Finsa seeking 16 redundancies

THERE will be no new year celebrations for workers at Finsa Forest Products Ltd again this year as the company issued notice to employees last Friday that it is seeking 16 redundancies by the end of January.

The Scariff-based company, which told union committee members of its plans to make 52 workers redundant in the first week of January 2011, has told members of its last remaining production line that it is seeking 16 redundancies in the new year.
Finsa currently employs approximately 30 people and it is understood production at the chipboard plant is due to stop in the new year, after further job cuts at the factory.
In a statement issued to The Clare Champion this week, a spokesperson for the Finsa confirmed, “On December 9 the company informed its employees that it was seeking 16 redundancies. As this is a collective redundancy, the company has entered into a formal 30-day consultative period.”
It is understood those affected by the redundancies are those currently employed on the production line at the factory. The Spanish-owned company is believed to be keeping the remaining staff on to continue a sales and administration operation.
Siptu is representing the members who have been served with the redundancy notice and representatives from the union are due to meet with the members in Scariff this week.
Clare Mayor Pat Hayes has called on the Government and job creation agencies to immediately focus on securing replacement industry for the unemployment black spot of North-East Clare following this week’s announcement. He described the move as “yet another hammer blow to the area of the county worst hit by the economic downturn”.
However, the Feakle-based mayor said that as bad as the latest news is, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, together with the relevant agencies, must react urgently to try to turn it into a positive by marketing the area as an ideal location for timber-based product manufacturers.
“Our thoughts first and foremost are with the people who are losing their jobs. This is a devastating blow at the worst possible time of the year and the timing of it, so close to Christmas, leaves a lot to be desired. Employment levels at Finsa had dropped as low as 30 or so people and there will be a small number of people retained in sales and security but manufacturing is at an end for a facility that once employed 250 people directly and another 250 indirectly.
“However, we must now turn to solution mode and the reality is that County Clare is one of the top five counties in Ireland in terms of forestry densities and East Clare is probably one of the most densely afforested areas per square mile in all of Ireland. These are great assets to have and there must be opportunities for manufacturing. Just because Finsa is not going to manufacture here anymore doesn’t mean that other operators cannot come in at this plant or develop on a greenfield site,” Councillor Hayes stressed.
“One would expect that our job creation agencies together with the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation would, at the very least, have approached Finsa to see if anything can be done to support them. Even if nothing is possible with them, there is no point just closing the door on 50 years of experience and expertise in timber-based product manufacturing here in East Clare. There is even less point in waiting for someone to come knocking on our door here. We have to knock on theirs,” he concluded.
Local county councillor Joe Cooney described the announcement as “a devastating blow to Scariff and the surrounding East Clare areas”.
“It is very sad that we have come to the day where very few people are going to be employed in the factory. Up to two years ago we had up to 190 workers there. Unfortunately, the downturn in construction hasn’t helped things. As one of the major employers in East Clare, it’s a sad situation that it has come to this,” he said.
He called for a jobs task force to be set up to assist the community in East Clare and look at the best way to utilise East Clare’s assets.
“There is an awful lot of forestry around the East Clare area. Unfortunately, all this timber is being transported to different counties and I think myself if there was a jobs task force put in place in East Clare and with the help of the Oireachtas members, the local public representatives and other bodies that maybe something could be looked at to see if some of this timber could be worked on in East Clare. Finsa then would be one of the ideal locations where something on that line could be done to create employment,” he said.
Councillor Cooney said chipboard has been at the heart of East Clare for the last 50 years and he said to see a business like that “almost having its doors closed is awful”.