Seagate workers offered six-times minimum pay-off

Nearly 1,000 workers being made redundant by US technology company Seagate are being offered six times the minimum statutory pay-off and will walk away with an average of more than £20,000 (€29,000) each.

Workers were told by management today they will get six weeks’ pay per year of service – provided the remain in their jobs until next July.

Those on average pay will walk away with around £2,860(€4,100) for each year they have worked at the company and with the average length of service eight years by next July that means average pay-outs of £22,880 (€32,800).

The company has been operating at Limavady, Co Derry, since July 1997 - so anyone who has been there since the beginning will get 11 years’ redundancy, £31,500 (€45,200) if they earned average pay for the company.

Seagate said last year the total wage bill was £23m (€33,000), with a workforce of 927 that equates to an average salary of just over £24,800 (€35,600) a year or around £477 (€684) a week.

A company spokesman said: “Six weeks’ redundancy for each year of service is at the higher end of the scale, not many give more than that – so it is good for the workers.”

Those who choose to go immediately after receiving their notice of redundancy will get four weeks per year of service.

First Minister, Ian Paisley – who visited the company last night – said the job losses demonstrated why Northern Ireland needed to get its inward investment strategy sorted out.

Speaking while attending a North South Ministerial conference in Dundalk, Co Louth he said the latest jobs blow to the manufacturing sector was a reminder of why the province had to pursue a high value, high skilled jobs policy.

Northern Ireland would have to “take it on the chin”, but added: “It is a warning to us that if we don’t get our house completely in order will lose more jobs.”

Mr Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness met Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern at the summit.

Mr Ahern said the job losses would have an impact in the Republic – some of the workforce live in Co Donegal.

Offering to give any assistance he could to Mr Paisley and Mr McGuinness , he said: “We will obviously be prepared to share the experience of other areas around the country where there were job losses like this.

“Galway for many years saw a huge haemorrhaging of jobs and Galway has managed to remodel itself.”

Meanwhile a trade union announced it was setting up an advisory taskforce to help the Seagate workers, despite the US owned company being non-union.

Unite said union officers and organisers were ready to help the workers being made redundant.

Union leader Jimmy Kelly said: “Although there is no union recognition at the Limavady and Londonderry plants, we in Unite feel that we cannot leave the workers stranded in their time of need.

“Our officials from Derry and beyond will speak to those who wish to seek advice on what their statutory rights are.”