Cablelink employees receive cash offer for RTE contracts

RTE has offered around £30,000 its 35 employees who work for Cablelink to surrender their contracts with the State broadcasting company.

The employees were told at a meeting yesterday that they have until tomorrow to accept the offer, which is a "full and final offer". However, yesterday some employee sources expressed anger at the way they had been treated by RTE personnel and said the offer was insufficient and they would be returning to the station.

The RTE staff are on secondment - some for upwards of 15 years - to Cablelink - and have letters of comfort similar to those that workers at TEAM, the aircraft maintenance facility which was owned by Aer Lingus.

Cablelink is currently for sale and final bids for the franchise, which is expected to fetch in excess of £350 million, are due by Friday. The RTE employees are being asked to surrender their contracts by May 31st and then sign new contracts with Cablelink. They are also being offered a £10,000 goodwill payment by Cablelink.

The offer, which was delivered to employees' homes by courier last night and must be accepted by mid-day tomorrow, is in "full and final settlement of all claims against RTE".

Employee sources said last night that they felt they had been very shabbily treated by RTE who had delayed on talks and were now putting a gun to people's heads to accept the offer. One source said Cablelink had always been a net contributor to RTE financially. E. The broadcaster could receive up to £100 million, they said, and £30,000 or 1-2 years salary was insufficient compensation.

An RTE spokesman said there was "a sense of urgency" about the offer, which had been increased from £20,000 (an offer rejected by employees last week) to £30,000 yesterday. He said the company would prefer if employees did not return to RTE, but their letters would be honoured if they chose to do so. He said it would not be easy to find jobs for them in the short term.