SR TECHNICS (SRT) is evaluating "formal proposals" from four parties interested in acquiring "different parts of the aircraft maintenance business", a spokesman for the Swiss company told The Irish Timesyesterday. These do not include the mooted management buyout, which it is understood could not show that it had sufficient financial backing.
Interest from Aircraft Overhaul Solutions, a company backed by Eamonn Russell, an SRT manager, was withdrawn this week.
A spokesman for SRT said “none of the four [proposals] are based on a transfer of undertakings for existing employees”.
Any new owner will seek to impose different terms and conditions for workers.
He said SRT would decide in the next two weeks which proposal it will proceed with. “The company won’t sell off any tooling or equipment while the talks are ongoing,” the spokesman added. In addition, it is understood that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has not received a formal proposal for the use of the hangar facility. The DAA recently agreed to buy back the lease from SRT for just over €20 million. Any deal to buy the SRT business would require agreement with the DAA to lease the facility.
About 600 workers are due to be made redundant today in the first phase of the closure of the plant. Siptu, which last night was seeking “one last meeting” with management, said workers would take industrial action from today if the company failed to improve the redundancy package on offer.
More than 1,000 workers voted yesterday to accept the Labour Court recommendation on redundancies. Two workers voted against accepting the recommendation. However, the company said it had nothing to add to its previous statement, in which it rejected the court’s recommendation to double the funding for redundancies and to address any deficit in the pension scheme.
SRT plans to let go a further 100 employees later this month. All remaining activities are expected to be wound down or transferred to other providers by the end of August.