Hundreds of workers from troubled aircraft maintenance firm SR Technics today staged a protest march through central Dublin over concerns about pension and redundancy payments.
Gardaí estimate over 500 demonstrators walked from the Garden of Remembrance at Parnell Square to the EU offices on Molesworth Street where they handed in a letter of protest.
They demanded the EU protect the livelihoods of its citizens, as SR is headquartered in non-EU Switzerland.
“In our view this is a direct attack on the aviation industry in Ireland and by definition on the EU,” the workers’ letter of protest said.
“As EU members we believe that this should not go unchallenged as to do nothing would be to send a message across the world that all our industries can be poached, leaving the EU open to mass unemployment and the enormous costs and social upheaval associated.”
The workers claim the company is not honouring its pension provisions or industry norms in Ireland for redundancy payments.
Wearing their SR Technics fluorescent jackets, the staff marched in two lines through the centre, blowing whistles and chanting as they went.
Noel Leonard, a 30-year SR Technics veteran, said the workers were walking for a fair deal.
“We hope that we get a fair redundancy package which is in line with the norm in the state,” he said.
“All we want is our fair share.
“Once these jobs go out of Ireland, that will be the end of it.”
Jim Conway, 65, from Coolock, who has been working with the company for 17 years, said workers had been abandoned.
“SR Technics have not the remotest interest in Dublin,” he said.
“When I look around and see people that you’ve worked with, their families and everything and the commitment that they’ve shown has now just been abandoned.”