NEWBRIDGE:ALTHOUGH WORKERS were upset at the announcements of redundancies at the facility in Newbridge, the general sense was that the situation could have been much worse.
One worker who did not want to be named said she worked in the pharmaceutical development centre.“We are the first to go. But at least the company stays. We were afraid of closure, and that’s not going to happen, thank god. But from a personal point of view it’s bad news “
Marek Swiatkowski (35), from Poland, has worked at the plant for the last four years. “The factory survived; that is important.”
He expects that his job will be gone by the end of the year. “I will move out probably.”
Adrian Kane, a Siptu representative, said: “People have been working away here. For the last nine months they have been waiting for this moment to happen.
“This area has been haemorrhaging jobs over the last number of years. All the emphasis has been on balancing deficits; there has been very little focus on job-creation.
“I think there are other things that should be taken into account. Rather than just increasing shareholder value there’s the social and economic impact on ordinary people working here.
“In the 1980s there was a sense of solidarity in this country; people doing something. That is not there this time. We do need to focus on stimulus packages to get people back to work.”
“There are a lot of families in there,” said shop steward Ian Moore. “So there are mixed emotions at the moment; a lot of the details are still up in the air.
“There are people who know their jobs are seriously under threat. Others know they’re safe.We’ve been hearing rumours that the whole place was going to go, so there’s relief. But there are couples there who will suffer. People have mortgages.”
Local town councillor Damien Moylneaux (Labour) described Newbridge as a “blackspot”.
“[On] One street, Eyre Street, there are 29 vacant business premises. We have couples with mortgages. Both husband and wife were working in Pfizer. Their mortgages were raised on the strength of their life-long jobs with Pfizer.”
Cllr Micheál Nolan (Fine Gael) said: “Newbridge is one of the areas most affected by the recession, with over 9,000 signing on for social welfare.
“We need intervention from the IDA and the Government, and to give Newbridge the attention it deserves.”