WORKERS at the Kostal car components company in Abbeyfeale have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in a dispute over bonus payments.
The workers voted by 98 per cent in favour of strike action in pursuit or the grievance and 94 per cent voted in favour of industrial action.
The German-owned company, which also has a manufacturing plant in Mallow, employer more than 1,000 workers before the onset of the Covid pandemic.
The issue at stake is bonus payments agreed more than five years ago in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on a payment to employees who have had favourable annual appraisals as well as an automatic bonus to all employees who have reached the top of their pay scale.
“This was agreed with us by the company and paid in recent years, but this year, members have been told that the company won’t be paying bonuses,” Joe Kelly, Industrial Organiser with SIPTU Manufacturing told the Limerick Post.
“The company has said there isn’t money to pay bonuses but they could have engaged with the union and talked to us about it before making that announcement,” he said.
“Agreements were reached a number of years ago for SIPTU members in non-production roles to receive bonuses related to performance appraisals as well as bonuses for our members who are at the top of their pay scale and no longer require appraisals,” Mr Kelly explained.
“Kostal management has made a unilateral decision to not pay these bonuses which provide our members with a once off payment of up to three per cent of basic pay.”
“This has deeply angered our members as evidenced in the ballot results. Prior to the ballot, management was given the opportunity to honour the existing agreements and enter meaningful negotiations. The refusal to do this left our members with no choice but to take this course of action. There is an agreed procedure to address any issues but management has ignored this by making this cut.
“The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of action and we will meet with staff this week to see what form that action will take,” Mr Kelly said.
“In the meantime, we are still open to meeting with management to discuss the issues and if they are willing to do that”.
SIPTU Shop Steward, Ciara McMahon Flavin, said: “None of our members want to be in this position. However, when our terms and conditions are being stripped it leaves us with no option. It is disappointing we have had to take this course of action but we are united in our resolve to protect our agreed terms and conditions of employment.”
The Limerick Post asked company management for a comment but none was available at time of going to press.
