‘There is life after redundancy, but it’s not always easy’
IF anyone can call the former Michelin plant at Ballymena a family affair, then Henry Butler (64) can.
The former tyre maker worked there for 37 years before taking early retirement in 2013.
His father Owen helped to build the factory, which opened in 1969, while his brothers Danny, Paddy, Charlie and Shamus, plus a nephew, all worked there.
However, he fears it will be another 10 years until the “full impact” of Ballymena’s Michelin closure is felt with less career opportunities for youngsters.
“A lot of skill was built up over more than 40 years,” he said.
“You can’t buy the knowledge to fix machines etc.
“But the UK can’t compete with the Far East and their lower wage bills.”
Henry’s brother Paddy (62), who worked at Michelin Ballymena for 42 years, was also a tyre maker, then latterly a repair man.
He said employment opportunities do not exist for young people nowadays. “Everyone is cutting costs, because they have to,” he said.
He felt particularly sorry for Ballymena families who had relocated to Dundee now to be “left on the scrapheap”.
Ballymena born-and-bred father-of-one Declan O’Hagan (46) was made redundant in June after 22 years with the French company.
The former warehouse worker, unemployed after a “terrible” spell in a bottling plant, was “shocked” when the plant closed.
He was on night shift when the news was broken in a phone call from his boss.
However, he added: “It wasn’t really a surprise.
“We got figures every year of how we were ranked on profitability, production quality, etc. We got updates. They always blamed it on these imports from Asia. I guess it was still a shock, though.” Henry Butler reading The Courier’s front
page story in Charlie’s Bar
Declan said that financially he can cope in the short-term thanks to a generous redundancy package. He also “can’t fault” Michelin for its help with retraining.
However, having voted to leave the European Union and increasingly frustrated about the management of Brexit, he remains disillusioned about job opportunities for industry workers like him.
“What is the ordinary guy supposed to do?” he said over a pint.
“All we can do is hope that petrol doesn’t go up, or heating oil goes up, because it’s crazy.
“But Brexit — I don’t know enough about it. It’s scary too. I just don’t know and I’m not convinced the people who should know, know either.”
Another man “not surprised” at the Dundee closure announcement is Jimmy Knowles (55), who worked in Michelin for 33 years.
The now lorry driver, who used to play Dundee, Stoke and Burnley in an annual Michelin golf competition, said many management decisions over the years “didn’t stack up” in Ballymena and he suspects Dundee faces similar issues.
However, he too empathised with where alternative industrial work was supposed to come from in places like Dundee.
“There is life after Michelin. But it’s hard for people who’ve put so many years in to appreciate what they are going to do next,” he added.
Another former Ballymena Michelin employee, who asked not to be identified, also said the company deserved praise for its generous pay-offs and retraining opportunities.
He hoped Dundee staff will be treated just as well if they lose their jobs. However, he also claimed Michelin management had to shoulder a burden of responsibility for the demise as warning signs had been there for years.