Fears for jobs at FLS following takeover

THERE were fresh concerns for jobs at the FLS Aerospace aircraft maintenance facility in Dublin yesterday following the takeover of the company.

FLS Aerospace, formerly TEAM Aer Lingus, has been acquired by Swiss firm SR Technics in a deal worth €47 million in cash and assumption of the pension fund deficit of €82 million.

Last month FLS, which has 1,500 workers in Ireland, announced a restructuring of its operations with hundreds of job losses at its Stansted, London, base. At the time the Dublin operation was unaffected, but a spokesperson for FLS yesterday said the company could not rule out cuts among its Irish workforce and it was also looking to change working practices.

“We said there would be a need for change at Dublin to get this facility profitable,” the spokesperson said.

“This restructuring and change is necessary whoever owns the company and is supported by the potential investor. While we are not announcing any reductions at Dublin at the moment, we can’t rule it out,” he said.

The company has seen its business hit hard since the aviation downturn began in 2001 and cut some 200 jobs at the facility.

The takeover comes amid a time of unrest at the company. Late last year, the company rejected a 30% pay rise claim by workers and withheld a pay rise due under the terms of the last national pay agreement, claiming inability to pay. The spokesperson said it could not afford to meet the claim as FLS was still losing money in Ireland. It is believed the company lost close to €4m in Ireland last year. Officials from SIPTU, which represents the majority of FLS workers, said they were looking forward to discussing the pay issue and restructuring with the new owners. Talks between management, the unions and the labour relations commission are due to begin tomorrow.

Jorgen Worning, chairman of the parent company, FLS industries, said in a statement yesterday: “considering the present market situation and the fact that the buyer is taking over the pension commitments, I regard the outcome of the negotiations as satisfactory.”

FLS Aerospace was formed in 1988, when the FLS Group merged its British aerospace company Lovaux, TEAM Aer Lingus and a number of minor existing business activities serving the aerospace market into one unit. TEAM was acquired in early 1999 after a protracted sale process for about €30m.

SR Technics had total turnover in 2002 of €700 million and a workforce of about 2,800.