600 Job Cuts At Nestle As They Move Some Products To Europe

CHOCOLATE confectioner, Nestle, is planning on cutting 600 jobs in the UK, to close a factory and move the production of some of their products to Europe.

CHOCOLATE confectioner, Nestle, is planning on cutting 600 jobs in the UK, to close a factory and move the production of some of their products to Europe. The Swiss-owned firm is planning the closure of its site in Fawdon, in Newcastle, at the end of 2023. This will entail cutting around 475 jobs and a further 98 job cuts in York.

Nestle said it was planning to adapt its confectionary manufacturing, with a £29.4 million investment at its factories in Halifax and York. The company, which employs 8,000 workers in the UK, is planning to move the production of products from Fawdon to various other factories in the UK and Europe.

A spokeswoman said the company “regrets the uncertainty” the changes will have on workers and their families. However, the confectionery giant added: “Nestle Confectionery has an ambitious business strategy in the UK and these proposals are intended to support our long-term success in an increasingly competitive category.

“The proposed changes would create a more efficient manufacturing footprint and, in turn, allow greater strategic investment in Nestle’s biggest confectionery brands.

“We have chosen to announce these proposals as early as possible to provide the maximum time for consultation with our colleagues and trade unions.”

However, the GMB union’s national officer Ross Murdoch said it was “sickening” that lives and families were “being ruined in a ruthless pursuit of profits”. He added: “Nestle is the largest food producer in the world, with astronomical profits. It can afford to treat workers right. Instead, they’ve allowed factories to deteriorate, outsourced production overseas and now slashed 600 jobs.

“It’s corporate greed at its worst – GMB and Unite will fight for every job.”

Joe Clarke, Unite national officer for the food and drink industry, said: “The news about Nestle’s plans for its respective sites in Newcastle and York is a cruel body blow to the dedicated workforces, their families and, more widely, the regional economies.

“We will be asking for an urgent meeting with the management to ascertain the business rationale for these decisions from a multi-national company which is highly profitable.

“The fact these announcements have come during a global pandemic is particularly bitter and heartless.

“Unite will be liaising closely with the GMB union to strongly campaign against these misguided plans whose only motive seems to be increasing profits.”

Source: Metro