Poles back bid to keep Cadbury site open

Polish union Solidarity has added support to the Unite campaign to save Cadbury’s Keynsham factory, which the company announced plans to close two weeks ago.

Dariusz Skoriek, head of Solidarity’s national food section pledged his support when he met his UK counterparts at the Cadbury European Works Council (EWC). “We can be relied upon to work closely with Keynsham and all other UK sites,” he said. “We support the campaign against Cadbury taking part in a race to the bottom for cheap labour. We are not happy to take work from the UK.”

The UK members of the Cadbury EWC, Martyn Norcott, who works at Keynsham, near Bath, along with Barrie Roberts and John Donnellan said they were greatly encouraged by the Polish support.

“It was very interesting and informative talking to the Polish lads,” they said after the meeting. “We are keen to work with them. The company has signalled its willingness to listen to alternative proposals to the closure of Keynsham.”

Brian Revell, Unite national organiser for food and agriculture, said that the Poles’ support was “a very significant development”

“The company will have to take note of this. I simply do not see how they can’t,” he said. “Keynsham is a productive and profitable plant and there is no need for Cadbury to ape private equity by cutting and running.”

If the company goes ahead with plans to close the site, which currently employs 500 staff, chocolate production from Keynsham will move to Cadbury’s Bournville factory and its sister factory in Poland. The Bournville site will receive an additional £40M investment, but restructuring will mean a further 200 jobs will go.

Cadbury md Trevor Bond said: “In order to continue to compete in the extremely competitive confectionery industry in the future we need to make the right decisions today.

“While the proposed closure of our Keynsham factory will be difficult for those affected, our ongoing commitment to manufacturing in the UK is absolute. Our significant investment in Bournville is a testament to that.”

Cadbury currently has three sites in Poland and plans to build a new chewing gum factory at a fourth site at Skarbimierz.