Unions call for more Cadbury job pledges

Oct 9 2010 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

UNITE national officer Jennie Formby welcomed Irene Rosenfeld’s glowing praise for Bournville – but called for more action on job guarantees.

Ms Formby, one of the most vocal union opponents of the Kraft takeover deal, said: “We welcome the very positive comments that Irene Rosenfeld has made about Bournville today.

“But we would prefer to see a lot more substance on future jobs and conditions, not just at Bournville, but also at other UK and Ireland sites.

“There is going to be tremendous pressures on every site to cut costs and pressure on the company to find ways to pay off the debt on what is a very highly leveraged company.

“We will maintain a very watchful eye on Kraft, together with our sister trade unions in Europe and elsewhere in the world, to make sure that our members do not pay the price in the future for the cost of the buyout.

“If you look back at Kraft, the way that the company has managed costs over the last ten years has been to cut jobs, outsource production and close sites.

“We are extremely pleased at these positive statements about Bournville, although we would ask why the company is not prepared to give longer guarantees of more than two years on jobs.”

In August, Cadbury workers accepted a 3.7 per cent pay rise following an acrimonious five-month battle.

Thousands of workers have been asked to increase their pension contributions to help reduce an estimated £200 million deficit in the UK fund.