Thread regarding 3M layoffs

I think if maintenance ever dictated what shift patterns they wanted and threatened to leave if they didn't get more money probably wouldn't have resulted in over half the maintenance team leaving for better shift patterns &/or money so I don't think that one ever happened, probably lucky to have some of them still there

The axe forgets what the tree remembers ❤️

The people to blame for Atherstone’s closure are all of those on the Management team, past and present.
You have all sat back and allowed the Maker to be lazy, demanding and generally pandering to their every need.
You’ve allowed Maintenance to dictate what shifts they’re prepared to work and then threaten to leave unless you pay them more.
You’ve promoted people (shop floor and staff) way above their ability.
You’ve ignored the toxic culture and even encouraged it, purely so you can get promoted to a higher paid job.

Why would anyone want to work in the maker , the area is poison demanding more money constantly for what other areas just do as part of their job . I’ve witnessed the minute people put a pair of maker overalls on they all of a sudden become Tyson fury we are the maker and we are hard , I don’t blame the old heads I blame the newer ones for thinking that they can behave like they do and it will be around forever we’ll how wrong we’re you I needed 3m for a lot more years to come but you have squashed that , your not the only ones managers unable to manage people in lasers earning vast amounts of money which is great for them granted but managed better and pulling together as a team more and maybe just maybe it could of been saved .so it’s a thank you from me for ruining my future hope you all can sleep well because I can’t

Lots of people attempted change, tried to improve things. You need all working together to achieve and not “Atherstone special we don’t do that” or “not my job”. In the end behaviours, entitlement thinking. Lack of investment over tens of years and world economics resulted in this result.

You should all be ashamed of yourselves coming on here to air your two-faced grievances.
It’s really isn’t a blame game, we have all been dealt the bad news together. The higher powers have made the decision and pointing fingers at each other really is pointless and pathetic.
We should all be coming together to support those who have now found themselves in a position of anxiety and upset with the pressure they have on their shoulders to provide for their families.
Suck it up, take it on the chin and look after each other. Pastures new…

As someone with 30+ years experience at Atherstone I can 100% put the blame at the Maker.
They are trying to deflect blame onto Maintenance. How many times as someone from Maintenance spent hour after hour trying to fix their machine, only to find 12-15 ‘operators’ ( I use that term very loosely ) Sat on their arses. I’ve known them not move for a full 12 hours.

They follow one obstructive , trouble making id--t like sheep

Since the meeting, there has been a Lot of angry and personal comments put out there (myself included), but It’s now time to put it to bed and move on. No one is to blame, no-one should be falling out …..
Apologies to all , and all the best for the future

As a 3Mer, this really hurts to hear the slander aimed at individuals. Not all the Atherstone employees are like the ones who’ve commented. Whenever I visited I met some fine people.
For all the quiet ones, best of luck to you all.
And to all the keyboard warriors, you should hang your heads in shame. YOU were the problem. YOU are to blame. Go think about that while you go about ruining other people’s lives. Posting comments then sleeping easy… vile, vile cretins. I fu----g hate you for this.

Give it a rest

I've been involved in 3M UK manufacturing for over 20 years (not in Atherstone) and it is appalling the comments that I have read on here. People naming colleagues and making insensitive and abusive comments should be ashamed of themselves. I doubt anyone would want the demise and closure of any plant. Granted, there are issues that need to be resolved everywhere but some of the comments on here are really disappointing and do not help the situation. It's not the 3M I once knew :(

hahaha, calm down you crazy A-Stoners. I'm getting another 12pack , loving the banter

This closure will devastate the local area, particularly the unicorn, herbs & spices and UK Pizza. Rip jumbo burger, you served many night shifts well.

Mortgage paid, redundancy coming, pension ——- I’m living the dream suckers.
From an old school maker operator

To all the people on the sick who played the system, past & present - I doff my cap to you, well played sirs

Can’t wait for the day they lock the gates

I'm not directly involved here but I've been in and around the site for over a decade and I'll be sad to see it go. I'll speak fondly of it for as long as I have the means, and I wish the best for everyone affected.

A bit embarrassing this is really isn't it, everyone blaming each other while all the top brass are probably looking at this laughing, when in reality it's their fault because they are the ones that have made the call. I think everyone is venting their angry at all the wrong people. Stop embarrassing yourselfs infront of the whole of 3M and wake up to see who's been the real downfall on not just 3M Atherstone but 3M globally!!

Everyone blaming each other , regardless of who everyone thinks is to blame this is not the issue. The real issue is 3m don’t rule the abrasive division anymore… the drop in demand as ki-led the site . 3m now looking after it’s own by takin the work back the to the states

I blame the people on the sick and playing the system! You know who you are! Some of you wouldn’t know what hard work is. Now its time to get yourself a real job.

Maker boys expect engineers to do machine setter jobs! Process engineer is running the place for them!!

The reason for poor reliability was 1, engineering manager was more interested raising canteen prices than engineering and 2, Maker lads forgot purposefully caused downtime, for example not working because they were cold and refused to work until they got jackets.

