A learning centre has been set up for Celanese
employees facing redundancy to help them gain new skills and
increase their employability. Pictured are Alan Cook, left, of
Unionlearn, and Andy Croxall, who has been at Celanese 42
years.
WORKERS at Celanese Acetate who are facing
redundancy have been getting advice and support that could help
them find work when the majority of the site shuts down.
Yesterday the Unite union opened a learning
centre at the Megaloughton Lane plant in Spondon, which aims to
improve the employment prospects of hundreds of workers facing the
axe.
Celanese Acetate's American owners announced
in April that they were going to close the factory, blaming high UK
energy prices and changes in the market for its products.
In August, the company, which has been in
Derby for 94 years, announced that it would be retaining its
Celanese Clarifoil business, preserving 70 jobs.
But the company was to press ahead with the
closure of the rest of the site next September, a move which will
result in 385 job losses.
The job losses are the result of Celanese's
decision to end the production at Spondon of acetate flake and tow,
which is used for cigarette filters.
To help those workers find new jobs, Unite has
set up the learning centre with the support of Celanese's human
resources department.
They are being offered basic IT, numeracy and
literacy courses, as well as advice on CV writing and job interview
technique.
They are also being given financial advice and
one-to-one sessions on their next career.
One worker who visited the learning centre was
Andy Croxall, 59, of Etwall, a filter tow spinner who has spent 41
years working at Celanese.
He said: "I've spent all my working life at
Celanese so to be faced with the prospect of looking for another
job is daunting.
" I have a wife and a 17-year-old daughter who
is due to start university next year so there is pressure.
"At my age I'm not expecting there to be much
out there for me. I'll take what I can get between now and when I
retire. I feel more sorry for the younger workers."
Also at the centre was Pete Bloor, 47, of
Stanley Common, who joined Celanese straight from school at the age
of 16.
He said: "It's scary looking around for a new
job but I appreciate the help that is being offered by the centre.
At least we have a year to sort something out.
"Some people are being realistic and are
looking at their options. However, there are some who still refuse
to believe the closure is happening. The fact is it is happening
and we need to start thinking about our future."
Ian Hawley, Unite works convenor at the
Spondon plant, is heading up the learning centre. He said: "The
difficulty is that a lot of the people have been at Celanese for a
long time. For some it is all they know.
"Some do not have transferable skills and need
re-training. Our aim is to give them the best possible chance of
finding a new job when the time comes."
By robin johnson
rjohnson@derbytelegraph.co.uk
