Staff at the Kerry Foods facility in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, staged the first of three 24-hour industrial actions on Tuesday this week.

Further strike actions will take place on Tuesday 13 March and Tuesday 20 March if Kerry Foods do not agree to certain demands, including involving the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in the dispute.

The issue relates to Kerry Foods announcing in February that it would be seeking 31 redundancies at the end of a 30-day review. The review ended last week with no final decision made by management after meetings with the staff.

Kerry Foods said the decision to pursue redundancies was made as a result of plummeting euro-sterling exchange rates following the Brexit vote of 2016.

Staff representatives are looking for redundancy terms to include voluntary redundancies as well as a premium to be paid in any redundancy package for shift workers.

We are in limbo at the minute

Tom Fox, SIPTU shop steward at the Carrickmacross facility, said staff will continue their action until management at the site listen to their requests.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal at the protest on Tuesday, Fox said the staff are willing to negotiate but they need to see movement by management.

“We know that there is give and take in any negotiations but we are in limbo at the minute. Last week was the 30-day review deadline and we haven’t heard anything yet.

“We need to see the WRC get involved and all the redundancies have to be voluntary, with the longest-serving staff being offered the redundancy scheme first,” he said.

Voluntary redundancy

Sinn Féin MEP and Co Monaghan native Matt Carthy called on Kerry management to accept the proposal from staff that the redundancies be voluntary.

“In written correspondence and in phone conversation with a senior official in the company, I further requested of Kerry Group, in the event that the loss of 31 jobs is unavoidable, to put in place a voluntary redundancy scheme as opposed to forced redundancy.

“Kerry Foods is held in high esteem in Carrickmacross and surrounding areas and, with a little bit of goodwill, I believe Kerry Group could limit the potential for distress and disruption among workers and the local community.”

Read more

Workers at Kerry Foods to conduct 24-hour stoppages