176 jobs have been saved at Waterford Wedgwood under a deal accepted on 22 March 2009 by the company's workforce. The agreement, which was approved at a mass meeting, brings an end to 8 weeks occupation of a company visitor centre. The deal, between the equity firm KPS & Waterford Wedgwood receiver David Carson, was approved in a vote by 90% of workers attending the mass meeting. Negotiated with the help of the Labour Relations Commisison, it involves KPS entering into a "transitional services agreement" to receive a range of back-office & related functions for up to initially 6m, with some or all of the jobs being retained after that. The arrangement leaves the remainder of the crystal operation's 480 workers still facing redundancy. However, there are hopes that some of these may be kept at a crystal making operation, which local business interests are hoping to launch.
