Thirty-five employees have so far lost their jobs at one of Fife’s oldest engineering firms, it has emerged.
The Courier revealed earlier this year how changes at Pfaudler Balfour were expected to lead to redundancies at the firm’s Leven plant, with some work being transferred to Germany.
While the company has remained relatively tight-lipped about its plans and the impact on the 128 staff at Leven, annual accounts have now revealed that a “formal plan” for the termination of 35 employees has already been finalised.
Those staff members are expected to be paid a total amount of £440,775, although it is unclear how many more employees will be affected in the coming weeks and months.
The news comes after around 70 workers were apparently told not to turn up for work one day last month – a move branded “shoddy” and “disgraceful” by local councillor Tom Adams, given that the factory has been in Leven for 200 years.
The GMB union warned back in February that jobs could be lost, although that was initially denied by the firm at the time.
However, the company eventually confirmed that a large section of its work could be transferred to Europe.
Annual accounts show that the decision to transfer the production of Original Equipment from Leven to Schwetzingen in Germany was made on March 21, with the process due to be completed by June 30.
No-one at Pfaudler Balfour was available for comment, but the company has previously stated it will not close the Leven plant – adding that it wants to grow the Edlon, Engineering Services and Reglass work currently ongoing at the site.