Union's vow to fight job losses at Waterford Crystal
Angry trade union leaders tonight vowed to fight plans to effectively end glass-making at Waterford Crystal’s last remaining Irish factory.
Only 70 staff will continue the world renowned craft in the south-east of the country after company bosses called for 280 job cuts and mass production to move to Eastern Europe.
Unions blamed bad management for bringing home-grown manufacturing to a virtual standstill while shocked employees said the move will turn the historic Kilbarry site into a crystal theme park.
Walter Cullen, regional organiser with trade union Unite, met staff and management and warned the only alternative was a government bail-out.
“This is down to nothing other than poor, bad management down through the years,” he claimed.
“Senior management did not do their jobs properly. They made bad decisions and walked off with significant golden handshakes.”
Unite are expected to lobby Taoiseach Brian Cowen and government officials over the massive cuts and effective closure.
“Alongside Guinness it’s one of the last iconic brands and the fact that it is being manufactured in Slovenia is simply not good enough,” Mr Cullen said.
“They (the Taoiseach and the Government) have a role in retaining the manufacturing of Waterford Crystal in its home town of Waterford.”
The world famous company axed almost 500 jobs last November, although it struggled to secure redundancies with take-up falling short by 200.
It is the latest in a series of restructuring attempts and high profile marketing campaigns over the last ten years after leading designers Jasper Conran, Marc Jacobs and John Rocha were brought in to revive fortunes.
But hit by falling sales, rising costs and the weak US dollar, Waterford Crystal has looked to outsource glass-making with a large amount of manufacturing moved to Slovenia.
Despite claims from workers and union leaders, management said they were committed to keeping the Kilbarry plant open.
Chief executive John Foley said: “We regret the necessity of ending large-scale manufacturing in Waterford, but we reaffirm our commitment to the city.
“We will retain highly skilled workers, our tourist trail, as well as our gallery staff, who together service one of Ireland’s premier visitor attractions.
“The company is proud of its heritage. The city of Waterford remains its home.”
At its height in the recession-hit 1980s Waterford Crystal employed 3,500 high-skilled men and women at three plants – Kilbarry, Butlerstown and Dungarvan.
Management plan to lay off 280 specialist workers at the last remaining site in Kilbarry, mostly from the glass blowing and hand-cut crystal sections.
Seventy production workers will be kept on, and another 55 staff will run the administration, marketing and tourism business in the south-east.
It is likely the Kilbarry plant will focus exclusively on specialist designs such as the illuminated crystal ball used to bring in New Year in New York’s Times Square and unique trophies like those in the Volvo Ocean Race and the German Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Anthony Jones, chief financial officer of parent company Waterford Wedgwood, said it was no longer feasible to keep large-scale manufacturing operations in Ireland.
“Along with many other companies, we are, therefore, forced to find alternative means of production abroad,” Mr Jones said.
“We recognise that Waterford is critical to the DNA of our brand and we will retain our Visitor Centre and some prestigious manufacturing at Kilbarry.”
