Burton's agree to save 400 jobs

Aug 16 2007

Burton's biscuit factory

MORE than 400 jobs could be saved at a biscuit factory in Wirral.

Burton’s, owners of the factory in Moreton, have agreed with the union Unite a deal which would see 430 jobs kept at the factory.

Earlier this year the company had announced the loss of 821 jobs at the site which would have left the local area devastated according to local politicians.

Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, said a mixture of continuing investment and refurbishment will see a centre of excellence being developed.

Burton’s Foods have also given guarantees for five years of work through to May 2012. Over 430 jobs will now stay instead of the 128 that would have been left under the original phased closure plan.

“Full closure of the Moreton site has been averted and, importantly, manufacturing is to stay,” said Mr. Woodley. “It is, in my view, the best deal in the circumstances.”

The union said there had always been a clear consistency to the campaign against closure and so save as many jobs as possible.

In particular, faced with over capacity, there was pressure on the negotiations to achieve the right balance taking Burton’s other plants into account.

The plans to save significant parts of the threatened Burton’s Foods biscuit factory at Moreton are being put to the Wirral workforce today following an agreement between the company and Unite.

The details of the deal are being explained to the workforce during the course of the day.

The union gave a flavour of what they involved by saying there would be refurbishment of the C Block making seasonal products to turn it into a centre of excellence and some of the products that had been earmarked to be made elsewhere will now stay at Moreton.

Jobs will still be lost but the union will be looking to achieve those through voluntary means after agreeing enhanced redundancy terms.

“The Moreton site has been filling the nation’s biscuit barrels for many years and we certainly want to see that continue,” added Ritchie James, Unite acting national secretary for the food industry and a former worker at the plant.