Around 12,000 Telecom Eireann workers have voted overwhelmingly to accept the employee share option (ESOP) scheme that will give them a 14.9 per cent stake, worth £300 million, in the company.
In return they have agreed to radical changes in work practices and significant redundancies. Majorities of between 74 per cent and 92 per cent were recorded in ballots conducted simultaneously across the four main unions in the company.
After the votes were counted, Telecom Eireann's director of corporate affairs, Mr Gerry O'Sullivan, welcomed the outcome as "a strong endorsement of the new partnership approach and transformation agenda in the company".
Members of the Communications Workers' Union (CWU), the largest union in the company, voted by 5,629 (76.05 per cent) to 1,773 (23.95 per cent) in favour of the deal.
The CWU general secretary, Mr Con Scanlon, hailed the outcome as a watershed in Irish industrial relations.
"Telecom Eireann is a strong company with a well-trained and highly-skilled workforce," he said.
"It has a nationwide fibre-rich network and the best in new technology.
"However, it requires major price reductions and consequential cost adjustments in order to meet the challenges posed by powerful international competitors and market deregulation.
"Now that we have received the sanction of our members, the CWU will participate actively in the speedy transformation of the company in return for the 14.9 per cent employee shareholding which gives the staff a real say in the future of Telecom Eireann."
Referring to a recent speech by the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, Ms Etain Doyle, Mr Scanlon said the CWU would be resisting attempts to impose restrictions on Telecom Eireann vis-a-vis its competitors.
The general secretary of the Civil and Public Service Union, Mr Blair Horan, also criticised Ms Doyle's proposals. Such a scheme would be "damaging both to the staff and to taxpayers' investment in Telecom," he added.
The share option scheme was accepted by 74 per cent of CPSU members. Commenting on the result, Mr Derek Mullen, assistant general secretary, said it showed members recognised the need for transformation. Only 45 members of the Public Service Executive Union in Telecom Eireann voted against the ESOP deal, compared with 251 in favour. IMPACT registered the highest Yes vote of all at 92 per cent.
The shares will be worth at least £30,000 to each employee when they mature. Five per cent of the shares are being given in return for changes in work practices. The other 9.9 per cent will be purchased mainly through employees agreeing to contribute almost 5 per cent of their salary to co-financing the company pension scheme.