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An Open Letter in Solidarity with Covalen Workers

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Addressed to CPL, Covalen, Meta, and the Irish Government

To Covalen workers, your families and friends, community organisations, sports clubs, churches, elected representatives, tech workers, workers across all sectors, and trade unionists everywhere:

We are writing as Covalen workers and employee representatives, organised through DATA-CWU, in response to the announcement of over 720 redundancies. This letter is directed clearly and deliberately at CPL, Covalen, Meta, and the Irish Government, all of whom have responsibility for what happens next.

This situation was not created by workers. Covalen staff met targets, adapted to constant change, moved between roles and projects when required, and delivered value under difficult and often unstable conditions. They did so in good faith. They are now facing job loss during an acute cost-of-living crisis, with little protection and no certainty.

For many, redundancy will mean immediate financial hardship. Based on estimates by employee representatives, around 400 workers will receive no statutory redundancy at all, while dozens more will miss eligibility by a matter of weeks under the company’s proposed timeline. Many workers, particularly migrants, do not have sufficient PRSI contributions to qualify for state supports. These are not abstract statistics. They are households facing rent arrears, debt, and upheaval.

This message is for CPL, Covalen, and Meta.

You are not passive observers. CPL controls key financial decisions. Covalen is implementing the process. Meta is the client whose contracting decisions triggered these job losses. Each of you has the capacity to reduce the harm being caused. Choosing not to do so is still a decision, and workers will judge it accordingly.

This message is also for the Irish Government.

Collective redundancy law exists to protect workers from rushed, unfair, and opaque processes. Meaningful consultation is not optional, and it does not begin with a short video call before employee representatives are elected. The state has a responsibility to intervene when the spirit of the law is being undermined and when hundreds of workers are being pushed towards unemployment with inadequate protection.

Our demands are clear

Covalen workers, through their elected representatives, are demanding:

1. Genuine collective consultation

Formal consultation must take place with elected employee representatives, with full records and minutes, and without attempts to divide workers into smaller or separate groups. Anything less undermines the purpose of collective redundancy protections.

2. An enhanced redundancy package

Statutory redundancy is a minimum legal floor, not an adequate response to job losses on this scale. Market norms in Ireland already recognise enhanced redundancy, including provisions for workers with less than two years’ service. CPL and Covalen have the resources to provide this.

3. Transparency on finances

Workers are demanding clarity on whether CPL is offering enhanced redundancy terms, and on what compensation Covalen receives from Meta when contracts are reduced or lost. Meaningful consultation requires access to this information.

4. Payment of earned bonuses

Bonuses due in April and June relate to work already completed or performance already delivered. These payments must be honoured in full and not clawed back through a redundancy process initiated by the company.

5. Waiver of the six-month cooling-off period

These redundancies are imposed, not voluntary. Preventing redundant workers from accessing future employment within the sector only deepens the harm. Covalen should work with Meta to ensure affected staff can apply for available roles on other projects rather than being forced into unemployment.

6. Fair and collective selection criteria

Workers have consistently been moved across roles, projects, and time bands to meet business needs. That flexibility cannot now be used against them. All administrative employees must be included fairly in any redundancy selection process.

To Covalen workers and your families

You are not alone. Your anger, fear, and uncertainty are justified. This is not a personal failure. It is a consequence of decisions taken far above you. Collective action exists for moments exactly like this.

To friends, communities, clubs, and local groups

The people affected live in your areas. They coach your teams, volunteer, and contribute to community life. Large-scale redundancies weaken entire communities. Your support matters, whether through public statements, local pressure, or simply standing alongside workers.

To tech workers and workers in other sectors

What happens here sets expectations for the future of work. If hundreds of workers can be dismissed on minimum terms in a profitable, global industry, no sector is insulated from the consequences.

To trade unionists everywhere

Solidarity across workplaces and sectors is essential. Victories and defeats rarely stay contained. Your voices, statements, and actions help shift the balance of power.

No worker wants conflict. Industrial action and protest are not chosen lightly. They happen when employers refuse to engage seriously with reasonable demands and leave workers no other way to protect themselves.

Covalen, CPL, Meta, and the Government still have the opportunity to change course. Fair consultation, enhanced protections, and basic respect for workers would prevent unnecessary hardship and escalation.

We are asking all those reading this to stand with Covalen workers and to make clear that what is happening here is not acceptable.

