Over 600 workers at Tara Mines should know by Wednesday if they are to be laid off. A Labour Court recommendation to resolve the dispute at the Navan operation is expected to be issued by then and may be out even sooner.
The mine's Finnish owner, Outokompu, put the 630-strong workforce on "one day" protective notice last Friday. This will continue on a day-by-day basis until the Labour Court issues its recommendation.
The lay-offs will begin if either the company or the unions find the Labour Court proposals unacceptable. The company's action has been widely seen by the trade unions as an attempt to pressurise the court into issuing a speedy recommendation in its favour. The company had set a deadline of June 1st for the the workforce to accept radical changes in work practices. These were designed to boost productivity by 20 per cent and reduce costs by 15 per cent, in order to bring it in line with the company's other operations.
It reluctantly agreed to accept Labour Court intervention and at the court hearing on June 18th made it clear the mine would have to close temporarily if the workers did not accept its proposals. The Navan mine lost $20 million in 1998 and $5 million in the first four months of this year.
The union offered concessions and alternative savings which it claims come within 92 per cent of the company's targets. SIPTU is the main union at the mine and its Navan branch secretary, Mr Christy McQuillan, has appealed to the company to allow the union's proposals to be given a chance. However, the company has expressed scepticism about their practicality.
The issues dividing the sides are a new bonus scheme and shift patterns. Even the company accepts that the miners will have to increase productivity by well over 20 per cent to maintain earnings, but it insists they are being asked to work "smarter rather than harder".
The new shift pattern requires miners to switch from a five-day week based on three eight-hour shifts every 24 hours, to a four-day week based on two 10-hour shifts a day. The company also wants the miners, who earn between £35,000 and £40,000 a year, to work on Saturdays as part of the basic week instead of overtime.