UK jobs among 3,500 facing the axe as Pilkington retrenches

Glass manufacturer Pilkington is to cut production at one of its UK plants under plans to axe 3,500 jobs worldwide.

Union officials said they feared that some 150 jobs were likely to be lost at the group’s site in St Helens on Merseyside.

The company, which employs about 3,000 people in the UK and is owned by Japanese giant Nippon Sheet Glass (NSG), said in a statement yesterday: “The group is taking action to reduce capacity and output to match the requirements of its customers. This will include the mothballing of one of the group’s float lines in the UK.

“This follows the announcement on 15 December of the group’s decision to delay the construction of a solar energy line in Vietnam. Further actions will be announced once due process has been followed with employees and unions affected.”

The company blamed worsening conditions in many of its core markets, particularly in Europe, citing weak building product markets and a slowdown in solar energy glass.

The GMB union said it understood that about 150 jobs would be cut at the site in St Helens.

Charlie Leonard, GMB senior organiser, said: “This has come as such a shock.

“Many of the 150 jobs expected to go at St Helens will be young workers who have been taken on recently following a short-lived upsurge in demand.

“GMB is working to reduce the number of job losses and the impact on the local community.”

Pilkington, which has operations in Cumbernauld and Glasgow, was taken over by NSG in 2006 in a £1.8 billion deal to delist it from the stock market.