Kostal axes 100 jobs in desperate survival bid

UNEMPLOYMENT in Mallow has doubled in the last year it emerged yesterday as one of its biggest employers axed 100 jobs and announced reduced working hours in a desperate bid to save the plant.

The Cork staff of Kostal, who returned to work on Monday after a three-week Christmas shutdown, were called to a briefing at 8am and told that 100 jobs will go before the end of next month. Kostal, which has made components for Mercedes Benz, BMW, VW, GM, Ford, Nissan and Volvo in the north Cork town since 2001, announced before Christmas it was letting 30 staff go.

But it told staff yesterday it wants a further 70 redundancies. While job loss details and redundancy terms will be confirmed at a meeting with SIPTU on Monday, it is understood the company wants to cut 40 jobs from production and 30 from administration.

While there are orders for some production lines, it is understood that at least one line will be reduced from a six-day to a five-day week, shutting down on Wednesdays. This “short-time” will last until March at least.

Staff filed out of the factory briefing into the rain just before 9am. Technician Sonia Matthews from Cork city said although her colleagues knew bad news was coming, they are “totally gutted”.

“We knew it was coming to this. We were in over Christmas in fairness and I knew there were going to be 40 operators going because we were... moving equipment and making it possible to lose 10 operators per shift. It is kind of sad.”

But she doesn’t know if her job is safe.

“I work in the lines that are closing for Wednesdays so I’m not sure whether I’m working there or not — we will find out on Monday.”

SIPTU organiser John Cooney said the news will have a devastating effect across the region.

“This is one of Mallow’s last big employers and people are coming to work here from as far away as Youghal and Mallow,” he said.

“But in this day and age it can be hard to get voluntary redundancies because there are no jobs out there.”

Local Labour TD Sean Sherlock described it as another devastating blow for Mallow. “Numbers on the live register in the town have virtually doubled in just a year, from 908 in December 2007, to 1,794 in December 2008,” he said.

He called on the Tánaiste Mary Coughlan to intervene.

Former mayor of Cork County and Mallow-based Fine Gael councillor Tom Sheahan said he knows a couple who have been badly affected by Kostal’s announcement and by a HSE decision on Thursday to close the nearby Heatherside Hospital. “He works as a technician in Kostal. She’s a nurse in Heatherside. They came back from England about 10 years ago when there were plenty of job opportunities,” he said.

He urged the IDA to focus its attention on attracting new industry to north Cork.