Unite Outrage at Diageo’s Announcement to Reject Proposals to Save Scottish Jobs

September 6th, 2009 LONDON - Commenting on the news today that global food giant Kraft is to table a bid for UK chocolate maker Cadbury, Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for the food sector, said: "It is too early for us to make any detailed comment on this announcement. Unite has requested meetings with both Kraft and Cadbury senior management immediately so that we can begin to understand what the detail of these proposals would mean in terms of long-term commitment to UK jobs at all Cadbury sites, and any possible impact on workers' conditions, including their pensions." "Recent years have seen a great deal of upheaval for Cadbury workers in this country.

September 1st, 2009 GLASGOW - In the news release, "MSPs Join Diageo Workers to Take the Pledge to Fight for Scottish Jobs" issued on 1 Sep 2009 10:11 GMT, by Unite the Union over PR Newswire, we are advised by a representative of the company that the media contact information has changed and the MSP's name in the third paragraph should have read Willie Coffey rather than Patricia Ferguson as originally issued inadvertently. Complete, corrected release follows: MSPs from all parties are being invited to sign an oversized pledge card ahead of a major ministerial statement on Diageo's proposed restructuring in Scotland, which would slash 900 jobs and is being fiercely opposed by Unite the union.

August 31st, 2009 GLASGOW - MSPs from all parties are being invited to sign an oversized pledge card ahead of a major ministerial statement on Diageo's proposed restructuring in Scotland, which would slash 900 jobs and is being fiercely opposed by Unite the union. The sign up marks the start of a day when the Scottish Parliament itself will put Diageo's restructuring plans under the spotlight.

August 26th, 2009 LONDON - Reacting to the release today by drinks giant Diageo of its yearly results, which reveal a leap in operating profits of 10 percent to GBP2,443 billion, Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Unite, said: "Even in a global recession, Diageo can pull in billions of pounds in pure profit. Surely now Diageo's claims that it must cut Scottish jobs to reduce costs can be seen once and for all for what they are - about short-term greed, not long-term need.

April 28th, 2009 LONDON - Following the news today that Midlands-based van manufacturer LDV will go into administration on May 6th with the loss of around 900 jobs directly and thousands more in the wider supply chain, Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite said: "Two months ago I warned that without rapid intervention to support LDV while it sought a new buyer, the company would collapse. "Unless the government acts to provide a small but vital aid package of just GBP4 million, barely a year's bonus for a bailed-out banker, then LDV will go into administration on May 6th - and take with it thousands of jobs in our manufacturing heartland.

March 24th, 2009 LONDON - Unite has accused HSBC of "creative accountancy" with jobs as HSBC concedes that the true number of job cuts is in fact 2,900 as the union has rightly claimed, and not 1,200 as HSBC had originally claimed. Derek Simpson, Unite Joint General Secretary, said: "As if it was not bad enough for staff of HSBC to hear from the media that their jobs are at risk, we now have a situation where the company is failing to come clean with the true extent of these cuts.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, the UK's biggest civil air transport union, welcomes the announcement today (Friday) from the High Court that the challenge to the expansion of Stansted airport has been suspended. Steve Turner, Unite National Officer, said: "We are delighted at this decision today and hope we can now move on and develop an expansion programme at Stansted airport.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Unite the union which represents hundreds of Forest Commission workers has today welcomed the Scottish Government's announcement to abandon proposals to lease up to 25% of Scottish woodlands to private companies. Unite, the UK's largest trade union, has also reiterated its call for the Scottish Government to also abandon its proposals to scarp the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board (SAWB) which protects the terms and conditions and sets the wage levels for 25,000 workers in Scotland's agricultural sector.

March 11th, 2009 LONDON - Unite, the UK's largest union, reacted angrily today (Thursday) to the growing threat to jobs at United Biscuits' Liverpool site posed by a restructuring programme which could see 125 jobs offshored to India. The move has shocked workers because it is in stark contrast to the record company profits announced last year which saw workers receive bonuses and star awards for their achievements.

