The mood among Premier Dairies workers was sombre yesterday as the news broke that the Rathfarnham production facility is to close with the loss of more than 200 jobs. Mr Greg Quigley, a driver with the company, said that despite the rumours about the future of the plant, the announcement that production at Rathfarnham will cease was a big surprise to the workers.
"There's a lot of gloom and doom in the factory. It's absolutely terrible news, especially coming up to Christmas - it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Nobody knew what was going to happen when we walked into the canteen that morning. It was like a kick in the guts".
Mr Des Brady, who also works in the plant, was less surprised. "I've been working with the company for 19 years. In that 19 years they've closed down Kimmage, Monkstown and Finglas and have had several `rationalisations', but it was still a blow. "I'm married with two kids and I'm 10 years into a mortgage with another 10 years to go. The redundancy money they're offering might pay off the mortgage, but it won't feed the family". Asked if he was hopeful of getting another job after nearly 20 years with the same company, Mr Brady said: "There's hope there."
Mr Gary Reid has worked for Waterford Foods and AWG for four years, three of which he spent in the Finglas plant. "We came over here in February thinking that we had a job for life. They've led us up the garden path.
"The Avonmore-Waterford Group is going to be the fourth largest dairy in Europe. It's a monopoly the Government should never have allowed to happen. Somewhere along the line, the company are going to whittle down the workforce again."
There is a large amount of resentment among the group's Dublin-based workers that production in Rathfarnham will cease completely. Mr Vincent Smart said he "didn't think they'd go so far as to close the plant here, but I knew the jobs down the country wouldn't be cut much. Waterford Foods is basically owned by farmers, and the farmers are going to look after their own."
Mr Greg Quigley believes that very few of the Rathfarnham workers would avail of any offer to be transferred to an Avonmore-Waterford Group plant outside Dublin. "Everyone here is settled in Dublin, and have their roots here. They're not going to move down to Carlow, Dungarvan or somewhere in Cork". Nor can Avonmore-Waterford expect an easy ride from workers on the voluntary redundancy package on offer. Workers to whom The Irish Times spoke yesterday regarded it as fair for the longer-established employees, but not generous enough to the younger ones.
Mr Smart says it will not meet with unanimous approval. "For a person who has 30 or 40 years' service, the redundancy package is ideal for them, but for a person who has less than 20 years service, it's no good at all. It wouldn't even last a year, especially if you've got a mortgage and a family," he said.
