Eaton close factory recession goes on
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THE RECESSION has dealt another blow to the manufacturing industry, with Eaton Axles announcing the closure of its Darlaston plant in the West Midlands, and redundancies at its Aycliffe works in Co Durham, Eaton chairman John Rodewig said it was essential that the Darlaston plant should close, as he sees no immediate sign of a recovery from the world-wide drop in lorry sales.
It will be closed over the next six months, and talks have begun already with trades unions to decide the exact future of the 443 salaried and hourly paid workers, Darlaston makes housings for medium and heavy-duty lorry axles, and pumps for automotive and industrial engines.
There will also be cutbacks in staff at Aycliffe, which makes complete axles, and exact numbers of staff affected will be announced after consultations with unions.
Volvo Trucks {Great Britain} Ltd has brought forward the three-day week plans for its Irvine assembly plant. Workers there will start short-time working when they return from their autumn holiday on September 22. Another 150 jobs will go at Perkins Engines at Peterborough which is shedding some of its administrative staff. The company says it is looking for voluntary redundancies.
And even tachographs have been affected. Veeder Root has cut its labour force by 100, and another 300 employees — around 20 per cent of the labour force at its Dundee factory — will go on alternate week working.
The company has told unions that the drop in vehicle manufacture this summer has cut the demand for new tachographs, but it will review the situation next month, Lucas Electrical has also implemented a short-time working plan at its switchgear and relay plants at Burnley, while Lincoln-based Clayton Dewandre, which makes brake components, is cutting 189 jobs.
There is slightly brighter news from Corby where Transquip Trailers' workforce is working normally, apart from a slight reduction in overtime. Despite having been largely unaffected by the recession until now, the company says it is reviewing the situation weekly.