Silicon Glen - Occupation at computer firm
WORKERS, MAR 2007 ISSUE
WORKERS AT the Simclar computer components factories in Irvine and Kilwinning, Scotland, occupied one of the plants after the company closed them without notice, sacking the 420 workers.
Willie Paterson, organiser for the union Community, said it was despicable. "This came out of the blue," he said. "Staff turned up this morning at 8.30 to locked premises and were told they were out of a job with immediate effect."
During a protest outside the Kilwinning plant, said Paterson, "the factory gate was opened and the workforce took an instant decision to occupy".
The workers see the company going into "administration" as a ruse to avoid a consultation period and redundancy payments to highly skilled workers with up to 18 years' service. The occupation lasted overnight. Meanwhile, a picket continues at the Simclar headquarters in Dunfermline.
The closures are a direct consequence of the NCR Dundee relocation and axing of 650 jobs detailed in last month's Workers. The company blamed "competition from low-cost economies".