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“VERY BAD NEWS.”
That was the verdict of SIPTU on the announcement yesterday that Bausch and Lomb plan to cut 200 jobs in Waterford.
The union said that it is asking for a meeting with the company over both these cuts and threats of a 20% pay cut to the salaries of remaining staff.
It is understood that there will be a meeting between management, staff and union representatives on Tuesday.
SIPTU’s Alan O’Leary said that he hasn’t given up hope of retaining some of the 200 jobs due to be axed:
Each and every job saved is a household spared the considerable financial worry and concern associated with losing employment.
Bausch and Lomb were sold to Valeant Pharmaceuticals, based in Canada, for €8.7bn last year. It was warned last year that up to 15% of B&L’s global workforce would be cut under plans by their new bosses at Valeant.
Bloomberg reported in March of this year that the CEO of Valeant, Mike Pearson, was examing B&L’s structure which he felt had “fat, lots of costs that we can take out”.
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Hobson’s choice, I’d take the pay cut and spend my time looking for a new job or re training
Pirece, dam right, remember they are looking for 20%, I would say there is a little wiggle room in that 20%, might be able to negotiate maybe a 15% cut and as you said look for a better paid job, there is always options, not that people want options as I am sure they want everything as is, but in this case you have to look at all options, play hardball in the right way and keep the place open,
@Willy, There are no jobs in the area and these people are on very tight budgets already so it’s more than wriggle room they need it’s a pay rise.
It’s all about profits. People don’t matter to these companies…
Same goes for any company yet when workers from some of our own “State” companies (or partly owned ones) go on strike everyone seems to come out against them.
@Mags, it always will be about profit. People do matter whilst they generate a profit but, when the profit is no longer there then jobs go, and if that doesn’t work the whole company goes. Thats the way it has always been and always will be.
Why? You think they should?
Mags,
Of course it’s about profit…no profit, no company…no company, no jobs! Hence profit = jobs…
Stuck between a stone and a hard place I don’t envy them
Difficult choice and time for the workers.
I heard the IDA CEO Barry O’Leary urging the B&L workers to accept a 20% pay cut. Their average pay is €36K pa, which after the cut would be €29K. Unbelievable, isn’t it?
And some stage ALL the workers in Ireland, in the private and public sector, must come together and say “NO MORE”!
@Connaghtabu. This is what the EU Finance Commission call “internal devaluation”. Unfortunately our government ony recognise one element of this process, wage cuts. The other side of this coin is price deflation. Virtually every sector of the economy has seen price deflation, except fuel and public sector costs. The government has forced up the cost of education, health, transport, energy, business rates, property taxes and soon, water charges.
I wonder will Barry O’Leary lead by example and take a 20% cut in his own salary?
which would still leave him with a very generous remuneration package.
@Aogan – very well said. I also work for one of these multi nationals and it’s more or less the same story. Some people think you’re blessed to work with them but every year it’s getting less and less about the products and more about trimming the so called fat.
I’d say Bausch & Lomb are gearing up to relocate to an Eastern European country to avail of a cheaper labour force ! The 20% pay cut is only buying them more time for the relocation !
Their “excuse”for this is that workers in Ireland cost more than workers in Rochester. …. They just spent six months raping the Rochester plant and pushing wages down 40% . European law needs to change. This is a company making massive profits who are arbitrarily cutting wages to make more. Also, by my maths, their 20 million “cost reduction” will result in another 800 job losses in an already crippled Waterford economy.
And how much corporation tax do the pay here towards America ?
Never mind America, how much does ireland gain from corporation tax
Greed and oppertunism from a very profitable global company facilitated by week or inept government. This is not to be confused with a company seeking cuts in the interest of survival, this is about cutting the factory workers wage so that the owners can profit even more. Cynically citing exaggerated claims about wage rate differences between here and NY as tha driver, while similtaneously benifitting from a very friendly corp tax structure.
Steven,
Can you define “very profitable”? Also, when one company buys another there are bound to be redundancies. For example, you don’t need two CEO’s…one has to go. The redundancies have to trickle down to the workforce as well…
If they accept this it could open a can of worms, other company’s will follow, a new race to the bottom these multi national company’s see employees now as disposable commodities no humanity
No respect no dignity just profit profit profit!
I hope I have this straight.
Richard Bruton is saying that if the workers agree to a 20% cut in wages, the IDA will look at giving a package to Valeant (the new owners of Bausch & Lomb)in order to keep the plant open?
It stinks to the point where the IDA should be looking at supporting alternative contact lens manufacturers in a take over of the plant. Valeant seem to be holding all the cards and show no commitment to those jobs, so why the hell should our taxes go to boosting their profits?
