THE TROUBLED Shannon-based industrial diamond company Element Six made a loss of €48 million last year, including exceptional items, The Irish Times understands.
Element Six general manager Ken Sullivan said yesterday that the financial position of the company was “in dire straits”. The losses will be set out in accounts to be filed shortly.
Last month, management at Element Six announced that 370 of the plant’s 450 staff would be let go, and production ended at the Clare facility. A week later, the Shannon management team formulated a survival plan which was later accepted by group chief executive Cyrus Jilla. The plan proposes saving 243 posts where just 80 were originally going to be kept. Element Six has proposed letting all 370 staff go and allowing them to reapply for the 163 available positions.
After the company refused to enter talks regarding the redundancy package, workers voted in favour of industrial action.
At the centre of the dispute is the redundancy package being offered to 207 workers who are being laid off. The proposed selection process for redundancy is also being opposed by workers.
Exploratory talks which commenced at the Labour Relations Commission yesterday were adjourned until next week.
Mr Sullivan said yesterday: “We are seriously hopeful that this LRC process will deliver a solution for us.”
He said that if the proposed rescue plan was implemented, “at least the company would be saved”.
“If Plan A is executed then Element Six is gone. There will be opportunities for growth over the coming years. If Six is still here then it can grow in Ireland,” he said. He added that there had been no “meaningful discussions” on the rescue plan, as people were “preoccupied with redundancy issues”.
Mr Sullivan expressed frustration at the delay in engaging the survival plan for the plant, and said that “the clock is ticking”.
“I’m personally very excited about this plan. We are not talking about stripping out people’s wages. Management are going to take a pay cut of up to 10 per cent. There will be no wage cuts on the shop floor. It’s designed only to impact on senior people.”
He said there would be changes to shift allowances, but said the plan is to introduce an incentive scheme with bonuses paid monthly depending on an individual’s output.