'It's not what you want to hear before Christmas'

WORKERS' REACTION:THE CANTEEN at Stiefel in Sligo was packed for yesterday morning's emergency meeting, but when managing director Joe Burns broke the bombshell news, there was a stunned silence.

“The people on the three shifts had been asked to attend so some of us could not even get into the canteen, but we could hear every word he said from outside the door,” said one employee. “People were very subdued – just trying to take it all in.”

The meeting lasted about 20 minutes, as Mr Burns, who has worked with Stiefel since it opened in Sligo in 1975, expressed his regret and assured staff that the news was no reflection on them.

A few women were close to tears as the meeting ended, with management urging all the staff to head home and talk to their families about what had happened. As they emerged from the building, many said they had been bracing themselves for bad news since the GlaxoSmithKline takeover earlier this year but none expected total shutdown of the plant.

“I suppose we expected some news but not this news, not that it was going to close,” said one man with Stiefel for more than 20 years. He said some staff, those who probably felt their prospects were particularly bleak now, had been with the firm for more than 30 years.

“A lot of people have houses and mortgages and are very worried,” said another man. “We were afraid that some people might be laid off before Christmas but nothing is going to happen before March, it seems, and the place won’t go for four years.”

Mayor of Sligo Jim McGarry pointed out Stiefel had been regarded as a good place to work and staff turnover was low. “There was a great rapport there between management and staff. A job at Stiefel was very desirable but there was rarely an opening because people stayed there.”

He called for a meeting with the Tánaiste to discuss retraining opportunities for the staff.

“There was no anger at today’s meeting. People could not take it in, but I suppose in the coming weeks, there will be a lot of questions about redundancy payments and people will want to know how long they have,” said one woman.

“We half-expected after the takeover there would be changes and it seems that they want to reduce the number of factories around the world. Unfortunately Sligo is one of the places they want to shut,” a colleague said.

“It’s not what you want to hear before Christmas,” said another.