NO SUPPORT FOR PENRYN WORKERS ON THREE DAY WEEK (Julia Goldsworthy)

Julia Goldsworthy <info@juliagoldsworthy.org>

NO SUPPORT FOR PENRYN WORKERS ON THREE DAY WEEK

November 30, 2009 1:00 PM

Julia Goldsworthy with manufacturing workers Madeline Blight and Shelley Bennetts

Julia Goldsworthy MP is pressing the Government to help manufacturing workers in Penryn who have been put on a three day week due to the recession. She is calling on Ministers to help the "hidden victims" of the recession who are struggling to make ends meet because their hours have been reduced.

Julia was contacted by two employees from Phi @ Falmouth, who asked her to intervene after their working hours were nearly halved as a result of the downturn. The employees, Madeline Blight, from Penryn and Shelley Bennetts, from Falmouth, have both been working at the company for over 18 years. But since July they have been working a three day week.

Under current legislation, they work too few hours to receive tax credits and too many for Job Seekers Allowance, and they also do not qualify for redundancy. Julia raised their case in Parliament last week, as part of the debate on the Queen's Speech. Mrs Bennetts and Mrs Blight are both skilled workers who work in a team making magnetic recording heads, mainly for the banking industry.

But since July they have had their weekly hours reduced from 40 to 26, with no prospect of an increase on the horizon. They say that 13 other workers in the firm have also been put on "short time."

Mrs Bennetts said: "Even if the Government don't make up the amount of money that we have lost, a little bit would help."

Ms Goldsworthy said it was a "cruel irony" that while the banks received a multi-billion bail out from the Government, local workers who lose their hours due to the recession get no compensation. Last week she raised the case in Parliament and has now written to Trade Secretary Peter Mandelson calling for emergency action to be taken.

Julia said: "There must be thousands of skilled workers across Cornwall who are now in a similar position to Madeline and Shelley. Their company doesn't want to lose them because of their skills, but due to a fall in demand from the recession, they have been forced to reduce their hours.

"It is a cruel irony in this case that the firm's main customers are banks, who have recently received billions of pounds in Government cash - yet local workers get nothing. I believe this situation is unacceptable - it is the responsibility of the Government to make provision for workers like Madeline and Shelley. They are hidden victims of the recession, who don't feature in unemployment statistics, but are much worse off because of the current economic situation.

"It's time the government recognised the difficulties they faced and did more to ensure that workers and local businesses get the support they need to help them through these tough times."