Ex-Irish Sugar workers in Greencore protest

Former Irish Sugar workers protested at the head office of Greencore in Dublin today.

The workers are in dispute with their former employer over the interpretation of a Labour Court ruling on redundancy entitlements.

An estimated 150 former employees, their supporters and retired Greencore workers attended the protest at the company's headquarters in St Stephen's Green in Dublin this morning.

The protesters are claiming that Greencore has reneged on a Labour Court Recommendation clarifying an earlier ruling concerning compensation for workers made redundant at its Mallow plant in May.

The former workers say redundancy payments should be based on six weeks' pay per year of service based on the worker's final week's salary and not on their hourly rate as Greencore insists.

Speaking to ireland.comthis afternoon, Sitpu general secretary Joe O'Flynn said the former workers were experiencing financial difficulties since the Mallow plant closed but remained "extremely determined" to see through their campaign.

He said Greencore had refused to implement the Labour Court's clarification on its ruling over the issue and called on Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan not to pay out "one cent" of EU compensation until the workers receive their full entitlements.

As a judicial review on the distribution of EU aid to the company gets under way today, Mr O'Flynn called on Greencore and Ms Coughlan to ensure the aid is distributed "more equitably".

He claimed Greencore was planning to keep the equivalent of seven years' profits from the EU's aid package but that redundant workers will get no more than two years' salary, or less.

Mr O'Flynn added that the workers would continue their protests until the situation was resolved. Greencore was unable for comment.

In a statement released by Greencore this afternoon, the company claimed the unions' claim was "an attempt to get

paid on the double".

It said the redundancy package being offered by Greencore "complies fully" with what it described as a "longstanding agreement on the terms and conditions relating to early retirement/redundancy payments".

The company said a "significant number" of former employees had already collected their redundancy cheques and that cheques remain available to those who have not yet arranged to collect them.