Union reps to meet FAI CEO over proposed job cuts as workers are 'dismayed'

SIPTU UNION REPS for workers in the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) have secured a meeting with CEO David Courell next week, where they will discuss a “threat to implement redundancies without agreement” from the organisation.

Union representatives have in recent weeks said that they are considering industrial action over proposed job cuts, which could see up to a third of the FAI’s workforce made redundant.

Adrian Kane, SIPTU Services Divisional Organiser said that the union’s members in the FAI were “deeply frustrated” last week when the CEO did not attend a meeting they thought he would be present for.

Kane said that workers are concerned about “media interviews” in which “inaccurate figures on staff numbers have been presented”.

He also said that a growth in the management level of the organisation has “impacted the organisation financially”.

Kane said that FAI workers are dismayed by the FAI’s plans for an overhaul of the organisation.

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He added that union reps hope the upcoming meeting will be a “reset”.

Kane called on the FAI to treat staff with the “respect they deserve” and to act “in line with industrial relations norms on negotiation and the provision of information”.

The FAI has said that it is restructuring its workforce through a phase of redeploying staff before compulsory redundancies are confirmed.

The organisation said the period of change will be part of a “significant transformation programme” aimed at modernising football in Ireland.

The FAI said that UEFA benchmarking and consultancy advice it has received has informed this process.

“The findings make it clear that the Association does not currently have the required framework and specific skill sets to implement vital strategies, including the FAI Football Pathways Plan, and to meet the evolving needs of Irish football,” a spokesperson previously said in a statement.

The FAI employs around 250 staff members in Ireland.

The organisation was €70 million in debt prior to a government-led bailout in 2020.

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