150 jobs to go as steel plant closes down

NEARLY 150 jobs will be lost following the closure of a steel manufacturing plant.

Progress Rail Services (PRS) announced the closure of its plant in South Queensferry following a decision by Network Rail to award a five-year contract to overseas suppliers.

The company plans to make 147 workers redundant by the end of the year.

Trade union bosses warned the closure would be another “massive blow” to Scottish manufacturing and the country’s domestic rail infrastructure.

PRS has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Us-based Caterpillar since 2006, and Queensferry is one of five manufacturing sites it has across the UK.

The redundancies at the plant are due to get under way from November 30.

The closure follows the decision by Wabtec to close its Kilmarnock factory, which refurbished high speed train carriages, in March this year, leaving around 100 workers unemployed.

In July last year, another key part of the rail transport infrastructure was lost as the Caley Rail works in Springburn closed with 200 highlyskilled direct and indirect jobs lost.

Unite industrial officer Graeme Turnbull said: “The news that Progress Rail Services is closing its South Queensferry site is a massive blow to Scottish manufacturing.

“Around 150 highly skilled jobs are on the brink of being lost over the coming months, which is why we are calling on the Scottish and UK Governments to immediately initiate discussions with the company and Unite to see what measures could be brought forward to keep the site open.”