65 jobs are axed at Terex Trucks’ Newhouse plant • •
Union and MP slam move Firm been 80 years in county
Sixty five jobs are set to be axed by Terex Trucks, it was announced last week.
The move has been condemned by Airdrie and Shotts MP Neil Gray and Union group GMB Scotland as the company enters consultations regarding a redundancy plan.
Employees were given the bombshell news at the Newhouse Industrial Estate plant on Thursday.
Terex Trucks blamed poor market conditions for the move.
Neil Gray said: “It is a huge concern when a local company has to make the decision to cut jobs.
Terex Trucks is a world-famous brand and I can only hope that it is a temporary measure.
“To cut the workforce by a sixth must have been a hard move to make.
“I will offer what assistance I can to any of my constituents who are affected by this and will work with the management and unions to see if there is anything more that can be done.”
GMB Scotland Organiser Alan Ritchie believes the move is the latest in a long line of misery for Lanarkshire manufacturing.
He said: “These latest cuts mean more manufacturing misery for Lanarkshire and the Scottish economy, coming less than twenty-four hours after grim growth forecasts and the threat of a Scottish recession.
“Generations of Terex workers have delivered over 80 years of world-class manufacturing here in Motherwell but a proud history counts for absolutely nothing.
“Let’s be clear that Scottish manufacturing is in total free-fall and our slide towards a low-skill, low-wage economy gathers apace without any meaningful intervention from the Scottish or UK governments.
“The only way we can begin to address this manufacturing crisis is by bringing forward a meaningful industrial strategy that can help steer our economy back towards growth but government is fiddling while Rome burns.
“GMB Scotland will do everything we possibly can to protect the interests of our members in Terex but we cannot keep hoping for sticking plaster interventions at the point of every jobs crisis.”
Terex Trucks employed about 630 people in 2009/2010.
Following the axing of 65 jobs, there will be around 300 people left at the Motherwell-based plant.
The company began manufacturing trucks in Motherwell in 1950 and was bought by Volvo in 2014.
Paul Douglas, Director and General Manager at Terex Trucks said: “This regrettable decision has been taken to address the prevailing market conditions and low order intake.
“While we are making every effort to generate more business, and drive new orders into the factory, we must take difficult short-term actions to secure the long-term viability of Terex Trucks.
“To achieve this we must reduce costs and align staffing levels with the current and forecast order book.”