Willing to engage but it must be seriously (From Andover Advertiser)

Willing to engage but it must be seriously

2:31pm Friday 5th February 2010

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)

I write in response to the letter by Councillor Giddings in your edition dated 29/01/10. I do not know how many times I have to say this but Cllr Giddings seems not to hear.

We do not want councillors to bleat on about the people/organisations such as SEEDA and Job Centre Plus etc. What we want our councillors to do is acknow-ledge that what Twinings is doing is wrong, and support us in saving our jobs.

Cllr Giddings, it seems, would rather support Twinings in making 130 employees redundant.

It is all very well bringing the above people and organisations to a meeting but this does nothing to support the people he is supposed to be representing.

Surely we invite these people when every other avenue as been explored. Even Sir George Young, on page three of the same edition, can be quoted as saying: “We need to explore the scope and flexibility in their proposals, to minimise the number of jobs lost - and if possible avoid any redundancies."

I did take time to attend the Councillors’ Forum at the Guildhall on 25 January and was astounded by Cllr Giddings’ attitude to the job losses.

He stood up at the meeting in reply to several questions put to the forum and publicly stated that only 80 people where being made redundant. That was a disgraceful thing to say in my opinion and I made my thoughts known at the meeting. He is wrong both morally and factually. Firstly the ‘only 80’ are in fact 130 here in Andover and 263 in North Shields although I accept that North Shields are not a part of his jurisdiction.

I was especially disappointed with the blasé way this statement was made, as this is in fact 130 families that will be effected, not just employees. Also for every one person affected at Twinings five others will be affected indirectly too. So Cllr Giddings, I say to you that we will engage with all parties as Sir George Young asked, but you have to engage both seriously and sensibly and not with the usual Tory attitude to working people and business. It will not do.

Peter Millward, Wessex Gardens, Andover.

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Comments(0)