INDUSTRIAL GIANT ABB said yesterday it would lay off 178 staff at its transformer manufacturing plant in Waterford.

Management at the Waterford ABB plant informed workers of the decision to close the operation by March 2010.

Officials from the union Siptu, which represents most workers at the Tycor plant, will this morning meet management to discuss the move.

The plant, near Waterford Industrial Park, formerly operated as “the ACEC” and has been part of the city’s industrial and social landscape since 1951. ABB manufactures transformers for the construction and utility markets in Ireland and the UK.

In a statement, senior marketing and communications executive with ABB Dave O’Rourke said: “ABB has decided to discontinue operations at its manufacturing unit in Waterford by the end of March 2010.

“The closure is as a result of significantly lower orders and lack of potential business in the markets served by this unit, making it unviable. The company has now entered into a consultation process with its unions and employees, and will do its best to support them in every possible way.”

Mr O’Rourke added that ABB continued to be fully committed to the market in Ireland.

The general manager of the Tycor plant, Kieran Kenealy, said: “We were given the opportunity to look at ways of slicing up the business and focusing on different areas, and we tried endless different options to see if we could find some way to keep even a core of the business that would be strong. But we just couldn’t find any way to get a viable business out of the current portfolio.”

Assistant branch organiser with Sitpu Ger Malone said yesterday: “Our next step is to meet with the company in the morning. We will enter into discussions as to what can and can’t be done, and then we’ll have to try to negotiate a substantial redundancy package to help cushion these workers to some extent.”

ABB, a company with Swedish and Swiss origins, employs 400 staff at five locations in Ireland.