25 April 2023
By Gareth Nigel
gareth@TheCork.ie
Stryker is an admired multinational brandname, and a large employer – however Stryker is in the headlines for the wrong reasons for the second time this month today
SIPTU members employed at the Stryker plants in Carrigtwohill, county Cork, have expressed grave concerns about their safety “following a fire today” – according to a statement – at its Tullagreen site, which resulted in workers being evacuated and the Cork Fire Service responding to the incident.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Neil McGowan, said: “This latest incident at the Tullagreen plant further highlights the requirement for a full safety audit of the Stryker facilities. It follows on from an incident last week in which two men were injured, one critically, at the nearby Stryker plant in Anngrove.
“Our members are seriously concerned about their safety and want to see immediate action taken by the employer and the Health and Safety Authority to ensure the company’s obligations to provide a safe working environment are being fully met.
“The Tánaiste, Micheál Martin, has called on the company to meet with SIPTU representatives. We are again calling for local and senior management, including the Global Head of Environment, Health and Safety at Stryker, to meet with union representatives as a matter of urgency.”
He added: “There are three Labour Court recommendations stating the company should engage with SIPTU on these sites and it is no longer tenable for it to continue to refuse to deal with the chosen representatives of its staff.”
SIPTU Manufacturing Division Organiser, Greg Ennis, said: “We have previously written to senior management, initially in June 2019, about health and safety concerns expressed by workers at the Stryker sites in Carrigtwohill.
“Regrettably, Stryker management in Carrigtwohill have refused to even recognise our correspondence, let alone respond to it positively. This is in contrast to our positive relationship with Stryker management at their plants in Limerick and Mallow, county Cork.”
File photo of Stryker’s Anngrove site. Last week it was in the news for an incident, but this week it is the nearby site at Tullagreen that has caught unwanted headlines. No statement has been received by this news outlet – TheCork.ie – from Stryker.
