Tobacco firms’ staff fear smoking ban threatens jobs
A petition has been sent to Health Minister Micheál Martin containing more than 300 signatures opposing the ban.
Tobacco employees believe sales of cigarettes will drop by a third due to occasional smokers quitting or reducing their consumption.
“We’re involved in manufacturing and selling a legal product. If they ban it completely, not only will it affect the bar trade, it will also damage our sales,” said Catherine Collins, a member of SIPTU’s drinks/tobacco branch.
In a letter to Mr Martin, the SIPTU branch makes clear there is a need to regulate smoking in the workplace because of the damage from passive smoking.
However, it adds: “The existing and accepted practiced split in restaurants - of smoking and non-smoking areas - could quite easily be adapted within the licensed trade to satisfy the requirement of the proposed legislation.”
There are three main tobacco companies in the State, employing 559 people: PJ Carrolls in Dundalk, Gallaghers in Tallaght and John Player and Sons on the South Circular Road in Dublin.
PJ Carrolls has been manufacturing here since 1824 and sells 85% of its cigarettes to the Irish market. Gallaghers, which was established in the North in 1840, announced last May it was ending cigarette manufacturing at its Dublin plant with the loss of 120 jobs. However, it still employs 106 staff in distribution and clerical positions.
The stance of the SIPTU staff in the tobacco companies is at odds with the rest of their union members, who voted overwhelmingly in favour of the smoking ban at their national conference in Galway last month.
The ban is also being supported by the bar workers’ union, MANDATE, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
“Obviously there are concerns from small interest groups and that is understandable. But I believe the debate about the ban is nearly over. Micheál Martin hasn’t shown any sign of wavering,” said Mandate national official John Douglas.
The Office of Tobacco Control has drawn up a draft code of practice, which will set out the measures used to enforce the ban. However, the code will not be published until the final regulations are put in place by the Health Minister.
