250 Galway Aviva staff facing an anxious five-week wait

Date Published: 06-Oct-2011

By Dara Bradley

Almost 250 workers at Aviva Insurance in Galway are facing into a further month of uncertainty and job insecurity, as they await a formal announcement from HQ in London about the possible axing of one in every two jobs from its 2,000 strong Irish workforce.

Management of Aviva insists that its internal review of its Irish operations in Galway, Cork and Dublin is still underway – the grim news of the official numbers it seeks to lay-off in Ireland is expected in about five weeks, with Christmas just around the corner.

The insurance giant has kept tight-lipped about its intentions but an RTÉ’s Prime Time programme this week revealed that 1,000 out of its 2,000 workers in Ireland face the chop – almost 500 more than had originally been feared.

Representatives from Aviva in Galway, from both the Knocknacarra and Eyre Square operations, were yesterday and today (Friday) meeting with a ‘union committee’ comprising people from all section throughout the Irish Aviva network, to discuss the staff’s next course of action. Industrial action has not been ruled out, a spokesperson for the Unite union said.

Workers locally once again have complained about the lack of information forthcoming from the employer, who hasn’t even yet confirmed officially if it is seeking redundancies at all. Another claim made in Tuesday’s television programme was that the jobs review code named ‘Operation Accelerate’, will result in a reduction in its customer branches from 26 to 11 nationwide.

The uncertainty at the two Galway operations is causing widespread anger – morale, described as ‘on the floor’ a fortnight ago when the rumours first circulated, has now sunk even lower, Unite said.

Read more in today’s Galway City Tribune