Siptu seeks compromise at Bausch & Lomb

Union representatives for more than 900 workers facing an uncertain future at a pharmaceutical plant in Waterford are hoping to press for compromises with management when they begin "high-stakes" talks today.

Siptu officials representing staff at Bausch & Lomb in Waterford met with local Oireachtas members yesterday to urge them to pressurise the Government to talk to management.

Siptu have agreed to engage with management from today following last week’s shock announcement that about 200 people at the 1,100-strong contact lens manufacturer are to be cut, with remaining staff facing a 20% pay cut.

Workers were told €20m in savings had to be made to keep the facility open.

However, officials from Siptu said they hope there’s room for negotiation.

“What we’ll be hoping to achieve is to reduce the number of people affected by the redundancy and come up with a range of measures to deal with this cost issue of €20m,” union organiser Alan O’Leary said last night. “There’s a lot of discussions to be had around trying to reach an agreement with the company. There are challenges.”

He said the 20% pay cut envisaged are “unsustainable for workers” but added: “We’re not going to rule anything in or out at the moment. The stakes are pretty high. We don’t want to end up having no agreement because the impact of that would be catastrophic for the southeast.”

Bausch & Lomb is the largest private-sector employer in the southeast but, according to management, payroll costs are running 30% higher in Ireland than at its base in Rochester, New York.

Among the politicians who attended yesterday’s crisis meeting at the Tower Hotel in Waterford were Oireachtas members from Sinn Féin, Labour, and Fine Gael. Siptu asked them to go back to the Government and ask for the workers’ case to be further impressed on company management.

There has been controversy surrounding the timing of the move, with Independent TD John Halligan — who could not attend yesterday’s meeting — accusing the Government of asking for the announcement to be delayed until after the local elections.

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton confirmed last week that he and his department had been “engaging” with Bausch & Lomb management for “months” in an attempt to save as many jobs as possible.