Grimsby seafood factory safe

Unite welcomed today’s (July 9) decision by Young’s Seaford to focus production at its Grimsby sites in a move that secures 500 jobs and the future of the threatened Marsden Road factory in the town.

While workers in Grimsby were relieved at the news, there was a ‘bitter sweet’ edge to the announcement, which sees Young’s Fraserburgh and Spey Valley sites earmarked for closure after the loss of a vital Sainsbury’s contract.

Sainsbury’s is set to transfer its smoked salmon and fresh salmon contracts away from Young’s to Marine Harvest in November 2015.

Unite represents members in Grimsby’s three Young’s Seafood factories which employ a total of 2,000 workers. The union has no members at the Fraserburgh and Spey Valley sites which are earmarked for closure.

“The decision by Young’s to invest in Grimsby and secure over 500 jobs is welcome news and testament to the skills of the workers at the town’s Marsden Road site,” said Unite regional officer Dave Monaghan.

“Young’s is a major employer in Grimsby and workers, local businesses and the community will be relieved that the company will continue to invest in the town. The closure of the Marsden Road plant in Grimsby would have been devastating to the local economy.

“There is a bitter sweet edge to the announcement though, because it sees uncertainty for workers in other parts of the UK,” Monaghan added. “We hope Young’s will do everything it can to minimise any job losses at sites threatened with closure.”

On the transfer of the Sainsbury’s contract to Marine Harvest he went on to add that there are currently 600 people working on the contract at Young’s in the UK which normally increases in the run up to Christmas.

“With Marine Harvest saying they will recruit 350 people within a year there are question marks on whether they will have enough staff in the short-term to deliver the contract in November without having to ship work to their European factories.”