MORE THAN 400 people took part in a rally on Saturday in support of the former Vita Cortex workers in Cork city.
The 32 employees at the foam packaging plant are seeking a €1.2 million redundancy package – 2.9 weeks per year of service for each worker – which they believe Vita Cortex owner Jack Ronan has the capacity to pay.
At the rally, organised by the Cork Council of Trade Unions, former worker Helen Crowley said she was optimistic a resolution would be found in the coming days. “Hopefully, we will get somewhere but if we don’t we will just soldier on. We are going to keep at it anyway.”
The rally was attended by the families of the sit-in workers, former La Senza workers, politicians and trade union officials as well as Siptu general secretary Joe O’Flynn and Pat Guilfoyle of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union.
Mr O’Flynn has called on Vita Cortex worker-owner Jack Ronan to “do the right thing”, insisting the redundancy money sought by the workers is a “modest sum.” Both parties in the dispute are to meet for talks tomorrow following an intervention by the Labour Relations Commission.