Fears for 200 jobs at car component plant

FEARS are growing for the future of 200 workers at a car component factory.

Employees at Beru Electronics, one of Tralee's biggest manufacturing plants, were yesterday called into a meeting with management to discuss the company's future.

However, the 200 employees were told that further circumstances had to be clarified with management in Germany before plans for the future of the plant could be fully laid out.

Speculation increased last week about the future of the Co Kerry plant, which is already implementing a number of cost cutting measures, including short time.

Tralee is already reeling from heavy job losses.

The number of unemployed in the town now stands at over 6,200.

The Tralee plant concentrates on the manufacture of glow plugs and the Irish costs and production levels are being compared with those of another glow plug production plant in Ludwigsburg in Germany.

It is understood a decision is to be taken as to whether the Tralee glow plug operation will be moved to Germany.

Some 80pc of the Tralee operation is based on glow plug production, and a removal of this would almost certainly close the plant, union sources say.

Earlier this year some 20 workers were laid off under a voluntary redundancy package under terms agreed between management and SIPTU, which represents the workers.