The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Worry of Kostal staff facing month’s closure alleviated by pay assurance
ANXIETY among Kostal’s 800 plus workers in Abbeyfeale over the temporary closure of the plant was alleviated at the last minute on Tuesday as the firm moved to assure workers it would pay the new COVID payment of €350 per week.
The plant and its sister facility in Mallow were to close after the final shift on Tuesday night, in an ‘initial’ temporary move until April 27. The closure is as a direct result of the COVID pandemic, which impacted the production of vital components in factories in China supplying Kostal’s Irish operations, before hitting Italy, where other key subsidiaries are based.
The Kerryman understands that the Irish subsidiaries are just the second closures worldwide of a company that operates 46 plants in 21 countries, employing 22,000 workers all told.
While it has temporarily closed plants here in the past as the fortunes of the car industry it serves waxed and waned, workers now fear for their futures like never before in the midst of such an unprecedented pandemic.
Management at Kostal Ireland informed the media this week the closure was directly as a result of the virus, saying it is a difficult time for workers:
“We confirm the closure of both our Abbeyfeale and Mallow Plants with effect from 8am, Wednesday, March 25, for an initial period up to 8am Monday, April 27.
“This closure is as a direct result of COVID-19. This is a very challenging time for our employees and their families who are severely impacted because of this event,” a spokesperson said.
One employee with 20 years’ service at the West Limerick plant welcomed news of the pay assurance on Tuesday.
“There was a lot of worry here up until we got assurances of the €350 payment on Tuesday afternoon as a lot of staff would have been living from one payment to the next, and the €203 would not have been enough,” Kostal Abbeyfeale Production Trainer Billy Keane told The Kerryman.
He said staff were also pleased to learn the company would make the payment, relieving them of the need to apply for it.
He said that staff are now increasingly anxious about the longer-term, however.