The board of IDA Ireland will tomorrow be asked to approve a package which is expected to take account of the loss of up to 800 jobs at Fruit of the Loom in Donegal, along with some safeguards for its remaining 1,200 employees.
The US multinational hopes to announce its long-awaited decision on its Donegal operations by the end of the week. Employees are expected to find out which sections will be affected on Friday, with job losses most likely in the T-shirt manufacturing division. The company told workers yesterday that it was planning to temporarily lay off the majority of its 2,700 workers in Donegal and Derry from Friday until January 5th, 1999, a week earlier than the scheduled Christmas production shut-down. Some 2,500 workers will be laid off on Friday, with a further 200 in Campsie, Co Derry and Buncrana being kept on until December 23rd.
Ms Geraldine McDermott, who works in the T-shirt division in the Buncrana factory, yesterday spoke about how she and others received the news.
"The atmosphere was terrible. It really hit people when we heard we were going to be laid off on Friday. We know now it's definitely going to happen. Everybody was in really bad form."
"We thought we would at least have a good Christmas this year, that we would have one more good Christmas out of it, but now that's not even going to happen."
Most of the workforce are already on short-time working. About 300 are working for two days a week while a further 800 are on a three-day week since September. The short-time working forms part of the company's efforts to run down its stock of T-shirts and other leisurewear garments following a slump in sales in its key European markets. The news came in a letter to staff from the operations director, Mr Joe Mullan. In it he said he "anticipated" a return to full-time working in January.
The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, said the move was "regrettable".
The chief operations officer, Mr Bill Farley, met the group's senior European management last week to review its European operations, including Ireland. Following this meeting and a series of extensive discussions with IDA Ireland officials over the past couple of months, the company is now in a position to accept the new package, subject to approval by the board of the State agency, which meets in Dublin tomorrow.
The deal is likely to incorporate some compromise on both sides over the scale of the liabilities to IDA Ireland that would be incurred by the job losses, with the company offering certain assurances about its remaining workforce here.
The workers' union, SIPTU, has begun negotiations with the company, seeking to secure holiday pay or some form of remuneration for workers for the extra week's work they will lose. Meanwhile, the Labour Court is expected to give its ruling this week about redundancy payments due to 50 workers who were laid off at the company's Dungloe plant last month.
The secretary of SIPTU in the North West, Mr George Hunter, said he was "very, very concerned" at the temporary lay-offs. "Once again the company has failed to get it right in terms of planning its production."
Circulars were given to staff at 3.30 p.m. yesterday telling them that they would have to take extended Christmas leave from Friday because stocks had piled up.
A SIPTU shop steward at the Buncrana factory, Ms Bridie Burns, said after the rumours of the past few days about extended leave, workers were now glad it was "out in the open".