IFI representatives to meet with Richardsons workers

North Belfast SDLP assembly member Alban Maginness has welcomed an announcement that representatives of the Irish government and ICI are to meet with workers from Richardsons Fertilisers on Friday.

The operators of the plant, Irish Fertiliser Industries, jointly owned by shareholders ICI and the Irish Government, laid off 200 workers at the Belfast plant when the firm's three plants in Ireland were shut down in October.

Shortly after the closure, workers in Belfast were informed that they would be treated as creditors of the company and would therefore only be receiving 40% of their pension entitlement.

Following discussions, between the TGWU and the plant's owners, ICI and the Irish Government, a €24m fund was established to meet redundancy payments, but talks with the workers and the liquidator subsequently broke down.

Speaking on Radio Ulster earlier today, a spokesperson for the workers, Shop Steward Sid Napier, said that the situation was "despicable" and alleged that the firm had acted contrary to the law of the land and moral laws.

However, he confirmed that ICI and the Irish Government, the latter as the major shareholder, had agreed that a meeting with the workers could take place.

The Richardsons workers have organised a sit-in at the former plant that involves up to 110 former employees of the plant.

Mr Maginness, who had visited the workers at the plant, said the meeting scheduled for Friday was a welcome development in the dispute between workers at the plant and the parent company. He said it was distressing that the workforce had been left with no other option but to stage a sit-in at the factory to secure a meeting with the employers.

He called on the Irish Government and ICI to resolve what he said had become an "unacceptable" situation quickly and fairly for the former Richardsons' workers.

(SP)