Cadbury workers lobby government over Kraft takeover

Cadbury shareholders will vote on whether to accept Kraft's bid

Cadbury workers will lobby the government ahead of an expected takeover by US food giant Kraft.

Staff from factories across the UK will gather in central London later to call for support from ministers to win guarantees over jobs and investment.

The Unite union has urged the American firm to make its intentions for the future of the workforce clear.

The deadline for Cadbury shareholders to accept a £11.5bn ($18.9bn) offer from Kraft is 1300 GMT.

'Meaningful pledges'

Unite's deputy general secretary Jack Dromey said: "Our fear is that the Kraft takeover is not in the national interest, and in the months of this hostile takeover process we have heard nothing from Kraft to calm fears that it is in the interest of the Cadbury workforce either.

"Instead, the fate of manufacturing workers in Terry's of York, who found that Kraft ownership saw their plant close, weighs heavily on the minds of the Cadbury workforce."

He added: "The government must secure meaningful pledges from Kraft, and police them so that Kraft cannot again walk away from a UK workforce.

"Ministers must make it abundantly clear that closures and mass redundancies will not be accepted by the British government or the British people."

Last month, Unite warned shareholders of the British chocolate-maker that Kraft's debts, estimated to be about £22bn, meant there could be an "irresistible imperative" to reduce costs by cutting jobs.

Unions fear Kraft will move quickly to recoup the expenditure by slashing jobs and have demanded an urgent meeting with Kraft's global management.