Intel has promised further consultation with employees at its ESSM microchip plant in Leixlip, after averting a threatened stoppage over new shift patterns. The company, which is non-union, held talks with teams representing production workers in the lead-up to the stoppage, which had been expected to take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The switch from six- to seven-day working is required by Intel because the plant has been selected for production of a new SEC (Single Edged Cartridge) chip. This will be used in multimedia computers, and Intel is investing $150 million in the new process at Leixlip.
The company's public affairs manager, Mr Bill Riley, said that no stoppage took place. Although he refused to allow access to the plant on Saturday morning, it was clear from outside that no walkout or significant disruption had occurred.
"No employees have suggested in any way that there would be a stoppage," he said. Responding to a report in Saturday's Irish Times about the proposed changes in production shifts, Mr Riley added: "Clearly there are some questions employees feel they haven't got complete answers to.
"There have been several additional discussions with them over the past 24 hours and I think people in fact want to understand more fully the implications for them [of the proposed changes]." The non-stop production system would not become operational until 1998, he added.
The decision to invest $150 million in the ESSM plant "is terrific news", Mr Riley said. "But one of the implications of capital-intensive investment is the need to work that investment over a seven-day week."
Management would "work through people's concerns over the next couple of weeks." He said there had been similar problems when the plant switched from a five- to a six-day working week in the early 1990s.
Mr Riley accepted the new changes were radical. However, he said he did not envisage full production being necessary on Christmas Day, as suggested by employees in contact with this newspaper.