After 19 months of negotiation, management and unions at Tara Mines have reached agreement on a cost-efficiency programme. SIPTU said yesterday the deal secures the future of the mining operation for the next 10 years.
The company employs 600 people at its mine outside Navan. Tara Mines wants to achieve a 25 per cent improvement in productivity, but SIPTU's regional secretary, Mr Jack O'Connor, admitted this target was ambitious and could be attained only if agreed functioned effectively.
Mr O'Connor said both sides had engaged in a thorough and more detailed examination of the needs of the business. "We recognise we have a joint interest in making this plan work". It had secured the future of Tara for the next 10 years and avoided the more "draconian" proposals put forward earlier by the owners.
A company statement said that during the lengthy negotiating process, annual ore production fell from 2.5 million to 2.15 million tonnes. The numbers employed fell from 720 to 600 through voluntary redundancy.
The company said achievement of the productivity and cost-efficiency objectives would ensure production returned to normal levels within six months. Under the agreement, the cost of extracting ore will fall by £3 per tonne.
Tara also says it can now deepen the mine to develop new ore resources currently being explored from the surface. "Deepening of the mine, with the productivity and cost efficiency improvement, will ensure viability of the operation until the year 2005 and beyond."
On the workers' side, the deal includes enhanced pensionscheme benefits, a revised bonus scheme for miners and a new productivity bonus.
In the dispute which has disrupted production at Arcon's mine at Galmoy, on the Kilkenny-Tipperary border, Mr O'Connor said no progress was made between the parties yesterday.