http://politico.ie/social-issues/8706-the-workers-strike-back-.html

Ebsco’s activities have also received attention from other sources:

LitRoost Blog

We’ll keep you posted on new developments.

Dear Mr. Gorrell

As executive vice president of technology and Chief Information Officer at EBSCO Publishing, you may be interested to learn about some of the new technologies used by businesses to conduct meetings with people in other countries without having to travel there in person.

Recently, Irish Labour Party TDs Michael Conaghan, Alex White, and Gerald Nash requested a meeting with EBSCO in order to discuss the company’s refusal to abide by the Irish Labour Court’s recommendation regarding the redundancy payments to former H. W. Wilson workers.  They were told that such a meeting would not be possible because the company does not have a representative in this country and instead had to meet with EBSCO’s solicitor in Ireland.

It strikes me that the field of teleconferencing would offer many new opportunities to EBSCO to allow them to circumvent this problem.  I am no expert in such matters, but I am sure that you, as executive vice president of technology and Chief Information Officer, would have no problem finding someone who could advise you.

If you do manage to set up such a system, the Wilson Pickets would be delighted to talk to EBSCO’s representatives, something that has not been possible to date.

Yours sincerely,

Colette Willis, on behalf of the Wilson Pickets

Dear Ms Howell

As vice president of Human Resources at EBSCO Publishing, you are, I am sure, adept at resolving conflicts in the workplace.  If the former H. W. Wilson Company employees had been taken on by EBSCO Publishing following the merger, rather than made redundant, you would doubtless have allayed any concerns we would have had about our new positions.

In this spirit, I appeal to you for help.  What steps would you recommend we take in order to resolve our difficulties with EBSCO Publishing?  Communication, I believe, is generally key to resolving conflicts.  We are eager to communicate.  Perhaps you could point out to the other party involved that engagement in the process is a more effective and mature way to deal with issues than merely ignoring them and hoping they will go away.

Thank you for your attention.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Colette Willis, on behalf of the Wilson Pickets

Dear Ms Galati

As the senior director of customer relations at EBSCO Publishing, you may be interested to read what some of EBSCO’s customers are giving as reasons for signing our petition:

Dear Mr. Brooks

As the senior vice president of sales and marketing at EBSCO Publishing, you were interviewed last July about the upcoming merger with H. W. Wilson.

In the course of that interview, you were asked what would happen to the H. W. Wilson employees.  Your response:  “Given the transaction occurred less than a month ago, we are still in the process of getting to know employees and making decisions regarding the future.”

I’m not sure if this response was disingenuous or merely ill-informed, given that the Dublin employees of H. W. Wilson had all been told by May 2011 that we were to be made redundant.

If you would still like to get to know us, however, we would be delighted to embark on a dialogue, because we have not received any response from EBSCO Publishing personnel to our repeated requests for communication.

Please do get in touch.

Yours sincerely

Colette Willis, on behalf of the Wilson Pickets.

The arrogance of EBSCO Publishing, in refusing to talk with those it has deprived of their livelihoods, will appal all supporters of civil rights.  Multinationals which stamp on people’s rights in their obsessive pursuit of profit need to be brought to book.  Such corporations generally appeal to law and authority — unless, of course, authority rules against them, as in the recent recommendation of the Irish Labour Court, in which case they insolently ignore it.  Those who refuse to take this insolence lying down are worthy of the most loyal support.

Terry Eagleton

Fellow of the British Academy, Honorary Doctor of Letters (National University of Ireland) and Distinguished Visiting Professor, Universities of Lancaster and Notre Dame.

“Our history is replete with challenges, adversity and great injustice.

But our people have come through it all.

And in every generation brave men and women have come forward.

From 1798 to 1847, from 1913 to 1916 to 1981.

Visionaries have shown the way.

They made a stand.

Today workers at Vita Cortex in Cork, La Senza, Wilsons, in Game shops, and at Irish Cement have made a stand.

Today Lagan Brick workers are 164 days on strike.

Parents defending their children with disabilities, hospital campaigners, carers, teachers, health workers, defenders of our schools, turf cutters, citizens who are standing up for themselves and their families and communities, are showing the way.

So too are citizens who work in the community and voluntary sector, in our sporting organisations, in the arts, in environmental groups, in defence of our language, in support of our young people and our senior citizens.

Citizens who are supporting victims of abuse, including drugs and alcohol misuse and suicide prevention, are holding our communities together.

These active citizens, compassionate carers and community activists are the real Ireland.”

For the full speech, visit the Sinn Fein Web site:  http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/23519