Pfizer redundancies - Government must do more to help

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was one of the success stories of the Celtic Tiger economy, especially with the development of the wonder drug Viagra.

As it was engaged in manufacturing, research and development, it was one of the biggest multinational employers, with around 5,000 workers in 13 locations.

The company’s announcement yesterday that it is cutting back on its Irish operations came as a great disappointment. Some 785 jobs are to go in the next 18 months to five years.

The reduction will include 275 jobs in Newbridge, 210 in Dun Laoghaire, and a total of 300 jobs at two manufacturing plants in the Ringaskiddy area of Cork – 225 at the Loughbeg plant and 75 in Shanbally. Behind those statistics is the human anguish for so many families.

Pfizer indicated last year, following the purchase of its competitor Wyeth, that it would be cutting 19,000 jobs, or about 15% of its 129,500 workforce worldwide.

It has promised to provide support for those who will lose their jobs and Enterprise Minister Batt O’Keeffe has said that the Government will do all it can to aid those affected. But questions must be asked about what the Government has done other than posture and make empty promises in relation to the other major closures, such as Dell, SR Technics, and Waterford Glass.

We know that the two ministers who went to Texas to try to save Dell were just engaged in a cosmetic exercise. The whole thing was as phoney as the taskforce that the Government set up to tackle unemployment in January 2009.

The taskforce consisted of officials from a number of Government departments, along with nominees from various elements of the social partnership. The Taoiseach’s department chaired the taskforce, but it only met once. It seems that no further meetings were held because of disagreements between the Government and the main social partners.

Last September, Taoiseach Brian Cowen informed the Dáil in a written reply that future meetings of the taskforce would be convened “as necessary”. More than 400,000 people were already unemployed, but a Freedom of Information request to the Taoiseach’s department indicated that no memos, briefing papers or any other paperwork were prepared for the Taoiseach on foot of the taskforce’s one and only meeting.

The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund was set up to help retrain, upskill and provide educational and entrepreneurial support for redundant workers to help them find another job. Workers made redundant at Dell, SR Technics and Waterford Glass have been eligible for assistance under the globalisation fund, but after more than a year, they were still looking for such assistance. The Government and the various state agencies have made little effort to help those workers.

It has all been blather and empty promises.