Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

It is a Christmas bombshell. The new owners of VMware are proposing 364 redundancies. That is one job in every three at this company. It is a devastating blow to the workforce, the vast majority of which is based at Ballincollig in Cork city. How can a family enjoy their Christmas when a job is on the line like this and the new year is threatened by the spectre of unemployment? Last week, I asked the Taoiseach to ensure that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, contacted this company to impress upon it the importance of each and every one of those jobs. Has the Minister done so?

I urge these workers to organise. A workforce that is united and organised will always have a better chance against a global corporation that puts profits first than a case where it is every worker for themselves.

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