By Francess McDonnell
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) on Wednesday confirmed it intends to proceed with plans to completely close the Gallaher’s cigarette company in Ballymena with the loss of 800 jobs after it rejected a union led rescue proposal which was claimed could have saved 500 of those positions.
JTI said it had “carefully considered” the joint rescue plan by the trade union Unite and management which proposed developing a new centre of excellence for pouch tobacco and cigar production at the cigarette factory in Lisnafillan.
But Paul Williams, the group’s UK head of corporate affairs and communication, said it had come to the conclusion that its initial proposal to close the Lisnafillan facility was the most viable option for JTI in the long-term.
“The challenging economic conditions and declining sales, coupled with greater regulatory and tax pressures, remain the catalyst for our proposal,” he added.
JTI said the closure of the Northern Ireland plant was part of a wider review of its European manufacturing operations and redundancies would start next May - at the same time new European Union directives come into force which will change how packs of cigarettes are labelled and sold in the EU.
The group said its plans for the closure of Lisnafillan would be completed in early 2017 and as part of this process production will move throughout this year from Northern Ireland to other facilities in Poland and Romania.
“We take our responsibilities seriously and we will ensure that during the next phase of the consultation process, our employees will be supported and treated fairly. We recognise the effect that this announcement could have and we will work together with local leaders and politicians to address the needs of the community,” Mr Williams added.
But Unite’s regional secretary, Jimmy Kelly, said JTI’s decision to close the Northern Ireland plant was an “extreme case of ‘social dumping’ where employers seek to minimise costs through chasing lower cost alternatives”.
“Our proposal was a highly developed, strong and viable proposal to safeguard employment at Lisnafillan. This counter-proposal would have seen more than 500 jobs saved by transforming the factory into a ‘centre of excellence’ for pouch tobacco and cigar manufacture.
“It was overwhelmingly endorsed by our members who agreed to a range of cost savings impacting their terms and conditions in order to save employment at the site. The proposal had been backed by politicians across the board including by the First Minister, Peter Robinson.
“JTI rejected our counter-proposal as they have a strategic long-term goal of shifting employment from western to eastern Europe. The workforce at Lisnafillan is highly skilled, experienced and motivated – this is the wrong decision,” Mr Kelly said.
