Unite for
Jobs for graphical, paper & media workers
The UKs Print and Papermaking Industries have emerged as one of
the worst affected areas of our economy.
As well as suffering because of the general downturn in the
economy, the print and paper industries have felt the knock-on of
job losses in many industries
- The collapse in the housing market has led to a drastic fall in
demand for commercial printing in the property industry.
- The crisis in the motor industry has impacted on a number of
industries in its supply chain. The AA has wound up its
publications business and Trader Media Group, parent company of
motoring website and magazine Auto Trader, has just announced a
consultation on the potential closure of its Warrington site,
affecting 125 employees.
- Funding cuts in the third sector are affecting niche publishing
sectors. Recently the Arts Council has been forced to withdraw
funding for a number of small publishers and translation
services
- Falling advertising revenues and circulations are also hitting
newspapers and magazines industries in the media hard.
Job cuts
Workers in print and paper began to feel the first effects of the
recession right at its outset in mid 2008.
A series of large scale redundancies and closures during the
last six months has meant that nearly 5000 jobs have been lost. In
February alone 1500 workers were laid off.
In the printing industry nearly half (42%) of companies expect
to cut staff during 2009.
And in just the last few months many of the larger, well
established companies such as Polestar, Trinity Mirror, St Ives and
Communisis have made big job cuts. And companies such as Cooper
Clegg have closed.
The paper and packaging industries are not faring much better
with job losses - four paper and board mills closed in the UK in
2008 and a further three announced consultations over future plans
in early 2009; these seven mills represent around 675,000 tonnes of
UK capacity.
Company closures
Industry sources believe that the state of trade in the printing
industry is the worst in nearly 20 years. Small and medium sized
companies are falling into administration on a daily basis.
Unite has been fighting hard to save jobs and get help for the
industry, campaigning for help for small businesses, campaigning to
avoid lay-offs and redundancy through utilising Train To Gain
Funding, campaigning to help companies where the banks have
restricted credit facilities which have put profitable companies at
risk.
Unite members who have been loyal workers, often for many years,
are now struggling to find alternative work and in many cases, some
are battling to receive their redundancy payments.
Poor credit conditions
The recent CBI
Access to Finance Survey found that almost 60% of firms who sought
new or renewed finance lines said its availability had deteriorated
in the last three months.
SMEs in the GPM sector are particularly vulnerable in times of
financial constriction
Unite is fighting back:
The Unite for Jobs Campaign is a major drive to secure urgent and
strategic assistance for UK manufacturing and a clear plan for
defending and creating jobs. The move comes amid mounting concern
that government action so far is insufficient to avert chronic and
lasting damage to UK manufacturing.
Cambridge University Press
Members at the
CUP are fighting massive job cuts at the 425 year old press.
The company had previously said that 119 positions could be made
redundant.
Unite launched a campaign to save jobs at CUP. Over 500 Unite
members marched through the centre of Cambridge in February to
protest about the cuts. Local MPs, councillors and University
academics have been mobilised and an online petition has attracted
nearly 1000 signatures.
More
on the campaign here
Sadly every day more jobs are placed under
threat.
Unite is doing everything it can to save jobs but it is
vital that members stand together and make their voices
heard.
It is only through acting collectively that we can
protect decent, well paid, skilled jobs and to secure the future of
the industry in the long term.
