Golf club strike averted as restructuring agreed

Killarney Golf Club last night said it has reached an agreement with its staff on a restructuring plan, thereby averting a strike which was due to begin on May 7.

The dispute had arisen after the club’s management informed its 41 staff that 21 of them were to be made redundant. The club blamed a downturn in business, pointing to a 20% reduction in forecasted green fees and saying subscriptions have also fallen 20%, with 220 people opting not to renew their membership.

Siptu, which represents staff at the club, had immediately said it would ballot its members for industrial action, saying the scale of the losses was too great and pointing to an assessor’s report which, it said, indicated management had exaggerated the financial difficulties of the club.