Tears mark the day as hopes for Bell Lines finally sink

THE long ordeal of uncertainty for Bell Lines workers in Waterford came to a cursory end at lunchtime yesterday. It was marked by tears, handshakes and embraces among the 100 or so men and women who were laid off.

Friday is normally the busiest day of the week at the port terminal at Bellview but by 2 p.m. yesterday a local trucker compared it to a ghost town. "All we're short of is the tumbleweed," he remarked.

Throughout the late morning, groups of workers waited outside the Bell terminal offices for news from the High Court in Dublin. They were in sombre mood. "It's not a day for talking, is it?" said one woman.

At 1.15 p.m. the staff were called to a meeting in an upstairs room, where the Bell Group chief executive, Mr Pat Hayden, told them that the examiner, Mr David Hughes, had asked him by phone to inform all the staff that they were being laid off.

The procedure took about three minutes. In spite of the long build-up to this moment, however, the emerging workers were stunned and emotional. Most had served with Bell Lines all their working lives.

"I've worker there 22 years - it's been a family," said Mr Ben Gavin, south-east marketing manager, who said the dominant feelings among his fellow workers were anger, shock and bewilderment.

As the workers drifted away to face the prospect of signing on the dole next week, for the first time in their lives, the hauliers who have also been heavily dependent on Bell business remained one their protest outside the terminal entrance, with up to 50 trucks and trailers parked alongside the road.

One of their number said that a total of Pounds 150,000 would probably be enough to meet the payments they were owed and get things moving again. "Every man here is in his working clothes, ready to start if we're paid."

Having written off substantial sums due at the time of the examiner's appointment, they were now caught for further amounts, ranging from a few thousand pounds to Pounds 30,000 or more.

They were adamant that they could not risk further losses by resuming work before they received payment up front.

"We have no option only to stay where we are. We have no money to keep working," said Mr John Fogarty. "There are boxes in the compound here to be delivered and we'd be glad to deliver them if someone would pay us our money."

Mr John Nugent, of Newcastle, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, said two generations of his family had worked for Bell for 30 years - the last 20 on exclusive contract to the company. "I've Pounds 150,000 worth of gear sitting here and nothing for it to do," he said.

He pointed out that the hauliers' dilemma would have widespread knock-on effects throughout the industry, for mechanics, tyre men, truck repair businesses and so on.

Among the 100 or so containers stranded inside the terminal are six containing fruit, mainly bananas, for the Fyffes group. Concern was expressed yesterday that these and other perishable goods would be lost if the hauliers' dispute is not sorted out rapidly.

There were other side-stories of misfortune arising from the collapse. The small group of security staff at the terminal were also laid off yesterday, and union spokesmen expressed concern about the position of Iarnrod Eireann workers who have been directly involved in providing the rail service to and from the port.

The Waterford branch of the Socialist Workers' Party pointed out that tax- payers had paid for the port facility, and said it would be "a scandal" if "speculative investors" were allowed to take over on the back of the current scandal, possibly establishing a low-paid casual workforce.

An ATGWU official said that a condition of the lease for any future operator in the port must be the protection "of the people who have been discarded".

Waterford Fianna Fail TD, Mr Martin Cullen, warned that there could be grave danger in any discontinuity or gap arising in the operations of the port facility.

It was vital to move the perishable goods ill order to sent out a signal that the port was still operating.

Even as the Bell workers were being told that their jobs were officially finished, a container ship, the Dawn Feeder, arrived at the terminal from Bristol. Nobody seemed to know whether or how its cargo would be unloaded.

The chairman of the Waterford Harbour Commissioners, Dr Tom Brennan, in a statement, expressed disappointment at the failure of the examiner to put in place a rescue package for the Bell Group and said the appointment of a liquidator was a major blow to the port, the employees and business in the region.

The objective of the port in the immediate future, he said, would be to attract alternative Lo-Lo operators to secure the traffic base and develop other traffic handled in the port.