Chemical plant closure massive blow for Teeside and industry, warns
Unite
8th July 2009
The announcement today that Dow, one of the world's biggest
chemical companies, is to pull out of its Wilton plant in Teesside
will not only devastate a community already battered by job losses,
but will also destabilise the vital UK chemical sector, warns
Unite, the UK's largest union.
Dow has announced today (Wednesday) that it is to walk away from
the plant in January 2010 with the immediate loss of up to 260
skilled jobs in the north east.
But Unite is warning that the closure of such a strategically
vital plant could trigger a crisis across the chemical industry
with job losses snowballing to over 3,000 in total throughout the
sector.
Wilton is the only UK site making ethylene oxide (EO), a
strategic raw material used by the chemical sector and is central
to the production of everyday goods from antifreeze to soaps,
paints and cosmetics. The EO compound is hazardous to
transport and its movement is regulated, which means that
businesses purchasing the material cluster near the source
plant. The impending closure of the Wilton plant therefore
also puts those businesses dependent on it at serious risk of
closure too.
According to Unite's national officer for the chemical sector,
Phil McNulty, the Wilton plant simply cannot be lost: "It cannot be
stressed enough that this plant stands at the heart of a strategic
business for the UK. Unite is working day and night to find a
solution to this threatened closure because its loss would be
devastating.
"This plant doesn't just provides skilled work for hundreds of
people in Teesside where decent jobs are becoming scarce, but the
product it produces is also vital to the enduring success of the UK
chemical sector. Its closure would cause a runaway reaction
across the industry and put thousands of jobs at risk."
The union has pledged to do all in its power to resist the
closure, urging the government to take a leading role to save jobs
and preserve the estimated £560 million Wilton contributes to the
UK balance of payments every year. Unite says that the roots
of today's problem lie in the sell-off 10 years ago of the plant by
ICI which saw the plant broken down into a number of smaller
sites. This means that even though a company may be solvent
it cannot continue if the EO production capacity is lost at the
site.
"This site is at the beginning of a production process which
ultimately results in so many of the goods on the shelves in our
shops," continued Phil McNulty.
"We simply cannot lose it. We need urgent assistance from
government to ensure we can find an alternative owner so that we
can safeguard these skilled jobs and defend this sector."
ENDS
For further information contact Phil McNulty on 07799 114 235 or
Pauline Doyle on 07976 832 861
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