Scores of jobs 'at risk' after US firm's packaging site takeover

WORKERS FACING SUMMER OF 'UNCERTAINTY' OVER PROPOSED WAREHOUSE AXE

- By OSCAR FISHER

MORE than 130 Derbyshire jobs are reportedly at risk at a packaging site after it was taken over by a major American firm earlier this year.

Frustrated workers at the DS Smith warehouse in Clay Cross say they now face a summer of “uncertainty” after bosses announced the proposed closure of the Pilsley Road factory back in May.

Since then, there have been a number of meetings between employees, union representatives and a local MP after a consultation process began in spring.

It comes after DS Smith, a multinational packaging business with headquarters in London, was acquired by American firm International Paper earlier this year.

Senior GMB Union representative and longstanding employee at the site, John Smith, who has worked at the factory for nearly two decades, says the company released a statement earlier this year proposing the closure of the site.

This was apparently followed by meetings with representatives from International Paper, but Mr Smith says that there appears to be “further confusion” over the company’s decision to close the factory, with “contrasting information” communicated to staff.