A north-east MSP has demanded answers from the Scottish Government about the long-running Young’s Seafood saga.
The food processing giants are in the process of cutting hundreds of jobs at their Fraserburgh factory following the loss of a major contract.
In November, it was claimed by Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald that, while jobs were being lost in the north-east, the company that beat Young’s to the lucrative salmon contract – Marine Harvest – was outsourcing work to Poland.
Now, Mr Macdonald has called on the Deputy First Minister and finance secretary John Swinney to reveal what progress has been made by the government.
Mr Macdonald said: “John Swinney and his SNP colleagues have had more than enough time to investigate the situation at Marine Harvest, and to establish Sainsbury’s response to reports that their salmon products are being supplied from outside Scotland and processed in Poland and France.
“This situation is a real mess and it is the workers at Young’s in Fraserburgh who are suffering. It is time ministers gave them clear answers.”
In the wake of the summer announcement that Young’s was considering pulling out of Fraserburgh altogether, throwing nearly 1,000 jobs into doubt, the Scottish Government launched a special taskforce to support workers.
In an effort to get people back into work when the cuts are made, a jobs fair will be held in the town on January 28. The team has also said it is working to help secure new seafood processing contracts for Grimsby-based firm Young’s.
However Mr Macdonald said the taskforce has not met since October and will not meet again until January, by which time more than 100 employees will be only days from redundancy.
He added: “Workers deserve more than a deafening silence.”
The Scottish Government responded to his criticism last night, arguing they were doing their utmost to protect jobs in the north east.
“A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We continue to make every effort to support Young’s staff. We are working directly with the company and key partners to help in any way that we can.
“Our initiative for responding to redundancy situations, Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (PACE) is providing on-site skills development and employability support to all Young’s Seafood staff.
“The Fraserburgh Task Force is working on an Economic Recovery Plan to secure alternative employment for affected Young’s workers and to create sustainable, long term employment in the area.
The next meeting of the Task Force is scheduled for January 29.