Whodunit? There’s only one way to find out . . . Workers’ jobs fair chance as closure hangs over plant
WORKERS at Llanelli’s Schaeffler plant, which is set to close by the end of the year, are being given the chance to attend a jobs fair at the plant next month.
The workforce of 220 at the factory, which supplies automotive and industrial parts all over the world, were told in November the facility was to close and redundancies are expected to start over the summer. The site on Yspitty Road in Bynea was established in 1957.
Schaeffler has said it wants to relocate production to other plants in the US, China, South Korea and Germany.
With the fate of the plant in Bynea all but decided by bosses, a taskforce was set up in November by the Welsh Government to help find a future for the plant and affected workers.
Speaking about the immediate future and the olive branch of a jobs fair, a spokeswoman for Schaeffler said: “We (Schaeffler) will continue to work with the taskforce in Wales to provide access for our employees for a number of support services and training funding to help secure new jobs, including a jobs fair at the site planned for June.”
The announcement of a jobs fair comes as the Schaeffler plant Barden in Plymouth has been saved following a buy-out, and will continue to make bearings.
It, too, had been at risk of closure like Llanelli, however the Schaeffler Group confirmed it has sold the plant to HQW Holding (UK) Ltd.
Under the agreement, the factory will continue to supply Shaeffler with its products.
It means the factory will stay open and all 367 jobs will be kept.
While it is a bleaker outlook for Llanelli, local policitians have been in talks with Schaeffler and the Welsh Government which agreed in November to establish a taskforce to help staff and see what could be done for the future of the site.
Llanelli MP Nia Griffith and AM Lee Waters remain part of those talks looking to support staff as much as possible.
The unions are working with Carmarthenshire County Council and Bynea county councillor Deryk Cundy.
Mr Cundy said: “It would have been good to have kept those jobs in Llanelli but now our focus is to help those affected get back into work and we will continue to do that.”