SIPTU, IDA to meet Cross on jobs

Management at the AT Cross pen manufacturing plant in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, will meet the Industrial Development Authority and SIPTU representatives next week, following yesterday's announcement that 190 jobs may be lost.

Up to 100 permanent posts and 90 seasonal jobs are expected to go following the parent company's decision to shift manufacturing at Ballinasloe to its headquarters in the US.

The IDA is negotiating with the company on liability regarding £2.26 million (€2.87 million) in grant aid, and on the future of the 60,000 sq. ft plant. The firm has said the Ballinasloe factory will be used as a distribution centre for the European, Middle East and Africa markets, and this is expected to retain some 60 jobs. The "reorganisation" should be completed by the end of July.

SIPTU in Galway has expressed serious disappointment at the announcement after months of rumours and denials about the company's future. A "profit-making" branch of the company was being sacrificed to keep the US operation afloat, Ms Tish Gibbons, secretary of Galway No 3 and Ballinasloe SIPTU branches, said yesterday.

"These job losses in Ballinasloe will have a major effect on the town and surrounding areas," she said. "In an area bedevilled by low pay, AT Cross is one of a very few companies where wages were better and conditions of employment were quite good. "There has been very little in the way of new employment in the town for many years. I cannot see where else these people will find work."

SIPTU meets management on Monday morning, and the union will then consult members on whether to fight the move or negotiate a redundancy package. The union represents about 150 staff, 75 of whom are permanent with 10 to 30 years' service.

The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, regretted the announcement and said IDA Ireland had been intensively promoting Ballinasloe over the last 18 months. It had been working closely with the local authority and the Chamber of Commerce, and had recently acquired land to develop a high-quality business park on 39 acres, she said.

A statement issued on behalf of the company's president and chief executive officer, Mr David G. Whalen, yesterday afternoon said a review and restructuring would result in a 60 per cent reduction of "approximately 100 people" in the "permanent headcount" at Ballinasloe.

No mention was made in the statement of the temporary jobs, but the IDA has confirmed 90 such posts will also go.

AT Cross opened in Ballinasloe in 1973, to supply European, Middle East and African markets, and once employed almost 400 staff at its Cleaghmore plant. This was reduced to 150 permanent posts, following a series of rationalisations in the 1990s which involved some workers returning on a temporary basis. About 75 workers were offered severance in 1994.

The company had invested heavily in new product in recent years and had announced it expected to report non-recurring pre-tax charges of $15 to $20 million (€15.3 to €20.3 million) in the first quarter of this year to reflect the "reorganisation of global writing instrument operations".

Mr Whalen said the company had been running its manufacturing facilities at excess capacity and the consolidation in Ireland and the US would allow it to "operate a more efficient manufacturing operation and realise the commensurate cost benefits".

Mr Whalen said that "reducing the workforce in Ireland was a very difficult decision", and AT Cross greatly regretted taking this action. "We appreciate everything that our employees in the Ballinasloe facility have done for Cross, and we intend to assist them in the coming months, where we can, in finding alternative employment," he added.