Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
DOUBLE JOBS BLOW
» Oil and gas firm laying off 205 staff » Engineering plant sheds 145 posts
NORTHERN Ireland’s economy was dealt a crushing blow last night as two firms announced they are closing with the loss of 350 jobs.
Oil and gas company Schlumberger revealed 205 workers will be laid off at its Newtownabbey site while engineering firm Williams Industrial Services is to shed 145 posts in Mallusk.
One Williams worker said: “There are a lot of angry men
and women this evening. There’s been total silence from the directors throughout the speculation about the future of the company.
“Even today they stood there and said nothing, leaving it to [administrators] PWC to explain what was happening.
“A lot of public money has gone into the firm in recent years and all that is lost.”
Schlumberger delivered its devastating news at around 5pm and just minutes later administrators PWC revealed Williams is to close its doors.
Unite accused Schlumberger of wanting to move jobs to “low cost centres in Mexico and China”, while PWC said part of the reason Williams was closing was “contractual disputes” affecting cashflow.
Unite’s representative in Schlumberger Susan Fitzgerald said the decision “demonstrates very clearly that corporate profits are the only determinant when it comes to corporate management”.
She added: “Today they confirmed to workforce representatives that they had rejected a local management counterproposal which offered a way to save some of the jobs on site through production diversification.
“The proposal would have resulted in a significant increase in operating utilisation rates but was rejected by a corporate management who remain intent on offshoring production to low-cost centres in Mexico and China and back to the United States.
“Regardless of the huge profits they have made from this workforce Schlumberger’s sole objective appears to maximise profits through a race to the bottom on labour costs.”
Ulster Unionist Steve Aiken MLA has called on Invest NI and the Department of the Economy to take action to stem the loss of manufacturing jobs.
He said: “The news will come as a devastating blow to the local economy not just in Newtownabbey and South Antrim, but also for Northern Ireland plc.”
Issuing a warning in October a Schlumberger spokesman said: “The oil and gas industry is going through the most severe downturn of the past 30 years with operators significantly reducing their investment.
“This is severely impacting technology services companies like Schlumberger.”
Williams chairman John Toner said: “Having explored all possible rescue options, it is with deep regret that the directors have had to take steps to have the company placed into administration.”
Mallusk-based WIS was established in 1983 and was one of Ireland’s largest providers of environmental engineering solutions, specialising in water-treatment and anaerobic digestion technologies.
Around half the company’s sales of water-treatment and anaerobic digestion solutions are to customers outside Northern Ireland, primarily in GB and the Republic.
A lot of public money went into the firm and all of that is lost WILLIAMS EMPLOYEE CO ANTRIM YESTERDAY