Economy and Jobs Secretary Keith Brown has been urged to meet with union Unite over jobs cuts by Doosan Babcock in Renfrew.

The engineering firm has announced plans to axe around 270 roles from its offices and manufacturing facility in the town.

Unite regional officer Alison MacLean said the union met with Doosan Babcock last week, however the result of the talks "wasn't very promising".

"In the coming two or three years, Doosan Babcock will be working on the new Hinkley Point nuclear power project, and that should bring work to Renfrew. But at the moment, the company say they have no orders that they can bring forward to help protect some of these jobs and there appears to be little opportunity for redeployment.


"They may lease out their manufacturing facility to other companies in the interim period, but again, there's no guarantee that will lead to job opportunities for our members."

Unite has now called on Secretary Brown to meet with union officials in Edinburgh later this week.

Unite Scottish secretary Pat Rafferty said: "We need urgent action to protect these skilled manufacturing jobs and the Scottish Government needs to help. They should work with Unite, with Doosan Babcock and with other employers, to make sure there is continuity of employment for our members.

"The Scottish Government set up a special task force when the Tata steel plants in Dalzell and Clydebridge were threatened, and we need the same kind of initiative for our members at Doosan Babcock."

(LM/MH)