146 jobs axed in Westmeath

ALMOST 200 jobs could be lost in a series of blows to the Midlands county as the economic downturn is blamed for cutbacks.
Ninety-six workers at Nexans Ireland electrical cable manufactures were let go last week in a move announced in March. Owners claimed that tighter price margins and intense competition were behind the closure.
And in Milltownpass, the 150 workers at the Wright Window System factory will come back from their summer holidays on 5 August to be told that 50 of them will laid off.
A mortgage call centre in Mullingar, Capmark Financial Services (formerly GMAC), has asked its 100 workers for voluntary redundancies, deepening the jobs gloom over the county.

Agreement reached in Port Tunnel dispute

SIPTU and the Dublin Port Tunnel operator, Transroute, have reached agreement on pay this week in the Labour Court which resulted in a strike scheduled for this week being called off. Workers in the Port Tunnel had disputed pay rates and working conditions.
Owen Reidy, a branch organiser for SIPTU, said of the agreement:
“SIPTU very much welcomes the agreement which will improve pay and conditions for our members working in Transroute at the Dublin Port Tunnel and which we believe very much will bring pay into line with other tolling facilities around the country.”

Ageism in employment – rise in complaints

AGEISM in employment was cited as discrimination by more complainants to the Equality Authority last year than any other area.
The Equality Authority reported that this is the first time that this has occurred under the Employment Equality Acts with 87 case files out of 360 (24 per cent) being pursued on the grounds of age discrimination.
Allegations of employment discrimination related to access to employment, equal pay, harassment and working conditions, age limits in the workplace and forced retirement.

Language staff speak to Rights Commissioner

STAFF employed in language training centres catering for new immigrants to Ireland are bringing cases against the company that runs the centres, Integrate Ireland Language Training, and the Department of Education to the Rights Commissioner.
Integrate Ireland Language Training was being funded by the Department of Education and taught adult refugees English. It is due to close in August with the loss of 42 jobs. Students are then expected to transfer to VEC classes.
Almost 30 of the 44 staff employed by the company who are members of SIPTU have brought a case to the Rights Commissioner as they believe their employment should have been transferred with the service as the Department of Education is transferring the funding for the programme to the VECs.
Staff are also seeking better terms for voluntary redundancy than those currently offered.

Belfast passport hold-ups to continue

HOLIDAY applications for holders of British passports in the Six Counties could be affected by an ongoing work-to-rule by staff after last week’s three-day stoppage to protest at working conditions and below-inflation pay.
Three quarters of the 120 staff, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCSU), took part in the action.
Now the backlog in many offices in the North and Britain could take up until the end of August to clear, the PCSU warns.
A union spokesman in Belfast said that a reduction in services would lead to more people applying for Irish passports.