The Swedish owners of Tara Mines are proposing a redundancy programme as part of efforts to reopen the Co Meath mine later this year.
The plan was raised as management briefed staff on Friday as part of its efforts to reopen the mine.
Production was shut down last July with 650 workers temporarily laid off after what the company said were “significant and unsustainable financial losses” it was experiencing due to high costs and the falling price of zinc on commodities markets.
It was seen at the time as a temporary measure. A deal reached subsequently with workers guaranteed they would retain current terms and conditions upon reopening.
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Subsequently, in November, Boliden said it hoped to open the mine in the second quarter of this year if it secured agreement on a rescue plan to address operational challenges, assuming there were no “significant deterioration in market conditions”. The company says that remains its intention.
It is understood the request for a voluntary severance scheme came from the company’s group of unions in advance of the staff briefing on Friday.
Tara Mine says it is seeking non-binding “declarations of interest” from staff in a redundancy programme that would only become available if other elements of its proposed rescue plan are approved. Workers have been given until the end of the month to respond.
If activated, the scheme would offer three and a half weeks’ pay, including the two weeks statutory redundancy, up to a maximum of two years of pay under the voluntary redundancy programme.
The company said workers with five years’ service would receive a minimum of six months pay while those who have worked at the mine for 10 years would get no less than 12 months’ pay.
The company is also offering an early retirement package to any employee who will be aged 55 or over by the end of this year.
Tara Mine management says it will share full details of the wider rescue plan with the group of unions next Tuesday when both sides attend the Workplace Relations Commission.
In the briefing to staff on Friday, Boliden Tara Mine general manager, Gunnar Nystrom, said: “The primary objective of the rescue plan is to ensure the mine reopens on a sustainable basis for the remainder of the life of [the] mine.
“The operation needs to be robust to withstand the volatility of external factors such as zinc prices, foreign exchange rates and energy costs. Once we reopen we want to be able to remain open,” he said.
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