30 April 2009 Edition

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Nuacht na nOibrithe BY STEPHANIE LORD

340 jobs cut in north Kerry

WORKERS at the Amann nylon manufacturing plant in Tralee have been told that all 340 jobs will be gone by mid-2010 when the plant closes.
SIPTU Branch Organiser Con Casey said after meeting with management:
“The effect will be catastrophic in north Kerry. This is a company where whole families have been employed and they will now find it next to impossible to find alternative employment. Amann was the second largest manufacturing employer in the region.
“Fortunately, Kerry Ingredients is still providing employment for 400 people in Listowel but there is precious little left. There is an urgent need for the Government to come up with a strategy to save manufacturing jobs before it is too late. The sector has virtually collapsed here and overall unemployment has risen by 70 per cent in the past year.”
SIPTU is meeting with shop stewards this week to discuss redundancy arrangements.

 

Dell redundancies begin

THE first 450 workers to be made redundant at Dell finished work this week, signalling the beginning of the end for computer manufacturing in Raheen, County Limerick.
A total of 1,900 workers will eventually be laid off by the US company who are moving their manufacturing work to Poland and outsourcing to other low-cost countries.
The laid-off workers will receive six weeks’ pay per year of service in redundancy at a total of 104 weeks.

 

Lufthansa aircraft jobs vote

WORKERS at aircraft engine repair company Lufthansa Technik will vote on cost-saving proposals in an effort to save 450 jobs at Rathcoole in Dublin.
Management of the company had originally planned to close the plant if the workers failed to accept pay cuts. A Labour Court recommendation which intended to end the dispute was rejected by the workers last week and they will now vote on a deal that was drafted under the National Implementation Body which would secure €31 million in investment funds and secure the jobs at the plant.

 

‘Temporary’ halt of cement work causes concern

THE announcement by the Seán Quinn Group of a temporary cessation of bulk cement production at both its Ballyconnell and Derrylin sites – with 65 workers told to stay away until the middle of next month – has led to Cavan/Monaghan Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin to voice his “grave concern”.
Deputy Ó Caoláin said that while he understands the negative impact of the decline in the construction sector, he has “grave concern for the workers involved and their families at this time of ever-deepening financial hardship”. He urged the company to state clearly its expectations for a recovery in its bulk cement order book.
Both Deputy Ó Caoláin and Sinn Féin’s Michelle Gildernew MP MLA have offered their assistance to the workers in whatever capacity they feel appropriate.

 

Sinn Féin lobbies on Gem job losses

SINN FÉIN MLAs Martina Anderson and Raymond McCartney have met with the new CEO of Invest NI, Alastair Hamilton, in Belfast to try and get the body to intervene and save 20 jobs at the Gem call centre in Derry.
Martina Anderson said after the meeting:
“It was a very open and frank meeting and we put our case firmly regarding what we saw as a the failure of the previous regime of Invest NI to deliver for areas like Derry and the north-west region.
“Among the specific issues we raised were the pending job losses at the Gem call centre in Derry. In February, this company announced plans to create 900 new jobs with the aid of £5.5 million assistance from Invest NI.” She said that, given the large amount of money involved, Gem should have ensured that a considerable number of jobs were in Derry and that the new CEO has agreed to examine the issues raised by Sinn Féin.


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