Job fears after Derry workers called to meeting

There were fears for jobs at a US-owned technology company today after the entire workforce was called to a meeting tomorrow.

Management at the Seagate plant in Derry said there were “no plans to announce significant lay-offs” at the meeting.

However they said the nearly 1,400 workforce would be updated on current working arrangements and any changes that may be needed to marry staffing levels with demand.

The plant makes more than one million ready-write heads for computer hard drives a day and it is expected production will be scaled back.

Last September, Seagate shut down another plant a few miles away in Limavady with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs.

The work they had done for a decade was moved to Malaysia because labour there was cheaper.

The workers at the Springtown plant in Derry were asked to take unpaid leave over the Christmas – New Year period and 45 workers on temporary contracts lost their jobs.

In a statement the company said: “Seagate will continue to ensure that its operations – including the Springtown facility – are appropriately aligned with market demand and are staffed accordingly.

“As has always been the company’s practice, it will keep its employees fully informed of what measures it proposes to take to ensure that this is the case.

“The company will be updating its Springtown employees on Wednesday on current working arrangements and any adjustments that may be required.”

It added: “There are no plans to announce significant lay-offs at that meeting.

“However the company will continue to monitor the situation and will take any actions that are necessary to protect the business going forward.”

Liam Gallagher, of the Derry Trades Council said workers were fearful for the future because of a drop in demand for computers.

He said: “I have been speaking to members of staff and they are very concerned about the medium to long-term future of the plant.

“What a lot of them are afraid of is that they will be given more bad news in terms of a readjustment in their working week.”