Workers at the Lagan Brick factory in Kingscourt, Co Cavan have been involved in a protest outside the company's premises in a dispute over the decision by the company to close its operation on 15 December last with the loss of 29 jobs. The union wanted to retain maximum employment at the plant and secure satisfactory redundancy terms for any workers that would lose their jobs. Subsequently, representatives of the company and the trade union SIPTU attended conciliation talks at the Labour Relations Commission on 10th and 16th January. These talks were reconvened on 6 February following consideration by both sides of an examination of the trading position of the company undertaken by an independent expert.
Following the 6th of February hearing, SIPTU stated that it would be seeking the intervention of the Labour Court in the dispute, following the failure to reach agreement in the LRC talks. However, I understand that Lagan Brick subsequently issued a statement to the effect that the company did not intend to pursue further negotiation with worker representatives in this matter. In a ballot conducted on Thursday 1st March, SIPTU members in Lagan Brick voted almost unanimously to take strike action in response to the company's decision not to attend the Labour Court, and that seven days' notice of strike action was served on Lagan Brick by SIPTU on 2nd March. Official strike action began on 10 March.
I understand that the parties subsequently engaged in direct discussions in an effort to resolve the dispute, with the assistance of a mediation panel under an agreed independent chairman jointly appointed by ICTU and IBEC. Unfortunately, that process also failed to reach a resolution. I regret that the parties have not been able to reach an agreement to resolve this long running dispute. I would urge the parties involved in this dispute to work together to break the current impasse by utilising the established machinery for dispute resolution, who are available to assist at short notice. In my view, the experience and expertise of the Labour Court offers the most appropriate and effective avenue for resolving such issues.
