3 days of strike action scheduled at a Kerry plant

Three separate days of work stoppages are scheduled to take place at Kerry Group’s plant in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan in the coming weeks.

SIPTU members at the Kerry Foods plant have reportedly notified the company that they will conduct three 24-hour work stoppages “unless a threat to make 31 workers redundant without agreement is removed”.

Commenting on the matter, SIPTU organiser Jim McVeigh said: “On Friday, February 23, our members voted overwhelmingly in support of industrial action.

“Management has been notified that our members will conduct three 24-hour work stoppages – on Tuesday, March 6, Tuesday, March 13, and Tuesday, March 20 – at the Carrickmacross plant.

The company knows that, in order to avoid our members taking this industrial action, an agreement to implement a voluntary redundancy scheme is required. This must include an adequate redundancy package for those members of the workforce who wish to leave.

“SIPTU representatives are planning to meet with the company later this week to discuss a fair resolution to this dispute,” McVeigh said.

There are reportedly over 300 SIPTU members working in the plant.

A spokesperson for Kerry Group previously informed AgriLand that the redundancies had been announced back in January, following a review of the Co. Monaghan facility over the course of last year.

The decision was taken to roll-out these redundancies in an effort to optimise efficiency and ensure sustainability and viability at the plant in the face of significant drops in sterling following the Brexit vote, the spokesperson said.

Sterling devaluation has resulted in difficulties for the plant, given the majority of its produce is destined for the UK market, the spokesperson added.

There would still be in the region of 385 jobs provided at the Carrickmacross facility following the redundancies. Kerry Group are eager to find a solution to this problem, the spokesperson added.