Management at the PPG Industries fiberglass factory in Hindley Green, UK, announced plans to shed 101 jobs – more than a third of the workforce of 352 – between October 2006 and March 2007.
Staff hav…
Management at the PPG Industries fiberglass factory in Hindley Green, UK, announced plans to shed 101 jobs – more than a third of the workforce of 352 – between October 2006 and March 2007. Staff have been informed that the manufacture of some traditional product lines will be moved to other PPG locations. Steve Verdin, manufacturing manager, said: “These decisions are not easy to make, but they are absolutely necessary in order to ensure the competitiveness and viability of the Wigan plant.” “PPG has made considerable investment in the Wigan site over the last five years, and this commitment continues with the capital investment needed to enable the plant to re-focus its activities. I feel confident that the local management team and workforce will sieze this opportunity and secure a promising future for PPG Wigan.” Tom Kerr, Operations Director for PPG Fiber Glass in Pittsburgh, US, said: “By re-focusing and changing the mix of products we manufacture, I believe we“ll be well positioned to compete going forward”. It has not been decided whether the job losses will be compulsory or voluntary and management will be negotiating the details with union representatives. GMB and Amicus union representatives at the site were not available for comment but a local councillor Barry Fagin said: “We can not afford to lose any jobs, let alone more than 100. It“s hard enough to create them in the borough and to lose them is going to be devastating for the area.”