Staff at Tara Mines are to be balloted next week on an agreement reached between Boliden management and unions in relation to the temporary closure of the facility.
The two sides spent three days this week at the Workplace Relations Commission which proposed the package of measures in the early hours of Saturday morning.
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The proposed deal involves the provision of a weekly support payment to those staff losing their jobs, an increase in the number of roles being retained during the period of “care and maintenance” and a review process on reopening which will involve a formal meeting to consider the prevailing economic conditions on October 12th.
In a short statement on Saturday morning the Boliden confirmed the areas in which agreement had been reached at the WRC.
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The three unions representing the roughly 650 staff, Siptu, Unite and Connect, will set out the detail of the four-page document to their members at a meeting on Monday evening with balloting to take place over the following days.
All are recommending it although there was a clear sense that the terms would come as small consolation to those impacted when production stops, which is still scheduled to happen next Friday.
“A lot of people will be losing their jobs at that stage, so that’s clearly not we wanted, but we have a few things here, it is better than what the company was originally putting forward,” said Siptu’s Adrian Kane.
He said the most important thing was the mine reopen as soon as possible and work on that front is to continue with the unions set to meet with senior politicians again next Wednesday for further talks on ways in which Government might be able to provide supports to the facility.
“We will continue to speak to Government and as it stands there are those talks planned for next week,” he said.
He said he was hopeful that the “care and maintenance” closure would not last long and work would resume at the facility at an early stage.
The company has said the closure is required due to a number of factors including the high cost of energy, with a great deal electricity used in the extraction process, and low international prices for zinc at present. It has said it was on course to lose €100 million this year.
On Saturday, Boliden said “the decision has been taken to safeguard the long-term future of the mine and the management team will remain in dialogue with employees and stakeholders throughout this period”.
Unite’s Tom Fitzgerald echoed the Mr Kane’s sentiment on the deal, observing: “The place is still going into care and maintenance and so all we have been able to do is mitigate the difficulties the workers will be encountering as a result of that so it’s hard to be too enthusiastic about it all.
“But company moved significantly on their original position, the workers were organised and united and so they got more that they have done otherwise.”
Shop stewards were said to be at the facility on Saturday morning speaking to workers who have been staging a picket since Wednesday evening at the gates. The unions are all recommending the agreement reached at the WRC and asking their members to resume normal working until it is balloted on, most likely over Tuesday and Wednesday.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney told RTÉ the agreement is “a positive development” and pledged that “as a Government we will continue to work with trade unions and with the company management and if necessary with the parent company to ensure that as this facility moves into care and maintenance, that we ensure as a Government that we make that period as short as possible, so that we can look after families employed there and many of the contractors linked to it, so that we can get this mine open again as soon as possible when conditions allow.”
He said the government was “doing a lot” that they weren’t talking about publicly in terms of assisting in getting Tara Mines open again.
“There are some things we don’t control. Like the price of zinc which is a main factor here. But we can look at other areas in terms of how we can support the company. I see Tara Mines as a strategic asset for the state.
“It’s the largest zinc mine in Europe and zinc is very important for our future and for the future economic development of the future of the EU. And we need to act within the state aid rules to be helpful and ensure this is a mine that has a future.”
Meanwhile, Adrian Kane, SIPTU Divisional Organiser told Saturday with Aine Kerr on RTÉ Radio 1 that there is a modest retention allowance which they had called for from the beginning of the announcement of a temporary closure.
“We have got a proposal in that regard. (Also) Very importantly for us we have a commitment that our members will return to the mine after the layoff period on their current terms and conditions of employment.
“We have also had some improvement with regard to the number of people who will be retained to do the work around care and maintenance. Finally I would say there is a commitment for continued engagement with the unions and we will have a formal review of the proposals in mid October.”
