Leading employers to cut more than 500 jobs

TWO of the country’s leading employers in Kildare and Waterford are to lay off more than 500 staff.

Less than a year after it announced it was cutting 500 of its workforce in Kilbarry, Waterford Crystal yesterday told unions it wants a further 280 cuts.

And in Newbridge, the workforce at medical giant Wyeth Medica was yesterday told 250 staff are to be laid off before the end of 2009.

The job losses in Waterford will mean there will only be 125 staff left at the crystal plant working in manufacturing and sales.

The company once employed 3,200 people in Waterford during its boom period in the 1980s.

Waterford Crystal has still not completed the 500 staff redundancies which it announced last November.

It is likely those jobs, which are estimated to be as many as 200, will be lost almost immediately before Waterford Crystal begins the new purge.

The company met with unions yesterday to outline its plans. However, afterwards it said it would not be commenting on the contents of that meeting and would not announce any job losses unless it was directly to the workforce.

UNITE, which represents the majority of the workforce, said the union was shocked at the company’s proposals.

“The last round of restructuring was agreed on the basis of saving 500 jobs in Waterford,” said regional officer, Walter Cullen. “The ink is barely dry on this and now we are faced with a reduction of jobs which would cut manufacturing employment at one of the world’s most advanced plants to less than 100. Management are to reveal fine details of the scheme to workers on Thursday,” he said.

Earlier this year, the company announced losses of €241m for its last financial year, up from €70m previously. The crystal maker has been hurt by competition from Asian rivals and also by the dollar’s drop against the euro which has seen its biggest client base less likely to spend large amounts of money on the luxury items.

Meanwhile at Wyeth Medica, the workforce were yesterday told the company was pressing ahead with a redundancy programme first announced in 2006.

At that point, the company said it was reducing its staff from 1,400 to 1,150, due to what it described as a decline in legacy product volumes and the move to a more automated facility.

Only 100 of those jobs have actually been cut at this stage. However, the company told staff yesterday the other 150 were to be let go by the end of 2009 and they would be joined by a further 100. SIPTU, which represents affected staff, said it would oppose any compulsory redundancies.