Unite seeking extension of consultation period following company refusal to engage

Union writes to Minister Coveney outlining concerns at failure to abide by consultation rules

October 5th: Unite, which represents workers in medical technology company Merative, has called on the company to engage meaningfully with Unite in a bid to minimise the proposed redundancies announced in August.  The union is seeking an extension of the statutory consultation period to allow for such engagement.

Merative was formerly IBM Watson Health.  Merative is owned by the California-based private equity firm Francisco Partners and its headquarters are in Michigan. The company has recently opened ‘Global Capability Centres’ in three locations in India, and there are concerns that the Irish roles being made redundant may be moved to these centres.

The statutory 30 day consultation period relating to collective redundancies expires today (Thursday 5 October), but the company has failed to use the period to engage meaningfully and collectively with workers regarding ways in which the number of redundancies can be minimised, as well as an appropriate package of supports for those workers who are let go.

In contrast to the company’s failure to engage, Merative workers have used the past month to organise, with over a quarter of the workforce joining Unite.  In addition to an online petition presented to management earlier this week, workers have secured the support for a number of TDs for their demand that the company extend the consultation period and engage with Unite.

Unite members protested outside the company’s headquarters at lunchtime today (Thursday).

Commenting, Unite Regional Coordinating Officer Tom Fitzgerald said:

“Since August, Merative workers have been organising to push back against the company’s proposals and defend the future of these highly skilled jobs in Ireland. 

“Unite is calling on the company to extend the consultation deadline and engage meaningfully with the workers’ union, Unite, to minimise redundancies.

“We have also written to Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney outlining our serious concerns at the company’s refusal to engage with Unite as the workers’ chosen representatives”.