Motorola axes 3,000 Scottish jobs

More than 3,000 Motorola workers are to lose their jobs

WEST LOTHIAN, Scotland -- U.S. electronics giant Motorola has confirmed plans to axe more than 3,000 jobs in Scotland.

A statement from the company said it planned to close the Bathgate plant in West Lothian, where mobile phones are made.

It said the proposal "potentially" affected all of the 3,100 employees at the site, although a final decision has yet to be made.

"No other Motorola facilities in Scotland or the rest of the UK are affected by this proposal," the statement added.

Motorola blamed the decision on a global decline in the demand for mobile phones, which was highlighted last month when it announced cutbacks of up to 7,000 jobs worldwide in the personal communications sector.

"Today's proposal forms part of that action," said the statement.

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The company said it had come to the decision only after long and complex deliberations, and weighing up "a huge number" of considerations.

"Motorola has been a substantial inward investor in the UK for 34 years and expects, even if the Easter Inch facility is closed, to remain a major force in the UK electronics sector in the future," the statement continued.

It acknowledged the "proposal" would cause concern for the Bathgate workforce.

Workers learned of the news during a meeting at the plant Tuesday morning.

Union leaders reacted with anger, demanding that Motorola hand back £20 million ($29m) worth of UK government grants it has received over the past two years.

Danny Carrigan, Scottish regional secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, described the news as a "kick in the teeth" and said the whole Bathgate community, which depended on the plant, would be destroyed as a result.

Roger Lyons, general secretary of the Manufacturing Science and Finance union, accused the company of taking the "easier and cheaper" option of sacking workers in the UK rather than elsewhere in Europe. He accused Motorola of misleading the workforce that their jobs were secure.

News of the closure came despite the personal intervention of the prime minister.

Tony Blair had spoken to Motorola president Chris Galvin when news of closure plans first emerged on April 10.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister regrets the job losses and sees it as a bitter blow for the whole community."

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said he was "bitterly disappointed" at the decision and accused the electronics giant of creating a "human tragedy."

"They have chosen to close the more productive and the more profitable plant," he said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

"I have already spoken to Motorola and demanded that they help us respond to the human tragedy they have created. The first priority now must be to find new opportunities for the workforce," he added.

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