Former Indesit employee from Dwygyfylchi angry at treatment

Mar 18 2010 by Eva Ketley, North Wales Weekly News

A FORMER Indesit employee has blasted the company for its treatment of ex-employees.

The washing machine plant in Bodelwyddan closed its doors for the final time last August, with the loss of 300 jobs.

The Italian company, who had bought out Hotpoint, decided to move the entire manufacturing operation to Poland to save on costs.

The shutdown came after a consultation period and months of campaigns by workers and politicians who wanted to find a way to keep the plant running which, in its heyday, thrived with more than 2,000 employees.

Eifion Davies, who lives in Dwygyfylchi, says he’ll never forget the day the factory closed.

He said: “The mood at the factory was terrible as one of the workers collapsed and died on the day.

“Many workers even stripped off their overalls and left them at the site.

“I worked 33 years for the company, basically all my working life as I haven’t been able to find work since.”

Before the redundancies all Indesit employees were issued with a discount card called Trade Card Plus. This entitled employees to a 10% discount when buying any Indesit products such as washing machine or a freezer.

However, when Eifion came to use his card last week, it wouldn’t work.

He said: “I was using the card for a friend who has really helped me out during the last few months.

“I put my payroll number in as directed but it just wouldn’t work.

“As far as I understood it the card was for life.

“If the company has stopped this small benefit after all the years I’ve worked for them then I think it’s disgusting.”

He added: “I know people who are retired or left the company can still use theirs so why can’t we?”

A spokeswoman from Indesit said: “Indesit Company can confirm that only current and retired employees are entitled to the staff discount offered through the trade card plus scheme.

“This was communicated to staff at Kimnel Park prior to the closure.”

Eifion, 50, commented: “They didn’t say anything about this to us when we got our redundancy notices.

“I’ve spoken to other past employees, but many have told me they haven’t tried using their cards because they would never buy an Indesit product ever again after what happened to us.

“I think the British public should boycott Indesit products.”