Ay think it's tirible soft lads at blam'n middle management. I've done so much giv'n de young lead hands a sound as a pound bunk up. Wish everyone would just calm down...calm down

So looking at all the replies, it looks like everyone had a part to blame ….. strange that !!

Rightly or wrongly that was the culture in the maker and with 21million square metres going through the machine it was never questioned.
Having worked 6 yrs in the coaters the machine was at its best when it was pumping 100000m WOD orders through the machine.
When they messed with the big orders and brought in lean, the machine became unreliable and the culture unsustainable but unfortunately it was never challenged and more apparent due to machine reliability.
The lads in the Maker kept the plant going yes they were paid well but they were doing the work and hours that others wouldn't have considered, and definitely not me.
Atherstones future was always a corporate decision that's been years in the making

What about the Lasers management wanting Lasers to run 24/7 then not, then doing it, then not. No maintenance cover as they'd been fu---d over for weekend cover. AS has some explaining to do.

All the points below are what unions should do, and they did a great job doing so, but there becomes a point when it’s just greed.

I stand by unions and what they do overall, but too often unions are controlled by greedy individuals. For the work they had to do, they were overpaid, hence they’ll never find a job that pays so well. But as if often the case, all those deals with sick pay, LTD, Thursdays and time and half, Fridays at double time, 30mins break for every hour worked, not talking on any new tasks without extra pay, and refusing to run at times, were taken advantage of and abused. It made Atherstone uncompetitive, hence the reason they pulled all the products out of there. Even if the place was 100% reliable, they’d still pull the plug because it costs too much to run!

Agree or not, have fun finding another job and doing the same again. I hope you all learn and appreciate what you have next time.

Some Union reps definitely went on for financial & promotional gain, leaving the reps of late to pick up the pieces.
Agency workers receiving money that was owed (as in thousands)
Taking on the 3M big chiefs at ACAS to make Agency workers full time
Getting 100% pay during lockdown when management was offering a pittance.
Numerous times reps putting their head on the block to defend others.
Fighting to the bitter end to keep the premium products in the plant.

If the management was scared then good, we did our jobs well.
…… these keyboard warriors like to preach, but would never have sat in with management in order to gain a better standard of living for all year in year out.

Short memories my friends

33% of staff off sick, the place was always going to close!

The names mentioned below I personally worked with and were dedicated union officials who gave us a solid procedural agreement and good rates of pay which all the union haters have benefited from, the poster is way off the mark and clueless I'm afraid

To the comment below, no that's not the reason Atherstone is closing its down to bad external decisions ultimately we lost our legacy work based on a new product which was over forecast and sales were poor,ultimately leading to the plants demise we lost volume that we would never get back and no volume means no investment

Very weak management meant that the union ran the place. Management were scared to stand up to them - culture was never going to change!

Well done to all the Maker ops for closing the place! All the young sheep who followed the greedy fat cat Union old boys desperate for a pay out - reluctant to work, looking for ways to stop the machine, laughing when they had downtime - it was only going to end one way.

Insane amount of sick, constant f-g breaks, unwillingness to work, and always demanding more money. That’s the reason Atherstone is finishing. Hope the button pushers have fun in the real world having to actually work just for minimum wage.

Good luck to all in their next role and r retirement. To those who have a brain, hopefully you learn from this and appreciate what you have next time (if you ever get anything that good again)

hope they match the severance that was handed out for staff,, 3 weeks for every year or more

A lot of bad press for unite reps on this thread, just remember that being a committee member is a thankless job there's no glory or gain from it, your dammed if you do and dammed if you don't.
The committee of the last few years never did anything for personal gain and if anyone thinks differently please let's hear it, the committee has always put the best interests of its members at the forefront and will do its best to get the best deal possible through the coming weeks and months of uncertainty.

Good luck to all my Atherstone coworkers, and best regards from another 3M plant mate.

Regarding the post below, I seem to remember none of the union and management seeing eye to eye from my time there, mad what rumors people believe

Speaking of management let's not forget one going to town on another employees rod and getting a temp sacked for accidently walking into a meeting room to discover it. This was even plastered all over the job review boards at one point on the tinternet!

Fact is that the older Maker staff got what they wanted. They took a big wages for years and then ran the place into the ground with their stubborn attitude and some of the young Maker lads followed them blindly copying their behaviour and they will get a tiny pay out and end up stacking shelves whilst the older Maker staff are laughing to the bank with their payouts and their mortgages likely already paid off. You've had it far too good and you have ruined it for the rest of us. We had a great deal, lots of overtime regularly, some great lads in maintenance doing anything and everything for us including fixing our own stuff when we brought it in. We had hours banked that got written off and all the Maker wanted was more more more. Greedy, gave the plant a bad reputation too.

Mates, we still have the Shrovetide Ball Game to look forward to.

I believe its safe to say that many an old feud will be settled on the next Ball Game day!

Maintenance has nothing to do with the closure of the plant, no other area on site has issues with maintenance. They kept the plant running for years on equipment older than some of the lads working on it. Working god knows what hours to cover 'start up' crews but ended up doing all the work regardless. There's massive issues here but anyone working in maintenance isn't one of them, fingers should be pointed at people in the offices who made the decisions that shut the plant down, not the people working their arses off for them.