The following probably will not come as much of a shock to those of us who have been following Heinz and HP Foods in the news as of late. Needless to say, it may very well be the time to really step up efforts in the boycott of Heinz and HP products!

After meeting with the Directors of the American based food giant Heinz, Birmingham council bosses report that Heinz has flatly rejected a detailed proposal to replace the famous HP Sauce factory at Aston Cross. The rejection came after Heinz revealed that the proposed figures were apparently not up to snuff with expectations.

The Transport & General Workers Union which has been fighting the closure of the HP Sauce factory is now taking the fight to Holland where shop stewards and plant officials will meet next week to persuade their Dutch colleagues to help block Heinz plans to make HP Sauce at that location.

“They will be calling on sister unions to abide by international workers’ conventions to hinder the switching of production between countries without agreement.

The decision to reject the proposal by Birmingham City Council is a huge blow to all who have backed the efforts to keep the Birmingham HP Sauce factory from closure.

Heinz director Nigel Dickie: “Despite all the considerable efforts of Birmingham City Council and Coun Ken Hardeman’s team, as well as MP Khalid Mahmood, there is really not enough to deliver much assistance that is going to change the proposals in terms of keeping Aston open.

There is another option which the council worked very hard on which is new build. We have had a chance to look into that in greater detail with the council.
Clearly it doesn’t offer the kind of savings the current proposal of closure offers of £2.5 million a year.

Having been through the numbers that the council had on new build, ultimately it would require a £20 million investment from us after grant assistance and require 12-15 years break even time.”

Meanwhile, John Jordan – the acting T&G food industry secretary has stated that the union never did have faith that the move of the Aston factory to Holland would be either economic or efficient. The discussions with Dutch colleagues however would be “absolutely crucial, pivital� in keeping the Birmingham factory open.

“All the talks we have had with Heinz seem to suggest they are hell bent on a certain course of action, which is closure of Aston Cross.” – John Jordan

Source: Birmingham Mail

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