In solidarity,

DATA-CWU & Covalen Employee Representatives

Signatures

Name

  1. Prospect trade union
  2. United Tech and Allied Workers
  3. Jack McNicholl
  4. Karen Hinkson-Deeney
  5. Sinéad Gibney
  6. Andrew McNeill
  7. Sean Burke
  8. Michael Lee Martin
  9. Barisa Obradovic
  10. Shane Murphy
  11. Garvey
  12. Thomas Creamer
  13. Seán Fontana
  14. Suthanda Atthoroj
  15. Oleksii Lysyi
  16. Dave Charles Tuhuteru
  17. Maeve McCarthy
  18. Maria Rita Aguzzi
  19. Jawhar Amini
  20. Alexander Simonov
  21. Joerg Schehl
  22. Sandris Saukums
  23. Giacomo
  24. Marzh
  25. Tomás Gonçalves Grieser
  26. Hamza khan
  27. Sebastian Kuehn
  28. Abdelmalek Mirwan
  29. Rasha Hliehil
  30. Carlos André da Conceição e Silva
  31. Adela Sanz Pascual
  32. Arthur Queiroz Barducco Medeiros
  33. Fabio Santana Felix
  34. Jack Higgins
  35. Riza Selcuk
  36. Oguzhan kisa
  37. Devi Yudhiastri McHugh
  38. Ana Rangel
  39. Luis Manuel Jorquera Fernandez
  40. Soufiane
  41. Aspasia Lanai
  42. Ekaterina Kudriavtseva
  43. Aleksandr
  44. Tanyanan Boon-arj
  45. Mariia Saukums
  46. Francesco Leonardi
  47. Amaya Atienza
  48. Ana Kassia Cardoso Brasileiro
  49. Lucas M Czaykowski
  50. Vasiliki Stathopoulou
  51. Rachel McCarren
  52. Kristina Maricic
  53. Julia Danilowa
  54. Sotirios Kyrtsopoulos
  55. Halil Ibrahim
  56. Gunay Gokkaya
  57. Nicolaie Sorodoc
  58. RomanaYakymchuk
  59. Alexander Lomov
  60. Cagatay Cam
  61. Abdulhak Tuna
  62. Atharv Sakhale
  63. Olesia Baltazhi
  64. Luna Ciarma
  65. TY Chong
  66. Aleksandar Zubovity
  67. Rebecca Doherty
  68. Deborah Emerence
  69. Aishah
  70. Lacin
  71. Kameliya Doduncheva
  72. Alejandra Vasquez
  73. Em Keleghan
  74. Rajnesh Chaudhary
  75. Daniela Pereira
  76. Kamran Habib
  77. Helen Soke
  78. osmandmc@gmail.com
  79. Benjamin Williamson
  80. Judith Kelly White
  81. Iside Bonsignore
  82. Javier Sanz Garcia
  83. Chris Njeri
  84. Lars Bellmann
  85. Magdalena Anna Dyga
  86. Landry Mamo
  87. Time Rusinova
  88. Liudmyla Kirii
  89. Alexander Semenov
  90. Fatima Moreno
  91. Ricardo Joel Alzugaray
  92. Alina
  93. Cian O Leary
  94. Colin Bradley
  95. Paddy O’Leary
  96. Bhavneet Kaur
  97. Eilis O’Leary
  98. Gillian Finan
  99. Pat O’Leary
  100. Mary O Leary
  101. Constantin Coada
  102. Ludovica Esposito
  103. Clodagh McGrath
  104. Katie Lynch
  105. Nada si
  106. Assel Shaimerdinova
  107. Madina Sagatova
  108. Tomas Crosbie
  109. Wipawan MacPhail
  110. Facundo Anton
  111. Tristan Shiels
  112. Raman Singh
  113. Owen O’Reilly
  114. Anastasia Smith
  115. Ian McArdle
  116. Arcadia Jacob
  117. Pavel Yakimenko
  118. Deborah Lucente
  119. Mohamed Eldomiaty
  120. Artur Kosmatka
  121. Konstantinos Ntatsikas
  122. Romina Elizabeth Arrua
  123. Rafael Cerqueira de Souza
  124. Vladimir Lobaskin
  125. Angelina Bilan
  126. Melike Ceren Inan Toygar
  127. Dilara Onen
  128. Gizem Karatepe
  129. Gary Lynch
  130. Talha
  131. Orlagh Fawl
  132. Farid Guliyev
  133. Nadine Hägg
  134. Ruslan Kurmashev
  135. Adina Yessimova
  136. Eleanor Payne
  137. Gizem Bezek
  138. Aadel Obaid
  139. Andrii
  140. Sylvia
  141. Alberto De Cristofaro
  142. Gabriela Santos Bicho
  143. Vinicius Faria Araujo
  144. Stanislav Jitariuc
  145. Leonella Nginya
  146. Panagiotis Georgiadis
  147. Tulio Dias de Assis
  148. Khaled Gsis
  149. Vasit
  150. Aleesha
  151. Thi Cat Tuong Trinh
  152. Amol Upadhyay
  153. Nicoleta Rotaru
  154. Leticia Martin Martin
  155. Luca Nicoli
  156. Fabio Agliata
  157. Kirill Polkov
  158. Marijn Frijns
  159. George Kokinis
  160. Paula Uchaki
  161. Foteini Papaioannou
  162. Rachele Giorgetti
  163. Francesca Ballarin
  164. Alessandro Busti
  165. Sara Pelizzoli
  166. Anita Machado Flores da Costa
  167. Pat Mulvaney
  168. Yagiz Umut Aksoy
  169. John Bohan
  170. Christine Walsh
  171. Carmilla Segers
  172. Harun Nergiz
  173. Bruna Batista Nicocelli
  174. François Anno
  175. Matheus Rodrigues Vicente
  176. Kenia Kerber
  177. Barbara Brum
  178. Tais Costa Rangel
  179. Andrew Moore
  180. Aleksandra Bohr
  181. Analia Aguirre
  182. Maria Cristina Medina Romero
  183. Eda Bayram
  184. Fan Ryan
  185. John Clarke
  186. Yassine Kouiriti
  187. Szabolcs Márton
  188. Luis R. Gutierrez H.
  189. Alondra Sereno
  190. Cris Aguilar
  191. Tales Cristian Soares
  192. Sarah Vaughan
  193. Sadia Amiri
  194. Chiara Fiorillo
  195. Marko Jelencic
  196. Suzana Marion Cirelli
  197. Haziqah
  198. Nursyazana
  199. Haziq Yusof
  200. Ramsha Amir
  201. Noman Shah
  202. Charles-Erwan Huob
  203. Faheem Pathan
  204. Fuat M
  205. Camille Azencott
  206. Andrew Brennan
  207. Elena Garcia
  208. Aodhán Morris
  209. gigi
  210. Isis Bards Lourenco
  211. Vinicius da Silva costa
  212. Christopher Lawless
  213. Sam Dodson
  214. Tiago Feitosa
  215. Adrian Cucuet
  216. Resit Baran Aktas
  217. Melissa Cebedo
  218. Konrad Mikael Svahn
  219. Loen Haineaux
  220. Brainer Yanez
  221. Mahmoud Altouba
  222. Diana Gaspar
  223. Emilio Lazaro Bautista
  224. Shaam
  225. Nazli Hamouda
  226. Iain Clowes
  227. Pascal Connolly
  228. Olena Kotrutsa
  229. Damian Debny
  230. Tugrul Un
  231. shaheen ejbali
  232. Ivana Krizan
  233. Paul McGing Gonzaga
  234. Madhura Kolhe
  235. Duncan Davis
  236. Alexandra Szente
  237. Deji Olayinka
  238. Hadeel Spahieh
  239. Flavia Cristiane do Nascimento
  240. Chloe Snoeks
  241. Josiah Medin
  242. Rithiya Tejasen
  243. Jesse van den Berg
  244. Dilara Ezgi Mumcuoglu
  245. Sakshi
  246. Paul Donnelly
  247. Sabrina Kirwan
  248. María Lopez
  249. William Damery
  250. Isilay Ozdemir
  251. Ovidijus Milius
  252. Nihat Koc
  253. Eduard Cuadros
  254. Vanel Rodrigue Bangelier
  255. Amine Mouhoubi
  256. Marcelo Alencar
  257. Rebeca Almeida
  258. Jimmy O Connor
  259. Andrew Quinn
  260. Gabor Karpati
  261. Ren Ralph

