Anger and fear intermingle as factory redundancies confirmed

Pfizer workers went through a rollercoaster of emotions, with anger, fear, and in some cases relief intermingling as they were finally told of 177 jobs cuts at the company’s two Cork factories.

Workers in the Little Island plant said they were particularly angered that news of the cuts had been leaked to the Irish Examiner before they were informed themselves.

One worker in the Ringaskiddy plant, who didn’t wish to be named, said some employees had tackled Pfizer management, believing one of them had leaked the job cuts.

Management denied they had done so, but said they were endeavouring to find out who was responsible.

Paul Depuis, Siptu organiser for pharmachem and medical industries, said the unions had met with management last week and had been told an announcement was to be made later this month.

“When it broke [in the Irish Examiner] they said they would move the announcement forward. It would be normal protocol that the people affected would be told first,” said Mr Depuis.

Speaking outside the Little Island plant, where 48 jobs are to go, Mr Depuis said the average age of that plant’s work-force was 38 and many of them were married with young children and big mortgages.

Jerry Sharma, who has 18 years’ service at the plant, said there had been fears the company might have closed that plant altogether.

While those fears had been allayed, Mr Sharma, 49, a married father of two from Glanmire, said everybody’s thoughts would be with the workers who would lose their jobs.

“Pfizer has been a fantastic company to work for. However, this is a very sad day. People will be losing their jobs and they will never get jobs again as good as the ones they had here in respect of pay, terms, conditions and pension,” he said.

Mr Sharma added that most of the 180 workers at the plant were third-level graduates.

Management informed Little Island workers of the redundancies they were seeking at the plant at 9.15am and then carried out a similar briefing at the Ringaskiddy plant at 10.30am yesterday. There, they announced 129 redundancies.

Many workers at the Ringaskiddy factory refused to comment unless they weren’t identified.

One reiterated that the figures quoted by the Irish Examiner of up to 180 redundancies in the company were “far too accurate to have been guesswork” and must have been “leaked by somebody in the know”.

Another said workers at the plant had been informed that, of the 129 redundancies sought, 68 were in the production section and 30 in engineering.

“The distribution of the cuts is not across the board. It’s unfair because the cuts they’re looking for are too high in prod-uction and engineering,” the employee said.

It’s believed the longest-serving worker at the Ringaskiddy plant has been employed there for 17 years.

“The average, I suppose, is around eight years’ service. The people who will be losing their jobs here represent a young, highly skilled workforce. The trouble is there are no other jobs out there for them these days,” the employee said.