We appear to be in calmer waters but they are just as troubled in another way. I have never spoken on an Adjournment debate before but I will not take 20 minutes to say what I have to. There is a firm in Athlone called CMI which was previously called Gulf and Western. There were great hopes for the firm when it started. CMI is a subsidiary of a very large American company with its home base in Oklahoma. Hopes were further raised when they announced their plans to go ahead in Athlone and said they hoped to increase the work force.
The work force in CMI has steadily diminished since last autumn and there are now approximately 54 people employed. This company make gear cutting equipment and one of the main reasons for the proposed closure is that stock is piled up in America and has remained so due to the oil glut on the international market. The stock-piling is in Oklahoma and it will take 18 months to clear. As a result, the Athlone plant is to reduce its work force to about six employees. The fears of the work force are very real. I met them, the managing director and representatives of the staff associations and unions in the factory. They are, as the Minister will understand, in common with other workers who face unemployment bewildered and troubled.
The workers have a strong sense of purpose. I know they met the Minister recently and were very pleased with his kind reception of them. They found him very well briefed and aware of what was happening. They have the most up-to-date equipment and machinery in the world for this operation. They have the skills needed. They have put it to me and to the Minister that they are available to do subcontracting work. There are markets available for this product but they must be identified. The workers cannot go out and seek markets but they believe they have a good product. If they could get subcontracting work to tide them over the 18 months it is estimated will clear the Oklahoma pile up, CMI would then be able to use the machinery and the work force could perhaps be expanded so that what started out as a disaster could become a productive plant.
I know the Minister is as eager to help as I am and that he is fully aware of the position. I was born and bred in Athlone. It is an area which has a long tradition of factory work. My father was managing director for a number of years of General Textiles Limited. We lived over the shop so to speak. We grew up in an industrial atmosphere. In its day this cotton industry employed over 980 people. It was the mainstay of the industrial life of the town. However, with the advent of new fibres, particularly synthetics, the factory employed fewer people until now only a few remain. Athlone got replacement industries which are good employers but in the last few months there has been a decline. We had the near disaster of Athlone Apparel which at present is just about there. This shock and the shock of CMI have sent great waves of disquiet through the town. We are reminded of the bad old days when Gentex deployed its work force and practically had to close its doors. As one who grew up in the industrial scene I want to see the jobs stay in Athlone.
The work force of the factory are highly skilled. As I said, they are utterly bewildered particularly some Scottish workers who were only recruited in the last few months and told that their future was bright. It may sound naive to the Minister but the workers think CMI can be viable in the short term if they get subcontracting work. They want the Minister to liaise with other agencies who can go out and find markets for their products. They have been told by the managerial staff that the long-term prognosis for CMI when the Oklahoma pile up disappears is good. However, in the meantime the factory will close and only a skeleton staff of five or six people will be kept for a few months.
I tried to raise this matter by way of Private Notice Question yesterday but it was judged not to be so urgent. Tonight was the best occasion on which to raise it because there are still two weeks of reprieve for this factory. I ask the Minister to please do what he can. They are a highly trained and skilled work force. It is a very modern plant and kept in an immaculate state. Most of the work force are young and have families. They have settled in and around Athlone and many of them have mortgages. We have an industrial work ethic in Athlone. I ask the Minister to please try to do everything he can in the fortnight which is left. Athlone is depending not alone on the retention of what is already in CMI but ultimately on the growth promised for this factory. They have been told that £5 million of special investment was put into the plant and machinery in CMI to enable the company to have, as they have, the most advanced machinery and most highly skilled work force possible. I will be interested to hear what the Minister has to say. The staff and the unions were glad to meet him recently and I hope that his interest in this industry has been maintained.
