A MEETING of the workforce at the US-owned Seagate plant at Springtown, Co Derry, has been convened today amid fears of further job losses.
The workers at Springtown were asked to take unpaid leave over Christmas while 45 temporary employees were laid off.
On Monday staff began to work a four-day week. The company, which manufactures computer components, is blaming the economic downturn. Some 1,400 workers are employed at the plant.
Although Seagate management insisted there were no plans to announce significant lay-offs, workers’ fears have grown following a spate of redundancies and the closure last year of the nearby Seagate plant in Limavady, Co Derry, with the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs.
Production from that plant was moved to a plant in Malaysia due to lower labour costs.
In a statement yesterday, Seagate said it would continue to monitor the situation given declining market demand and would take decisions necessary to protect the business.
The small manufacturing sector in the North is considered especially vulnerable due to its preponderance of low-skill, low-wage jobs which are in constant danger of being relocated to other countries with lower labour costs.
SDLP leader Mark Durkan, the local MP, said all the relevant agencies should engage with the company to minimize the impact of any announcement on the local economy.
Derry Trades Council spokesman Liam Gallagher said workers were concerned about possible job losses.
The Unite trade union’s north-west regional organiser Gareth Scott called on the company to honour the commitment made to its workforce in Derry last year. This is understood to refer to a promise allegedly made last September, when the Limavady plant was closed, that the Springtown plant would be safe for the next four years.
Seagate has already announced the redundancy of 10 per cent of its global workforce, amounting to 800 employees.