Philip Morris International reportedly not considering responding to trade union demands for better social plan for 1,230 Dutch employees at its cigarette factory in Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands, which will close by Oct. 1

Nevin Barich

NETHERLANDS , May 28, 2014 (SeeNews) – US tobacco company Philip Morris (NYSE:PM; EPA:PM) is not considering responding to trade union demands for a better social plan for the 1,230 Dutch employees at the cigarette factory in Bergen op Zoom which will close later this year.

An ultimatum given to the management to come up with a better proposal expired Tuesday midnight without any response, news agency ANP reported on Tuesday. So, the personnel decided to stop working from 0600 to 2330 CET on Wednesday to express their indignation.

According to Philip Morris, the demands are "absolutely and demonstrably unacceptable". The company is already doing a lot to assist redundant employees in finding new jobs. "Our proposals are better than the average in the Netherlands," a spokesman for Philip Morris was cited as saying. According to the company, the protest actions will not lead to a better offer but will rather trigger additional delays and uncertainty for the staff.

In early April the US company announced plans to close its factory in Bergen op Zoom on October 1 at the latest.

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