Management at aircraft maintenance firm SR Technics have told the Labour Court that the company cannot afford to increase the redundancy package which unions have described as 'paltry'.
The company, which is due to close at the end of August with the loss of 1100 jobs, has said that the standalone status of the company's Irish operation is extremely weak, and that the alternative is liquidation.
Workers at SR Technics have consistently stated that the company’s Irish operation has a viable future.
They are furious that the Swiss based management have refused to increase the redundancy package, which is a little over the statutory minimum, and to plug a pension fund shortfall of €26m.
Management told the Labour Court they could not increase the redundancy package due to a restructuring of group-wide operations.
They say SRT Ireland's stand alone financial status was ‘extremely weak’ after losing two key customers representing 37% of total revenues last year.
It is costing €2m a week to keep the operation going - with not enough work to fund it.
They warned that without the goodwill of the SRT group, the wind-down would require liquidation, resulting in only minimum statutory redundancy payments.
The first 600 employees are due to lose their jobs on Friday.
Meanwhile there has been speculation about a management buy-out that might save up to 960 jobs but no firm details on that have emerged.
