The threat of industrial action at the State's largest power station, Moneypoint in Co Clare, has receded following a deal reached last night at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) between a trade union, ESB management and two contractors. Martin Wall, Industry Correspondent, reports.
Some 200 Polish workers who had not been paid for six weeks, will receive all wages and holiday pay due to them. However, their employer, a Polish subcontractor called ZRE Katowicz Ireland Ltd, is to go into liquidation and the staff will lose their jobs here.
The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU), which represents the 200 workers, yesterday made a formal complaint to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation that €54,000 in trade union contributions which had been deducted from employees wages over a period of time had not been paid over. The union also told gardaí that over €309,000 collected in pension contributions by the company had not been remitted to the industry pension fund.
Following the liquidation of ZRE's Irish operation the company is to offer all the workers positions in a separate company which it owns in Poland.
Under the agreement, the staff will be offered transport to Poland between now and Christmas if they require it.
ZRE had been engaged as a subcontractor on a €350 million environmental refit of the Moneypoint plant. However, last week its contract was terminated by the main contractor on the project, a German-based firm called Lentjes.
The 200 Polish workers had been employed mainly as scaffolders and welders by ZRE.
Under the deal reached at the LRC the main contractor Lentjes is to provide an ex-gratia payment of €600,000. The balance owed to the workers will come from the State Insolvency Fund.
The TEEU had said that it would place a picket on the Moneypoint plant if there was no resolution to the dispute.
The industrial action has now been deferred by the TEEU pending a consideration of the proposals by the workers concerned early next week.
TEEU general secretary designate Eamon Devoy said that the talks over four days at the LRC had been difficult, but that they had achieved all their targets.
However, he said, that this had not been done in a way he would have liked.
He said that all workers would get their money and that every- one who wanted a job would have one. He also said that a new agreement put in place would work into the future.
A spokeswoman for the ESB said that it welcomed the proposals put forward at the LRC.
The ESB said that it had not been in dispute and had no quarrel with any of the parties.
It said that it had participated in the talks at the LRC on the basis of helping to achieve a resolution.
The ESB said that its concern had been for the welfare of the workers involved.
The ESB had said throughout the dispute that it had met all its obligations in a full and timely manner.