Element Six ballot on redundancy deal

WORKERS AT the troubled Element Six plant in Shannon have been told by management that any further unofficial stoppages would result in the company pressing ahead with its original plan to shut down manufacturing with the loss of 370 jobs.

Yesterday Siptu and the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) announced that they are to ballot for industrial action in response to the redundancy deal on offer for the 207 workers who are to lose their jobs at the diamond manufacturer.

Last night, management invited the unions to talks tomorrow on the company’s future.

The survival plan put forward by local management and approved by the company’s chief executive, Cyrus Jilla, aims to save 163 of the 370 jobs initially earmarked to be made redundant and maintain manufacturing at the plant.

However, in a letter circulated yesterday morning to workers, general manager Ken Sullivan said that if employees did not work normally, the company would proceed with the original wind-down in full with the loss of 370 jobs.

Mr Sullivan said this was not intended as a threat “but is simply a statement of fact as the executive is not prepared to allow the business to be damaged by failure to meet the requirements of our customers upon which the very survival of Element Six is dependent”.

He warned: “This will mean that the additional 163 jobs will be lost forever, only statutory redundancy will be paid and the affordability and capacity of the business to continue to fund the defined benefit pension scheme will be at risk.”

Mr Sullivan issued his warning after stating that a large number of employees failed to work normally last Friday.

Mr Sullivan added that this was “ unacceptable”.

The workers downed tools after a general meeting where Mr Sullivan gave details of the redundancy deal on offer and the level of jobs to be saved and lost at the site.

In his letter, Mr Sullivan warned: “We do not have the luxury of time on our side.”

He said: “I recognise that the redundancy package is not what was available previously and that this is a major issue for a significant number of people.

“However, unless the proper process is followed, there can be no agreement on any issue.”

Mr Sullivan said the executive had made it very clear that its approval for the plan was conditional on normal working and continuity of supply to the company’s customers, prompt implementation of the plan and issuing of protective notice letters to all employees who may be affected by this decision in line with Irish employment legislation.

“If employees engage in unofficial action by not working normally the consultation process will come to an immediate end and the executive has stated that they will instruct us to implement the original wind-down plan in full.”

The decision to conduct a ballot came after a three-hour union meeting yesterday.

The redundancy deal on offer is a fraction of what was on offer six months ago.

A worker who attended the meeting last night described the mood of the meeting as “very, very downbeat”.

Last night Siptu branch organiser Mary O’Donnell said: “We must save as many jobs as possible, but we also need far better terms for anyone facing redundancy in the present bleak environment.

“Workers at the plant are extremely apprehensive about the future, and it is far from clear what the management agenda for the plant is. We require a full and frank disclosure of all the options with them.”

TEEU regional secretary Pat Keane said: “We will exhaust every avenue to resolve the dispute locally if we can and use all the avenues open to us prior to taking industrial action provided that management adhere to local procedures.”