12 Jan. 2024: Unite the union has secured a likely £1m-plus payout for former workers at Arjowiggins’ Stoneywood Mill.

Arjowiggins Group’s UK operations – including the historic mills at Stoneywood in Aberdeen and Chartham in Kent – collapsed into administration in September 2022 after the business became unsustainable in the face of spiralling costs for energy and raw materials.

Yesterday (11 January), an employment tribunal accepted around 300 protective award claims made on behalf of the Stoneywood employees.

Unite worked with Thompsons Solicitors Scotland to support the claims against Arjowiggins Scotland for its failure to enact a 45-day consultation period for workers in a redundancy situation.

The judgement covers all manual workers dismissed on 22 September 2022 and in the 90 day period after that.

Unite said that it believed the average compensation award per worker was likely to be around £4,000, which means the total award will amount to some £1.2m.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham commented: “It’s terrible news when any company goes into administration and workers lose their jobs.

“However, when a company like Arjowiggins fails to obey the law, then Unite will hold them to account. We are pleased to finally secure some justice and financial compensation for the Stoneywood paper mill workers.”

The Stoneywood mill had been making paper since 1770 and specialised in fine papers, while Chartham had been in operation since 1738 and made translucent papers.

When they went into administration the businesses had employed 463 people in the UK, of which 368 were laid off immediately.

At the time of writing it was not clear whether a similar claim has been lodged on behalf of Chartham workers.
by Jo Francis, Printweek