Long-serving Michelin staff to receive sixfigure sums.

INDUSTRY: Biggest payments likely to be in excess of £110,000

Long-serving Michelin staff in Dundee will receive six-figure sums from the factory’s closure, The Courier can reveal.

The minimum that Baldovie staff stand to get under the enhanced redundancy package is about £20,000, with the biggest likely to be in excess of £110,000.

Unite said it is a “very good deal”, but stressed the union’s priority is to ensure the site retains skilled jobs and every worker who wants it finds suitable employment.

Senior shop steward Marc Jackson, who has been at the factory for more than three decades, said: “The deal we have on site, some say they’ve never seen a deal like it in the UK.

“But our best work is still to come,” the 50-year-old added.

“That is to repurpose this site and get our members jobs.”

The 845 workers there will receive 4.5 weeks of pay for each year service, up to a maximum of 30 years.

It is assumed for the calculation that every worker has been there for at least five years.

They are also getting bonuses, including at least £5,000 for performance, another £5,000 for recognition of service and a lump sum of £3,500, which was paid when the offer was accepted in January.

A loyalty payment could be worth several thousand pounds for those who have been employed at the tyre factory for several years.

Support for training and finding a new job includes a fund worth an average of £3,000 to each person and extra time off, which is paid.

There are also redundancy packages for apprentices.

One worker told The Courier that while the deal had gone down well with staff, workers who are not retiring face a tough time trying to find another job.

“If you are in your 20s or 30s then it’s only a lot of money if you finish on the Friday and start a new job on the Monday,” he said.

“But if you are going to work for a company that makes you redundant, you’d want it to be Michelin.

“They are throwing money at workers and also giving them 18 months’ notice to plan for the future.”

Michelin blamed a drop in customer demand for smaller tyres, and cheaper rival products from Asia, when the French firm confirmed its closure plans in November.

The factory is due to shut its doors in June next year.

A Michelin spokesman declined to comment on the redundancy packages.

Picture: Steven Brown. The Michelin factory is due to shut its doors in June next year.