Lagan Brick impasse continues

Lagan Brick workers will meet this evening to agree their next move after the company this week issued a statement saying that "reasonable" negotiation had ended. The impasse over redundancy terms at the former Kingscourt Brick plant continued this week as the company refused to go to the Labour Court. Instead, the company issued a statement saying that it had fully engaged and made all reasonable efforts to settle the dispute. The company also points out this week that it further considers that acceptance of the terms on offer are "now best left as a matter for each individual employee to decide on". SIPTU has criticised the apparent decision by the management of Lagan Brick not to attend a Labour Court hearing aimed at resolving the dispute. SIPTU also claims the company is in breach of the Private Sector Protocol agreed by the social partners. Workers at the Kingscourt plant were informed it was closing only hours before it ceased operation on December 15 last. Since then, the workers affected by the closure have maintained a round-the-clock protest at the plant entrance. SIPTU says this will continue until a final settlement to the dispute is agreed. A general meeting of SIPTU members will be held this evening in Kingscourt. "The workers will decide at this meeting upon their response to the continued failure of Lagan Brick management to fully engage in finding a resolution to this dispute," said John Regan, SIPTU organiser. He argues that operating as a group of companies, Lagan Brick does have the resources to pay the redundancy terms of four weeks per year of service. The company in its statement points out that an independent assessor's report confirmed the company's position that the plant was not viable and funds in the business had been completely eroded by very substantial losses from 2008 up to the closure of the plant in December 2011. The company offered the same ex-gratia terms as had been agreed and accepted in a previous Labour Relations Commission conciliation conference with SIPTU on August 29, 2011, in relation to another Lagan Brick facility. The company has written to all employees, indicating the outcome of the assessor's report, and identifying for each employee what their own redundancy payments, inclusive of the ex-gratia, might be. The company has asked the employees lift their blockade to facilitate delivery of bricks to the UK. "If the company cannot sell brick assets, it cannot bring cash into the business and is at real risk of not being capable of paying redundancy terms," Lagan Brick outlined in its statement. Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the Kingscourt branch of Fine Gael, Government TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Deputy Joe O'Reilly supported SIPTU's position that the question of redundancy payments should go to the Labour Court.