BAUSCH LOMB:WATERFORD'S largest private sector employer, Bausch Lomb, is to cut 195 staff from its workforce in the city. The remaining staff will stay on short-time working until at least the end of next month.
In a series of meetings yesterday, the 1,400 staff at the plant, which makes contact lenses and other eye healthcare products, were told the news by management, which said it hoped to achieve the job cuts through voluntary redundancies.
Staff had been bracing themselves for bad news in recent days after having been summoned to the meetings. They took place in three sessions yesterday afternoon.
In a statement afterwards, the company said the redundancies were necessary “to balance manufacturing capacity with demand for products made in Ireland due to changes in the product mix in its portfolio”.
“Bausch Lomb remains committed to maintaining its facility in Waterford as a centre of manufacturing excellence but in order to ensure this, inefficiencies must be completely eliminated,” the company said.
“We deeply regret having to make employees redundant, and we understand that this is a difficult and distressing time for those employees facing an uncertain future.”
The deadline for voluntary redundancy applications is April 30th. The company said it would negotiate packages for the affected workers with unions Siptu – which represents about 1,200 staff at the plant – and the TEEU.
Marie Butler, Siptu’s branch organiser in Waterford, said the union was disappointed with the announcement. However, management had reiterated its commitment to Waterford, to its investment programme at the plant, and the continued upskilling of the workforce through a Fás certification scheme.
“Naturally, we are disappointed as we had hoped that the recent switch to short-time working would have avoided the need for job losses at the plant.
“We are also disappointed that the company could not rule out the possibility of further redundancies in the future, but the short-time working system will be reviewed in April after the redundancies begin to take effect.”
She added that of the 195 redundancies at the plant, 185 would involve Siptu members and 10 would come from the TEEU.
One of the employees, Brenda O’Neill-Aari, from Ferrybank, said she had worked at the company for 27 years and all staff were devastated. “The fear amongst the workers is that this is just the beginning. This is the biggest blow we’ve been given since the company started here. Everyone is very worried and upset.”
She said people also did not believe the company would achieve 195 voluntary redundancies. “If it was two years ago, it might be different, but in the present climate . . .”
Terry Wall, from Tramore, who has worked at the plant for 10 years, said staff felt very much in the dark about their future.
“We knew what to expect before we went in because information was leaked to the media but we don’t really know now what the future holds.”
Mayor of Waterford city Jack Walsh said the redundancies were regrettable but he remained optimistic about the company’s future and its long-term commitment to retaining a significant number of manufacturing jobs in the city and the region.
“While nobody can be certain about the future, the action being taken by Bausch Lomb today and over the past weeks will, hopefully, be sufficient to return it to a position where it is winning new business for its Waterford operation, and perhaps at some future time actually adding to its workforce here.”
Waterford Labour TD Brian O’Shea said the news was a major blow to the workers who would lose their jobs and their families.
“The Government must make every effort to assist the company in terms of getting back to full-time working and securing the greatest possible number of jobs going forward.”