MANY MORE volunteers for redundancy than the 90 requested by the Michelin plant in Dundee earlier this year have come forward, management said yesterday.

Despite earlier claims by the unions representing the 1000 workers that production workers were unhappy with the situation, the list of volunteers was over- subscribed, personnel manager Ian Peart said.

In August, Michelin dropped a bombshell on workers with the announcement they were seeking 90 voluntary redundancies, coupled with the pledge to invest millions to boost productivity—a commitment initially regarded with scepticism and fears for the future of the factory.

However, the unions and politicians at local and national level met management to gain assurances, although the unions were reserved on the question of increased production using fewer employees.

The company said that a cut in staff was essential to safeguard the future in terms of increased productivity and decrease in unit costs to maintain competitiveness.

Mr Peart said workers who volunteered to go were split into two groups, those with long service who felt they would be rewarded with redundancy and people who had only been with the company a short time and felt the need for a change.

He said the redundancies would be phased out between January and April, and that there were no other changes in the pipeline.