1,000 marchers protest Greencore redundancy pay

MORE than 1,000 people took part in a protest march in Mallow in support of former Irish Sugar workers who have accused parent company Greencore of failing to honour a Labour Court recommendation relating to their redundancy payments.

Some 150 former employees maintain they are owed a total of €4.5 million by the company 19 weeks after it closed the factory.

Kieran Buckley, chairman of the protest campaign, said the redundancy offer to the workers by Greencore falls far short of what is in their agreement with the company and is far short of what the Labour Court stated they should have received.

However, a spokesperson for Greeencore said the average payments of €145,000 are fair and are consistent with the Labour Court recommendation.

A total of 324 employees were made redundant and 3,700 farmers were left without a sugar processing outlet as a result of the closure of the Mallow plant.

Workers, furious at the way they claim they have been treated, took to the streets of Mallow on Saturday in a protest march.

Unions have already served notice of industrial action to commence on October 4 and have also warned of escalating their campaign by seeking the support of colleagues in the retail sector in relation to the handling of Greencore products.