Signing on suspended

'SIGNING on' at the local social security office was suspended for a fortnight in October 1983 so that staff could cope with the sudden influx of redundant Goodyear workers.

The massive Silverwood plant shut its doors throwing 773 workers onto the dole.

A spokesperson at the social security headquarters in Belfast stressed that existing claimants would not be affected.

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The event marked an end of an era for Craigavon, when its largest employer shut up shop for the last time.

For 16 years it provided badly needed jobs for the so-called new city, and was often lauded as Craigavon’s industrial showpiece.

Yet even when the plant was employing over 1,000 men at its peak, Goodyear Craigavon consistently failed to make a profit and this was eventually instrumental in its demise.

After a succession of large-scale redundancies over the previous few years, the crunch finally came in July 1983 when bosses announced that they were about to pull out the Goodyear Craigavon plug.

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It was a devastating blow for the entire area and frantic negotiations ensued in an effort to change the industrial giant’s mind.

But the American bosses were unrepentant and a series of crisis talks, both in Craigavon and the firm’s UK headquarters at Wolverhampton, failed to bring a reprieve.

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