Talks On Paper Mill Job Cuts.

A French-based executive is travelling to Lochaber today to meet union representatives at a paper mill where 58 employees are to be made redundant. Arjo Wiggins' personnel director Chantal Martin may also meet senior members of Highland Council and Lochaber Enterprise officials. Representatives from both agencies and the three unions at the Corpach paper mill have expressed shock at Friday's redundancy announcement and have called for talks. The company is to lay off 28 employees by the end of next month and a further 30 before the end of September in the wake of worrying financial returns. No public announcement of the cuts has yet been made but in a letter to employees the company said its fixed costs must decrease sharply if it was to compete profitably in a competitive market. The council, enterprise agency and JobCentre have meanwhile agreed to pool resources and work jointly to help those affected find new jobs or retraining. Highland MP David Stewart, and Lochaber MSP Fergus Ewing also want to know why redundancies are being declared, just months after the company was awarded a Ј5million Department of Trade and Industry grant towards the cost of building a Ј23million renewable energy plant at Corpach. Unemployment in Lochaber is currently at an all-time low with just 2.7 of the workforce seeking jobs. However, vacancies which exist are mainly in the seasonal tourist industry. Mr Ewing yesterday hit out at the company's handling of the redundancies which, he said, had been "extremely bad." He added: "Now that they are eventually coming to meet the workforce and agencies, I trust they will give a very clear statement on the future of the plant and the financial packages they will provide for those being made redundant." He said he would also be raising in the Scottish Parliament whether the Ј5million DTI grant should be paid to a company that proceeded to lay off a massive proportion of its workforce.