MAINTENANCE workers at Wellman International will return to the plant this morning to prepare for a resumption of full production next Wednesday. Management started calling them in when word came through yesterday that 260 production workers had agreed at a mass meeting in Mullagh community hall to return to work.
They did so reluctantly, although they had been on strike for three months. It took three hours of debate and a marathon speech by the SIPTU president, Mr Edmund Browne, to persuade them that all options had been explored and there was now the basis for a lasting agreement at the plant.
The decision was welcomed by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, who said it was a vote for the future success of the plant.
The most important element of the return to work package - and the most intangible - was the commitment by both sides to a new partnership approach.
A joint forum is to be set up to discuss problems and how to enhance plant productivity and profitability. It is already making £20 million a year. There is also a three-year "peace clause" during which SIPTU members will refrain from industrial action.
On the pay front, the company has agreed to bring forward payment of 1.25 per cent of a 5 per cent rise by six months, provided certain completion targets are met by the workforce. Other issues of redeployment and staffing have been sorted out and there is provision to refer productivity issues to a third party.
If the return to work formula does not give the strikers the increase they wanted - they had sought a 2 per cent rise - it has at least given them the prospect of increased earnings.
The ballot result showed 180 SIPTU members had voted for the deal, 33 against and there was one spoilt vote.
The mood afterwards in Jimmy's Bar ranged from philosophical to bitter. "We've been three months out on the road and we've been sold down the Swanee," said one angry worker.
"We're going to have to go back and eat humble pie," said another. "It'll be shocking hard but what are we to do? We were out for three months and they were going to reopen without us. They're making huge profits and all we did was ask for a share. They kicked us in the teeth."
Workers estimated the dispute cost each of them somewhere between £4,000 and £6,000 in lost earnings. However, the general mood was that SIPTU had done its best and there was nothing to do but return to work.
The company was anxious not to appear triumphalist. The management paid a generous tribute to Mr Browne's intervention on behalf of his members.
The senior SIPTU shop steward at the plant, Mr Noel McLoughlin, denied that the strike had been a mistake. He said industrial relations at the plant had become extremely strained and it had taken the strike to convince management of the need for change.