Triumph after three-week strike at Novum

Sinn Féin representatives Larry O’Toole and Denise Mitchell on the Novum picket line

THE three-week strike at the Novum plant in Clonshaugh, County Dublin, has ended in victory after the Labour Relations Commission upheld workers’ claims that selections for redundancies should be on a ‘last-in, first out’ basis. Management had unilaterally introduced a new system after 30 years where it chose who would lose their job
Gerry Lynch, SIPTU branch organiser, said that the return-to-work formula accepted by both sides included agreement in principle to the retention of the ‘last-in first-out’ method in respect of temporary lay-offs, compensation for those who were laid-off out of turn, and the option of a week’s pay for those who were on strike to help alleviate any financial hardship incurred to be paid back over a six-month period.