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Staff and firm dispute cost of jobs subsidy
AS the TEEU joined SIPTU in moving towards industrial action at troubled Shannon diamond maker Element Six, the company has disputed figures put forward by the unions of the cost to the public purse of the sustainability plan to save 163 jobs in manufacturing and distribution.
Around 400 people marched through the Free Zone in heavy rain last Thursday in solidarity with Element Six workers who are seeking improved redundancy for the over 200 staff who would still lose their jobs under a rescue plan agreed between local management and the corporation.
In a letter to staff last week, group chief executive Cyrus Jilla said the company could not afford further improve its redundancy pot of €8 million. This was greeted with incredulity by the TEEU regional secretary Pat Keane who said the company had profits of $564 million last year, to which Element Six responded it had in fact lost €18.4 million in 2008.
Mr Keane said a state wage subsidy of €204 per week per retained worker for 15 months would add up to around €3 million and provided a copy of the company sustainability plan presented to workers. But Element Six responded this document makes clear "the wage subsidy is capped at €500,000 per company which is therefore clearly the maximum Element Six could get".
The plan provided by the TEEU also outlines €800,000 in training grants and development/innovation aid entailing a "salary saving of €200,000 plus materials and other project costs".
Mr Keane said that when all the supports were added to the redundancy rebate of €2.88 million, the company would save almost €7 million, about €1 million shy of the current available pot.
This figure too was rejected by the company.
"The redundancy cost to the company is net of the statutory rebate.
The company would pay €8 million in addition to the rebate," a spokesman said, adding "all these figures can be publicly verified".
The Department of Enterprise had not responded at the time of going to press on how much the company would benefit from various grants, subsidies and rebates.
Mr Keane said meanwhile that the TEEU would join SIPTU in refusing to enter conciliation talks as long as the company held its position that it could not afford to improve redundancy and warned that after securing a 100 per cent mandate for industrial action 10 days ago, members would decide what form that would take.
It was indicated that management could receive seven days' notice of industrial action as soon as this Monday.
In his letter last week, Mr Jilla warned that if "meaningful talks" were not entered into or any industrial action were to take place within two weeks, that Element Six could press ahead with its original plan to close manufacturing and production in Shannon, with the elimination of 370 jobs.
Pension liabilities might no longer be affordable for Element Six while ex-gratia redundancy payments might not be forthcoming, he added.
In a joint statement following last Thursday's March, the unions said 400 people had marched with placards and banners "calling on the company to cease threatening employees and pensioners and engage with workers representatives in a reasonable and respectful manner".
"Employees, who included management, retired members and ex-staff and non-union employees, along with Unite,TEEU and SIPTU members and officials, were joined by prominent local politicians and some TDs and families of the above.
Marchers said that the company's wrath has now been extended to the press.
A local free paper, the Clare Courier, has been banned from the plant as it had dared to state the facts as they are. There was equal space given to company and workers view, with no particular anti-company stance that we can see. Press censorship in the plant is a new and dark development."
In response, the company said:
"Since the announcement of the plan to save 163 jobs in Element Six in Shannon, the general manager (Ken Sullivan) has repeatedly urged all involved to engage in genuine discussions to save these jobs at the plant. This was repeated to employees directly and through the national and local media again by him and the CEO of the Element Six Group as recently as last Monday. The HR manager in Shannon (Tahdg O'Halloran) has formally requested the Labour Relations Commission to invite all the parties to attend talks with the LRC on all the issues in question."
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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