UNIONS hope that workers at redundancy-hit Nestle can avoid compulsory job cuts.
Kit Kat and Rolo manufacturer Nestle Rowntree announced earlier this month it was cutting 275 jobs in York and Newcastle, blaming energy costs and a competitive market.
More than 230 of the job cuts will be in York, and another 40 will be at its factory in Fawdon, Newcastle.
John Kirk, of the GMB union, said the company was considering applications for voluntary redundancy from all employees, and hoped to retrain staff whose jobs were under threat, so they could move to other positions.
"We hope we can avoid any compulsory redundancies," he said.
Unions met senior management earlier this week to discuss the cuts. The company said last week that it needed to make the business more competitive in the face of rising energy costs and intense competition.
The GMB will meet management again in two weeks to discuss the number of volunteers for redundancy.
Nestle is asking for voluntary redundancies first, and workers will be laid off in phases.
The York site, which makes Smarties and Kit Kats, employs about 3,000 people, with about 500 in Fawdon producing Rolos and Fruit Pastilles.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article