UNION REPRESENTATIVES will discuss the pension crisis facing Waterford Wedgwood workers with the Government on Monday, ahead of planned meetings between the two and the US bidder for the group.
Waterford Wedgwood is insolvent and its pension fund has a €111 million deficit. The shortfall means that if the company were liquidated, existing and deferred beneficiaries would receive whatever is left in the fund, while the 800 Irish workers who are contributing to the scheme would be unlikely to recover their investment.
Irish Congress of Trade Union (Ictu) officials raised the issue with Ministers yesterday at a meeting to discuss social partnership. As a result, the Government has agreed to meet representatives of Waterford’s union, Unite, and Ictu on Monday to explore ways of dealing with the crisis.
The group’s British employees will not be hit, as that country has a statutory pension protection scheme. Despite commissioning a report a number of years ago that recommended that the Republic do the same, the Government failed to follow suit.
KPS Capital, the New York investment fund that has formally signalled its intention to buy the luxury tableware group, plans to meet the Government on Tuesday and union officials on Wednesday to discuss its proposals for the business.
The fund, which specialises in buying insolvent and troubled manufacturers, wrote to Waterford’s receiver, David Carson of Deloitte, on Thursday, stating that it is interested in buying the company.
A spokesman for Unite said it intended to approach the meeting with KPS positively, and pointed out that the fund had a good record of dealing with organised labour in the US.
Bank of America appointed Mr Carson as receiver to the group on Monday. Waterford’s liabilities outstrip its €550 million assets by €336.9 million. It is said to owe Bank of America about €120 million.
Yesterday’s developments came as Waterford Wedgwood’s German subsidiary, century-old porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal AG, filed for insolvency after failing to find the cash it needed to keep trading while it sought a buyer.
Waterford bought a majority stake in Rosenthal in 1997. The company is located on the Czech border near Nuremberg in Bavaria in southern Germany. The company employed 1,746 last year and has been manufacturing since 1891.
Waterford has been unable to stem falling sales for the last four years and was placed in receivership after a month-long search for a new investor failed.
Sir Anthony O’Reilly and his brother-in-law, Peter Goulandris, own 52 per cent of the group and have invested €400 million in the business. Sir Anthony resigned as non-executive chairman on Monday and several board members followed him this week.
The group’s brands include Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood and Royal Doulton tableware and Rosenthal porcelain.
It employs 800 Irish people and 1,900 workers in Britain.
The company is headquartered at Kilbarry on the edge of Waterford city, where it has been a key industry for more than two centuries.
