Union leaders’ plea to minister as 260 Bifab workers face losing jobs

Union leaders at the Bifab marine engineering firm have called on the Scottish Government to save the yards as redundancy notices were served on the core workforce.

Unite have warned that 260 jobs are expected to go by early summer with the possible closure of the yards in Fife and on Lewis by the end of June. The union said the ministers should repeat the action it took in November when the yards were threatened with closure over a dispute with a major sub-subcontractor on the Beatrice wind farm contract for the Cromarty Firth.

The Scottish Government brokered a deal to stave off administration until the end of the project. But Bifab has said work is almost complete with no future contracts currently in place.

Unite’s regional officer Bob Mcgregor said: “The Scottish government’s intervention last year to create a lifeline for these yards was absolutely pivotal. We need the same scale of intervention now led by the government to save these jobs. These yards are absolutely central to the creation of a viable renewables industry in Scotland. Surely that ambition can’t be allowed to die now?

“It’s clear that time is running out now. Surely it’s not beyond the company, its partners, the unions and the government to seek out a solution to the latest crisis brought on by a lack of orders for new work. That’s the only way we can avoid these areas being transformed into an industrial graveyard.”

0 The Scottish Government brokered a deal to stave off administration in November, saving the jobs for workers at the Burntisland yard employees. Issuing of the HR1 is part of the collective consultation process to inform staff about potential planned redundancies and not a decision that redundancies will take place.”

Business minister Paul Wheelhouse said: “The Scottish Government has offered support to Bifab to allow work to continue on the contracts for the Beatrice offshore wind farm development through a loan facility, and has been fully focussed and working intensively to secure a longterm future for the company. We recognise this will be hugely concerning for the workers affected, their families, and wider communities, and we stand ready to provide support through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) initiative.” He added that ministers recognised more work was required to secure the company’s future.