NEARLY 100 senior managers in Telecom Eireann are being asked to apply for new positions within the company on a personal contract basis. Several are unhappy with the proposal but are afraid they will be relegated to minor administrative work if they refuse to apply for the new positions, or are unsuccessful in their applications.
The managers concerned are established civil servants who transferred from the Department of Posts and Telegraphs when Telecom Eireann was set up in 1983. They are on the equivalent of principal officer grade in the Civil Service and earn around £40,000 a year.
They are in "Layer C" of the company and report directly - to Telecom's executive directors. The company wants to relate pay more closely to performance and ensure it keeps people with key management or technical expertise as it prepares for competition.
A company spokesman would not disclose how much extra is being offered to managers to entice them to give up the security of permanent civil servants.
Some managers may be offered improved fringe benefits, such as free cars rather than large salary increases. Some, however, are expected to be offered substantial increases. Managers who do not apply for one of the new positions, or are unsuccessful in their applications, will retain their current status and be redeployed or offered voluntary severance.
The spokesman denied that managers were being asked to reapply for their jobs.
The spokesman said the positions represent "a new configuration of management positions" which was necessary as part of the company's general reorganisation, which is expected to extend to "Layer D" position within Telecom after "Layer C" has been "reconfigured". In all about 300 personnel will be affected.
Sources within IMPACT, representing the majority of managers affected, say that a package for all managers is nearing completion. Although personal contracts will personalise some elements of pay, the new framework will allow managers who opt for the new system to be represented by their trade union. The unions will also have an input to pay reviews.
Meanwhile Telecom is expected to announce the next phase of its voluntary severance scheme this week. It is to seek up to 1,200 redundancies during the next two years. In the past two years 1,500 employees have left the company. .The general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, Mr David Begg, expressed concern yesterday at the number of redundancies being sought. He said there was "huge underresourcing in Dublin at the moment". He estimated 20 per cent more staff were needed to meet demand.