WORKERS at an electronics factory last night voiced their concerns for the future after the announcement that 37 jobs are to be lost.

The losses at the L G Philips television screen plant, on the outskirts of Durham City, are part of a restructuring that includes the closure of factories at Simsonstone, in Lancashire, and Aachen, Germany, with 1,200 redundancies.

The Durham plant's human resources manager, Paul Beasley, said: "As part of the drive to improve the Durham plant's competitiveness, the company announced a number of measures to be addressed in 2004.

"These are the continuation of cost-reduction measures, improved productivity, the need to reduce the number of our employees by 37 out of 850, which we have now - that will be done on a voluntary basis - and improved flexibility from our full-time staff."

The company is in talks about the redundancies with the union Amicus.

One worker said he thought the plant, which makes cathode ray tubes, was doomed in the face of competition from plasma and flat screen TVs.

"Last year there was a leaked document about plants going down the pan and in what order. To date everything has gone to plan.

"Quite frankly, the old hands believe this is the thin end of the wedge to shut the place down over a short space of time.

"Sony, Toshiba and Samsung have all packed in cathode ray tubes and are switching to plasma and flat screens. Philips are pushing them too.

"The cathode ray tube is finished, it is just a glorified valve."

But Mr Beasley said: "Obviously we do not see it that way. We think the plant has a future and we are about ensuring its future competitiveness.

"We see a good market for tubes for the next five to ten years and we hope to be part of that."

Bob Wynn, Durham City Council cabinet member for economic development, said: "I am always sorry to see jobs go when it is a large firm like that. In Durham, it tends to be the smaller firms moving, employing half a dozen people."