B&L seeks 200 job cuts in Waterford

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Re: Valeant's Plan to reduce BL Waterford Closure Cost

Anonymous said:
Angelo Counti is a poor emisary.

He bumbled and mumbled badly at recent staff meetings in Waterford.
He had the body language of someone who is very nervous.
He looked to be trying to hide the haystack, rather than hide behind it or in it.

When challenged to close the plant, he claimed no plan existed.
The previous day he threatened immediate closure citing a detailed plan.

It seems Valeant came to the Emerald Isle with only 1 card to play - workers dread of redundancy. Remove that and they have no cards at all.

When challenged with regard to WFD profitability Counti admitted that profits were never better. Not surprising, as productivity gains at WFD have been huge over the past 5 years.

Why all this confusion??? Sack that dreadfully inept spin doctor!

We may have the answer now.
A source suggests an unofficial plan existed to reduce the cost of closing WFD last year.
This involved three separate rounds of deep pay cuts(eg 20%, 15%,10%) aimed at driving away the majority of the 1200 workers, without having to pay redundancy.

But at this time, Mike P gave his personal word of honour that terms and conditions
would remain unaltered for BL WFD workers.

Is this the same word of honour, he is currently providing that the 20% cut currently sought shall be the last?

Unfortunately neither Mike nor the "Counti", realised that pay cuts are a breach of contract in Ireland, - unless the company is in administration or suffering a Force Majeurs. Neither obtain in this case.

The pay cuts are therefore a non-runner, in any guise, as they have no legal or moral basis.
Valeant are expected to remove this from the table early next week and apologise for their breach of faith.
But the mask has slipped and broken.

Valeant now have a major asset preservation concern in Ireland.
A >1 billion business is at risk at BL WFD.
In addition, Valeant's tax avoidance operation in Ireland is seriously threatened.
Given Valeant's enormous debt levels, a return to paying normal tax rates could cause the collapse of the Tower of Valeant.



Watch out for an announcement from a damaged government.
It is not often you see a government masterminding, in secret, a "shock and awe" plan which breached employment law.
Not very distinguished. Personally I find it rather disgusting.

The European Court may be the ultimate judge,and executioner
of a feckless,inept and hopeless government.
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Well presented, I sincerely hope you are correct.

If I am interpreting correctly you are implying the Government are co conspirators in this, is there evidence or is that your assertion?

The lack of representation by the Waterford Senior staff on behalf of the employees has also been shocking.
 






The employees had a 3 year pay freeze finish up last year, they were then awarded the 3 year pay freeze back backdated.(increase in wage of 6%), this was under the previous owners. It has also been confirmed that the increase for 2014 agreed previously is to be honoured (average +2%) = 8% increase in 2 years. This is on the back of O Regan and recent senior Management not being strong enough to say no to the bloody unions and letting Siptu and the TEEU run the bloody place. Its making me sick watch a great factory slowly being brought down.
So a touch of reality wouldn't go astray here. You won't get these wages even with a pay decrease anywhere else. Check it out, its local knowledge how much the other Pharma companies are paying and its nothing anyway near the B&L rates.
 






Enda stop posting on cafepharma .for all the pay freezes and pay increases
in the so called great factory you call b&l the workers have seen there jobs increase
tenfold.and when all this dealing is done we will likely see more increases in our work.
for a wage that goes back to the 90s in this present econmy its the straw that breaks
The camels back.
 












Anonymous said:
The employees had a 3 year pay freeze finish up last year, they were then awarded the 3 year pay freeze back backdated.(increase in wage of 6%), this was under the previous owners. It has also been confirmed that the increase for 2014 agreed previously is to be honoured (average +2%) = 8% increase in 2 years. This is on the back of O Regan and recent senior Management not being strong enough to say no to the bloody unions and letting Siptu and the TEEU run the bloody place. Its making me sick watch a great factory slowly being brought down.
So a touch of reality wouldn't go astray here. You won't get these wages even with a pay decrease anywhere else. Check it out, its local knowledge how much the other Pharma companies are paying and its nothing anyway near the B&L rates.
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Fcuk off back under the rock you slithered out from and have your facts right the next time you want to comment on here.
You have no clue about what youre talking about
 






Anonymous said:
The employees had a 3 year pay freeze finish up last year, they were then awarded the 3 year pay freeze back backdated.(increase in wage of 6%), this was under the previous owners. It has also been confirmed that the increase for 2014 agreed previously is to be honoured (average +2%) = 8% increase in 2 years. This is on the back of O Regan and recent senior Management not being strong enough to say no to the bloody unions and letting Siptu and the TEEU run the bloody place. Its making me sick watch a great factory slowly being brought down.
So a touch of reality wouldn't go astray here. You won't get these wages even with a pay decrease anywhere else. Check it out, its local knowledge how much the other Pharma companies are paying and its nothing anyway near the B&L rates.
Click to expand...

Go back under the rock you slithered out of and get your facts right
 






The redundancies and cuts are greed driven, no other reason. Don't do Valeants dirty work and start throwing blame at fellow sufferers, there is nobody at fault here only Valeant. Their attempt at savings isn't because less lenses are being made or sold it's purely because they want more profit to keep shareholders onside for their next crazy acquisition. If you want to blame someone or vent your anger just remember that any cut in your pay is going straight into Pearsons fat ass pocket.
 






