Over 40 workers who were yesterday laid off at the Dubarry shoe factory in Ballinasloe are furious with management that a redundancy package has not been worked out. John Fallon reports.
There were emotional scenes as the workers arrived for their last day at work at the shoe manufacturing plant which has operated in the Co Galway town since 1937. Some had worked there for 35 years.
The company announced in September that it was laying off 42 staff because of high labour costs and was moving its manufacturing sector overseas where costs were lower. Some 40 jobs in administration, marketing and other areas, will remain based in Ballinasloe.
The workers made redundant yesterday have been negotiating through their union SIPTU over the past few weeks, but a redundancy package has not been agreed. "The workers' demands are not unreasonable and given the commitment they made to the company down through the years, they felt management should have met them halfway. It is very disappointing that they will finish work here and still not know what they are going to get," a SIPTU spokesman said.
A spokesperson for Dubarry said that the matter was going before the Labour Relations Committee and would be resolved before Christmas.