Council leader Susan Aitken accused the owners of the McVitie’s factory in Tollcross of showing “absolutely no regard” for the workers after a rescue plan was turned down.
An alternative proposal was presented in a bid to save almost 500 jobs at the pladis plant, but bosses claimed it wasn’t “viable”.
Cllr Aitken, who led an action group alongside economy secretary Kate Forbes, said the proposal would have secured a future for the firm in Glasgow.
She said the group — whose plan included a new factory nearby — will “now need to consider its next steps”.
The Tollcross factory is now expected to cease operations in the second half of 2022 in a move which pladis claims will “address excess capacity” across its UK sites, protecting the long-term future of the business.
Cllr Aitken said: “I’m very disappointed with the decision that pladis has come to — and the abrupt way it has been announced, with absolutely no regard for the workforce or a community that has supported the business for so long.
“The partners in the action group put forward a significant proposal that would have secured jobs and a future for the company in Glasgow. There was an undertaking from pladis to seriously engage with that proposal but, frankly, I just don’t think it has.
“We have had no warning that this announcement was coming; no explanation of why the proposal has been rejected — and, most concerningly, no meaningful detail on alternatives for the workforce.”
Partners in the action group include Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland and trade unions.
GMB Scotland senior organiser Hazel Nolan has said the action group needs to be honest “because if a firm like pladis no longer sees Scotland as a viable place to do business, then everyone needs to understand why and what must be done to prevent further manufacturing decline”.
She also said the workforce needs “honest answers”. “It seems clear now that pladis had no intention of engaging in good faith over the future of Tollcross — general manager Jim Cuthbert told us they “expected more” from the counter-proposals but offered no specific comment on what “more” would look like.”
The Glasgow biscuit works has been open for almost a century, while McVitie’s was originally established in Edinburgh in 1830. Current bosses pladis are a subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Yildiz Holding, which took over the factory from United Biscuits in 2014.
After announcing the company planned to proceed with the closure, David Murray, the firm’s UK and Ireland managing director, said the priority is “to provide employees with the on-going support they need as we continue with the consultation”.
He said the closure would protect pladis’ brands “for generations to come”.
