Following its acquisition of DS Smith earlier this year, International Paper confirmed the proposed closure of five of its UK packaging sites last month, with almost 140 jobs at risk at box plant Clay Cross.
Unite represents the engineers at the site, while most other staff are members of the GMB trade union.
Printweek reported earlier this week that DS Smith had confirmed International Paper’s proposal also related to sheet plants in Plymouth, Newcastle, Sheerness, and Wellingborough.
The company has also proposed the relocation of its Milton Keynes business, the move from 24-7 to 24-5 operations at its Burscough site, and a small headcount reduction at its sites in Redditch and Launceston.
The closure of the five sites could affect around 300 roles by the end of 2025.
In a statement released on Wednesday (18 June), Unite said that earlier this year, International Paper released a financial report which stated higher sales and earnings, primarily driven by the DS Smith acquisition.
The union said the Clay Cross site is one of the largest employers in the local area and was among DS Smith’s highest performing sites in the UK, winning accolades for its outstanding performance in both operational success and health and safety.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers who were given assurances that their jobs would be safe now face paying the price for a profitable company’s greed. It is an utter disgrace that International Paper is playing fast and loose with workers’ livelihoods.
“Unite is prepared to fight every step of the way to protect our hardworking members’ jobs at Clay Cross.”
The union said a key deciding factor in Clay Cross having been selected over other plants for closure was that it reportedly required infrastructure investment in the short term, the most significant factor being a new roof, which was recommended following a visual inspection of the building in 2021.
However, it added the site team had been managing the roof for a number of years and were not currently asking for it to be replaced.
Unite regional officer Larry McGlinchey added: “The potential loss of so many well paid jobs in the area will be devastating to our members, their families and the local community.
“Unite will support our members all the way and overturn this ridiculous decision to close a profitable factory.”
Union GMB told Printweek earlier this week that the proposed closure of the Clay Cross site was “a bolt out of the blue” and that another consultation meeting had been planned for today (20 June).
One worker from the site told Printweek this week: “We gave DS Smith/IP reasons why it should not be Clay Cross [closing], and they just said it’s lack of capacity in the UK. They gave us reasons of lack of investment (…) and quoted that we wanted a new roof.”
He added he felt that more profitable added value, two and three-colour work had been taken away from Clay Cross and given to other sites, leaving it with one-colour work that was harder to make money on “unless we really churn it out”.
The worker confirmed the site had also just received a safety award for going five years without an accident.
International Paper employs more than 65,000 staff and has operations in over 30 countries. Its net sales for 2024 were $18.6bn (£13.8m).
