Unite says Scottish industrial base being ‘hollowed-out’

Unite has furiously reacted to the announcement by bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis to axe 115 highly-skilled green manufacturing jobs at its Falkirk and Larbert sites. 

Alexander Dennis, in a meeting with the workforce this morning, said it would axe the jobs with the remainder being retained to support bus chassis building in Scotland.

Last week, the Scottish government announced the results of the £45 million Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB3).  The round confirmed that 334 zero emission vehicles were to be built in total with Alexander Dennis awarded 123 buses (36.8 per cent), whereas just under half of all orders - 166 buses – were awarded to Chinese company Yutong.

The scheme was critical to the short-term sustainability of Alexander Dennis’ sites in Scotland after the company, in June 2025, announced plans to close its Scottish facilities moving all manufacturing operations into a single site in Scarborough putting 400 jobs at risk. 

The Alexander Dennis workers have been on furlough since last September while awaiting the results of the new round of bus funding. 

Sharon Graham Unite general secretary said: “The announcement by Alexander Dennis that over a hundred highly-skilled manufacturing jobs will be axed at Falkirk and Larbert is shattering. It is an economic shock which the company has chosen to inflict on the workforce and the wider community when it has other viable options. This doesn’t need to happen.”

“The Scottish and UK governments have been woeful throughout this process. They have enabled Alexander Dennis’ decision with half of the new bus orders going to a Chinese company instead of boosting Scottish green manufacturing and supply chains. Unless there is urgent action to stop these job losses then this political weakness and failure should not be forgiven.”

For every job in bus manufacturing, it is estimated that there is a multiplier of three to four jobs in the wider supply chain and support services. The announcement on this basis puts hundreds of further jobs at risk in the wider Falkirk and Grangemouth area.  

The job losses at Alexander Dennis follows the closures of the ExxonMobil plant at Mossmorran and the Grangemouth oil refinery with the loss of nearly £500m to the Scottish economy, and thousands of direct and indirect jobs. Industry groups also claim that up to 1,000 oil and gas jobs will be lost every month until 2030 with a major factor being government policies. 

Susan Fitzgerald, Unite Scottish Secretary said; “The decision by Alexander Dennis is callous and it will come as cruel blow to the workforce who have been on furlough for months with the hope that new bus orders would deliver a positive future.”

“The Alexander Dennis workers should be centre stage of the nation’s efforts to deliver lower carbon emissions through the building of green buses. This announcement adds to a long-line of recent industrial closures while government ministers fail to lift a finger in support of workers and communities."

 “Scotland is being hollowed-out and stripped of any meaningful green manufacturing capacity which is unforgivable. Unite will continue to fight and do everything we can to reverse this needless decision by Alexander Dennis.”  

ENDS 

Notes to Editor  For media enquiries please contact Andrew Brady on 07810157922. Email andrew.brady@unitetheunion.org Unite Scotland is the country’s biggest and most diverse trade union with around 150,000 members.