Two hundred pharma workers at Pinewood Healthcare are seeking a pay increase after the firm last year paid out a dividend of €32.8m to its parent company.
Siptu has lodged a pay claim for its members to the Labour Court seeking a 15pc increase for the lowest paid employed at the Clonmel-based company. Siptu states that the 15pc increase for the lowest paid workers would bring their wage to a living wage of €12.30 per hour and that other members would receive equivalent increases.
The union has told the Labour Court that the company “is highly profitable” and in the 12 months to the end of March 2020 recorded post-tax profits of €6.1m and also paid out the €32.8m dividend.
The company’s revenues dipped marginally to €58.8m for the 12-month period.
The union claim that pay rates at the company compare unfavourably with others in the sector and that productivity reached record levels in 2020. The union is seeking a pay increase from April 1, 2020.
However, the company has told the Labour Court that the company’s financial performance has since been affected by the pandemic and Brexit, resulting in reduced profits. The company also states that the €32.8m dividend is the first that has ever been paid in 14 years.
The company also told the Labour Court that, last year, employees were rewarded through annual productivity bonuses and once-off Covid appreciation payments at a cost of 9.4pc of pay. The company is seeking a postponement of any pay discussions until June 2021 to assess how the market recovers as there is continued uncertainty.
Pinewood Healthcare stated that the increase in production volumes at the plant were due to work being transferred there from elsewhere in the company rather than to expanded activity.
In the Labour Court’s recommendation, court deputy chairman Tom Geraghty has stated that the court sees no value in proper engagement between the parties being delayed further and notes that Pinewood Laboratories is not citing an inability to pay any increase.
Mr Geraghty stated that the court recommends the parties engage immediately and that the employer share all relevant financial information with Siptu and the union clarify in clearer detail the exact pay increases being sought.