Workers at Tara Mines staged what was described as “a blockade” of the facility on Wednesday evening as talks at the Workplace Relations Commission failed to produce an agreement on the terms of the temporary closure due to take effect next week.
The talks had ended “without any substantial progress in relation to the threatened temporary closure of the mine,” according to Siptu divisional organiser Adrian Kane who said the two sides would be back at the WRC on Friday.
Boliden, the owners of Tara Mines, plans to suspend the operation and temporarily lay off 650 workers later this month.
Production at the zinc and lead mine in Co Meath was said to have ceased late on Wednesday as a portion of the workforce protested the lack of progress, with Unite confirming that the unofficial action was taking place.
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“This protest should not come as a surprise to anyone,” said the union’s regional coordinating officer, Tom Fitzgerald. “Workers at Tara Mines, who are facing the prospect of indefinite layoff without pay, have clearly seen no alternative but to take this action due to the company’s intransigence and their refusal to engage with workers and their representatives in any meaningful way.
“This action shows that workers are determined to fight for their livelihoods and their community”, he said.
Delegates at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions biennial congress in Kilkenny are due to debate an emergency motion on the situation at the mine on Thursday.
“It is clear that the only possibility for the continued operation (of the mine) being secured is if there is a major intervention by the Government,” Mr Kane said earlier on Wednesday evening.
“I will be proposing an emergency motion at the ICTU conference calling on the Government to urgently engage with the mine’s owners, Boliden and trade unions to put in place the necessary supports to ensure that the mine remains in production, and workers continue to be paid in full.”
Boliden has said the temporary closure is unavoidable due to the scale of anticipated losses at the mine this year. These have been put at some €100 million due to a combination of factors, mainly raised electricity prices and low prices on the international markets for zinc.
The Government had initially suggested that a package of supports intended to help the company might be available but Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney said last week it was limited in what it could do by competition law and not in a position to address such substantial losses.
The unions had previously said their members would not leave the mine unless what they considered to be satisfactory terms were agreed on issues how many workers were to be retained during the “care and maintenance” closure, what supports would be provided for those laid off and what would spark a future reopening.
Talks on these issues took place at the WRC over Monday and Tuesday but union representatives spoke of “significant” difference between the two sides on the main issues.
In a statement, Boliden said: “We are engaged in a discussion process with the group of unions under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, and will continue to engage constructively in that process over the coming days. In the context of this ongoing process, we have no further comment to make.”
