Senator’s call for Bausch + Lomb jobs to be moved to New York sparks fury
Democratic senator Charles E Schumer said when he heard news of the looming job cuts at Bausch + Lomb in Waterford, he “called the CEO of Valeant and urged him to move that work and those jobs to Rochester”.
Fine Gael Waterford TD John Deasy has since made a complaint to the Irish embassy in Washington about the comments.
Meanwhile, talks between management and union representatives in Waterford adjourned yesterday evening with the sides issuing a joint communiqué saying they were committed to reaching agreement on the future of the plant.
The negotiations lasted for about eight hours and involved delegations from Siptu and the TEEU as well as the firm, following last week’s warning that Bausch + Lomb intended to cut the workforce by 200 people as well as implement a 20% pay cut or else close the facility, with the loss of over 1,100 jobs.
In a statement issued last night, Bausch + Lomb’s vice-president for manufacturing, along with Siptu organiser Alan O’Leary and TEEU secretary Paddy Kavanagh, said they had begun talks “with a view to reaching agreement” on a plan to keep the plant open and secure its future.
“We will look at a range of options to achieve that and both sides are committed to reaching agreement,” the statement said, adding there will be no public comment from any of the participants while the talks continue.
It is understood the talks were “preliminary” and the sides will meet again this morning. It is believed there has been no change to the two-and-a-half week deadline for agreement proposed by the company.
The CEO of Bausch + Lomb’s parent company, Valeant, issued a memo to staff in Waterford yesterday in which he assured them the company is committed to staying in the county, provided they get the payroll cuts they are seeking.
Michael Pearson’s memo comes amid concern about the future of the facility in Waterford, which was not helped by Mr Schumer’s call for the Waterford jobs to be relocated to New York.
A spokesman for Bausch + Lomb said yesterday they had no comment to make on the senator’s call.
But local TD Mr Deasy, who worked as a congressional aide in the US senate a decade ago said: “I didn’t think a United States senator would react in such an underhand manner.
“We all fight for our constituencies, but ringing a company CEO to impoverish Irish workers is pathetic. Senator Schumer likes to portray himself as a friend of Ireland. I hope Irish-Americans in New York get to hear about his sneakiness. He has peddled his Schumer visas for Irish people for years. Irish- American voters have just got an insight into how he works.”
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