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‘Whole town will be affected by this’

Gavin Hird
28/ 2/2007

ASTRAZENECA workers facing the axe have warned the closure of the Hurdsfield site could spell disaster for the town's economy.

Shocked employees have been talking about the decision to cull 700 jobs from the town centre plant - revealing fears that Macclesfield as a whole "could go bump".

Speaking at the gates of the Hurdsfield site, which employs a total of 2,500 people, staff were devastated by the news.

One said: "We were expecting cuts, but we were shocked when we heard exactly how big those cuts were going to be. This company had a reputation for job security, but not any more."

Another said: "This will be a devastating blow for the Macclesfield economy. Hundreds of families are going to be affected by this. The town could go bump."

A third added: "Those with young families will suffer the most. Morale inside the factory is very low."

Trade unions have vowed to fight on behalf of workers who face the axe, with GMB insisting there will be no lack of support for any of their members hit by the jobs cull.

Regional organiser for the North West, Neil Holden, represents 800 workers in Hurdsfield.

He said: "We're shocked at the number of redundancies that affect the Macclesfield site. That's almost a third of the total operations that are under threat of redundancies.

"We're also concerned that we've been working with the company for two years on effectiveness and efficiencies and there was never any mention of head-count redundancies.

"The company is to enter a consultancy period with the unions. We're going to attempt to reduce the number of redundancies and, if not, then negotiate the best package we can for those members that have been made to leave."

Amicus regional officer, Gary Owen, said that a meeting has been arranged for this Friday, March 2, at the Hurdsfield site between AstraZeneca bosses and trade unions.

"Our position was made quite clear to the company - we want to see their rationale behind the proposals, why they need to make savings on this scale and is this the best way to achieve them?" he said.

"At the same time, we want the site to remain viable and have a future, so it's a bit of a balancing act."