March 10th, 2009 LONDON - Responding to today's announcement from car manufacturer Toyota that production at its UK plants would be cut by 10 per cent, with an associated cut in wages of 10 per cent, Peter Tsouvallaris, Unite representative at the plant said: "Our members are reminded daily of the tremendous insecurity this recession has brought to our industry. "The proposals put to the workforce today present a real opportunity to restore some measure of stability to Toyota in the coming months, and we will be recommending them to our members.

February 5th, 2009 LONDON - Car giant Ford said Thursday it would cut up to 850 jobs at British plants by May and review this year's pay deal because of the 'serious economic situation.' The announcement brought an angry response from trade unions who said industrial action would be an 'option' if the plans went ahead. The US company, which employs 12,900 people in Britain, said that 'unprecedented circumstances' were behind the decision to review this year's agreed pay rise of a 5.2 percent.

March 13th, 2009 LONDON - The Prince of Wales has warned that global warming has reached a 'defining moment,' and humanity has 'less than 100 months' to save the planet. According to a report in the Telegraph, Prince Charles made this statement to 200 business leaders in Rio de Janeiro.

April 27th, 2009 CEO says he's working to save Chrysler and jobsDETROIT — Chrysler Chief Executive Robert Nardelli is telling employees that management is doing all it can to get more government aid and save their jobs. Nardelli says in an e-mail Monday that management's No.

August 21st, 2009 Families of Lockerbie victims plan next moveTRENTON, N.J. — Relatives of Americans killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland are considering their next move, a day after the convicted bomber was freed from prison on humanitarian grounds.

September 17th, 2009 Union returning to AFL-CIOPITTSBURGH — One of the unions that left the AFL-CIO in a bitter dispute that split the labor movement four years ago is coming back to the labor federation. The union of hotel, restaurant and clothing workers known as UNITE HERE is bringing its 265,000 members back a day after Richard Trumka became the newest AFL-CIO president.

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Promising jobs with partnering industries, Scottish universities have managed to triple the number of Indian students heading there for higher education in the last five years, university representatives said here Friday. Enrolment in Scottish universities by Indian students has tripled over the last five years, said Caroline Boddie, senior international officer for southern and central Asia at the University of Glasgow.

June 2nd, 2009 SHIMLA - The Himachal Pradesh government has cleared nine industrial proposals worth Rs.256.99 crore, including one of Essar Group, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said here Tuesday. "We have cleared proposals of nine industrial houses, including Essar Group, Paragon Knits, Gujarat Flour Chemical, UB Biscuits and Wind Turbine Equipment," he told reporters.

July 18th, 2009 LONDON - Thousands of British steelworkers and their families are holding a protest march Saturday in a town in northeast England where the looming closure of a Corus steel plant threatens to throw families into poverty. Corus, which is owned by Tata Steel, has warned it may have to close down its plant in Redcar because a consortium of clients has pulled out of a 10-year contract to buy its steel, prompting the Save Our Steel march.

September 3rd, 2009 Scottish national party to press for independenceEDINBURGH, Scotland — Scotland's separatist government said Thursday that it would push for a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom next year — a proposal unlikely to go far because the nationalists are outnumbered in Scotland's parliament. The Scottish National Party has long made breaking with Britain the focus of its political agenda, but with only 47 out of 129 seats, it lacks the parliamentary majority needed to make its plan for a referendum a reality.

July 16th, 2009 Lloyds Banking Group cutting 1,200 more jobsLONDON — Lloyds Banking Group announced Thursday it would cut another 1,200 jobs to reduce costs and rationalize operations after the government-backed merger of Lloyds TSB and Halifax/Bank of Scotland. Lloyds, whose biggest shareholder is the British government, said 650 permanent jobs would go by the first quarter of next year, 180 staff would move to new positions and 370 agency and contract staff would be cut in its group operations and insurance divisions.