Bausch & Lomb partnership agreement points way forward

In January 1998, a new joint trade union/management "partnership forum" was elected at the Bausch & Lomb contact-lens manufacturing plant in south-eastern Ireland, just two years after the future of the plant appeared to be in jeopardy.

In keeping with the general thrust of Ireland's current three year economic and social pact,Partnership 2000 (IE9702103F), a joint company/trade union "partnership forum" was established in January 1998 at the Waterford (south-east Ireland) contact-lens plant of Bausch & Lomb (B&L), the USA-based multinational. The company has a sunglasses plant in the same city, but this operates separately and with a different management structure. Overall, B&L is set to increase its total number of employees from its current level of 1,100 to over 1,500 within two years. This involves an ongoing IEP 43 million investment programme and will make B&L the largest employer in the region, thus surpassing the world-famous Waterford Crystal where 1,400 are employed.

In recent years the lens plant has had to deal with growing competition internationally and make the transition from being a low-volume/high-cost business to a low-cost/high-volume one. Changing the culture of the lens plant is seen by both parties as a crucial element in achieving this transformation. As recently as May 1995, however, industrial relations troubles appeared to threaten the future of the lens plant. At the time, workers decisively rejected a proposed agreement on change, largely due to their rejection of a flexibility clause. The outcome was described by chief executive officer, James Kennedy, as "another bombshell Waterford doesn't need" - a reference to the perception that the city has a militant trade union tradition. It had also forced management to "really question the future of this company".

However, a partnership steering group made up of representatives of management, employees and the two trades unions at the plant - SIPTU, which represents the majority of the employees, and TEEU, which represents a number of craft workers - started work in August 1996. Its efforts resulted in an agreement on a partnership forum, which has been approved by the workforce by a large majority in a ballot. The new partnership forum is made up of representatives of management, employees and unions. It has a constitution setting out its general purpose, its function and scope and the areas in which it will facilitate information-sharing. These include: competition, capital spending, equal opportunities, future plans, health and safety, job security, new technology, reward systems and employee development. The forum includes in its scope the responsibility for the selection/election of the workforce's representatives on the B&L European Works Council. The forum will not engage in collective bargaining, as it recognises the trade unions' responsibility to represent their members.