TARA MINES OWNERS PROPOSAL INCLUDING LAY-OFF OF 150 STAFF REJECTED BY WORKERS Tara Mines workers reject a rescue plan to reopen the mine that has been closed since last June which involved a reduction of over 150 staff. Approximately 60 shop stewards represented by SIPTU voted unanimously against the Boliden proposal, the owners of the mine. The Unite trade union said the redundancy scheme terms which were proposed are significantly worse than what was agreed with unions. Boliden said it will open a voluntary severance scheme and aim to achieve the manning levels required. Boliden sent the strategy document to SIPTU but “had gone public within the hour,” with the information according to SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Regan. This is also before the company
with the group of unions involved in the Tara Mines dispute. “That is a slap in the face to the workers involved and a strategy aimed more at public relations than negotiating in good faith. “Over 145 days after unilaterally laying off 650 people, it’s simply beggars belief that Tara Mines would want workers to find out about their jobs through the local and national media.”
By Eoin Ryan of strengthened drug and alcohol policies and better management of annual leave and toil policies according to a document from Boliden. There would also be a reduction in the annual
was in the 95th percentile globally in 2022 in terms of the mines with highest costs. “Tara is completely out of line with standards achievable in other zinc mines throughout the world,” a Bo-
Boliden also proposed a pay freeze for remaining staff in 2024 which would mean remuneration increases agreed with unions would not go ahead. Other notable sections of the proposals were a new agreement between trade unions and management, compulsory redeployment and retraining policies. They also put forward the idea
too dependent on external market factors.” “We must make significant changes to the way we work to reopen on a sustainable basis. “What we are seeking to achieve in our proposals is a level of performance and utilisation of equipment that is more in line with the average level for zinc mines, thereby reducing our vulnerability to market shocks. “In return, we will commit to a specific reopening date which we hope will see us through the life of mine and significantly enhance the prospects for Tara Deep.”
production tonnage targets from 2.6 million to 1.8 million tonnes. They told staff Tara Mines
liden spokesperson said. General manager of Boliden Tara Mines Gunnar Nystrom told staff the “operation is
“The Group of Unions have made a request that the company open a voluntary severance scheme for Tara Mines employees. On foot of this request we have made
the decision to ask Tara Mines employees to express whether they are interested in a voluntary severance package. If we can reach agreement with the Group of Unions on the details of the rescue plan, we propose to formally open a voluntary severance scheme. “The position remains that if we can reach an agreement with the Group of Unions by the first week in February, our ambition is to re-open the mine in the second quarter in 2024, assuming that there is no significant deterioration in market conditions.” Unite has called on the government to intervene and has suggested “alternative ownership” as an option, urging members of government to consider protective ownership of Tara Mines. Continued on page 2