A dispute has erupted at Siemens IT Solutions in Cork over whether staff who are being told their roles are being transferred to Reading in the UK are entitled to redundancy.

The 24 workers at the Blackrock facility provided technical support for the directory services business Yell. Siemens has told the workers the roles have transferred to Reading after it lost the contract, which ceases on May 2nd.

“Siemens are treating its Blackrock customer service staff with contempt by claiming that their jobs simply transfer to a location in the UK under a new employer,” said Steve Fitzpatrick, general secretary of the Communications Workers Union.

Siemens said it is in consultation with staff and “working to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all parties”.

“As a responsible company, Siemens will honour all our contractual obligations to our employees,” it said.