As a result of correspondence to Union Headquarters from a number of Branches the December meeting of the Telecoms Sectoral Executive once again had an in depth debate on the operation of Partnership in eircom.  As a result of that debate the Executive has asked me to clarify for all of our members exactly what the up to date position in relation to Partnership is.

Since the Agreement at the Labour Relations Commission which brought to a conclusion our dispute regarding the payment of the National Wage Agreement, we as a Union along with the Company have been operating on the basis of the various elements of that Agreement.  In relation to Partnership the Agreement makes it very clear that the Labour Relations Commission saw the need to have an in depth review of Partnership and its
operation in eircom.  Pending the outcome of that review the manner in which decisions have been taken
between the Company and the Union has been by necessity altered.  Therefore all decisions reached through discussions with the company now have to be approved by the Telecoms Sectoral Executive Council. 
Heretofore decisions reached through the Partnership Groups were noted at Executive meetings but were
not debated as they had already been agreed through Partnership.  As a result of the LRC Agreement we have also had to suspend the operation of all of the three main Partnership Groups and now all negotiations which take place are done so by teams of Union negotiators chosen by the officials working in eircom based on their competencies.

We expect to have the outcome of the Partnership review sometime early in the New Year and there is no doubt that the manner in which we do business with the Company will have to be drastically altered.  It is also a
concern on the Union side that the vast majority of senior managers in eircom have never been trained in the Partnership processes and therefore is not competent to operate them.  In those circumstances it may be that a different form of a relationship will have to be developed as a result of the review.  I trust this clarifies the
matter for all concerned.