SEMPERIT workers sought a meeting with the German Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, during his official visit to Ireland. They want support for the Semperit works council request that the German parent company, Continental AG, defer closure of the Dublin plant to allow more time for negotiations with possible buyers. The plant is due to close with the loss of 650 jobs on December 6th.
The senior shop steward at Semperit (Ireland), Mr John Flannery, said yesterday that according to briefings from the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Richard Bruton, and the Industrial Development Authority, negotiations between Continental and the most likely purchaser, the Korean company Kumho, would be "difficult and prolonged".
He added: "This makes the works council plea to the chairman of the Continental board, Dr Hubertus von Grunberg, to postpone closure of the plant until March 1997, to facilitate negotiations, more important than ever."