MOST of the workers at a Paisley food factory making Knorr brand

products are to lose their jobs as the bulk of production is switched to

plants in France and Italy.

Up to 345 of the 449 jobs at the CPC (United Kingdom) factory could go

as the manufacture of Knorr soups and stock cubes is moved to larger,

more modern facilities.

The move would leave barely 100 workers at the Falside Road factory,

which would continue to produce Hellmann's mayonnaise.

CPC, part of an American-owned multinational, said that the transfer

of Knorr products was being proposed because costs at Paisley remained

''substantially'' higher than at its European sister plants, despite

concerted efforts in recent years. There will be a 90-day consultation

period.

Union officials responded by saying that the Scottish factory was

making a profit and claiming that the company was simply cutting jobs to

make even more money.

In a statement, CPC said every effort would be made to achieve the

proposed reduction by voluntary redundancy and early retirement.

Factory manager Martin Woodward said he and the staff had been working

closely for three years to cut manufacturing costs. ''As a result of

that hard work, the costs have come down by about 10% or 15%. But today

we have had to announce to the workforce that the costs are still about

40% higher than at our sister plant in France.''

The proposal was to transfer most of the Knorr production to the

French plant at Duppigheim and the remainder to Sanguinetto in Italy.

Asked how the workers had taken the news, he replied: ''They are

shocked, stunned, and very sad. But they have behaved very

professionally, as I would have expected.''

Depending on the consultations, jobs could go by the end of the year,

said Mr Woodward, but it was too early to give a timescale.

The Paisley South Labour MP, Mr Gordon McMaster, said last night: ''So

much for John Major's pledges that work would flow into the UK if we

didn't sign the Social Chapter.

''The first evidence we have is that work is in fact flowing out of

the UK. One reason might be that it is cheaper to make people redundant

here.''

Mr McMaster met the management and later insisted that the plant was

profitable, but was being moved because the company had invested in

better machinery in France and Italy.

He will be urging CPC's UK management to reverse the decision, and

also writing to the Prime Minister seeking Government intervention.

The proposed job losses were greeted with dismay by Mr Donald Munro,

TGWU district officer for Paisley and a former union convener at the

factory.

He said: ''The gut reaction is one of total devastation. There are a

lot of people here very upset. You are talking about people whose

parents and grandparents worked here, people who have given years and

years of service.

''This factory has returned a profit year after year. It is not a

question of the company losing money but wanting to make more money and

to hell with the employees and the town.''

The company, originally Brown & Polson, the patent corn starch

manufacturer, has been producing food at the Falside Road site since the

1850s.

Knorr brand products have been manufactured there since the mid-1960s.

Substantial amounts have been spent on the factory in the last three or

four years.