Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has condemned insurance giant Aviva’s handling of its jobs cuts announcement as “disgraceful”.
The company announced yesterday that 950 jobs – 770 in Aviva Ireland and a further 180 in Aviva Europe – could be lost among its 2,000-strong Irish workforce.
Mr Gilmore said the company’s treatment of its workers was “not acceptable”.
He made his comments in the Dáil today as he rejected claims by Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald the Government had done a lot of talking about jobs but “so far the only action we’ve seen is one company close after another”.
Ms McDonald said that even after yesterday’s briefing “workers at Aviva are still in the dark and still fearful for their jobs”.
She said it was still not clear whether redundancies will be voluntary or compulsory.
Ms McDonald asked why the Government had not directly intervened with Aviva management, why it had not moved to secure these jobs and whether the Government would “simply let 1,000 jobs and possibly more haemorrhage from this economy with no action”.
Rejecting her claims, Mr Gilmore said the Government’s main priority was jobs and his principal concern was with the employees of Aviva.
“I think the way in which Aviva treated their employees yesterday was disgraceful,” he said. “I think calling them in in the manner in which they were called in, requiring them not to talk to the press and then letting them back out again as wise as when they went in is simply not acceptable.”
The Tánaiste added that Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton had been dealing with the company on the issue on a continuing basis to minimise the impact on jobs in Ireland. He had met the company’s European and global chief executives.
Aviva staff are meeting with Unite union officials in Galway this evening.
Unite regional officer Brian Gallagher said staff in Dublin last night voted that the union should seek a mandate for industrial action ahead of negotiation on the job losses and restructuring.
"This mood of anger and defiance is likely to be echoed at the other meetings and that being the case, a ballot will commence as early as next Tuesday," Mr Gallagher said.
He said Aviva remained "immensely profitable".
"We will tell staff around the country in the coming days that they should not accept compulsory redundancies; they should not accept a voluntary package below what they deserve; and they should not facilitate the removal of jobs from Ireland without negotiated agreement."
Unite members are meeting in Galway at 5pm. It is expected to conclude at about 6.30.
Another meeting will be held for staff in Cork tomorrow and in Portlaoise on Monday