The transfer of shares in Telecom Eireann to employees under the Employee Share Option (ESOP) scheme is to begin by the end of this month. The trade union coalition within the company has also secured agreement that, in the event of any future public floatation, employees will have an opportunity to buy enough shares to maintain the 14.9 per cent shareholding secured in negotiations with the Government.
These are among the details of the ESOP deal revealed by the general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, Mr Con Scanlon, yesterday. Another important element of the deal is that the Employee Share Ownership Trust (ESOT), which is the holding vehicle for the employees' shares, is to have a corporate trustee on the Telecom board of directors. All eligible Eireann employees will receive the same number of shares each, regardless of their position or pay levels within the company.
Mr Scanlon said yesterday that more work was needed on the "terms" document. "The draft legal and technical terms document, which was only completed early last week, will have to be considered in detail by the members of the union coalition in Telecom Eireann," he said.
A number of outstanding points also remain to be resolved. "Specifically the position of part-time and job-share workers, how the shares in the ESOP will be allocated and amendments to the Finance Act." When these were resolved Mr Scanlon said a consultation and information campaign would be launched to persuade Telecom's 9,000 employees to vote for the package.
The ESOP, if approved, will operate through the holding trust, or ESOT. The Union Coalition will nominate four trustee directors, including the chairman. The company will nominate two trustees and there will be one independent trustee. The ESOP director will be nominated by a majority of trust directors.