THE FOREST of Dean is facing its grimmest employment prospects for years following the dreaded news that The Document Company Xerox is to shed 1,300 jobs at Mitcheldean.
2pm Tuesday, October 2, 2001 will go down as one of the blackest days in the district's long history as an industrial base.
It was then that the news was broken to union officials and managers who were asked to pass the message on that many of the employees would be out of work by Christmas.
It follows hard on the heels of the announcement that SCA Packaging is to quit Lydbrook with the loss of 150 jobs, that Watts of Lydney will lose 30 more by the end of October and an anticipated announcement, also on Tuesday, that there was bad news for Tennants Inks and Coatings Supply Ltd (formerly Runnymeade) at Cinderford.
The meltdown follows the wave of uncertainty that has swept the world following the terrorist attacks in America on September 11.
Xerox employees were left stunned by the news. The management allowed those who wished to leave early.
A statement to the Review signed by John Howls, chairman of the joint union negotiating committee, described the company's announcement as "a catastrophic kick in the teeth."
The Mitcheldean work is to be outsourced to a company called Flextronics and in future will be produced in Hungary and the Czech Republic.
The union will be contacting all the relevant full-time officials, local MP Diana Organ and the European MP in an effort to minimise the impact locally.
Mitcheldean will be left with just one unit producing rolls and frames and which will employ between 100 and 250 people.
Forest of Dean District Council leader Anne Martin said she thought the losses were "absolutely catastrophic for the Forest of Dean".
She said she had heard the news with "utter dismay, not just for the workers but for the knock-on effect for the whole area."
She had already spoken to Diana Organ and they were setting up a meeting with the Regional Development Agency and everyone concerned for November 16.
"It is vital we get every help we can," she said.
Forest MP Diana Organ said she was "truly shocked" by the announcement.
"I am meeting with the Regional Development Agency in the near future and will be stressing that the situation at Mitcheldean is very serious and must be treated as a priority. It is vital that everything possible is done to secure as many jobs as possible as well as ensuring that all the services and agencies are in place to help those who lose their jobs," she said.
"I will of course be in touch with the trade unions and will continue to work tirelessly with them for everybody employed at Mitcheldean. I know that this must be a very worrying time for them and all their families."