Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald meets with former Waterford Crystal workers
The group say that they were misinformed of their pension entitlements over 30 years ago
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has met with a group of former Waterford Crystal workers at Leinster House.
The group consisted of former employees who say that they were misinformed of their pension entitlements over 30 years ago.
In 1991, over 400 workers agreed to a voluntary redundancy package. As a result, when Waterford Wedgewood became insolvent in 2009, they were excluded from a government compensation fund.
The workers claim that Waterford Crystal misinformed them by offering only one pension option – the return of their pension contributions.
As a result, they have been left without an occupational pension and reliant on the state pension.
Waterford Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane was also present at the meeting, and posted about in on social media.
A Facebook post from Deputy Cullinane read: “Yesterday, I met with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and a delegation of former Waterford Crystal workers in Leinster House to discuss their ongoing fight for justice.
“These men and women were misinformed about their pension options over 30 years ago and were left without fair compensation when the company went bust.”
He outlined that the group is seeking a meeting with Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary.
They will ask the minister for government acknowledgement that they were misinformed, fair compensation for those excluded from the pension fund and a formal apology for past failures.
“These workers gave decades of service and have been treated unfairly for far too long. Their fight for justice continues and they have my full support,” Deputy Cullinane added.
It was the second time the workers have met with Sinn Féin leader McDonald, who also spoke to the group at the Tower Hotel in Waterford in May 2024.
After the issue was raised in the Dáil chamber, the group also met with the then Taoiseach and now Tánaiste Simon Harris.
Despite these meetings, the workers have reached no satisfactory outcome thus far.