TWENTY-TWO workers have been made redundant from one of Otley's biggest employers -- and some of them will have to wait up to six months before receiving all of their redundancy pay.

The job losses are at Garnett's paper mill, which blames the delay in paying out on 'cash flow problems'

The company had given notice that it would be making large-scale redundancies more than 90 days ago, but one man who has worked for Garnett's for several decades - and did not want to be named - said the payout news was unacceptable.

He said: "A lot of those who are going have been there 30 or 35 years. They've given most of their working lives to Garnett's, and then you get treated like that.

"They say they're going to spread the redundancy payment over up to six months but that's something we've referred to manufacturing union Amicus, who say they've never come across that before but are looking into it.

"It won't cause me a problem personally but a lot of people have mortgages and a family and could do with the money now. And where's the interest on all this money we should be getting going during those six months?"

He also claims the company has been mismanaged and says the workforce committee which consulted with the firm over the redundancies -- and should have been voted for -- was hand-picked by management to stop union representation.

Those claims are now being examined by Amicus, but are all stringently denied by Garnett's managing director Cliff Barry.

Mr Barry points out that more than half of those who have lost their jobs volunteered for redundancy, and says the company did everything it could to keep the number as low as possible. This included re-deployment of employees in other places of work in the company.

He also stresses that Garnett's publicly announced back in the summer that redundancies would follow from its decision to transfer production overseas. (The company said an increase in charges for water, including a seven-fold rise in Yorkshire Water's effluent fees, had been exclusively responsible for that decision).

And he says care has been taken to ensure nobody's monthly redundancy payment is less than their average monthly salary would have been.

Mr Barry said: "Our personnel matters are highly confidential and are exclusively between the company and its employees, past and present. The company is always pleased to discuss with any employee any issues they may have with their employment at the company.

"Redundancies are never undertaken lightly. The current process was conducted with a consultation committee that was elected by the affected employees; this is what the law demands. and this is exactly what the company applied. Any comment that contradicts this fact is untrue and can if necessary be evidenced by the company as it has been to an Amicus official.

"The company followed a rigorously applied, completely legal process that was fully documented and assessed by our lawyers.

"The circumstances at the company have been accurately reported by the company. This has not necessarily been reflected in published comments from third parties who have chosen to make comments that have been wholly inaccurate."

Since the summer, plans have been submitted for Garnett's 22-acre riverside site which would see more than 370 houses and apartments, a 50 bed hotel and offices built there. It has been estimated the development could create up to 300 new jobs.

Garnett's is determined to relocate to another site in the area where it would concentrate on the finishing side of the paper business.

Mr Barry said: "We're in negotiations with a local business and we're almost there to conclude an acquisition of space."

He added that he couldn't rule out the need for future redundancies. "Nobody can ever predict the future but our objective is to expand our operations and increase our market share.

"We have to manage the business in the best way we can and we try to look after people the best we possibly can."