The nine-week industrial dispute at Coca Cola in Tuam has come to an end, with striking workers accepting the latest offer from Coca Cola HBC on the recommendation of their union SIPTU. Striking members voted last Wednesday evening on a new Coca Cola package and on Thursday, SIPTU, on behalf of striking workers, announced the workers had accepted the offer, bringing the dispute to an end.

The strike began over plans to outsource 130 jobs in distribution centres across the country, 27 of which were in Tuam. Coca Cola claimed the cost of retaining the present system of logistics in the Republic of Ireland involved "unsustainably high costs".

The agreed redundancy package comprises seven weeks pay per year of service with a cap of €150,000, plus an additional lump sum payment ranging from €5,000 to €20,000 per individual, based on length of service.

A spokesperson for SIPTU in Galway said it is a personal matter of each individual whether they are happy with the offer given by Coca-Cola HBC or not.

"Not everybody is going to be totally happy with it but the offer is a marked improvement for the majority of the people," they said. Coca-Cola HBC Ireland General Manager, Gokhan Bilgic said: "Due to unsustainably high costs, the outsourcing of our logistics operation was a necessary decision to ensure the future sustainability of our business. We have always appreciated that this would be difficult for the employees affected, and we committed from the outset to work towards a fair and equitable outcome for all involved.

"Following a long series of discussions, I can now confirm that this has been achieved and despite some difficulties, together we were able to bring about a mutually acceptable resolution," he concluded.

However, Coca-Cola did not come out of the jobs cull unharmed. Cynthia P McCague, Director of Human Resources and Senior Vice President of the Coca-Cola Company left the company on Friday last. Neither the union nor the company would comment on whether her resignation was as a result of the handling of the dispute in Ireland.

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