MANAGEMENT AT Shannon industrial diamond firm Element Six is set to commence seeking 207 voluntary redundancies after workers at the plant agreed to accept a Labour Court recommendation.

It paves the way for the implementation of a survival plan which will see an additional 163 jobs saved where 370 would have been lost.

Siptu and TEEU members were balloted on Tuesday and yesterday on whether they would accept the Shannon Sustainability Plan put forward by company management in Shannon in July following an earlier announcement that production would cease at the loss-making Shannon firm.

In July, Element Six said 370 of the 450 workers in Shannon would be let go.

The plan proposes a radical overhaul of the Shannon operation, which would save an extra 163 posts. It means that 207 staff would still be let go, but the redundancy package proposed in the plan falls short of what had been offered to staff previously.

The company had originally only offered 0.68 of a week’s wages for every year of service but later increased this to 2½ weeks on top of the statutory two-week payment.

Element Six made a final offer of three weeks; however, this was also rejected by unions. The Labour Court then recommended that the company pay four weeks’ wages for every year of service, on top of the statutory.

Members of the Unite staff group, the second largest representative group at the firm, comprising middle-management and non-union workers, had already confirmed their intention to accept the recommendation.

Last week, management at Shannon also announced its acceptance of the recommendation in full and called on workers to “rapidly” accept the deal.

Following yesterday’s vote, a union spokesperson confirmed that the ballot was passed by a clear majority.

The union will now compile a list of staff who wish to avail of the voluntary redundancies.

“We are extremely pleased with this decision which, along with the earlier acceptance of the recommendation by the management and staff groups, now secures the retention of manufacturing and distribution operations in Shannon for the long term,” said Ken Sullivan, general manager of Element Six at Shannon.

Mr Sullivan described the saving of an additional 163 jobs, which would have been lost under the original plan, as “the best possible outcome in the current difficult economic and operating environment”.