Redundant Aberdeen paper mill workers set to take legal action

Workers attended a meeting on Tuesday afternoon

Workers at an Aberdeen paper mill who suddenly lost their jobs last week are set to take legal action.

Stoneywood paper mill - which has operated for more than 250 years - went into administration last Thursday with the loss of more than 300 jobs.

The Unite union said workers were not properly consulted over the decision.

It organised a mass meeting with solicitors on Tuesday afternoon to also cover areas such as redundancy pay outs and unpaid wages.

Staff said workers were told on Thursday afternoon to attend a meeting an hour later and were then informed administrators had been appointed.

• Read more stories from North East Scotland, Orkney and Shetland

• Paper mill redundancies 'a hammer blow' for staff

• Paper mill administration leads to 300 job losses

Scottish Enterprise has given the mill owners more than £12m worth of support over the last three years.

In 2019, the business was sold to a new parent company, securing the jobs at the mill.

However, administrators have now been appointed at the Arjowiggins Group mills at Stoneywood, as well as Chartham, Kent, with 368 of the group's 463 UK-based employees made redundant immediately.

'Completely out the blue'

A total of 301 out of the 372 members of staff in Aberdeen were made redundant.

Across the two sites 95 staff were retained to continue limited activity while the administrators explore the possibility that the mills and assets could be sold.

Paul Kissen, from Thompsons Solicitors, briefed those present on Tuesday afternoon.

He told BBC Scotland: "They were dismissed without any consultation whatsoever, and there's a duty on employers to carry out what's called a collective consultation where they are proposing to dismiss 20 or more people from a single workplace.

"In this case the redundancies came completely out the blue, and that means the employees are all entitled to claim a protective award, of up to 90 days' pay per employee."

The joint administrators did not wish to make any comment on any legal action that may be taken.

The mill had been bought for an undisclosed sum in September 2019 by subsidiaries of a new venture, Creative Paper Holdings Ltd.