250 jobs to go in Sligo

SLIGO is to suffer 250 jobs losses over the coming years as Sligo medical firm Stiefel Laboratories winds down operations over the next four years.
Stiefel makes prescription and over-the-counter treatments for skin ailments such as acne.
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline took over Stiefel in July. Stiefel has been in Sligo since 1975.
Sligo Chamber of Commerce has said the closure will have a devastating effect on employees and on the wider local community.
“It also highlights the importance of attracting new investment. Sligo has seen enormous growth over the past seven years but this development needs to be supported by new businesses; entrepreneurs and industries investing in the region.” 

Aer Lingus talks scheduled

AER LINGUS bosses have agreed to talk to trade unions and mediation bodies about the national carrier’s plans to save €97 million by 2011 by axing 676 jobs from its workforce of 3,900 and cutting wages.
All the airline unions – SIPTU, Unite, IMPACT (representing cabin crews), and pilots’ union IALPA – have all agreed to enter talks by the weekend.
The National Implementation Body has recommended that talks be held at the Labour Relations Commission. 

ISME lashes public sector

SMALL businesses body ISME has called for the end of social partnership, making an outrageous attack on the public sector, describing it as “bloated’ and “a luxury the country can no longer afford”.
Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association Chairperson Eilis Quinlan, an accountant, told ISME’s annual conference in Dublin last week:
“The trade unions, in particular the public sector unions, have been allowed ride roughshod over the economy through the so-called partnership process and in dealings with Government.”
She demanded that social partnership be replaced with a ‘National Representation Forum’ to include representatives of small business, which she said were currently ignored at all levels of decision making.