Unions to meet Bifab owners

Trade union representatives will meet with the new Canadian owners of Bifab this week as part of efforts to restore jobs at the firm’s yards in Fife and Lewis.

Unions said redundancies at the marine engineering company have led to the effective closure of its sites at Arnish on Lewis and Burntisland and Methil in Fife, with only seven staff offered parttime positions for maintenance and security from a core workforce of 400 and 1,000 contractors.

Officials from GMB Scotland and Unite will travel to Canada today for talks with senior managers at DF Barnes, the subsidiary of JV Driver, which acquired Bifab in April in a Scottish Government-backed rescue package.

The meeting follows discussions with finance and economy secretary Derek Mackay yesterday.

In a statement, Gary Smith, GMB Scotland Secretary, and Pat Rafferty, Unite’s Scottish Secretary, said: “We remain optimistic that the outlook for restoring significant levels of employment at the Bifab yards is achievable, if work can be secured.”

Bifab was saved from administration last year after the Scottish Government issued a loan of £15 million to ensure it could meet its commercial commitments and deadlines.