Cummins to axe 100 jobs

Jul 3 2008 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

WORKERS at engineering firm Cummins’s Darlington plant have been “shell-shocked” by the news that 100 jobs are being axed, according to the union representing staff at the engine maker.

The US-owned company – the world’s biggest independent maker of diesel engines – has announced plans to make 20 employees and 80 temporary shop floor workers redundant at the County Durham factory which employs around 1,000.

It has started the statutory three-month consultation with staff and the Unite union, which represents around 85%-90% of the workers at the factory. The company, which had worldwide sales of £6.5bn last year, said the redundancies were due to reduced engine demand in the final quarter of the year.

The statement added: “This reduction in demand is not unexpected and has been forecast since the beginning of the year. It has been communicated to the employees on a regular basis. We are seeing some softening in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, but this is in line with our expectations.

“A portion of the reduction in Darlington business is not lost to Cummins, as some business is transferring to alternative Cummins products built in other global locations.”

Mike Routledge, regional officer with Unite, said the reaction among staff to the announcement was one of “shell-shock”, especially as the business appeared to have a full order book.

He said: “We are disappointed that the company has felt the need to reduce the permanent work force and concerned that this has happened in the middle of annual wage negotiations. We will vigorously fight any compulsory redundancies and support our members in any action they choose to take.”

Cummins spokesman Steve Nendick said some work had been moved from the North East factory to other sites within the group because customers had ordered different products.

“Those products are not built in Darlington,” he said. “We have more than 20 different models of engines.” But he stressed that the County Durham factory remained an important part of the group’s plans.

“As far as Cummins as a corporation is concerned, we hit a record $13bn in 2007 and our target is to grow our global business to £20bn. Darlington is a part of that. We are still looking to grow our business.

“We have taken on more than 200 people in total in the last couple of years, so overall there has been a net gain.”

Cummins has just won an award from the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, recognising is efforts in recruiting women to the workforce. The diversity and inclusion accolade recognised more than a quarter of the Darlington workforce is made up of women.