‘Kellingley Colliery won’t close for at least a week’
Union bosses claim Kellingley Colliery will not close for at least seven days as operators UK Coal consult on plans for a ‘managed closure’ of the pit.
Representatives from the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) claim the firm will ballot staff at Kellingley about the plans to close the site over an 18 month period, with the loss of 700 jobs.
Chris Kitchen, NUM general secretary, said: “We’ve been told that UK Coal is going to write to workers asking them to return their views to a ballot box at the site by next Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t say it is a reprieve but I doubt that UK Coal would put the business into insolvency while that ballot is taking place.”