Fury over Dairygold plan to cut 270 jobs
The company confirmed 170 jobs would be lost at its Galtee Foods slaughtering and boning plant in Mitchelstown. A further 100 jobs will be axed with the closure of the company’s pigmeat processing facility in Roscrea. It is estimated the redundancies will save the company €10 million in wages annually.
More than 1,100 jobs have been shed by Dairygold in the past year as part of a major restructuring programme. The company, which still employs 2,230 people, has an annual turnover of more than €1 billion.
A spokesperson for the company said the job cuts were unavoidable as both operations were no longer competitive.
However, the announcement sparked a furious reaction from workers, unions and pig producers.
The Roscrea plant will close by the end of September with the pig slaughtering and boning plant ceasing operations from the end of October.
SIPTU general secretary Joe O’Flynn said the loss of 270 jobs in Mitchelstown and Roscrea is a devastating blow to both communities, and the Government must act immediately.
Neither location can afford redundancies on such a large scale, especially when there are no alternative industries for workers, he said.
Mr O’Flynn said Tánaiste Mary Harney should give priority to the search for replacement industries. Otherwise, the workers who lose their jobs will have little or no prospect of finding alternative employment.
IFA Pigs Committee chairman Pat O’Keeffe, a supplier to Galtee Meats and a Dairygold shareholder, said producers felt betrayed by the decision.
Pig producers earlier lobbied the 60 members of the co-op’s new general committee as they arrived for their inaugural meeting at Springfort Hall, near Mallow, Co Cork. They demanded in a submission that the Galtee slaughter plant remain in operation.
However, Dairygold chief executive Jerry Henchy said unfortunately, there was no alternative to the rationalisation. He said to survive and preserve the remaining 585 jobs in consumer foods, Dairygold had to reduce its cost base and reposition the business so that it can compete in key international markets.
Mitchelstown Community Council chairman Bill Power said the area was stunned by the announcement of another 170 job losses. It follows on the heels of 1,000 job losses in Dairygold at the end of last year. Dairygold is the town’s major employer.
The closing of the pig slaughter section at Galtee will also result in smaller local pig farms being put out of business, with more job losses, he said.
Glanbia, the country’s largest pig processor, confirmed last night that it has capacity to process the Dairygold pig supply on an ongoing basis.
Ms Harney, expressing regret over the jobs losses in Mitchelstown and Roscrea, said she has asked the Government development agencies to provide every assistance, including retraining, for those affected by the Dairygold announcement.
“This Government continues to make every effort to promote employment in the less developed regions. It has achieved considerable success in attracting numerous investors to the various regions,” she said.
