Workers shocked and confused after meeting

STAFF REACTION:WORKERS AT SR Technics reacted with a mixture of disappointment, shock and confusion to the news that the airline maintenance firm's Dublin plant is to close next month. The 1,135 staff were informed of the decision during a briefing with chief executive Bernd Kessler at its Dublin airport plant yesterday morning.

Entering the meeting, staff were unsure of what to expect, with pay cuts, redundancies and a reduction in working hours discussed. However, after the meeting, it was clear the announcement was more severe.

“We thought they might close the hangars,” said line manager Pat Keating (51) from Skerries, Co Dublin. “The hangars are quiet in the summer, we thought they might close them for a few months and we thought we might have to take a pay cut.”

Mr Keating, a father of two who has worked at the plant for 28 years, said the decision had caused huge upset among staff.

“It’s very hard to take in so far, it’s a big shock,” he said.

Denis Beggs (50), who has served as a trimmer for four years, said he knew nothing of the scale of the announcement. “We thought that maybe they’d downsize, but not a shutdown,” he said.

Mr Beggs’s son, an apprentice with SR Technics, also faces unemployment. “We’re just in shock at the moment, but we’ve been asked to try to carry on as normal.”

Dave Ashton, from Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, who worked in the landing gear division, said he had a mortgage and five children to think about. “I’ve been working here for the last 18 years,” Mr Ashton said. “I don’t know what to do now. . . We’ll have to start planting trees or move to Australia or something.”