Unite Sets Up Campaign At Cadbury's After Campaign To Save Diegeo Ends

Unite is opposoing Kraft’s hostile bid to takeover of Cadbury.

Unite union will launch a “Keep Cadbury Independent” campaign and write to shareholders, politicians and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, arguing that a takeover would threaten jobs and the company’s future.

According to Tribune, West Midlands Labour MPs are discussing how to oppose the move, with a member of the Government declaring that a takeover would not be in Cadbury’s best interests.

Unite has been concerned about job losses since Kraft announced it was bidding to buy Cadbury, which employs 6,200 staff in Britain and Ireland. Cadbury is expected to reject the purchase offer on Monday.

Unite said there was “nothing in Kraft’s revised bid which persuades us this is a good deal. We’ll be setting out why independence for Cadbury is best for workers and stability”.

Meanwhile the campaign at Diageo is being wound down after Unite secured a much improved redundancy deal for the 900 workers who will lose their jobs when plants at Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, and the Port Dundas grain distillery in Glasgow close.

In July 20,000 people marched through Kilmarnock to support efforts to keep the sites open.

But the campaign to save the jobs ended as Unite said it had achieved a redundancy package which was a "far better deal" than originally offerred.

Diegeo said the job losses would be off-set by the creation of up to 400 new jobs at a packaging plant in Fife.