These bullies are only starting on Waterford. Don't think for one moment that if you agree to the terms Valeant suggested that they won't be back for more. This is death by a thousand cuts!!!! That is reality if Plan B isn't. Sorry there is no Plan B. These wiseguys speak out of both sides of their mouths.
 






Anonymous said:
in fairness to the company ye are paid well above the national average if you look around so in fairness the stuff ye make is not rolling off the shelves maybe take the cut is the best option for you and if you take redundancy maybe you could upskill and get a decent job with back to education allowance. All in all the people who take redundancy will be the winners and people who stay will be a lost cause the company already have a plan to shut the place down and they will eventually. I am not a socialist i am a realist and factory work = dead end job also many people could set up a businees with the redundancy and create real jobs and build waterford up again so one job loss could be employment for 3 or 4 on dole in waterford. people adapt to change but you have to be willing you are obviously a person who spent all life working hard to provide for your family but maybe you not prepared to be responsible.
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as it is we pay nearly 60% tax back in our wages to our corrupt govererment, and they have only started on us, They will not get 1% cuts from us, if the castle crumbles, we all go together, I dont care if i am on the breadline, sick of all these rich fat arses making money of the working people
 


















Looks like valiant are not going to agree to any terms with the union, it valiants way or the highway, this is where the workers need to stick together and show these bullies what they are made of, the fight is not over waterford so don't give in or give up
 






Its quite the contrary, the bullies that are Valeant have blinked, the 20% pay cut they were insisting on has been reduced to 7.5%, theyve offered an enhanced redundancy deal and are looking to buy out the annual bonuses along with some longer working hours (Minimal).

Thid is a far cry from the initial stance Conti put to the WFD workers just 2 short weeks ago.

Whrn have you ever heard of Pearson and Co. give way like that and the unions arent finished with them yet.

Well done Paddys we're watching ye from over here with admiration for your bold stance against Valeant, keep united and keep the chins up. Ye should be proud of yere unions, something we over here dont and cant have
 






People, people, people - that is all it matters. Stick together, but don't push the Valeant numb nuts too much. They may shut WF down. Push till you squeeze the best compromise out of negotiations. But if you do not compromise WF will shut down and that is far worst than the compromise.
Respect the power of negotiations, they only happen for so long.
Remember Valeant is also in middle of much larger Allergan hostile takeover.
So if paddies do not compromise for best outcome MP will shut down WF, as Valeant holds the chips.
Good luck to you all and we in Rochester are rooting for you.
 






I don't think we should be patting ourselves on the back yet
because what ever deal is brought to the table is going to
implement totally unnecessary hardship on the mojarity of
the workers in b&L , for no other reason than the greed of a few

and it is still a pay cut no matter what spin is put on it, and they
valeant will be back for the rest in 2015
 






Anonymous said:
People, people, people - that is all it matters. Stick together, but don't push the Valeant numb nuts too much. They may shut WF down. Push till you squeeze the best compromise out of negotiations. But if you do not compromise WF will shut down and that is far worst than the compromise.
Respect the power of negotiations, they only happen for so long.
Remember Valeant is also in middle of much larger Allergan hostile takeover.
So if paddies do not compromise for best outcome MP will shut down WF, as Valeant holds the chips.
Good luck to you all and we in Rochester are rooting for you.
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We appreciate the support of our US counterparts.

The way its been seen by many is that WF manufactures approx 60% of all contact lenses made by Valeant, if they decided to shut WF down, it would take a long time to wind down so as supply wasnt hindered to the market place, its a guarantee that by the time they pulled out of WF, they would be a distant last in the lens market as output would be reduced to a bare trickle and customers will have moved to competitors because of too many back orders and near zero supply and even then there may not be any way to remove machinery from the plant if the workers stick there heals in.

Hopefully it never come to that and the greed whores in Valeant give a decent compromise.

Valeant can play hard ball but every action will have a reaction
 






Anonymous said:
I don't think we should be patting ourselves on the back yet
because what ever deal is brought to the table is going to
implement totally unnecessary hardship on the mojarity of
the workers in b&L , for no other reason than the greed of a few

and it is still a pay cut no matter what spin is put on it, and they
valeant will be back for the rest in 2015
Click to expand...

we have to thank our top management here in Waterford, They have left the workers done big time, you could see they helped Valeant pick where they wanted all the cuts, Morans, they think there special, but there,s is no use for them here in waterford now, time for them to be pushed out the door.
 






I new valeant were greedy baxxards but now they want us to work for free.i agree the management in waterford are a disgrace and the union should never deal with them again .because they have pointed out where the cuts should come, we work for a fee not for free,
 






I can't see how people can see this as a victory. 200 out the door, 15% pay cut for those left behind to pick up the slack. Work 1 hour extra a week for nothing, ambiguous proposals littered throughout the document, taking the opportunity to stick in as many "other cost cutting measures". Give into this and you leave yourself open to all sorts of cuts further down the line. As for putting such a short timeline on voting on such a proposal, we should give a mandate to the union to tell Valeant to go f**k themselves and we'll vote when were ready and when all the fudge that's in the proposal has been verified/rectified.
 






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