Talks ongoing at Element Six

MANAGEMENT and unions at Element Six are locked in talks on the future survival of the troubled Shannon plant in the hope of reaching agreement on contentious aspects of the sustainability plan ahead of the parties reappearing before the Labour Court next Tuesday.

The talks, facilitated by IBEC and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, were initiated by the Labour Court after they concluded that there was too great a division between the parties on proposals contained in the survival plan to put forward a recommendation on the single issue of redundancy, which would be rejected.
While both management and unions have entered into the talks without preconditions, sources at Element Six are hedging their bets on an agreement being brokered on or before September 29, the adjourned date for the Labour Court hearing.
Management has described the sustainability plan as a viable alternative to the original plan announced by the executive to wind down operations in Shannon, with the loss of 370 jobs.
The plan, they say, provides for the retention of 163 high value jobs, the continuation of manufacturing operations across all business units and the distribution of product from Shannon to their global customer base.
Element Six general manager Ken Sullivan said, “We view this engagement as progress as it is the first time we will have meaningful discussions without preconditions on the Shannon Sustainability Plan since it was put to workers on August 7 last.
“We are hopeful that this engagement will lead to a resolution that will secure the 163 jobs that would otherwise be lost under the wind-down plan as well as enhanced redundancy for others.
“Our goal here is to build a lasting future for Element Six in Shannon, which we believe is achievable under the sustainability plan.”
However, unions are up in arms over a number of issues contained in the 18-point survival plan.
Chief among their concerns is the insistence by the company that shift arrangements will, in the main, be based on a three-shift cycle and that existing shift payments will be replaced by an “unsocial hours” premium of 15%.
However, this premium will only be paid to employees working shifts that fall within the “unsocial hours” period of 10pm to 7am and on Sundays and public holidays.
Workers also maintain that the proposal on the table for taking time off in lieu of working “unsocial hours” will result in employees have to sustain a further hit of up to 20% in their salaries.
Element Six also wants to terminate their participation in the welfare fund and implement a pay freeze to the end of 2011, measures which are not meeting with union approval.
“In order to avoid the requirement for a cut in the basic pay of employees as we strive for greater competitiveness, it will be necessary to contain pay increases by means of a freeze up to the end of 2011,” the company states.
Element Six wants to introduce a production-focused KPI bonus scheme effective from January next, even though workers allege that the company hasn’t pay last year’s bonus yet.
The company also wants all production employees to be multi-tasking and fully flexible across all production areas.
Furthermore, they want no limitations on the number of machines to be operated by a single operator other than H&S, skills and operational practicalities.
Proposals are also being put forward to eliminate transport and other outdated allowances, while they plan to introduce a reduction of two days in annual leave entitlement.