A three-week strike at Tara Mines has ended with miners voting by two to one to accept settlement proposals.
The dispute arose because of the continued use of contract miners after the phase-out date of September 30th. The company said the continued use of contract miners was necessary because productivity targets were being missed by permanent miners.
SIPTU, which represents the Navan plant's 230 mining staff, had said the company was not making enough effort to retrain existing workers or recruit new miners. Under the settlement proposals, the number of training places for miners is to be increased from 20 to 60.
A target of September 1st, 2001, has been set to eliminate the use of contract miners, and adjustments have been made in bonus schemes. The SIPTU regional secretary, Mr Mike Jennings, said: "It is now up to us as a union to ensure the comprehensive proposals worked out in very tough negotiations are delivered by the company."
The Tara Mines general manager, Mr John Kelly, said the company was very pleased with the outcome.