Union reps' bid for Del Monte deal
UNION representatives are set to meet with Del Monte bosses to hammer out a deal for staff at the West Lynn factory, who were all put on notice last week that it may close, as revealed in the Lynn News.
Company bigwigs have agreed to meet with the unions at the beginning of November to talk over concerns over end dates, pensions and redundancy payments for the 82-strong workforce.
Staff at the fruit juice producer were called together and told the factory could close in February or March of next year at a meeting on Thursday.
West Lynn borough councillor Geoffrey Daniell conceded the site is prime development land for housing but urged Del Monte to reconsider.
"I think it's a tragedy and a hammer blow for the local community," he said. "We don't just need houses we need jobs to go with them. This is really the last thing we wanted. The people who worked there thought they had jobs for life."
Del Monte is looking to get an outside firm to produce its fruit juice, which is currently done at the West Lynn site, but nothing has yet been signed, staff have been told.
Shed employees may have the chance of jobs at Del Monte's sites in Wisbech and Boston, but it is not known how many positions would be available.
Del Monte has had links with the site in Bankside, West Lynn, for decades, having been supplied by Lin-Can – the former firm on the the site, which was set up in the 1930s and announced its closure in 1986.
A union rep at the firm, who has worked for Del Monte for ten years, said: "We are pretty devastated. Grown men are crying in the factory. It's not just the factory closing or the jobs, it's the fact we are a close-knit workforce there and we are not going to be working together anymore.
"They still want our commitment to keep production going until everything is handed over and we have asked for some sort of financial incentive."
UK managing director Mr Peter Miller refused to make a public statement. He told the Lynn News: "At the moment we wish to keep everything in-house. When something is finalised we will make a statement."
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Thursday 09 September 2010
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