260 FG Wilson job losses ‘a bad blow’ for Larne

With most of the job losses expected to be at the generator firm’s Larne plant, the town is bracing itself for the knock-on effect on the local economy.

East Antrim MP and Finance Minister Sammy Wilson appeared to be as shocked as anyone at the news of restructuring and the transfer of part of the business to China, revealing he had been told by the company only three weeks ago that, having survived the worst of global recession, production had increased to peak 2008 levels.

Mr Wilson spoke of working with the American Caterpillar Inc subsidiary to explore ways of filling the void, while fellow MLAs urged the Executive to take action to protect jobs.

FG Wilson, which produces diesel and gas generators mainly for export, has plants in Larne, Monkstown and Springvale, Belfast. In making shock twin announcements on Monday, the company said its objective was “keeping the business competitive”.

The firm is to restructure its small-generator-set business to create “a leaner team.” A two-month evaluation of the salaried and management team will “determine what positions may be combined or removed to achieve efficiency improvements and create a more competitive cost structure”.

FG Wilson indicated that the job reductions could begin as early as the fourth quarter 2012. Insiders say that up to 100 posts could be affected, although the company declined to comment on speculation..

Meanwhile, production of 400 Series generator sets is to transfer to Tianjin, China, “in order to build the product closer to its growing customer base”. Approximately 160 agency workers here are likely to lose their jobs in a process to begin later this year.

“These agency worker reductions are expected to take place by the end of 2012,” said a spokesman for FG Wilson, who added: “Resources are in place to assist the work force through this transition.”

Politicians are worried that more local jobs could be transferred abroad, as FG Wilson’s trade with the emerging markets in Asia and the Far East continues to grow.

Ironically, workers at the firm have been hit by a series of lay-offs in recent years as the global downturn reduced demand.

Monday’s news was “a bolt out of the blue”, said a Unite union official, who added: “We have no further information other than that given by the company to the Press, which has come as a bolt out of the blue. Unite the Union shop stewards will now be entering a 90-day consultation period with the company.”

Mr Wilson said: “This is a bad blow. What we have to do now is to look and see what can be done for those who are made unemployed. And secondly, and much more importantly, what work can be done with FG Wilson to try and find other investment projects which can lead to the re-employment of some of those workers.

We have got to look at ways in which we can work with FG Wilson to try and fill the gap which has been created by the moving of the volume production to China.”

East Antrim DUP MLA Alastair Ross urged that Invest NI “must continue to engage with the company to ensure that FG Wilson is able to compete internationally and rebuild after this setback”.