Up to 120 permanent and temporary lay-offs have been announced at two separate food companies in Clonmel in Tipperary.
Fair Oak Foods, which is involved in the slaughtering and deboning of animals, has extended its seasonal shutdown resulting in the temporary lay-off of 50 people for the next eight to ten weeks. But the trade union SIPTU says a further 50 contract workers, many of them migrants, will also be laid off for the period.
The company says the potential exists for the redeployment of up to 30 staff at its Bagenalstown facility but the union is fearful for the future of the Clonmel plant, which employs around 150 people.
17 full-time jobs are going at Manor Produce in Clonmel. The company, which employs 26 people, supplies bulk products for the pet food market.
In a separate development, the future of 30 jobs in Wexford is in doubt following the temporary lay-off of staff at the Max Mauch factory, which produces stainless steel fittings.
