The Swiss glass container company Vetropack will close its glassworks in Brlach at end of February 2002, and aims to concentrate its production in St-Prex, causing much consternation among the 180 wo…
The Swiss glass container company Vetropack will close its glassworks in Brlach at end of February 2002, and aims to concentrate its production in St-Prex, causing much consternation among the 180 workers who will lose their jobs. The sales, marketing, logistic and production department, however, will still be located at Brlach. According to Claude R. Cornaz, member of the accounting board, this decision has been taken in order to maintain 350 job places in Switzerland.The costs for the reorganisation will be around Sfr 15 to 20 million. A general atmosphere of dissatisfaction and uncertainty about the future reigns among the workers who consider this to be a blow under the belt by the owners, even if some of the workers with specific technical skills will have the chance to move to the St-Prex site. According to Beat Kocher, mayor of the town, the company has made the name of Brlach well-known in Switzerland, and is therefore a loss for everybody, not only for the jobs, but also a piece of history, as the name of Brlach is deeply associated with the tradition of glassmaking.