Twinings bid to hire cheap labour thwarted

Twinings, the firm founded by Thomas Twining, who opened a tearoom on the Strand in 1706, but now owned by Associated British Foods, has been outmanoeuvred in its attempt to dump British workers in favour of cheap foreign labour – and get its snout into the public trough.

by Keith Richmond
Monday, June 13th, 2011

The company made 400 workers redundant at Andover and North Shields after moving production “offshore” to Poland to reduce costs. But after a campaign by left-wing MEPs and trade unions, Twinings has been turned down by the EU in its brazen bid for a £10 million grant to cover the company’s “start-up” costs.

Derek Kotz, secretary of Andover Trades Union Council, said: “It would have added insult to injury if Twinings workers’ taxes had been used to help the employer that dumped them exploit labour paid a quarter of the union-negotiated rates here.”

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About The Author

Keith Richmond is deputy editor of Tribune
  • Anonymous

    The question has to be asked; Why are Britsih workers pricing themselves out of the market? Not just in Tea but in practically everything else. Until a satisfactory answer can be given manufacturing and industry will continue to decline. We have to compete in a global market, improve quality and delivery as wel as preserving good standards in pay and conditions.

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