Help at hand if redundancies hit (From Chard & Ilminster News)

Help at hand if redundancies hit

9:18am Wednesday 6th February 2008 in Chard By News reporter

UNION officials are to offer help and support to those workers who might find themselves being made redundant from major Chard employer Oscar Mayer.

The company, which produces ready meals for Sainsbury's and employs about 800 people, confirmed last week that a jobs review of its supervisory structure is to be carried out.This has come about because of fluctuating orders, utility costs and an increase in raw material prices.The company's human resources manager, Mike Thomas, said around a dozen jobs could be lost as a result of the review.Now, the branch secretary of the Somerset General GMB Union, Colin Rolfe, has told The News he will be looking to provide help for those who might find themselves looking for a new job.He said: "Once again, one of our town's major employers, Oscar Mayer, has been forced to instigate a round of redundancies because of costs and in order to remain competitive."Redundancy is becoming an ever-increasing prospect for many people and to this end, as secretary for our branch here in Somerset, I will be adding a page to our website to assist members in practical terms with contacts and links to agencies in order to assist in the search for new employment along with help in CV writing."He added that he hoped Oscar Mayer would also help those people who may be affected by possible redundancy in finding new employment.l Human resources manager Mike Thomas told the Chard and Ilminster News that the job review process was on-going' and there was nothing new to report.