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Dublin: 10 °C Thursday 23 May, 2013

Katie Taylor to meet Vita Cortex workers

More than 100 days into their protest, the Vita Cortex workers have gained the support of another high profile figure.

Katie Taylor
Katie Taylor
Image: ©INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan

VITA CORTEX WORKERS involved in a sit-in protest at their former employer’s manufacturing plant are to meet with boxing champion Katie Taylor this evening.

Ex-employees of the foam making facility have now been protesting for more than 100 days to demand redundancy payments due to them.

Taylor is the latest in a long line of high profile figures who have pledged their support to the workers. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, former Irish international footballer Paul McGrath, actor Cillian Murphy and scholar Noam Chomsky have all made public statements to the 32 workers.

Darren O’Keeffe, the coordinator of the Support the Vita Cortex Workers Online Campaign, told TheJournal.ie that since “day one” there has been a “big interest in the struggle of the workers”.

Ten of the group will attend tonight’s fight between Taylor and US competitor Liz Teddy at the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork.

Taylor, who is currently preparing for the World Championships and the London Olympics, has said she will meet with the group after the fight.

The meeting was arranged by members of the St. John’s Boxing Club in Fermoy.

Workers have said they will continue the dispute until a just resolution is secured. Mediation processes are due to begin at the Labour Relations Commission shortly. They are seeking redundancy payments of 0.9 weeks per year of service, on top of their statutory entitlements – a deal they say is equivalent to payments made to workers who left the company in 2009 and 2010.

More: Vita Cortex workers accept mediation proposals>

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Comments (20 Comments)

  • What a decent young lady and a credit to her country.

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  • Katie Taylor: Legend, legend, legend.

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  • Well done Katie.

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  • Woah,
    I glanced at the headline and thought it said – Katie Taylor to beat Vita Cortex workers!

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  • Fair play to the lovely Ms Taylor, a positive inspiration & a great role model for our young people. To those who think she shouldn’t be meeting with the Vita Cortex workers; direct your disdain towards Enda Kenny & Phil Hogan. Endas brushing up on his propaganda for tonight & Phils too busy with black sacks & scaring pensioners. They should be meeting with the workers. Not indulging in non deserved back slapping!

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  • Everyone is entitled to their opinion but a big thankyou and thank god for the people on here supporting these workers,good to see that the majority of us have taken the blindfolds off and are standing up against über wealthy unscrupulous employers manipulating the corporate laws of the land to abuse their workers.847 years combined service by the vita cortex workers and this is the lack of respect from the directors of this company,it’s a disgrace and it reflects very badly on all the decent business owners of this country on the world stage which is not right.Plenty of honourable business men and women in this country who view their workers as their biggest asset and would never put them in this position,and that is what will bring this country back on its feet,moral and ethical codes of conduct where people are safe in the knowledge that lifelong service is very much respected and counts for something ,otherwise all of our talented young people will be run out of town because of these unsavory and immoral manipulations of corporate law to not pay them what they were promised and are owed,if a company genuinely goes under that’s one thing,that is not the situation here and I think Katie can see this for what it is,good woman Katie.

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  • Hopefully it will give their campaign some extra “punch”. :P

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  • ???

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  • Shame on them for getting her involved. That’s not what she needs with the Olympics coming up.

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    • Yeh, fighting spirit and passion – it has no place around boxers!

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    • @Frank Caffrey

      What a stupid comment to make and I am sure you are one of the people on this thread that are giving ‘thumbs down’, what’s with that?

      The girl is giving them support in their need at this time. They need to know that there are other human beings out there that care about them losing their jobs, not being able to pay their bills, not being able to see their family as much as they’d like. Remember, they’re fighting for their respect and rights and YOURS!

      She sees herself doing well in her life and is obviously understanding the worry and pain that they are going through. Do you honestly think that they want to be sitting and standing around in a factory when they could be at home? You silly person.

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    • What are talking about were you drinking or something !!

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    • Pretty sure the woman has a mind of her own Frank,it’s insulting to her to suggest otherwise.Perhaps she feels strongly about rogue employers swindling their staff and saddling the tax payer,for a person so dedicated to her craft and wanting to represent the country ,that would indicate to me that she cares for her countrymen so therefore she supports the vita cortex workers,fair play to you Katie.

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  • What other worthy causes should Katie be concentrating on, and worrying about, over the next few months? Perhaps she should also be out protesting against household charges.

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