Almost 50 out of the current number of 180 employees of MMP in Bootle are to be dismissed by March, according to a spokesperson of the British trade union Unite. Vienna-based Mayr-Melnhof Group did not comment on the number of redundancies or the timeframe. However, the group confirmed that the Bootle facility had been affected by temporary strikes since February 10. Latest media reports indicate that the staff has been locked out of the plant on Saturday, February 18.
Mayr-Melnhof justifies the redundancies as necessary by referring to the difficult conditions of the UK packaging market. According to the company, the situation is characterised by high wage costs on the one hand and a shrinking consumer goods industry. As a consequence, competition had risen massively in the course of the past few years, the company said.
