A CAMPAIGN has begun to save the jobs of 100 workers under threat if redundancy because a recycling firm that works for three Scots council is in financial trouble.
The GMB Scotland union says recycling workers at the West Dunbartonshire-based Greenlight Environmental have been issued with redundancy notice.
West Dunbartonshire Council says that Greenlight has intimated that the decision to apply for voluntary administration "follows intervention" by the taxman.
In its last financial statement, Greenlight had tax losses carried forward of around £450,000.
Union officials have talked of the "threat of administration" hanging over Greenlight, a social enterprise which has provided recycling services for nearly 30 years working for West Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, Sand Argyll & Bute councils.
It operates two recycling centres and a man depot in West Dunbartonshire. It also has a recycling facility in Inverclyde.
They help operate a free garden maintenance service to residents that are in receipt of a disability benefit in the West Dunbartonshire Council area.
Many of their staff have been recruited through schemes to assist the long-term unemployed and the union describes them as "vulnerable workers".
The union said it believe the company had been affeced by a loss of contracts from West Dunbartonshire Council. The council has denied that.
A union spokesman said: "GMB Scotland, the union for refuse and recycling workers, are providing support to our Greenlight members and we are calling for urgent action from the councils who have contracts with Greenlight and who have a clear moral duty to act.
"The council leaders must now explore every option available to them including bringing these workers in-house as direct council employees."
Directors of Greenlight Environmental were "disappointed" at the pre-tax losses of £98,335 for the year to March 31, 2017 which represented a "significant challenge for the business". The previous year it pre-tax losses were at £142,564.
But the board said it had a "reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future".
They said the company had taken steps to return the company to profitability and had continued support of its bank.
The accounts, signed off in February, show auditors French and Duncan issued an 'emphasis of matter' warning about what they described as a "significant loss" during the year. "This factor indicates a material uncertainty that may cast doubt over the company's ability to continue as a going concern," they said.
"However, the directors have taken steps to return the company to profitability and have continued to meet its liabilities as and when they have fallen due."
In a financial report, the Greenlight Recycling charity said that its subsidiary had "continued to struggle to recover from the recent global recession and reserves which had previously been generated have now been fully utilised".
West Dunbartonshire Council denied that it was the loss of contracts led to the social enterprise being in trouble.
A West Dunbartonshire Council spokeswoman said: “These claims are wrong. West Dunbartonshire Council spends £1.4 million a year with Greenlight."
Greenlight Environmental has been approached for comment.
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