Dispute over pensions at Kerry plant hits impasse

A DISPUTE about a staff pension scheme at the Liebherr crane factory in Killarney, Co Kerry, remains deadlocked following the breakdown of talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

SIPTU has already staged two work stoppages at the 450-job plant and has a continuing overtime ban in place.

SIPTU official Donal Tobin yesterday said that no further action was planned, at present.

“The dispute is ongoing, but we’re available for talks,” he said.

Up to 350 union members are involved in the dispute, which has been continuing since 2004 when the company announced it was closing a defined benefit pension scheme to new employees.

Instead, the company proposed to introduce a defined contribution scheme.

The union claims the company’s termination of the defined benefit scheme would have serious repercussions for new employees and would reduce the value of their pensions.

Mr Tobin said the pension scheme was an integral part of an employee’s pay but, despite being through the Labour Court process, the issue had still not been resolved.

But, the company maintains it paid €3.42 million into the pension scheme on the understanding that the defined benefit scheme would be closed to newemployees.

Liebherr has been in Killarney for almost 50 years and is one of the last major industrial employers in the area.

The company, which produces container cranes for ports in many parts of the world, has warned the current industrial action is damaging its reputation and could put jobs in Killarney at risk.

A company spokesman described the industrialaction as “inexplicable” given the current crisis affecting manufacturing industry in Ireland.

According to Liebherr, the average annual income of employees at the factory is €48,500, with more than 100 employees earning in excess of that.

Liebherr, which has a global workforce of 22,000 in more than 100 companies, has a group turnover of more than €5 billion.