CLOSURE OF MAYR-MELNHOF PACKAGING

That this House believes that Mayr-Melnhof Packaging (MMP) has broken the law by sacking 140 permanent workers from its Bootle-based operation; regrets that this company has acted in an irresponsible manner, without meaningful discussion and negotiation with the workforce and unions; further believes thatit has closed a profitable and fully functional operation and plans to breach long-standing employment agreements and that MMP senior management is now using lock-out practices; and further believes that Tesco and others should honour commitments under the Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code and intervene to ensure MMP respect the rights of British workers, reinstate those dismissed and return to the negotiating table immediately.