This article is from page 6 of the 2011-01-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
ALMOST three in four workers at Shannon Aerospace Ltd, have voted in favour of a restructuring programme which will see more than 100 jobs being shed from next month.
Almost one-fifth of full-time workers will face redundancy under the deal.
Shannon Aerospace, a subsidiary of German-based Lufthansa Technik AG, provides airframe maintenance, engineering, painting and technical services for airlines. It is blaming the recession, which has severely affected the aviation industry, for the need to shed jobs.
The company, which currently employs 628 full-time staff and 97 trainees, confirmed in October that it proposed laying off 107 workers, mostly administrative and support staff.
The announcement came as Lufthansa Technic announced losses of almost € 1 million between August and October this year.
After weeks of talks, between management and SIPTU, the union representing staff at Aerospace, workers voted.
After the ballot a company spokesperson said that 71.5 per cent of workers voted in favour of accepting the restructuring moves.
It is understood that workers were offered an improved redundancy package to the one originally proposed, while remaining staff have accepted an 18-month pay freeze and changes to the rostering system at the plant.
When the restructuring is complete, the company will employ more than 540 people.
Shannon Aerospace chief executive Thomas Rückert welcomed the agreement. “In my short time here in Ireland, I have been deeply impressed with the people working for Shannon Aerospace. We asked a lot of our employees and, together with the board, I am grateful for their support, which will allow us to implement our plan and safeguard the maximum number of jobs at the company.”
The original announcement by Aerospace management that jobs were to be cut was the first of three in as many weeks, all from companies who have put down roots in Clare over decades.
Within an hour of the announcement at Aerospace, management at publishing company, Elsevier, announced that it was leting 100 people go. Elsevier, who publish medical journals including the prestigious Lancet , will now have just a handful of staff in Ireland. It is not clear if the few remaining employees will still be based at Shannon.
Then came the Roche announcement that it is to shed 25 jobs at its Clarecastle plant.
The move is part of a wider restructuring programme that will see it axe 4,800 jobs worldwide.