Back to main newsDrinks giant rejects offer to save jobs
Fri 11 Sep 2009
Author: Diageo workers have been left shell-shocked after the drinks giant rejected a Scottish government proposal to save 900 jobs.
Bosses at the drinks firm, whose brands include Guinness, Smirnoff and Baileys, met workers this morning to tell them they had been sacked as the firm pressed ahead with plans to close plants in Kilmarnock and Port Dundas.
The company, whose operating profit for the year was up 10 per cent by £217 million to £2.44 billion, had been considering an alternative business proposal prepared by the Scottish government, but workers were told it had been rejected.
Scotland's Finance Secretary John Swinney presented bosses at the firm with details of alternative proposals, which would have seen production continue at Port Dundas and the creation of a new plant in Kilmarnock.
Those proposals had been drawn up by a task force consisting of unions, politicians, local councils and Scottish Enterprise.
But managing director David Gosnell claimed the proposals didn't deliver a business model that would be good for either Diageo or Scotland.
However Mr Swinney retorted: "I led a task force which worked effectively to put together the strongest arguments and substantive proposals to retain production and jobs at Port Dundas and Kilmarnock.
"I still do not believe that Diageo appreciate the social consequences of their financial decision in turning their backs on 200 years of history in Port Dundas and Kilmarnock.
"We shall meet as a task force to consider our next steps. As a government, we will work unstintingly with our partners to mitigate the serious impacts and assist the people and communities affected by Diageo's decision-making."
STUC deputy general secretary Dave Moxham said the firm's decision didn't come as any surprise.
"We felt they had set themselves against any alternative proposals," he said. "Instead, they have put their profits ahead of their workforce."
Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said he was "deeply disappointed" that Diageo had rejected Mr Swinney's proposal.
"My thoughts are with the workforce and their families and we need to hear from the Scottish government and Diageo that they will not be abandoned," he said.
SNP MSP for Kilmarnock Willie Coffey branded the decision a "devastating blow for an intensely loyal workforce in Kilmarnock.
"When Diageo are making billions of pounds of profits, it simply beggars belief that they would shut down plants and sacrifice workers," he said.
Mr Coffey claimed the drinks firm had "no real intention of listening to any alternative plan," adding: "Diageo has behaved shamefully throughout this process."
A cross-party campaign has been mounted to try to persuade Diageo to rethink its proposals, with 20,000 people marching through Kilmarnock last month.
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