Dutch multinational corp. Hunter Douglas “cease” aluminium production, Rotterdam staffs to lay-off

Manufacturer Hunter Douglas stops making aluminium itself in Rotterdam and among other things, sun protection in Rotterdam. Production is no longer beneficial. The shutdown of the production line will cause a layoff of 100 employees.

Leen Reijtenbagh, CFO of Hunter Douglas said: “It doesn't pay. We will buy that aluminium later."

Closing the production line at Piekstraat in Rotterdam South will cost a hundred employees their jobs. The works council is now considering advice. Union FNV is preparing talks about a social plan. "It is a huge blow to the staff, especially in these uncertain times," says Jan Meeder of FNV Metaal.

The union still hopes that Hunter Douglas will come up with a new production line.

Reijtenbagh advocates: “We are engaged in the production of aluminium ceiling cladding. But it is too early to say now that people who are fired can be relocated there.”

The new aluminium ceilings are fire-resistant. Demand for such materials has been high since the tougher post-fire fire safety procedures with the dramatic outcome at Grenfell Tower in England.

Hunter Douglas Netherlands has a total of eleven hundred employees.