First Minister to "explore all options" to help Carron Phoenix workforce
Plans to close the factory in Falkirk were confirmed yesterday
Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to explore all possible options to help workers facing redundancy from the closure of Falkirk manufacturer Carron Phoenix.
The First Minister said the Scottish Government will make a similar effort to protect jobs as its negotiation of the sale of the Dalzell and Clydebridge steel plants.
Ms Sturgeon met with representatives of the Carron workforce at the STUC annual congress in Dundee on Tuesday.
Following the meeting, she said: This is a very a difficult time for the workforce at Carron, their families and the wider community in Falkirk.
I met earlier today with representatives of the workforce and gave them a personal commitment that I will do everything I can to help secure a future for the site.
We will engage closely with the company, unions and the workforce to consider all possible options, with the protection of jobs our priority.
The SNP has a strong track record in standing up for Scottish industry - with steel plants at Dalzell and Clydebridge recently saved from closure through positive action by the Scottish Government.
In the same way as we did for steel, we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to secure a future for the Carron site and protect the jobs that depend on it.''
Carron Phoenix owner Franke Artemis, a Swiss conglomerate, announced on Monday that full production will be relocated from Falkirk to Slovakia by the end of 2017.
The firm now manufactures granite sinks but once made cannons used by Wellington at Waterloo, the Royal Mail's red postboxes and the iron casings which line the Clyde tunnel.