€3m scheme ends industrial unrest

A PENSION and sick pay deal covering 400 workers at Liebherr Container Cranes ended industrial unrest after management promised to inject €3 million into a company pension scheme.

The pension element of the deal provides for a phased €3m injection by the company into the pension fund and acceptance by the largest union in the plant, SIPTU, of a defined contribution scheme for new workers.

The company is also to put in place a bank guarantee worth €3m, according to Industrial Relations News (IRN) magazine.

The Swiss-headquartered company, which employs about 400 workers in Killarney, saw several one-day strikes and an overtime ban for almost a month over February and March this year. This deal brings that dispute to an end.

The dispute originally began over the company’s closure of the defined benefit pension scheme for new workers from 2004.

In addition to this 3m, the company is also to put in place a bank guarantee worth €3m. This amount would only become payable in the event of the DB pension fund being wound up. But because this amount is available for that eventuality, it can be included on the positive side of the balance sheet when determining whether or not the fund is in deficit.

It is understood that the total cost of the sick pay scheme to the company will be in the region of €300,000, once these improvements have been fully implemented. The company is also paying off the current €70,000 debit on the account of the existing sick pay scheme.

The new sick pay scheme also has provision for an absence management policy, in that if an employee is absent more than twice in a calendar year, then the absences will be discussed between the worker, supervisor and the personnel manager. The company also has the right to require a medical examination in specified circumstances.