SIPTU: Kostal asked workers to take day of unpaid leave

ONE of the biggest employers in Co Limerick yesterday refused to comment on union reports that its workforce has been asked to take one day’s unpaid leave due to a drop in sales.

The slump in the motor industry worldwide has led to a drop in production at Kostal, located in Abbeyfeale.

Kostal employs more than 700 people making electronic components for the automotive sector. In a brief statement yesterday the company said that its markets have been “impacted severely by the current global economic downturn”.

The statement added: “The company is keeping staff informed of developments as matters unfold and we are not prepared to make any further comment at this stage.”

A SIPTU source said workers have been told that the plant will close for an extra day over the coming holiday weekend and that workers will not be paid for Tuesday, the extra closed day.

The company would not comment on this when contacted.

German-owned Kostal set up in the Mountmahon Industrial Estate in Abbeyfeale in 1980 and more than 1,000 people were employed there.

Last year, after talks with SIPTU, about 70 workers were made redundant. At that time, the company undertook not to have any further staff reductions up to December 31 next.

Kostal has created an economic boom for the west Limerick town and led to the development of a number of housing estates.