260 jobs to go at Heysham power plant WORKERS at Heysham's power stations were left shell shocked this week after hundreds of job cuts were announced. The first of the 260 job losses by Nuclear Electric are expected to go in the next few months just before Christmas. They will be phased out over a three-year period at both Heysham 1 and 2 in a major cost-cutting exercise which has hit workers across the country.

Tony Capp, director of Heysham 2, told the Citizen the cuts will affect managers and workers alike. He said: "The workforce's response was measured, it did not come as a surprise to many of them.

"We have to get away from this notion that the losses are a new thing - we've been reducing staff over the last year.

But union bosses have reacted angrily to the announcement. They say the cost-cutting exercises are designed to line the pockets of shareholders since privatisation took place in July.

Power workers' union spokesman Peter McDermott said: "We feel we have been betrayed. We have put the company in the position it's in today. The staff are the company's major asset and today's job cuts have dealt them all a major blow."

Most of the employees are expected to take voluntary redundancy.

"The redundancies will be voluntary and selective and we'll face the question of compulsory redundancies when we come to it, added Mr Capp.

Nuclear Electric, which is part of British Energy, will reward workers who are made redundant with severance pay and support groups will be set up for advice.

Mr Capp said finally: "The job cuts will allow us to take the remaining 850 staff left into the next century and the money saved will be reinvested. We have to look at the market and we're mindful of demands for cheaper electricity and competition. But the losses won't compromise safety and we will retain the skilled people we need."

The latest news comes after Nuclear Electric chiefs shelved plans to build a combined gas turbine power station at Heysham.

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