Rutherford is devastated by loss of 490 jobs in the Stryker Howmedica Osteonics factory, some of which are moving to existing plants in Republic.

In a curious twist of fate, a factory in the town where I live is closing its doors with the loss of 490 jobs and some of those jobs are moving to Ireland.

The historic, 350-year-old town of Rutherford, New Jersey, is a close-knit community of 18,110 people with a median household income of $79,000. Property prices have risen dramatically in the past five years, partly because Rutherford has an easy commute by bus and train to Manhattan 11 miles away.

Stryker Corporation, owner of the Stryker Howmedica Osteonics plant in Rutherford, recently completed a review of its worldwide manufacturing facilities and made a tentative decision to close the Rutherford implant manufacturing facility.

Stryker develops, manufactures and markets specialty surgical and medical products, including orthopedic replacement joints. It employs 12,000 people worldwide and last year made a profit of $267 million (€276 million).

Right now, Howmedica Osteonics is in negotiations with representatives of the International Union of Electrical Workers and Communications Workers of America, local 485, which represents about 440 workers at the facility, about the tentative closure.

A further 50 employees would be affected. The current union contract expires on August 31st, 2002. "We're doing our best to negotiate a fair and equitable settlement," a spokesman for the company said.

Subject to the union negotiations, the expectation is that the Rutherford facility would be closed over the next 18 months and the majority of production would be transferred to the three existing Howmedica Osteonics facilities in Ireland - two in Cork and one in Limerick.

In December 2000, the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, announced Stryker Howmedica would invest £35 million (€44 million) in its Carrigtwohill plant, creating 200 jobs. Stryker has two facilities at Carrigtwohill where 135 are employed.

Howmedica, which Stryker acquired four years ago, "has a long history in Ireland," said Mr David Simpson, vice-president, chief financial officer and secretary of Stryker, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. "We're only closing one plant in the United States and we're moving some of the production to Ireland and to some other plants in the US," he said.

The reason, he pointed out, was that "we want to take advantage of cost advantages and Ireland fits the bill nicely. There is a great workforce in Ireland, lower labour rates and a great tax rate."

The Record, a local daily paper in Hackensack, New Jersey, reported on July 18th that union leaders urged workers to fight the plan to move the jobs overseas.

"We're asking for fairness and justice," Mr Sal Ingrassia, president, district three of the IUE/CWA, told about 150 workers and supporters who had congregated across Veterans Boulevard from the plant on July 17th.

"They asked us to produce and make a better product, and we did," he said. "And now they throw us out with the garbage."

Stryker recently opened a plant in Mahwah, New Jersey, and it has another plant in Allendale, New Jersey.

It has offered only 10 to 15 openings at its Mahwah plant to Rutherford employees.

The Record reported that, at the protest, some workers waved American flags. Others shouted "Hell, no! We won't go!" One man who worked at the plant for 36 years said: "All these jobs should be in New Jersey, not in foreign countries."

Union officials said the company should keep the plant open, or offer jobs in Mahwah to Rutherford workers - at their current union benefits - or lay them off with generous severance packages.

The mayor of Rutherford, Ms Bernadette McPherson, told The Irish Times that the "loss of these jobs will have a devastating impact certainly on the workers and their families but also on the local economy in Rutherford".

She said Stryker Howmedica, which has had a local presence for some time, employed "a number of people who utilise our banks, our restaurants and our downtown area and we would certainly like to see those jobs maintained in our community". For now, Stryker Howmedica will continue to own the building and to pay property taxes to the borough.

"But we do have concerns about the property being vacant in what is a bustling warehouse/office area for us," Ms McPherson said. "We certainly would like to see something else go in there. But our focus right now is to try to work with the workers and with Howmedica to have those jobs remain."

If the Rutherford facility closes, Stryker's after-tax employment-related costs are expected to be $10- $15 million. The actual costs, which could be higher, will be expensed in the quarter in which agreement with the union is reached.