Cadbury Bidding war bad for UK Workers and Business, Unite Will Advise Parliament

LONDON, January 12 - Unite, the leading union in the food industry, will today (Tuesday)
repeat that a bidding war is bad for Cadbury and its workforce as rumours
intensify about the future ownership of the chocolate maker.

The union is to give evidence to the influential Business, Innovation and
Skills Select Committee of the House of Commons today which is conducting an
emergency inquiry into the attempted acquisition of Cadbury.

Unite wants a stronger voice to be given to workers during the takeover
process. Cadbury is already subject to a takeover bid from US-based
transnational Kraft, which Unite fears could be paid for in job losses and
cuts in pay and conditions for the UK and Ireland workforce. Speculation is
now growing that Ferrero-Rocher is also in the process of finalising an offer
for Cadbury, adding to Unite's concerns that the interests of the UK and
Irish workforce will be lost as a bidding war erupts between companies based
in two separate continents.

Unite says that the bids for Cadbury underscore the ease with which
otherwise stable UK companies can be subject to hostile acquisition. Speaking
ahead of the Select Committee session at which he will give evidence, Unite's
deputy general secretary Jack Dromey, said:

"Takeover policy is shrouded in secrecy and tilted towards profiteering,
not the public interest, so much so that the interests of banks and far-off
boardrooms come before those of loyal workers and communities. Billion-dollar
buy-up packages are put together without any need to guarantee jobs and
investment.

"UK and Irish workers, and UK businesses, certainly do not benefit and
they will continue to lose out if bidding wars, like the one unfolding for
Cadbury, are allowed to determine the future of our companies and country."

Also set to appear before the Select Committee, Jennie Formby, Unite's
national officer for food and drink, added:

"The speed with which Cadbury has gone from "Not for Sale" to "Under
Offer" is startling. Once the speculators started to hover, a great UK and
Irish company, a household name with products loved by generations of
consumers, was plunged into uncertainty.

"Two months on from Kraft's initial interest, we are still none the wiser
as to Kraft's plans for Cadbury. Thousands of workers are in the dark about
their jobs and it cannot be right that they will remain so until any deal,
whether with Kraft or another bidder, is done and dusted."

Despite continued pressure on the company, Unite has failed to secure
further information from Kraft on it intentions towards Cadbury's workforce.
With analysts predicting that Kraft will be seeking to generate up to $1.5
billion in savings, and fears growing that much of these could be made
through mass redundancies and restructuring, Unite is pushing for commitments
on minimum employment protections, including no compulsory redundancies or
site closures, and protection for pensions.

Unite says it also wants Kraft to be much clearer about its plans for all
sites in the UK and Ireland, and for details of the business plans for the
combined company as a whole.

The union says it will continue to engage in discussion with Kraft and
any other company mounting a bid for Cadbury, including Ferrero-Rocher. Last
month, Unite launched its "Keep Cadbury Independent" campaign to win security
in any takeover for workers in the UK and Ireland.

Notes: Jack Dromey, Unite's deputy general secretary, and Jennie Formby,
Unite's national officer for food and drink, will give evidence to the
Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee of the House of Commons
tomorrow, Tuesday (12th January). The Committee is sitting in Portcullis
House and will begin its evidence session at 10.30am.

For further information, please contact Pauline Doyle on +44-(0)7976-832-861