Bruton, IDA monitoring situation at Liebherr
The union is insisting Liebherr pays 2.5% in back pay, as recommended by the Labour Court, while the multinational has said it was disappointed with the ruling and is re-evaluating its dependency on the Killarney plant.
In a statement, Liebherr said the retrospective payment was conditional on agreement on changes in work practices at the 670-job factory.
Siptu organiser Marie Kearney yesterday said the workers had been waiting five years for a pay rise, adding the company had a net profit of €63m between 2009 and 2012.
The company said it has started transferring work from Killarney to some overseas Liebherr plants, but Ms Kearney said such claims were “both unfortunate and misleading’’.
Parts were regularly moved between Killarney and other Liebherr plants in Europe in line with production needs and the Killarney plant was working at full capacity, she said.
Meanwhile, Liebherr said it would pay the award, costing around €2m, assuming the defined conditions were met.
The Department of Jobs said Mr Bruton and the IDA were monitoring the situation. A spokesman said Liebherr was a significant source of jobs and it was important everybody bore that in mind.
