US boss flies in to probe mask sweatshop row
Ex-Labour leader to represent staff
An investigation is being launched into claims of mistreatment and bullying at a £58million taxpayer- funded PPE making factory.
A high- ranking executive f rom internat ional f irm Honeywell is being flown in to look at the complaints made at their Lanarkshire base.
It comes after f ive female whistleblowers told the Sunday Mail last week how workers were forced to meet “impossible” targets of making 600 medicalgrade masks per hour for the NHS.
They also claim they were timed by managers as they did their job, when they went to the toilet, and were ordered not to leave their seats.
Some who struggled to meet targets, even those who were older or had disabi l it ies, were repr i - manded, with some even losing their jobs.
Honeywell’s Rom ina Kananishoo, vice president of government relations for Europe, will now meet with local MSP Richard Leonard, who is representing staff.
Leonard now hopes to meet the Honeywell boss at the Newhouse plant near Bellshill as soon as possible after she contacted him directly.
It’s understood Kananishoo is based at both the Honeywell offices in Washington DC and in Belgium.
The former Scottish Labour leader added: “I wi l l press Honeywell to fully investigate t h e c u l t u r e a n d wo r k i n g practices at the factory and take steps to remedy the situation as a matter of urgency. That is what these bullied, harassed and degraded former workers want and it is what was asked of Honeywell weeks ago.
“The issues raised with me merit a full investigation. I asked Honeywell to do this and make the necessary changes to improve working conditions for their workforce in Newhouse.”
Leonard, a Central Scotland MSP, was a lso critical of
Honeywell in their response to the Sunday Mail last week in which they accused the women of making false claims.
In an email to the vice president, he said: “I was extremely shocked by a response the company gave to the Sunday Mail, when despite neither speaking to the former workers or me, you dismissed their claims as ‘ inaccurate’ and accused them of tarnishing the hard work employees are putting in to combat the pandemic. This added insult to injury.”
Staff also claimed they were forced to work in sweatshop conditions after the factory’s air conditioning system failed and, when they bought their own fans in, were told not to use them.
Yesterday, one of the f ive whistleblowers, who are aged 51 to 64, welcomed news that the
Honeywell chief was planning to meet withih theirhi MSPMSP.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “All our suppliers are required to follow the highest legal and ethical standards and, if they fail to do so, they are removed from consideration for future contracts.”
No one from Honeywel l responded to our request for a comment on the proposed meeting with Leonard.