WHATEVER else caused the closure of Semperit's Irish plant, it was not bad industrial relations. The last official strike in the plant was in 1975 and difficult restructurings were agreed between the company and SIPTU in 1983 and 1989 without industrial conflict.
The workforce bought into concepts so beloved of human resource managers like "lean production" and "world class manufacturing" because they realised it offered the best chance of survival in an increasingly competitive environment. In 1989 they agreed to switch from a five day to a seven day roster to keep valuable equipment operating and cut costs.
More than two years ago SIPTU even went to the IDA to discuss how to secure the plant's future after the union's research showed that its long term future was likely to be in jeopardy. Union sources said last night that they knew by then that the Ballyfermot operation "did not feature in the long term" for Continental AG, the parent German company.
Even with doubts hanging over the plant, relations between SIPTU and Semperit (Ireland) remained good. Early last year about 50 jobs were shed in an effort to reduce costs.
The problem for the Irish plant was it was one of a number of small ageing plants in the group that were becoming gradually less viable. Tyre prices to car factories and motorists were static, or even falling. Continental had overcapacity equivalent to roughly the output of the Ballyfermot plant.
Plants in Scotland and Sweden were in a similar position, but they had crucial advantages over Ireland when the time came to wield the axe. In the case of the Scottish plant there was a better tyre mix. In the case of Sweden there was a 20 per cent devaluation that suddenly made Swedish labour costs much more attractive. Both plants also had indigenous car industries in which they could sell their products.
In many ways what has happened in Ballyfermot is similar to events in nearby Tallaght, where Packard closed this summer, with the loss of 800 jobs. Ireland can no longer compete for old style low technology manufacturing jobs when there is a squeeze on the market.
When the Austrian firm of Semperit set up the Irish plant 29 years ago it could avail of skilled but comparatively cheap labour. Now that role is being filled by workers in central and eastern Europe. The new German owners have made no secret of their intentions to take advantage of that new labour force. The original Semperit plant in Austria is also to see drastic reductions in staffing levels. The future, in western Europe, lies with a new state of the heart plant in Portugal.
The best efforts at social partnership have failed to save the Ballyfermot jobs, but that does not mean that the efforts of SIPTU have been in vain. In large part because of its initiative with the IDA two and a half years ago, the authority is much better placed than it would otherwise be to seek new owners.
Contacts have been established with potential investors in the US, Japan and Korea, with the Americans and Koreans thought to be the most likely potential purchasers. They seem to see potential in an Irish tyre plant and workforce when a European company is prepared to write both off.