Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Michelin waited four weeks to tell Dundee workers about factory closure

Workers at Michelin Dundee were the last to know their jobs had been scrapped as the firm took four weeks to notify staff and held crunch talks with Scottish Government ministers.

Employees were called to an emergency meeting at the French firm’s Baldovie plant yesterday to confirm its closure by 2020 but it has emerged management made the decision nearly a month earlier.

Michelin officially announced its closure ‘by 2020’ to staff in Dundee on Tuesday, November 6.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay confirmed Michelin notified the Scottish Government of the decision on Wednesday, five days before its 854 workers learned their fate.

Michelin blamed “cheap Asian imports flooding into Europe” and a “growing trend of car manufacturers looking for smaller tyres” for the closure.

Michelin Dundee factory manager John Reid.

Factory manager John Reid revealed the decision, confirmed in an official statement hours after The Courier first broke the story on Monday, was made by an executive team at the company’s headquarters on October 9.

He said: “The decision was validated on October 9 by the executive committee at Michelin and we have been working since then to try and organise ourselves ready for this very difficult communication, and obviously identify and understand what support mechanisms we can put in place to help our people at the end of this process.”

Michelin bosses deliver factory death knell in 10-minute briefing to staff

Mr Reid said staff had not been made aware of the situation sooner “because it takes time to prepare in an appropriate fashion so that we understand how we are going to support our teams”.

Workers gathered to hear Michelin confirm plans to close its factory in Dundee.

Unite the union had been working on a flexibility agreement for over two months in an attempt to secure the future of the factory.

Leaders said they expected this plan, which included the potential for a phased set of voluntary redundancies, to be signed off this week and it had no prior knowledge of the decision.

Marc Jackson, Unite Michelin convenor, said: “It is important to stress to the workforce and the wider community in Dundee that Unite has a viable plan on the table. It is a plan that can work for the workforce and the company.

“The creation of an Action Group involving Unite and other key stakeholders is an important and positive step forward.

“The workforce can be assured that Unite will work tirelessly to ensure that this flexibility agreement is reconsidered by the Michelin Group and that the factory can stay open.”

Cabinet secretary for finance and the constitution Derek MacKkay speaks to waiting press outside the Michelin Factory in Dundee.

Finance Secretary Derek Mackay flew out to Charles de Gaulle airport on Sunday to spend the day “making the case for Scotland and the case for Dundee” but was unable to secure an agreement with the firm.

He said: “I think the key concession from Sunday is that despite not wanting to revisit the decision they will meet with me so I can put a proposition to them.

“That’s why I have some hope and am energised to do everything I can to support the workforce here, who I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with.”

VIDEO: ‘Still hope’ for future of Michelin Dundee factory, says Derek Mackay

Mr Reid said Michelin would back any move by the Scottish Government to redirect a £4.5 million cash injection, given to the plant last year, to help staff facing job losses.

He confirmed the money, delivered by Scottish Enterprise as part of a plan to help keep the plant in operation, has not yet been spent or earmarked for any specific project.

VIDEO: We ask Michelin Dundee boss…Why is factory closing? When will job losses begin? Any hope site can be saved?

Mr Reid said: “What the Scottish Government wants to do with that money would be down to them and discussions with the company.

“What I can say about our financial commitments to our stakeholders, the Scottish Government and others, is that we will honour our commitments.

“If the Scottish Government chooses to redirect that funding into an activity in Dundee, we would support that.”

Mr Mackay said there are conditions on all offers of support to workforces but that he was immediately focused on “saving 850 jobs, not clawback of the Scottish Enterprise grant”.

He added: “My mission is quite clear: retain the factory, have a future, repurpose it if required, protect the workforce interests at all costs.

“Matters of grand conditionality I’ll return to when the time is right.”