Bleak news for staff at three factories

The employment horizon in Mullingar became blacker with the announcement of the loss of 32 jobs at Taconic and a four-day week for the 100 workers employed at Trend Technologies, which was confirmed by factory manager Donal Lawlor.In Collinstown, staff employed at the IRALCO (C&F Automotive) factory in Collinstown have been informed that their working week is being reduced to three days.Taconic, which has been in Mullingar since 1975 and will retain 85 employees at the factory at Mullingar business park, said that it had been forced into the lay-offs because of 'the continuous migration of the electronics industry into Asia'.The Mullingar factory will now cease production of a special type of laminate which is used in the manufacture of everything from microwaves to aeropsace technology. It is as yet unclear whether staff at Taconic know who will be made redundant and what the time frame for the job losses is.The picture is not quite so bleak for Trend technologies, also based at the Business continued from front pagePark and the factory manager said yesterday that he was confident that up-coming contracts would mean that staff would be able to resume a full working week.The company supplies parts to automotive, medical and electronic companies both locally and internationally but would not specify who its customers are.'The problem is that these new contracts are not starting for a couple of months and in the meantime we are trying to protect our jobs,' said Donal Lawlor.'The cut back in working time is directly due to the global downturn and we have been hit by that. It will be weeks and months before we get back to normal but we do have other contracts for later in the year.'I would saw that the majority of our staff are from Mullingar and we have maybe eight or nine non-national workers as well.'Taconic also said that efforts would now be concentrated on saving the remaining jobs at the Mullingar plant.'Obviously Taconic Senior management members are extremely disappointed and regret having to make this announcement,' read a statement released yesterday.'We recognise the commitment and effort everyone has made throughout the years and we are extremely grateful. We are committed to working with our employees and their union representatives to ensure that the reduction in work force numbers is done in the best possible manner to secure the future of remaining business in Mullingar.'Workers at Iralco learned of the introduction of a reduced working week on Friday at a meeting with management, who stated the move is a necessary response to developments in the automotive market.Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner shortly after the announcement, Tom Hyland, Managing Director at IRALCO, said that while small numbers of employees were still on a temporary lay-off, the 320 jobs at the Collinstown plant remain safe.'I think that most of the workers here were expecting this week"s news, because a shorter working week has become the norm in a lot of factories around the country,' Mr. Hyland said. 'We"re responding directly to unfolding events in the automotive market.'IRALCO went into liquidation in April of last year, but hundreds of jobs were saved in north Westmeath when Galway-based firm, C&F Group, stepped in with a major investment.When they received last Friday"s news, workers at the Collinstown factory had been back at work just five days, after IRALCO had resumed operations following a month-long closure during the Christmas period.It has not been confirmed how long workers at IRALCO would be placed on a three-day week.Deputy Willie Penrose said that his thoughts were first and foremostly with the people who had lost their jobs and their families.'There is no good time to face redundancy, but in the current economic circumstances, it is going to be particularly difficult for these workers to get back on their feet in the short term,' said the TD.Mr Penrose called on the IDA to up its game in finding suitable tenants for the Marlinstown business park and said that they must 'redouble their efforts to bring industry to Marlinstown Industry Park in Mullingar'.'In this context I have made contact with Barry O"Leary, Chief Executive of the IDA and Mr Kevin McCarthy, Regional Director, and I am seeking to meet them to impress upon them, the urgency of doing so, in view of this recent announcement,' he said.