Cautious optimism surrounds Tara Mines talks

Next Monday, 19th January, is the deadline by which a deal needs to be struck for Tara Mines in Navan to continue in business. Two plans are currently on the table - one from owners Boliden and one from the union, SIPTU, which represents the majority of workers at Europe"s largest zinc mine. Both sides have been engaged in intensive negotiations this week as crisis talks continued to save the giant mining complex which has been struggling to cope with a huge fall in the price of zinc. It has emerged in the last couple of days that a compromise deal from the talks facilitator is likely to be put to management and the union this weekend, which workers will vote on early next week. There appear to be some grounds for optimism that a deal could be struck but both the union and management are not making any public comment whatsoever on the deliberations. In the early summer of 2008, Boliden finally reached agreement with workers on a new pay deal which was due to come into force this year. However, the chill winds of global recession have seen the price of zinc plunge by over one-third, as demand from the construction and car industries, its biggest consumers, has evaporated. Zinc is this week trading at just over $1,200 per tonne, having dropped as low as just over $1,000 in December, compared to a high of $4,580 per tonne in November 2006. It is primarily this issue, but also the weakening of the US dollar (the currency with which Tara is paid for its ore), that is at the heart of the latest crisis. The Swedish management of the mine has laid it on the line that its economic position is untenable in the present circumstances and that it cannot implement the deal it signed with staff in 2008. SIPTU, in turn, is not happy with the manner in which the company rejected an alternative survival plan put forward by the union. However, Boliden has agreed to reconsider the union"s rescue plan, and both sides have been meeting to try to hammer out an accord this week. The fact that both sides are talking must give some grounds for cautious optimism, though there are still clearly areas of major difference. Boliden is seeking a pay cuts and a move to a 24-hour continuous cycle that will mean seven-day working, less overtime and bonus reductions. SIPTU has responded with a plan of its own that involves a pay freeze, an earlier start time for half the employees and staggered breaks. With zinc prices likely to stagnate until global demand picks up again, a turnaround in the fortunes of Tara Mines may be some way off. However, the priority for everyone, both inside and outside the company, must be to see jobs preserved and Tara continuing in production. Both sides need to take a pragmatic view of the situation in light of the economic circumstances currently prevailing and work hard to explore every avenue to find common ground. Workers will be only too well aware that, if the mine closes, even temporarily, it would be a devastating blow to not only themselves and their families, but also the local economy in Navan and Meath, where it is estimated the mine supports a further 1,800 to 2,000 jobs in support and ancillary industries. With the deadline of next Monday now looming large, time is running out to strike a deal to save Tara. The memories of 2001, when the mine was mothballed for up to 10 months when the price of zinc collapsed, continue to linger in the memory. Public representatives and the community at large are urging both sides to dig deep and close the gap between them and produce a deal that both sides can at least live with until an upturn in the fortunes of the company comes about. Only then will the cloud of uncertainty which hangs over Navan be lifted.