The news that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is to cut 65 jobs at one of its plants in Cork and is to sell off two others, putting a further 480 jobs at risk, was greeted with dismay yesterday by local workers, business and political representatives.
Siptu branch organiser Eddie Mullins, whose union represents about 1,200 of Pfizer's 2,300 workforce, said there had been a lot of speculation in recent months about how the company's planned global restructuring would impact on Cork.
"It hasn't come as a total bolt out of the blue because we were expecting something, but we haven't sat down with local management yet to discuss with them the rationale for what they're proposing and we will do that over the next couple of days," he said.
Mr Mullins said he was optimistic about the possibility of Pfizer securing buyers for its API plants at Loughbeg and Little Island given that both were modern fully licensed facilities with a skilled reliable workforce, and the company had 12 to 24 months to find buyers.
Yesterday's announcement came just three weeks after FCI Ireland announced it is to close its electrical connectors manufacturing plant in Fermoy with the loss of 240 jobs, and just over a week after Motorola said that it was considering the future of its 350-job plant in Blackrock.
Cork Chamber of Commerce chief executive Conor Healy expressed his disappointment at the news and cautioned that the announcement could have a significant impact on the local economy if suitable buyers were not found for the Loughbeg and Little Island API plants.
"However, I believe buyers can be sourced as both facilities are of a high standard, meeting highest regulatory requirements, with highly-skilled and committed management and staff and are located in one of the leading regions for the pharmaceutical industry worldwide."
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and local Cork South Central TD Micheál Martin said the news was "very disappointing" but assured staff that all possible support will be made available to them from the State agencies. Mr Martin said he was confident suitable buyers would be found for both the API plants and he pointed out that Cork will continue to benefit from the biopharmaceutical industry with 1,600 jobs due to be created in Amgen, Centercor and Eli Lilly in the next few years.
However, Cork North Central Labour TD Kathleen Lynch said the Pfizer announcement, on top of other recent job losses in Cork, was bound to have an impact on the Cork economy and she urged the Government to do more to identify jobs at risk.
"The Government seems to have become totally complacent and appears to react to the loss of such valuable jobs with no more than a shrug of the shoulders, but the fact is that high-paid jobs in manufacturing are being replaced by generally poorer-paid positions in services."
Cork South Central Cllr Deirdre Clune of Fine Gael also expressed concern that over 500 Pfizer staff were facing such uncertainty over their jobs. "These are high-quality, well-paying jobs that are under threat, so it's a big blow for the Cork region," she said.
Cork South Central Green Party TD Dan Boyle said the Government had failed to move quickly to a knowledge-based economy.