Cadbury staff strike ‘putting jobs at risk’, owners warn
SOME 700 jobs are at risk at Cadbury plants in Dublin and Kerry as a result of strike action by workers, the company’s owners have warned.
The warning from Cadbury owners Mondelez came as workers at the production plant in Coolock, Dublin, went on strike yesterday morning in a dispute over outsourcing. No action took place at the Cadbury plant in Rathmore, Co. Kerry.
Talks between unions and management at Cadbury will get under way today in bid to avoid further industrial action.
Siptu and Unite members picketed the gate of the Coolock plant that employs around 350
‘Outrage and increased fears’
people and made over 30,000 tonnes of Flake, Twirl, Boost and chocolate squares last year.
Siptu sector organiser John Dunne said: ‘The work stoppage at the plant will continue [today] and pickets outside the plant will remain in operation.’
As part of a restructuring proposal, Cadbury, owned by Swiss group Mondelez International, proposed the outsourcing of 17 jobs in its stores division.
A Labour Court recommendation on the issue, which included an offer by management to redeploy the affected workers elsewhere i n the plant and implement a 4% pay rise over two years, was rejected by the two unions. Siptu and Unite members previously proposed talks on reducing costs and increasing flexibility in relation to the operation of the stores at the factory.
Unite believes the move by Cadbury/Mondelez to outsource 17 core jobs heralds a move away from good, permanent, pensionable jobs to precarious work. This would be bad for the workers concerned, bad for Coolock, and ultimately bad for staff at the company, it claims.
‘ The bottom l i ne i s that outsourcing costs jobs, and unions are determined to resist such moves in the interests of our members and the wider community,’ said Unite spokesman Richie Browne.
Siptu’s Mr Dunne said the workers had been left with no option but to strike.
He claimed the work stoppage at the plant will continue until management ends the attempt to outsource the jobs.
Gerry McCormack, Siptu manufacturing division organiser, says the attempt to outsource jobs is being seen as a ‘further erosion’ of the plant’s viability, following the movement of the production of Time Out bars to Poland.
He added: ‘Workers at the plant have, over recent years, agreed to the major restructur- ing of operations and changes in work practices.
‘However, the attempt by the management of Mondelez International to further downgrade the plant’s operations has caused outrage and increased f ears among the workforce about its long-term commitment to the facility.’
A spokeswoman for Mondelez said the company regrets that Siptu and Unite have taken the step to strike. She said that the company would be attending talks at the Workplace Relations Commission today.
A statement from the company added: ‘In line with many other manufacturing businesses in Ireland, both the Coolock and Rathmore chocolate manufacturing sites are under intense pressures from international competition. Unfortunately, both the Siptu and Unite unions have voted to reject the Labour Court recommendation.’
It added that any form of industrial action only further undermines the future viability of the Coolock and Rathmore sites and this action ultimately endangers the j obs of the approximately 700 people employed within the business.