Battle carries on to save Bifab – unions

EMPLOYMENT: Blow after 35 staff at yard are given notice

Union leaders have vowed to continue the battle for Bifab, despite a shock round of redundancies announced yesterday.

Senior executives from new owners DF Barnes issued statutory redundancy notices to 35 of the remaining 43 core staff, less than three weeks after it was revealed the Canadian firm had bought the yards in Methil, Burntisland and Stornoway.

With no new contracts secured beyond this month, some job losses had been expected but the scale and speed of the redundancies has been met with surprise and dismay.

Joint trade union secretaries Gary Smith and Pat Rafferty said: “It means that some workers will be out of a job as early as two weeks’ time and most will gone in three months.”

They vowed: “The trade unions will not be found wanting and our battle for Bifab continues.

“We knew the road ahead would be hard and the need for new contracts is obvious but clearly a major problem has emerged in terms of the future prospects for fresh work over the last fortnight.

“As a matter of urgency we need to understand what these problems are and whether they can be overcome in the short term.

“We are working now with the employer and the Scottish Government to achieve this objective.”

Shadow Scottish secretary Lesley Laird declared the announcement a terrible shock for Bifab workers, who only a few weeks ago thought the future of the firm was secure.

“Clearly we need answers as to what led DF Barnes to take such drastic action so soon, especially given the takeover of the firm was heralded as so positive,” she said.

“I’m pleased to see the trade unions are continuing to battle for the workforce and I believe talks must happen over this weekend as a matter of urgency to assess exactly what issue led to this situation and what can be done to save these jobs before time runs out.”

Fife Council co-leader David Ross described the news as disappointing.

“I know from previous discussions with the unions they were keen there was sufficient workforce left to maintain the yard in the proper state so they could take advantage of other contacts,” he added.

The Labour councillor said the local authority had planned to meet union representatives in two weeks’ time but now hoped to bring the meeting forward and offer any support possible.

Fellow co-leader, SNP councillor David Alexander, said he was disappointed but added: “I believe the future is still solid for the yards.

“There have always been peaks and troughs with contracts but in the long term it will be OK.”

“Talks must happen over this weekend as a matter of urgency