UNION leaders are expected to urge over 1,000 workers at the Cadbury factory to return to work when they address a mass meeting at the plant in Coolock, Dublin, this morning.
The company is one of the Republic's largest employers. Production at Coolock stopped yesterday morning because of an unofficial demarcation dispute. It is understood that the company is refusing to talk to the two unions involved, SIPTU and the ATGWU, until their members return to work.
The heart of the issue is who operates the microvert plant when it is down for maintenance. The plant, used for chocolate coating, is normally operated by members of both unions.
However, the machinery has been undergoing overhaul by craftworkers. Yesterday, SIPTU and ATGWU members are understood to have objected to craftworkers operating the machinery. If maintenance required it, they said, they should be called in.
When the microvert plant was subsequently blacked by SIPTU and ATGWU members, management took the microvert production operatives "off the clock". The rest of the production workers then walked out. They were supported by workers arriving for the next shift.
This is the second major dispute to affect the Coolock plant this year. Last January a demarcation dispute among craft workers closed the factory. Eighty five fitters objected to electricians preparing metal strips for use in electrical floor fittings.
That strike also began with a walk out. It took five days to negotiate a return to work and there was considerable anger among production staff, who form the bulk of the 1,100 strong workforce. The two craft unions involved in last January's dispute, the AEEU and TEEU, were quick to state yesterday they were not involved in the latest stoppage.
The plant produces TimeOut, Twirl, Cadbury's Flake and Dairy Milk chocolate bars. The company invested £11 million in expanding the Coolock plant in 1993 and is planning to spend another £20 million on new equipment there. It was not clear last night if these plans would be affected by the latest dispute.
The Coolock Darndale area of Dublin is one of the city's unemployment blackspots. Cadbury's is the largest employer in the area and a protracted dispute would have serious long term implications for local communities.
It could also have wider ranging repercussions. Producing 40,000 tonnes of chocolate a year from 100 million litres of milk and 165,000 tonnes of sugar beet, Cadbury's is one of the biggest purchasers from dairy farmers and the Irish Sugar Company in the Republic.