Stoneywood Paper Mill workers win legal action

29/11/2023
Stoneymill Paper Mill

FIVE former Stoneywood Paper Mill workers have won a legal claim after arguing they were made redundant without proper consultation.

The 250-year-old mill entered administration in September 2022, with 301 of 372 staff losing their jobs due to rising energy costs and other pressures.

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But a judge has now ruled that the five workers who made the claims against their former employers are entitled to compensation, capped at eight-weeks pay.

It’s expected that separate legal action, carried forward by Unite the Union on behalf of around 300 workers, on the same consultation period will be ruled on shortly, however lawyer Paul Kissen, from Thompsons Solicitors, says he expects that outcome to be the same.

Mr Kissen, who’s representing the former workers, told BBC Scotland News: “There should have been a period of 45 days in which the union was consulted in order to identify ways to avoid, reduce or mitigate the consequences of the redundancies – for example, looking for other job opportunities for people, and having meetings with people who were able to say what was going on.

“The administrators failed in their statutory duty to carry out a collective consultation process with these employees before they made everyone redundant.”

Mr Kissen said he expected the ruling on the Unite action to be issued “imminently”.

“It is all too common that workers who have been working at a company, in some cases for decades are all dismissed without any warning,” he added.

“In a situation where a company goes out of business, they should still have the consultation, rather than just being dismissed out of the blue as soon as the ship has all but sunk.”

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