Guinness unions suspended their strike action after seven hours of talks at the Labour Relations Commission yesterday and the company agreed to defer closure of the Dundalk Packaging plant pending the outcome of further negotiations after Easter.
Under the terms brokered last night, the company agreed to engage in a process of providing information to the Guinness Joint Union Forum "regarding the future business developments of its operation in Ireland". This will be done under the auspices of the LRC.
A joint statement said: "This process, which commences after Easter, will incorporate the previously stated positions both of the unions and their advisers and of the Guinness Group on the Dundalk Packaging site." Both sides agreed that other issues relating to the closure were negotiable.
The first meeting between the two sides will be under the chairmanship of the LRC next Thursday. Any agreement concluded "will be unique to Dundalk Packaging".
According to the terms of the interim agreement reached last night, "Dundalk Packaging will run to normal levels and efficiencies during this period". Any difficulties which arise will be dealt with "expeditiously".
The date for the conclusion of the negotiations will be determined by the LRC and will be accepted by both sides. The original date for closure of the Dundalk plant was April 27th.
Support for the strike action was strong in Dundalk, where feelings over closure of the plant - McArdles, the oldest brewery in Ireland - and the loss of 150 jobs were running high. McArdles was due to celebrate its tercentenary in 2007.
In Dublin, however, only 150 employees out of a total Guinness workforce of 1,000 were on strike. Brewing is now only a small part of overall activity at St James's Gate and it was business as usual for most of the workforce.
Guinness has consistently claimed that it needs only one packaging plant on the island of Ireland and, despite strong evidence to the contrary from the unions, it has insisted, on cost grounds, that this should be in Belfast.