BECKMAN COULTER HAS announced that its factory in Galway is set to close with the loss of 140 jobs.
Workers were told the news at a meeting this morning.
Some 80 staff will be offered redeployment in the company’s Clare office, while operations at the Galway branch will be phased out over the next 15 months.
Frank Jones, SIPTU’s Organiser at the plant, said that the news came as a shock to employees.
“It is regrettable that jobs with terms and conditions of employment such as those that have applied in Beckman Coulter don’t appear to be coming on stream to the same degree that they are being wiped out.
This is not a company which is struggling to maintain its place in the market. It is a growing and highly profitable company which has decided to reduce costs in an effort to further maximise profits.
“The decision to close the Mervue plant will have a serious and severe impact on the region,” Jones said.
He added that a general meeting of the 83 SIPTU members affected will take place on Monday (6 October), before meetings with management next Wednesday.
The Beckman Coulter plant, which produces medical devices for diagnostic purposes, has been in Galway since 1972.
In recent years, Beckman was acquired by Danaher, a Washington based multi-national involved primarily in the technology sector. At the time of the acquisition in 2011/2012 it was announced that Danaher would reduce its worldwide headcount by 8% from the then level of 63,000 employees.
Local Labour TD Derek Nolan said that he has been in touch with the Department of Social Protection “about making sure that staff are ready to help workers with payments”.
“This is a big blow for them, their families, for Mervue and for Galway,” Nolan said.
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