FAI staff anger as 60 job cuts announced

There was shock and anger among Football Association of Ireland staff after management announced plans to make 60 positions redundant within the next two weeks, a move described by union representatives as “ill-informed” and “a devastating blow to grassroots football.”

Around 100 staff received an email yesterday from FAI management informing them that their current roles were being discontinued and that they would need to reapply for new positions.

The development followed a morning meeting where workers were told the organisation intended to shed about one quarter of its 255-strong workforce.

SIPTU Services Divisional Organiser, Adrian Kane, said what had taken place at the FAI amounted to “the actions of a rogue management team attacking workers as well as the core purpose of the organisation.”

He said the proposed job losses were heavily weighted towards football operations, with seven times as many cuts affecting staff in roles supporting grassroots football as compared to other areas.

He also criticised management for failing to consult workers or provide details on the terms and conditions of any new roles being created.

“None of these measures have been discussed with staff and none of the new roles’ terms and conditions of employment have been supplied,” he said.

“Management in the organisation is not intending on downsizing, despite its central role in creating the crises in both finances and public trust at the FAI.”

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Robert Purfield, said the plan represented “a fundamental attack on the people who actually deliver football development in communities up and down the country.”

“Our members, coaches, development officers, grassroots coordinators and business support staff are the backbone of the game in Ireland,” he said.

“To target them disproportionately while protecting managerial layers in a so-called transformation plan just shows that this management group do not intend to bring the FAI in a positive direction.”

SIPTU has written to the Workplace Relations Commission seeking its intervention and will meet members on Monday to decide the next steps in its campaign to defend jobs and services at the sporting body.