Bosses at the Michelin factory told staff the plant is to close and they will lose their jobs in a 10-minute meeting on Tuesday morning.
Workers said they were disappointed at how the news was delivered, 12 hours after the French company had confirmed the Baldovie factory’s closure in a statement on their website.
Employees left the meeting around 8.30am, with many complaining about a lack of detail in the statement.
One worker said bosses read out the statement before adding there would be various “options” available for retraining before the factory shuts down.
Michelin workers coming out of meeting with bosses just now. Mixed reactions – anger, understandably, while others are hopeful about options going forward. Some felt more details should’ve been given.
— Nadia Vidinova (@c_nvidinova) November 6, 2018
Michelin has said the factory is closing because of a decline in the market for its tyres, despite £60 million of investment in recent years.
But the company has said the closure has not been caused by Brexit.
Factory manager John Reid said: “The proposals are nothing to do with the UK’s decision to leave the EU, and they are absolutely not a reflection of the performance of the plant or the people who have worked so hard here for so many years.
Michelin Dundee: Factory manager says closure plan is a ‘huge blow’ to workers and the whole city
“I am totally committed to supporting our employees throughout the whole process and beyond, and I know that commitment is shared by the Michelin Group.”
The factory employs nearly 850 people.
The formal announcement to staff comes 46 years to the day since the first tyre rolled off the Baldovie production line.
One of the workers who was at the meeting on Tuesday morning said he felt more in-depth information should have been given.
Andy, 36, who declined to give his last name, said: “It was a very quick briefing, around ten minutes. They spoke to all 800 of us and then we were given an information sheet on the way out.
“They didn’t tell us much that wasn’t already in the press release they put out earlier.
“I wasn’t too happy with that. I would’ve thought there would be a meeting for each department and that it would be more in-depth. It was all very vague.
“Some people were very upset. A lot of people saw this coming but for others it was out of the blue.
“I’ve been at Michelin for eight years so I don’t know what I’ll do next.
“I’ll take advantage of whatever re-training is on offer and take it from there.”
Martin Doran, 54, a production worker at the plant for nearly 34 years, added: “I only have about six years to go until I’m done so really it’s the younger guys, the ones in their thirties, that I feel sorry for.
“I’ve worked there for long enough that I’ve been through this kind of thing a number of times and I was hoping this would just be the same, so it was a shock when I found out.
“We’ll manage but it certainly won’t be the same lifestyle that we had before.
“I don’t really know what I’m going to do next, I’ll need to find something else.
“This really is a blow for Dundee. It’s £30 million out of the economy in wages. It’s not just the workers, it’s the whole city.”
Michelin confirms plans to close Dundee tyre factory, with loss of 850 jobs
