Crain News Service report
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (Oct. 14, 2015) — Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ltd. has confirmed the closure of its rubber mixing and retreading facility in Wolverhampton, following a statutory consultation period with employee representatives and unions.
In a statement released early in October, the company said the decision was made in absence of any alternative proposal, adding that the first phase of redundancies was likely to occur on Dec. 31.
Production at the plant will end no earlier than January 2017, the statement added.
“During the coming months, our focus is to find responsible and fair solutions for the employees affected by this decision, including the opportunity to apply for vacancies at our other locations,” the tire maker said.
A redundancy settlement has not been reached with unions, according to Goodyear UK.
“We will continue to work closely with our unions and the Taskforce Group to put together a package of support for those employees that cannot transfer to other roles in the company,” it added.
Several months ago Goodyear announced that it planned to revamp its manufacturing assets in Europe over the coming 18 months, including cutting car tire production at a German plant and closing the Wolverhampton retread and rubber-mixing plant, with the transfer of production from there to other existing facilities in the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) business unit.
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This report appeared on the website of European Rubber Journal, a United Kingdom-based sister publication of Tire Business.