US firm Diamond Innovations has announced today that due to a decline in revenues driven by market and competitive pressures, it has laid-off 19 full-time production employees and five temporary production employees at its plant at Clonshaugh Technology Park, Dublin.

Dr John Casey, the Managing Director for Diamond Innovations Ireland, said the decision to lay off staff was unavoidable given the current market conditions of the products that are qualified for production in Ireland.  The company had proposed keeping employment at current levels and investing in new product lines; however, the decision to invest in new products was cancelled following the decision last month by a small group of employees to reject a Labour Court recommendation.   
 
“Regrettably, the recent vote by a small group of employees to reject the Labour Court recommendation and to threaten the business with industrial action means that the company is no longer in a position to invest in new product lines at the Clonshaugh plant. In addition, increasing competitive and cost pressures has led to the Irish division of Diamond Innovations being loss-making. Given this situation, the company has no option but to take this action in order to protect the remaining jobs at the Clonshaugh plant,” said Dr Casey. 

SIPTU members, who account for 49 staff out of a total workforce of 120, recently rejected a Labour Court recommendation of March 29, 2007 that would have seen the payment of the final 2.5 per cent wage increase under Sustaining Progress Phase 2 in return for the introduction of cost offset measures. Diamond Innovations has accepted the Labour Court recommendation and earlier recommendations on the issue by the National Implementation Body, as have the other unions at the company, AMICUS and TEEU. 
 
Diamond Innovations said that it has been engaged in discussions with these unions in relation to the payment of Sustaining Progress Phase 2 since 2005.
 
 Diamond Innovations said that it strongly believes that a reduction in costs is vital to ensure the future of the business in Ireland. Due to market pressures from China, rising raw material costs and a 30 per cent fall in production, the Irish division of Diamond Innovations has been loss-making. The company will continue to lose money and is not able to afford wage increases without the proposed cost offset measures. 
 
Diamond Innovations had advised all employees of the loss-making situation at the plant in advance of the ballot by SIPTU. Options were presented to employees that would have maintained employment levels at the plant by transferring other production to Dublin. The decision to take industrial action has prevented any new products from being transferred into this operation.   
 
Diamond Innovations is the inventor and world's leading supplier of manufactured diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN), and polycrystalline products for use in machining, cutting, grinding, polishing, and drilling of metal and metal alloys, composites, glass, plastics, wood and ceramics.