Workers at the high-tech Seagate manufacturing site in Derry believe they are on the cusp of official union recognition for the first time in the company's three-decade history in Northern Ireland.
This comes only months after fears were raised about job security and wages, following an announcement in October that the hard-drive maker was cutting its global workforce by 8% - a total of around 3,000 jobs worldwide.
Seagate, a data storage specialist company that accounts for a large percentage of all hard drives sold worldwide, remains one of the largest employers in the North West region even after the 2008 closure of its manufacturing facility in Limavady.
Read more: Technology workers in Derry fear layoffs after Seagate announce 3,000 jobs to be cut worldwide
More than 1,000 people earn a living at the Seagate facility in the Springtown area of Derry city.
Lynn McKinty, an official with the Unite trade union, said voluntary union recognition is now being sought with the company following what she described as a "member-led" organising campaign over the past six months.
In October, People Before Profit councillor Shaun Harkin told Derry City and Strabane council he had been contacted by workers concerned about their futures following the announcement of layoffs worldwide, and "a very low pay increase they received recently in terms of dealing with the cost of living crisis".
Ms McKinty, meanwhile, told Belfast Live: "This has been very much a member-led campaign. The members themselves organised an initial petition of workers within the operative group who wanted to have negotiation rights at Seagate and they gathered over 500 signatures.
"This gave the workers the confidence to know they supported each other and that there was a collective desire to be represented by a union.
"Recent years have seen the longest historic stagnation in wages followed by an exceptional inflationary surge which has literally ripped through people’s wage packets. At the same time, many companies are making unbelievable profits that they are handing to investors through share buy-backs and dividends; if you then add in truly mind boggling levels of executive pay and workers are angry and saying enough is enough.
"Work is one of the few places people can have any effect on how much money is coming into the house. If you are sitting in a company where pay is imposed and you’ve got no say in that, then of course you are going to try and change that, joining a union and getting organised is the way to do that."
She continued: "The Seagate workforce worked through the pandemic and made this company huge profits during that period only for them to lay off 3,000 workers worldwide as their profits declined. Now workers face the worst cost of living crisis in decades and they know that the best way to protect themselves is to join with their fellow workers and form a union and that’s what they have done.
"We are really pleased to be in a position to seek voluntary recognition with the company. We are currently waiting for them to get back with dates for a meeting. Most recognition agreements are done on a voluntary basis."
She added: "Sometimes companies are under the misconstrued conception that a union is some sort of external entity when in reality it is their own employees who are the union. From my own experience over many years of helping members secure recognition agreements I would advise Seagate the sooner a company understands that, the better. The members at Seagate are really keen and excited to start this new chapter of industrial relations."
Seagate has been approached for comment.
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