MORE THAN 120 workers are to lose their jobs at cider-maker Bulmers as part of a major reorganisation programme by the company.
Workers were told of the planned job cuts yesterday morning at a meeting called by management at the drinks plant in Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
The company is to seek 40 voluntary redundancies among general operative staff, while 52 managerial positions are to be cut in a “streamlining” of the management structure. It is also letting go 11 maintenance workers.
In addition, the restructuring plan will see 18 workers let go at the company’s offices in Dublin and Belfast.
“This is a huge shock to workers and hard news for the people of Clonmel town and surrounding areas,” said Walter Jones, a forklift driver at the Clonmel plant.
“I don’t know yet if this affects my job, and to be honest, no one in here knows anything for certain at the moment,” he said.
Management at the plant said the action was necessary “in order to protect future jobs and to safeguard the viability of the company”.
“We’re operating under extraordinarily tough economic conditions and it’s essential that we reduce our cost base and increase our competitiveness,” said Aidan Murphy, general manager at the plant.
Bulmers, owned by Irish drinks group CC, employs 433 people in Clonmel and a further 46 commercial staff in Dublin.
Mr Murphy said the company had “set a target for completion” of the redundancy process by the end of March.
Workers reacted angrily yesterday to proposals by the company including a pay freeze until 2010, and a discontinuation of company cars and the free medical scheme for workers.
“There’s not a hope this deal will be accepted by union membership by the end of March. The proposals put on the table are far too radical,” said worker and Siptu representative Paul Murnane. The workers’ free GP visit scheme is to be replaced by a medical check every two years, with a car allowance granted in place of company cars.
Worker Paul Ryan said the company was “using the excuse of the recession to try and get as much out of us as possible”.
At its peak in 2006 the company employed more than 650 workers at the Tipperary plant. Management cited “difficult trading conditions and falling market share in key markets” as reasons behind yesterday’s announced cut in the workforce.
Management and Siptu officials are to discuss the planned cuts at meetings today and next week.
Local Fine Gael TD Tom Hayes said the development was a “devastating blow to the region”. “Fortunately there is a plan by the company to move forward with 330 secure jobs, and what’s needed now is to ensure workers and families affected by this blow are properly looked after,” he said.
South Tipperary County Council chairman Tom Ambrose said the decision would have “a considerable negative knock-on effect on the economy of Clonmel and the south Tipperary region as a whole”. Bulmers, which produces Magners cider for the UK market, is forecast to produce 150 million litres of cider this year, down from 220 million in 2006. “We have no choice but to respond to the current climate, to realign the company in line with market conditions . . . ” said Mr Murphy.
