LRC called in to help 104 workers in Castleisland stand-off

REPRESENTATIVES of more than 100 workers whose jobs are on the line in Castleisland, Co Kerry, have sought the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

In a statement yesterday, they said the consultation process with their employer, Aetna — an American-owned health benefits company — had “neither been productive nor meaningful”.

Last month, the non-union company, Castleisland’s biggest employer, announced a major review of international operations. As part of the review, it was decided to outsource customer services functions currently performed in Castleisland.

The company informed the employees that all 104 positions were at risk.

On March 15, a 30-day consultation began and has now been extended by the company for two weeks.

But the workers’ representatives have strongly criticised the company, saying all proposals and cost-saving measures put forward by the employees had been rejected by the company as “non-viable”.

“The employees believe an extension to the consultation period is not warranted,” a workers’ statement said.

The LRC has invited the company to attend discussions on this issue, the statement read.

Pat Dunworth, chairman of the Aetna Workers’ Representative Council, said they had eight consultation meetings with the company but the gap between the sides, on severance terms, remained wide.

He declined to reveal the terms offered by the company, but said it was not a fair package, especially for long-time service employees, some of whom had worked in the Castleisland facility for more than 20 years.

“What’s on the table does not match payments made by other companies in recent years,” Mr Dunworth said.

The issue was raised in the Dáil yesterday by Kerry North/West Limerick TD Martin Ferris, who claimed the workers were being treated “disgracefully” by the company and that the redundancy package on offer were totally unacceptable.

Aetna Inc is a US Fortune 100 company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, with a net profit for 2010 of $1.8bn.

A global company with operations in three continents, it has a workforce of over 34,000 worldwide.