250 UK jobs at risk due to American intervention
Bridgwater cellophane factory may close
Government incentives in the USA to keep a loss making factory in Kansas open are responsible for the possible closure
of the Innovia cellophane factory in Bridgwater according to detailed press reports from America. The T, which represents many of the 250 workers in the south west whose jobs are at risk, said this looked like blatant
bribery by US authorities. Tony Woodley, the T General Secretary said it was time the UK government took action. "If it's good enough for American authorities to back
their companies, it must be good enough for us," he said. "Our government should level this playing field and back our
people."
Peter Booth, T national organiser for manufacturing, has already written to the Department of Trade and Industry Secretary of State
Patricia Hewitt to demand UK government action in the face of this scandal. "It is there in black and white that a loss
making American plant will survive and a profitable UK plant will close because the US authorities are backing their
workers," he said. "The T will fight for our members jobs. We are urging our government to stop being naïve about global manufacturing and back
UK companies."
Innovia was formed in 2004 and is part owned by Dennis Matthewman and UK venture capitalists Candover Partners Ltd. The
company has three sites manufacturing cellophane - Bridgwater and Wigton in the UK and Tecumseh in Kansas, USA. The T has been told that one of the sites has to close to maximise efficiency and that Bridgwater is likely to be the plant
chosen. The union said both the UK plants were both profitable but it understood the Kansas plant was losing the
equivalent of the UK profits.
According to American press reports, Michael O'Brien, the Tecumseh plant manager said "Governments often talk about
solving problems. The most impressive thing here is that they don't just talk they make things happen for Kansas." The
reports said the Bridgwater plant had been provisionally targeted for closure but was dependent, in part, on the passage
of the Kansas incentives. These $2m measures include $500,000 from the Shawnee County sales tax for economic
development, more than $200,000 in property tax abatement, $180,000 in incentives from the Kansas Department of Commerce
and $350,000 a year for three years from the state, by forgoing personal income tax payments from Innovia employees.
Local Kansas legislators said this was similar to support given to retain and expand the Topeka Goodyear plant a couple
of years ago.
"This is about as clear as you can get that government intervention is happening to the detriment of UK jobs," added Mr.
Booth.