to allow work to continue at its Eastgate plant near Stanhope.
Bosses at the firm, which is owned by Paris-based Lafarge, want to restore the plant to a greenfield site and have shunned approaches from potential buyers.
But, with the backing of Mr Blair, Ms Armstrong - Labour's Chief Whip - will now write to the firm to try to thrash out a new way forward that will see cement production continue in Weardale. Defer closure
Yesterday's meeting took place at the Prime Minister's Sedgefield constituency home, Myrobella.
Present at the meeting were Mr Blair, Durham North-West MP Ms Armstrong, county council chief executive Kingsley Smith, GMB regional organiser Derek Cattell and senior GMB rep for the site Billy Wilthew.
Afterwards Ms Armstrong said: ‘What Tony and I said is that I would contact all the interested parties to see if there is a way forward in which we can see the production of cement continue in Weardale.
‘I have met Blue Circle locally and nationally and I will be writing to the company setting out what was said at the meeting and pushing them again on whether they have other alternatives they might consider.’
Mr Cattell said: ‘Everyone at the meeting understood the value of these jobs and wanted to see the continuation of cement production on this site. But the main thing to come out of it is the political support we gathered for our campaign today.’
He said he would be asking the company to defer closure until after the latest round of campaigning to keep the works open.
Last night Ron Davies, operations director at Lafarge Cement UK, said: ‘We look forward to discussing the details of today's meeting with Hilary Armstrong. At the moment it is not appropriate to comment further.
‘We should be clear that the decision to close the Weardale works was a difficult one, taken after very careful consideration, and has backing from the highest levels in the company.
‘Our position remains that the factory will not continue as a cement-making facility.’
Blair to join cement closure talks February 21, 2002 Tony Blair is to have talks with union leaders today over the closure of a cement works in his Sedgefield constituency with the loss of 147 jobs.
Company bosses at the Blue Circle plant at Eastgate, near Stanhope, County Durham, have so far shunned approaches from firms interested in taking it over.
The French-owned cement manufacturer wants to restore the plant to a greenfield site and is adamant it will not sell to a rival outfit.
Today's meeting, which Labour Party bosses are describing as ‘private,’ follows a plea from the GMB union and local councillors for the Prime Minister to step in.
Earlier this week, GMB regional organiser Derek Cattell said: ‘We want the Prime Minister's office to become involved.’ And local councillor John Shuttleworth has written to Mr Blair calling for the closure decision to be referred to the Competition Commission. Virtual reality
He pointed out that the profit from the cement plant was £11m last year, and that there are two bidders prepared to buy it as a going concern. Blue Circle's own figures show that the plant was the most productive of its eight sites in the UK last year, exceeding production targets by 11pc.
This afternoon's talks are part of a series of visits and meetings in the region due to be undertaken by the Prime Minister today.
Earlier he will launch a new CD-Rom which will give a virtual reality tour of a new business park due to open in his constituency.
Mr Blair will also stage a photocall at a major regional employer before going on to meet volunteers involved in a project to help deprived children.
Blue Circle workers seek support from Dale February 14, 2002 Cement workers at the doomed Blue Circle plant in Weardale have issued impassioned plea to the community for support in their fight to keep the factory open.
Staff from Lafarge UK's profitable Eastgate works are appealing through The Northern Echo for help to save their jobs and others under threat in the isolated dale.
Up to 150 will be out of a job if the company goes ahead with its plan to shut the works in July.
And the knock-on effect of closure could harm the fragile economy of the dale irreparably, leading to more job losses and a decline in population as young people leave to find work
Desperate Lafarge employees have been contacting The Northern Echo in frustration at the company's apparent refusal to co-operate with potential rescue deals. Good employers
Company directors insist that cement-making at Eastgate will cease, despite expressions of interest from at least two possible buyers.
In a letter to all staff, managing director Richard Olsen said: ‘I have to be very clear - our Weardale business is not for sale.’
Workers responded by accusing the company of throwing away jobs and claimed there was major unrest at the plant. There was to be another union meeting there this morning.
The dale's county councillor John Shuttleworth has written to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt asking for an investigation.
He said: ‘People in Weardale feel very bitter towards Blue Circle, who had always been regarded as good employers. This whole issue is crucial to the future of the dale. Almost every family either has someone affected by the closure.’
February 11, 2002
A doomed Weardale cement plant was its company's most productive in Britain last year, The Journal revealed today.
Figures from Blue Circle UK showed that its plant at Eastgate, near Stanhope, County Durham, was the only one of eight to exceed its production target. Cement tonnage produced at the plant last year was 467,590 - 11pc above target. In contrast, the company's other plants all under-achieved by 7pc to 18pc.
The news sparked further anger among campaigners attempting to save the Weardale plant and its 147 jobs.
They are also furious that Blue Circle UK's French owner, Lafarge, has rejected overtures from local businessman Angus Ward, who wants to buy the plant. 'Workforce kicked in the teeth'
Durham county councillor John Shuttleworth said: 'The plant is profitable, it is the company's only British plant to exceed production targets, it has a first class workforce. Yet it has suffered from under-investment for years.
'If Lafarge is intent on kicking its loyal workforce in the teeth, then it should at least have the decency to allow another interested party to run the plant.'
He said the closure, scheduled for July, would cost the dale 300 jobs.
Lafarge blamed surplus production for its decision, even though projected profit from the plant this year was £13m.
UK operations director Rob Davies said the plant's isolation was also a factor.
Dale stunned as Blue Circle shuts January 24, 2002 Weardale is today reeling from the news that Blue Circle, the biggest employer in the dale, is to shut down.
Global cement company Lafarge dealt the shattering blow to the economy of County Durham by announcing that its 40-year-old operation at Eastgate is to go in six months with the loss of 147 jobs.
The decision, blamed on worldwide surplus production capacity, was greeted with stunned silence by workers called to a 9am meeting with bosses.
The news sent shock waves through a rural community hit hard by last year's foot-and-mouth outbreak. Reluctant to move
Built in the early 1960s, the cement plant has provided security for hundreds of families and community leaders fear the knock-on effect will be catastrophic.
Some staff will be offered jobs elsewhere in the company, but many said yesterday they were reluctant to move.
The company said unions had been warned since 1998 that Weardale's future had been under review and that investment was being concentrated on plants in the Midlands and Scotland.
Weardale workers had hoped that a record of rising profits - £11m last year, up on £9m in 2000 - would save their jobs.
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Have your say!
Do you have views on this subject? Click on the link below to write to me and share them!
Write to Sue
read on
MEP visits beleaguered cement works
Blair backs efforts to save cement jobs
Blair to join cement closure talks
Blue Circle workers seek support from Dale
Cement plant rescue rejected
Dale stunned as Blue Circle shuts
Copyright (c) 2000-2002 Sue Kelly