Union

–
UTAW, CWU
PWO
SIPTU
–
Equity
Data
UTAW
CWU Data
CWU
Forsa
Financial Services Union
CWU-DATA
–
CWU
Communications Workers’ Union
Data CWU
–
–
DATA-CWU
CWU
DATA (CWU)
–
–
–
–
CWU
–
–
–
DATA
DATA
–
–
CWU-DATA
–
–
CWU DATA
CWU DATA
–
–
–
–
–
Data CWU
CWU
–
–
CWU
–
DATA CWU
–
CWU
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
DATA
–
–
–
–
SIPTU
–

–
–
–
–
–
DATA
–
–
CWU
–
–
Data CWU
–
–
data-cwu
–
–
–
CWU
Irish Medical Organisation
–
–
–
ASTI
ASTI
–
–
–
–
Forsa
–
–
CWU
–
–
–
CWU
–
CWU
–
–
CWU
–
–
–
CWU
–
CWU
CWU
IFUT
Stronger Together at Teleperformance
–
–
–
–
–
Siptu
–
–
–
Data CWU
UTAW CWU
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
DATA
–
–
–
–
CWU
–
–
–
–
CWU
–
DATA
CWU-UTAW UK
–
CWU
DATA
DATA
–
DATA
–
–
CWU
CWU
–
Game Workers Union (with FSU)
–
data-cwu
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
CWU
–
–
–
–
DTE
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
CWU
–
–
–
–
–
–
CWU
–
–
Prospect
CWU
DataCWU
CWU
–
CWU
CWU
CWU
DATA CWU
Data-CWU
–
–
CWU
Data-CWU
CWU
–
–
DATA
–
cwu
–
CWU
UTAW-CWU
–
UTAW
–
–
–
CWU
CWU – Data Branch
–
–
CWU
CWU
CWU
CWU
–
–
–
–
–
CWU
SIPTU
–
CWU
SIPTU
–
–

Party

Union
Union
People Before Profit
Social Democrats
Social Democrats
Red Network
Sein Fein
APNI
Social Democrats
Sinn Fein
Social Democrats
Social Democrats

*144 Anonymous signatures

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