Staff at Tara Mines get letters from management with details of their return to work dates

Workers at Tara Mines have been receiving letters from management this week, with details of their return to work.

The letters, which detail the date for a return to production for individual workers, have been arriving at homes across the county since Friday as Tara Mines prepares to open after one year in care and maintenance.

“The workers began to receive the letters on Friday. The letters give each individual a return date and which section they will be returning to,” said John Regan of SIPTU.

“A matter of concern for us is that at our recent meeting with management where we discussed the return to work we were told there wouldn't be redeployment, but some of the workers are receiving notification of redeployment and we will have to seek clarity from the company on this.

“What is positive however, is that it appears everyone will be returning to work between now and the middle or end of October. We had been told it could be six or seven months before everyone is back, but the indications now are that they will be back within the next four months.”

A spokesperson for Boliden Tara Mines said they were pleased to confirm that they had written to all of their returning employees with their return-to-work date.

“As per our agreement with the Group of Unions, each of our employees has been given at least one month’s notice of their return. Employees will begin to return next month and we envisage that everybody will be back in work by the end of October. We continue to work through the reopening process and will remain in close contact with our employees and the Group of Unions as the new operational structure is finalised. We look forward to welcoming employees back,” he concluded.

The workers will be returning in groups of 30 per week. On return they will be assigned a shift pattern following induction training. The company expects to be back in full production by early 2025.

The mine shut last July with 650 workers temporarily laid off after what the company said were “significant and unsustainable financial losses” amid soaring energy prices and falling zinc prices globally. The mine has been in care and maintenance mode since then.

The decision to return to production at Tara Mines was finalised, when staff accepted a deal thrashed out at the WRC in April, which included a voluntary redundancy scheme which saw headcount reduce by 170 workers.