Alcan workers face an uncertain time

TGWU officer Jeff Woods claimed the work was simply being moved to plants abroad.

The announcement came exactly a year after the company had said it was make 210 workers redundant.

Branch secretary Jeff Woods said it was a "devastating and bitter blow to the workers."

"Every 12 months, I usually get a Christmas card - I seem to be getting threats of job losses every year now.

"As years have gone by, we have changed our skills and trained only to find we are losing hundreds of jobs.

"It's going to devastate the community; Rogerstone grew on the back of Alcan."

Plant commitment

He claimed the plant near Newport had borne an unfair portion of the company's international cutbacks.

Mr Woods said five to seven percent redundancies were promised world-wide while Rogerstone was suffering 50%.

But Alcan said the Rogerstone plant is on course to make losses of �14m this year and said something needed to be done.

We've had up to 3,200 job losses in 2001 - that's quite a heavy blow for Newport to take all at once

Carol Leslie, Newport County Borough Council

A spokeswoman said that, despite the difficulties, the company remained committed to the future of the Rogerstone plant.

The company - which has plants worldwide - recently invested �20m in its hot mill production facility.

News of the redundancies was broken to workers at lunchtime on Tuesday, following talks with management and union leaders.

The job cuts follow the news last month that fellow aluminium company Alcoa was to shut its north Wales plant at Dolgarrog in the Conwy Valley and its plant in Swansea next summer with the loss of 227 jobs.

The Alcan workforce is highly-skilled and well paid and the cutbacks will be seen as an economic blow to the area.

A spokeswoman said the factory needed to "refocus" and reduce the number of products and the central business.

Economic blow

Newport County Borough Council's Carol Leslie said: "We've had up to 3,200 job losses in 2001 - that's quite a heavy blow for Newport to take all at once.

"We've very much depending on the Welsh Assembly to come forward with a significant financial package that will stimulate economic regeneration in the area."

Some packages are already being deployed in the region after Corus cutbacks, announced in February.

The first 110 Alcan jobs will be lost in the middle of 2002. The remainder will go by January 2003.

The cuts will leave just 284 working at the site.

Last December, Alcan laid off workers when it closed its foiled mill, blaming competition from aboard and the strength of the pound.

The site supplies hot rolled aluminium sheets which are used within Europe for everything from kitchen foil to car panels.

Alcan said the Rogerstone factory would refocus and reduce the number of products being manufactured.