Unilever’s Ireland Unit Seeks To Trim Labor Costs To Stay Competitive

Unilever told Ireland’s Labor Court that it needs to cut 40 redundant positions from its workforce of 190 because employment costs are too high in an “unrelentingly challenging retail environment”. Unilever’s proposal is being contested at the court by Ireland’s trade union, the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (Siptu). A mediation meeting resulted in the company offering workers a redundancy package of four weeks’ pay of service inclusive of statutory payments. But members of Siptu rejected the plan. The Labor Court said that Unilever’s terms were “generally reasonable” but a proposed additional payment of €600 per year of service should be increased to €1,000 per year of service”.