Vistatherm workers to protest outside Tipperary headquarters in dispute over pay claim

Workers at the Lurgan Vistatherm facility, a subsidiary of Tipperary-based Carey Glass, will travel to Nenagh this Wednesday, August 16, to hand in a letter to Carey Glass CEO Jim Carey, urging the company to intervene with local management in Lurgan to resolve an ongoing industrial dispute which saw production halted at the plant last month.

Unite union members will hold a protest and hand in the letter between 1.30pm and 3.30pm at Carey Glass headquarters on Limerick Road, Stereame.

According to Unite, the dispute centres on Vistatherm’s refusal to engage with workers through their union, Unite, and negotiate a cost-of-living pay increase at a time when their low-paid workers are struggling to make ends meet.

According to a recent Unite survey, 80 per cent of the union’s members in Vistatherm have seen their living standards fall while 95 per cent are worried about their household finances. 

At the same time, Vistatherm’s profits grew by over 31 per cent between 2017 and 2021, said the union in a statement.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Vistatherm’s workers are key to the company’s success, yet they are struggling to make ends meet while the company reaps significant profits.”

“Instead of respecting its workers, local management in Lurgan has decided to rip up a collective agreement and engage in union-busting tactics. This unacceptable behaviour resulted in a unanimous vote for strike action which saw production at the facility halted in July. It is now up to Vistatherm’s parent company to resolve this dispute by instructing local management to sit down with Unite and negotiate a cost-of-living pay increase”.

Unite Regional Officer Neil Moore added: “Vistatherm’s ultimate parent company is Carey Glass, based in Nenagh in county Tipperary - a long-established family firm which itself engages collectively with its workforce through a union. This coming Wednesday, Vistatherm workers will be travelling to Nenagh and handing in a letter calling on Carey Glass CEO Jim Carey and the Carey family, to step up to the plate and intervene to ensure that the Lurgan workers who generate Vistatherm’s massive profits are treated with the respect they deserve."