Airwaves silenced but rumours are rife
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Tuesday December 23 2008
Employees inside Dell's giant manufacturing plant in Limerick were not even allowed to listen to reports on local radio stations as rumours flew of an impending announcement of 2,000 job losses.
Normally, the company's workers can listen to the local radio station, Limerick's Live 95FM, which is broadcast throughout the factory in Raheen Industrial Estate.
However, the station was turned off yesterday morning as the cuts were discussed for over an hour on the 'Limerick Today' show with Ed Myers.
"All I know is they wouldn't let us listen to the radio. They switched it off when Willie O'Dea came on and started talking about Dell. What they were trying to achieve, I don't know," one woman said.
There was only one topic of conversation amongst Dell employees, catering and security staff throughout yesterday.
Workers on the manufacturing lines rang each other throughout Sunday night as word spread of impending job losses and consoled each other at the plant yesterday.
Speculation
Anger was evident among some employees who said they have been subjected to months of rumour and speculation without any firm commitment from their management.
"Everything we learned, we learned from the radio and the press. Today, we had to read that the Tanaiste and Willie O'Dea were in Texas trying to save our jobs. The company have never said anything to us about this," one employee said.
Fearful of possible repercussions from within the company, no workers were keen to go on the record.
"We don't have a union here, so there is nobody to speak for us. But management are afraid to speak also," the worker said.
In some cases, husbands and wives who met through their work in Dell are expecting to be made redundant.
"All that we can do now is hang on and wait,'' another employee said. "Anybody who is working here a long time can't leave, as we are entitled to our redundancy pay. It is like waiting in the gallows for the trap door to open out from underneath you. This is a death sentence hanging over us.''
Limerick has suffered the closure of a computer giant before with Wang computers leaving in 1994, resulting in the loss of 600 jobs.
Dell opened for business in Ireland in 1990 and last year contributed €140m to Irish wages.
- Barry Duggan
