Ms Phil Buckley started working in the Lowe Alpine factory after leaving school 19 years ago. Today, SIPTU will sit down with management to hammer out redundancy deals for Phil and more than 200 fellow workers. They will be made redundant in March.
Workers at the Tullamore outdoor wear factory were told on Friday that the factory was closing because it could no longer afford to manufacture in Europe.
While the company would not specify where the work would be relocated, a spokesman said it was possible that some of the low-wage economies in the Far East would benefit. It is understood that when the line manufacturing rucksacks was closed in Tullamore two years ago, the work went to the Far East.
This latest closure follows 60 job losses in Daiber Transfers and Irish Casings in the last month, and earlier job losses in Avon at Portarlington, Atlantic Mills in Tullamore and Tarkett in Mullingar.
"It was like a slap in the face," Ms Buckley said. "It was an awful shock. People came in here from school and knew no other job.
"I haven't a clue what to do. I thought I was here for life. I used to joke about going around on my zimmer frame."
As a mother of two teenagers, she said she felt sorry for the workers who had young children. "In some cases we have couples and both of them will be out of a job."
Lowe Alpine was acquired by the British clothing retailer, William Baird plc, almost two years ago. This company lost a major Marks and Spencer contract 18 months ago and closed 16 factories in the UK, with 4,500 job losses.
A spokesman for the company said it regretted that it had to take such radical action in Tullamore, but it would be economically untenable to continue production there. He pointed out that Lowe Alpine would retain a shop and a sales presence in Tullamore, possibly with a small research and development facility.
Workers in the IT, finance or support areas may have the opportunity to work at the company's headquarters in Cumbria, he said.
A SIPTU shop steward, Ms Karen Smollen, has worked with Lowe Alpine for 12 years. She said workers knew that the company was experiencing problems but they never expected to receive such dramatic news on Friday.
The most important thing now is to secure the best possible redundancy deal for the workers, according to Mr Seamus Buggle, SIPTU branch secretary for Offaly. He welcomed the call from Mr Brian Cowen, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is TD for Laois-Offaly, for a decent and reasonable package, and for his commitment to do all he could to find alternative employment for the town.
SIPTU had worked with Lowe Alpine to improve pay levels and had recently succeeded in getting an agreement for £200 a week, which they claim is the highest rate for textile workers in this State.
"But it was a Pyrrhic victory. £200 a week is not a huge amount of money, by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a lot more than £10 a month in a low-wage economy," he said.
Mr Buggle said many women took these jobs as a second income, while their husbands worked with Bord na Mona or the ESB. Then as these jobs were shed the factory worker became the main breadwinner.
The planned closure of Lowe Alpine is a major disappointment to the Industrial Development Authority, according to Mr Tom Hyland, IDA regional manager. He said the IDA would be urgently working to find a replacement industry for the region.
He pointed to a 22,000 sq ft advance factory in the town and said the IDA hoped it would provide a minimum of 100 new jobs. "A number of companies are looking at the premises," he said.
The IDA had a "substantial chunk" of development land in the region and would be aggressively promoting the area to overseas companies.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, has asked FAS to liase closely with management and SIPTU to carry out a full skills audit of workers with a view to providing the necessary retraining.
