Volvo announces more job cuts at off-highway unit

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BBC  /  June 16, 2016

Off-highway mining truck manufacturer Terex Trucks has announced a further 65 redundancies at its North Lanarkshire base.

Terex Trucks is a subsidiary of Volvo Group. Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) purchased Terex’s off-highway rigid-frame and articulated trucks unit in 2014.

The job cuts are the latest to hit the workforce in Motherwell, which has more than halved since a peak of 630 employees in October 2009.

Management at Terex Trucks blamed market conditions and a downturn in global demand.

The company produces articulated and rigid trucks which serve industries such as construction and mining.

In the latest round of cuts, subject to a statutory consultation period, 55 jobs on the shop floor will go, along with 10 administrative positions, leaving a staff of 300.

The firm started producing trucks in Motherwell in 1950 and was acquired by Volvo in 2014.

GMB Scotland organiser Alan Ritchie said: "These latest cuts mean more manufacturing misery for Lanarkshire and the Scottish economy, coming less than 24 hours after grim growth forecasts and the threat of a Scottish recession.

"Generations of Terex workers have delivered decades of world-class manufacturing here in Motherwell but, as we've seen at the likes of Tannoy in Coatbridge, a proud history counts for absolutely nothing.

"Let's be clear that Scottish manufacturing is in total freefall and our slide towards a low-skill, low-wage economy gathers apace without any meaningful intervention from the Scottish or UK governments."

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Terex Trucks announces 65 more job cuts at Motherwell plant

Belfast Telegraph  /  June 16, 2016

Dump truck manufacturer Terex Trucks has announced 65 further redundancies at its Scottish base.

The job cuts revealed on Thursday are the latest to hit the workforce at the plant in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which has more than halved since a peak of 630 employees in 2009/10.

Volvo acquired Terex Trucks two years ago.

Management at Terex Trucks blamed market conditions and a downturn in global demand for their articulated and rigid dump trucks which serve industries such as construction and mining.

In the latest round of cuts, subject to a statutory consultation period, 55 jobs on the shop floor will go along with 10 administrative positions, leaving a staff of 300.

The firm started producing trucks in Motherwell in 1950 and was acquired by Volvo in 2014.

GMB Scotland organiser Alan Ritchie said: "These latest cuts mean more manufacturing misery for Lanarkshire and the Scottish economy, coming less than twenty-four hours after grim growth forecasts and the threat of a Scottish recession.

"Generations of Terex workers have delivered decades of world-class manufacturing here in Motherwell but, as we've seen at the likes of Tannoy in Coatbridge, a proud history counts for absolutely nothing.

"Let's be clear that Scottish manufacturing is in total freefall and our slide towards a low-skill, low-wage economy gathers apace without any meaningful intervention from the Scottish or UK governments."

Scotland's Business Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: "I am disappointed to hear that Terex Equipment Ltd has entered into a consultation period with employees at its Motherwell site with a view to making 65 of the 335 staff at the site redundant.

"This will be a very difficult time for those affected, their families and the local area and we understand this reflects on-going market conditions being faced by a company that has a good track record in its sector.

"Scottish Enterprise has arranged a meeting with the company to discuss this announcement and to explore all possible options there may be to support the business through this challenging period and to protect employment in Motherwell.

"Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE), the Scottish Government's initiative for responding to redundancy situations, has contacted the company to offer support in the unfortunate event that redundancies proceed and is in discussion with management at Terex to agree how best to support affected employees."