Ardagh has reversed its decision to close the Irish Glass Bottle plant in Ringsend in a move that could save most of the factory's jobs.

A survival plan which proposes major changes to work practices and a new industrial relations culture was agreed by management and unions on Thursday night following six days of negotiations at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). Ardagh directors approved the plan at a board meeting yesterday."The decision to continue glass production at Ringsend is subject to a positive outcome of the ballot next week of the workforce and suitable support from customers on price and volumes," Ardagh said in a statement yesterday. The package also includes a reduction in staff from 375 to 325.

It is understood the restructuring programme will involve a change in shift patterns with the company moving from three eight-hour shifts to a two 12-hour continental shift system and a move away from an overtime culture to annualised hours.

The changes in work practices will also see the removal of demarcation lines and a move to team working, while some plant maintenance work will be contracted out.

Management has agreed to invest in the plant and machinery at the factory to bring it up to world-class standards.

"The over-riding factor is that the plan will bring the plant to best practice and restore competitiveness," said a spokesman for Ardagh.

SIPTU branch secretary Mr John Flannery was optimistic the unions representing the workers would accept the proposals to restructure the plant .

"We plan to hold a series of meetings next week with the different shift crews to explain the proposals and to seek their endorsement of the survival plan. Balloting will take place after each meeting and we should have a result on Thursday," he said.

Ardagh announced at the end of February that it planned to close the Ringsend plant in May because it had become increasingly uncompetitive and that, without major improvements in work practices, it had no future. It added that protracted negotiations had failed to secure the necessary improvements. At the time, unions said an industrial relations plan had been under way.

Mr Flannery said the restructuring plan hammered out during the week would involve change by both sides. "There are no surprises in this. The people know that if we are going to save the jobs, somesacrifices were going to have to be made," he said.

"But management are going to have to change as well. They're going to have to do things differently and they are going to have to be facilitated and helped to do that as well. Irish Glass is going to become a world-class manufacturer where people put their heads together and where the staff input and participation is not just welcomed but essential so that the required level of output, quality and customer satisfaction is assured. That's what happens in modern plants in the 21st century and that's what's going to happen in Ringsend."