CUTBACKS:THE TRADE union Siptu has said that 46 Fás instructors and six general staff on temporary contracts are to be let go without compensation.
It said the cutbacks were part of a plan by the State training agency to deliver savings of 3 per cent in its wage bill to meet the Government's public sector targets.
The union said the staff concerned learned that their jobs were to go on the same day that they learned through media reports that the organisation's former director general was likely to receive a golden handshake worth at least €300,000.
Siptu said the staff concerned earned between €27,000 and €51,000. It said they were told they would be let go in December, but following representations by the union, they were being allowed to remain in their jobs until after Christmas.
Siptu branch organiser Brendan O'Brien said the union was referring the job losses to the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), in order to see if any jobs could be saved and to try to obtain some compensation for the 52 workers concerned.
"Fás management said we were wasting our time going to the LRC and the decision was final, but we are determined to save these jobs if we can and to highlight the double standards it reveals about how ordinary Fás employees are treated compared with senior management," Mr O'Brien said.