A ballot aimed at ending the dispute at Independent Newspapers over planned changes to the company's pension arrangements is likely to be put to employees by the end of this week.
Unions at the company had balloted to strike in the event of management imposing changes without agreement. The company wants to address a €30 million deficit in its defined benefit pension scheme by increasing staff and employer contributions, but closing the scheme to new entrants.
Last week, the trustees of the scheme gave management the go-ahead to implement the changes. The Dublin Printing Group of Unions met management yesterday in an attempt to arrive at proposals to avert a strike at the company. A set of proposals will be discussed with staff representatives today before they are put to a ballot of workers.
It is understood that the proposals represent a significant climbdown from the unions' earlier position of refusing any change to the scheme. Workers are likely to be asked to accept that the scheme will be closed, with new entrants joining a defined contribution scheme.
While the exact detail of the proposals will not be released until after today's talks, it appears there is a commitment from management to abide by agreed industrial relations processes in future.
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