The company told employees at 4pm last Tuesday, October 14, that it would be seeking 250 redundancies.

Adrian Kane told the Weekender that following a meeting with the company on Wednesday afternoon, October 15, he believed the company was looking for redundancies because a patent was about to run out on one of its drugs.

This would allow other companies to make generic versions of the same drug and offer it to consumers for a much lower price.

But Mr. Kane said he believed that Wyeth was being premature in letting people go.

"They're basing this decision on assumptions, they don't know what the reduction will be. It hasn't happened yet!"

And he reiterated that the union would be looking for voluntary redundancies only.

Details of the redundancy package on offer have yet to be worked out, although it is likely to form part of discussions during a further meeting due to take place today, Friday, October 17.

Mr. Kane, who is SIPTU's Branch Secretary in Kildare said that there had been no consultation with them whatsoever about the proposals and that the scale of the lay-offs was "totally unacceptable".

The pharmaceutical company, which employs over 1,300 people at the Newbridge site has blamed lower product volumes, and the need to reduce costs as the reason behind the job losses.

The cut follows a similar announcement in 2006 when they announced that staffing levels would be reduced to 1,150 as a result of an expected decline in sales of old product lines. Tuesday's announcement adds a further reduction, bringing the total permanent workforce to approximately 1,050 people by the end of 2009.

However, Wyeth's Johnny Lyons admitted that the numbers were approximate, as they were "based on certain assumptions", although he said the Newbridge site would still have "over 1,000 people working there".

The company has also said that it is committed to its workforce and the long-term development of the Newbridge plant.