The government has a role here. If the fecking tax on wages wasnt so crippling people possibly could afford to take a wage cut. The government should lower the tax for the next 3yrs for this companies workers wages and review after that with the company.
And what about the rest of us? Government couldn’t do that. There’d be uproar. It would mean that we would all be subsidising private industry; where would it end?
The workers are only “fat” that need to be cut…don’t you just love the attitude of CEO’s in companies, multinationals…you’re only a feckin number!!
Aogan, like it or not, a CEO’s responsibility is to the Board and shareholders. Obviously a happy workforce can assist in that but it’s not his primary responsibility. CEO screws up and the whole company goes to the wall. Not condoning it, just saying.
Ireland has a history of multinationals moving in, being treated as saviours and then moving out again as somewhere else becomes more financially attractive. I’m guessing that is the end-game here.
Joseph, as employers they also have a social responsibility to the staff and community, especially as they benefitted from a very favourable corporation tax in this country. I imagine a good portion of their workforce have given yrs of their lives working diligently and productively only to be classed as FAT that needs to be cut. Its this attitude that sickens me and also your acceptance of it.
@Aogan, you’re more than a number, you are also a cost unit.
Jason,
We are all subsidizing private industry to the tune of €100 + billion after the bank bailout and it has ended with medical cards being stolen from critically ill children.
Michael Pearson’s base salary for 2014 is $2,000,000 and his total pay in 2013 was just short of $7,000,000. I have no idea whether or not he deserves it, nor whether cutting jobs is a good decision for Valeant. But if you’re paid that amount and talk about cutting “fat”, you should be locked in a room and made to eat your own bodyweight in lard.
Aogan, sorry if my acceptance of reality offends you. I did say I didn’t condone this sort of action but is the reality of the business world. B&L and every other multinational will continue to operate in this fashion………how many others have upped-sticks over the years ? Ireland has no God-given right to host these companies on a permanent basis, and neither does any other country. Cold comfort, I know, but at least the employees have enjoyed some good years where otherwise they might have starved.
However, I look forward to hearing your solution to the problem. Commenting on here is not a solution. Life ain’t fair, but the alternative isn’t that great either.
Emily, that all sounds in the best spirit of American corporate culture.
This has been coming down the track for a long time. Shareholders of international companies looking to their investments are not interested in paying huge wages to Irish worlers. It is time for the government to consider increasing corporation tax and reduce PRSI to workers.
So Barry O Leary thinks workers should think long and hard about company offer so its 200 redundancies plus knock on effect in other small businesses,and 20% pay cut versus more tax payers money pumped into company plus lower corporation tax…………..company laughing all the way to the bank……….o leary doing company bidding and then you have bruton last night on rte going on about if we accept the 20% cut we guarantee some future whats with the we i dont see o leary or bruton or any public servanyt incurring a 20% cut in salary or head count reduction….if staff do accept the cuts it will be 6 months and the govt will be standing outside the same factory announcing 200 job bridge jobs ie €1 hour wage and patting themselves on the back…….no doubt the support o leary talks about is interns and job bridge staff
…while slowly relocating machinery to even lower cost site
Multinationals are only here for the bottom line. They owe Ireland nothing and I have no problem with that.
However I feel that the 12.5% corporation tax should be looked at again and linked more so to numbers of employees. In other words, the more Irish employees the company has, the less corp tax has to be paid. The situation with regard to the corp tax is an absolute joke and is being abused left, right and center by Big Business.
Its about time Ireland concentrated on indigenous industry! Hopefully Ming Flanagan MEP will follow through on his quest to get Ireland’s fisheries back from the EU that was foolishly given away for nothing much back when we joined the Common Market, by a certain Mr Kelly, I believed.
Ireland could build a huge indigenous industry on this resource that would be sustainable. I live 25 miles from the west coast of Ireland and don’t know a single fisherman. This does not make sense!
MIke, If I didn’t know better I’d say there were a whole cabal of international vested interests that are dead set against this country having any indigenous industries or enterprise whatsoever. Probably of the same clique & mindset as our former AG who talks to his bilderberg friends about his plan to massively ‘undermine nationaly homogeneity’ at ever level in his home county.
Firstly the EU will never allow a multiple rate corporation tax regime based on anything other than turnover/profit tiers.
Secondly the fisheries became a shared resource on joining the EU. It is no ones fault but our own that we allowed our fishermen to sell their quotas to the highest bidders.
And finally, before we start shaving the benefits of investing in Ireland, bare in mind that the WTO are rapidly eroding and removing tarriff barriers and quotas across pretty much everything so that, eventually, the benefit of being an EU member will go.
Some how, and there is no easy way, this country will have to become far more competitive to survive economically.
no story about the 125 jobs created in leitrim? can we have good news when it comes to jobs as well? its feckin rare enough!
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