340 workers to lose jobs at Amann textile factory in Tralee

27 Apr '09

2 min read

Workers at the Amann plant in Tralee have been told that all 340 jobs will be gone by mid-2010 when the plant closes.Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) Branch Organiser Con Casey said after meeting with management today that, “The effect will be catastrophic in North Kerry. This is a company where whole families have been employed and they will now find it next to impossible to find alternative employment.

“Amann was the second largest manufacturing employer in the region. Fortunately Kerry Ingredients is still providing employment for 400 people in Listowel but there is precious little left. There is an urgent need for the Government to come up with a strategy to save manufacturing jobs before it is too late. The sector has virtually collapsed here and overall unemployment has risen by 70 per cent in the past year.

“The Union will be meeting with shop stewards over the weekend and with management on Monday (27 April, 09) to discuss the redundancy arrangements. In fairness to Amann they have paid the first phase of the national agreement and have agreed to pay four weeks, plus the statutory two weeks' pay per year of service, to the first wave of redundancies”, he said.

SIPTU and the company agreed a package for the first 110 redundancies last January. These were across the company. A further 110 employees are to be let go from the spinning operation by mid-2009 and the remaining 110 in the twisting operation by mid-2010. The closure will mean a loss of over €11 million a year to the local economy in wages alone.

Amann manufactures ballistic nylon, mainly for the automotive, clothing and fashion industries. The nylon is used for items such as seat belts and thread used in footwear. The spinning operations will be transferred to South Asia and the twisting operation to China.

Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union

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