Vita Cortex workers to end sit-in

Staff at the former Vita Cortex plant in Cork are calling on the Government to change company law, to give more protection to workers.

It comes as the group of 23 former employees at the foam manufacturing factory in Ballyphehane bring to an end their five-month sit-in protest.

The group has been sleeping at the Vita Cortex plant since last December, in a row over redundancy payments.

An agreement was reached earlier this month bringing the long-running dispute to an end.

Former Vita Cortex worker Jim Power said if the laws are not changed, more workers will find themselves in a similar predicament.

"I can visualize this happening a lot more in the future," he said.

"Up to Christmas this year, any employer that made people redundant could claim up to 60% of the redundancy back.

"That's changed… it's actually down to 15% now that employers can claim back.

"Ordinary working people out there should be calling on the Government to change the legislation to ensure that this kind of thing can never happen again."