Management at aircraft maintenance firm SR Technics have told the Labour Court that it can not 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 1,100 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 SRT'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 the firm could not increase the redundancy package due to a restructuring of group wide operations.
The company says that SRT Ireland's stand alone financial status is '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.
It also warned that without the goodwill of the SRT Group, the wind-down would require a liquidation - resulting in only minimum statutory redundancy payments. This is not good news for the first 600 employees who 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.
