WORKERS AT Element Six have been told that there is a real prospect of only statutory redundancy for a much bigger number than the 207 losing their jobs if they do not engage now with the company on its survival plan.
The warning has been made by the Shannon management group, made up of 46 managers at the troubled diamond manufacturing firm, but does not include general manager Ken Sullivan or members of the executive.
The company has put forward a survival plan aimed at saving manufacturing and 163 of the 370 jobs at the Shannon plant.
However, Siptu is refusing to engage with the company pending the holding of talks at the Labour Court this Thursday on the terms of the redundancy deal on offer.
The Unite union held a meeting with the company’s executive on Friday on the survival plan, though it is not known if further talks are planned.
Element Six chief executive Cyrus Jilla warned workers in a letter last week that if there is not agreement on the survival plan by the end of the month, the company will cease manufacturing with the loss of the 370 jobs.
On Friday, the company confirmed that it sustained a $48 million (€30 million) loss to the end of December last year and that global revenues are down 50 per cent this year.
Now, intervening in the dispute, the Shannon management group has written to employees urging them to engage now with the company in its survival plan.
In the letter, the group acknowledge that by year end a majority of its number will not be at the company as a result of the plan.
However, they state that they fully support the plan “as the best way forward for Shannon – both to secure employment and production on the site for the long term and as the only option to secure the best possible package for the 207 people that will be made redundant”.
They state: “By sitting on our hands at this stage we have everything to lose. There is a real prospect that statutory redundancy for a much bigger number than the 207 could be the outcome if we do nothing now.
“We give you our commitment that we will do everything possible to make a Shannon sustainability plan real over the next few weeks.” The managers state that engaging on the plan “does not weaken the case for a good, fair package. In fact, it makes it more likely. We also recognise the efforts being made on the floor, in extraordinarily difficult circumstances, to keep production going.
“Everyone would like the issues to be resolved as soon as possible . . . with a fair resolution on the employment and redundancy issues. We believe that all individuals and groups on site, including the various union groups, should engage with the process of agreeing the details of the Shannon sustainability plan as soon as possible.
“This is no way undermines our determination to work with you to get the best possible deal for everyone in Shannon – it is an inseparable part of it.”
