If the Government wants to take this problem seriously then serious decisions must be made says GMB.
GMB have commented on the announcement that Forterra Brick will mothball two of its North West factories resulting in job losses. This is the second time that the Forterra Brick Company has mothballed factories. In early 2010, the company closed similar sites in Huncoat and Claughton before reopening them in 2014.
The company announced that the closing of the plants in Lancaster and Accrington was “prudent action” and that the plants would close for an unspecified amount of time in order to “continue to meet customers' needs while effectively managing our costs and cash position.”
Fortera manufactures a number of building supplies including bricks, chimneys and walling and cladding systems.
Hyndburn Council Leader, Miles Parkinson, and the GMB Trade Union have called upon the government to support the local brick industries.
Paul McCarthy, GMB Regional Secretary, said "Clearly there needs to be a complete sea change in Government policy with regard to the House Building programme which the UK desperately needs.
Imported bricks are still coming into the UK at an unprecedented and alarming rate. In 2014 brick imports accounted for 25% of sales in the UK representing £80 million per year to the UK economy and these imports have meant that future investment is becoming difficult to forge and is increasingly unsteady.
We call on the UK Government to act in defence of the UK brick industry to give both stability and continuity to this important industry.
We also call for a major push on UK social housing which for two long has been ignored by successive governments, after all its not that there is nobody in the UK wanting housing. Many young people for instance are not on the housing ladder because of the extortionate house prices.
- Faye Malone
