The Labour Court recommended a redundancy package of five weeks’ pay per year of service, inclusive of statutory entitlements, for workers losing their jobs at Sealed Air Corporation’s Greenore plant. The recommendation was signed on 19 September 2003.
The plant, which made plastic and PVC containers, was to close following a decision by the company’s UK parent, putting 54 jobs at risk. The unions sought 6½ weeks’ pay per year of service, including statutory entitlements. Sealed Air had offered 2.8 weeks plus statutory entitlements, but workers rejected that offer in a ballot.
Amicus-Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union and Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union argued that workers had contributed to a profitable plant and had little prospect of finding new jobs locally. Sealed Air said its parent had subsidised the plant for three years and that its offer was in line with Irish industry norms. The Labour Court recommended that the company offer, and the unions accept, the five-week package.