Job losses at two major firms deal big blow to manufacturing
THE unemployment crisis deepened yesterday as two major employers announced a further 260 job losses.
Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa confirmed 140 job cuts and eyecare plant Bausch and Lomb confirmed it would shed a further 120 workers.
The announcements came as Irish Congress of Trade Unions' General Secretary David Begg branded the unemployment situation a 'mega crisis'.
Mr Begg urged the Government to urgently implement a €250m jobs subsidy plan brokered by the social partners last week.
The Government was also urged yesterday to create alternative jobs for 300-plus workers set to lose their jobs in the eyecare factory.
Waterford city-based Bausch and Lomb said it would axe 120 jobs in addition to 195 redundancies announced earlier in the year.
The move is being made to maintain competitiveness, according to the multi-national maker of contact lenses and eyecare equipment.
The announcement follows other job blows in Waterford at ABB engineering -- which is closing with the loss of 178 jobs -- as well as Waterford Crystal, DHL and Coca-Cola.
Management at Bausch & Lomb met with staff on Tuesday night and yesterday morning and told them they would be seeking the voluntary redundancies in the coming months.
Production of some of the company's range of PureVision contact lenses is to be moved from Waterford to its headquarters in Rochester, New York -- where manufacturing costs are lower.
Employees have been told that, as well as the job losses, "significant" cost saving measures would be introduced.
General manager of the Waterford plant, Colum Honan, said he regretted that it was necessary to seek further redundancies.
Committed
"We are committed to returning the Waterford facility to a position where it is once again the best-performing and most innovative plant owned by Bausch & Lomb," he said in a statement.
Meanwhile, blue chip employer Smurfit confirmed 140 job losses at its paper converting plant in Togher, Co Cork following an emergency meeting with staff.
The firm will retain just 30 jobs at the facility -- the equivalent of a single shift.
Smurfit blamed the move on the deteriorating global economic situation and falling demand for its products.
Workers were visibly stunned by the development -- and admitted they were particularly shocked by the scale of the job losses. "It is terrible news -- there are no other jobs out there at the moment," employee John Swain said.
The father-of-two has worked at the plant for more than 20 years and said he fears that, like a lot of his colleagues, he faces the prospect of a lengthy period on the dole.
"It is going to be a hard struggle to get a job. "The big fear for a lot of us is that we may never again be able to get a job," he said. SIPTU acknowledged that the move took their members totally by surprise.
Smurfit Kappa insisted "a significant manufacturing presence" would be retained in Togher despite the job losses.
- Conor Kane and Ralph Riegel
