DAA condemns unions as dispute set for Labour Court

UNIONS at Shannon Airport were yesterday accused of adopting a head in the sand approach to saving the company as talks were referred to the Labour Court.

Talks between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and the unions over plans to cut back on Shannon’s cost-base have been referred to the Labour Court after they failed to reach agreement at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

The DAA insists there must be in excess of 200 job cuts to avoid Shannon incurring losses of €140 million over the next 10 years.

And the DAA says the outsourcing of a wide range of functions, including catering, is also essential. A SIPTU spokesman said the talks broke down at the LRC as the two sides couldn’t agree a basis for talks over outsourcing.

The 540 permanent airport staff each received a letter yesterday in which the DAA denied they failed to give unions all the information that had been requested about restructuring plans at Shannon.

The letter said there had been 23 meetings with unions since July 2005. The letter, sent by the DAA’s

Director for Change John Horgan, said the DAA would listen to any alternative proposals which the unions wished to put to them.

“Despite this, the unions have not put forward one single alternative.”

The DAA said it will ask the Labour Court to examine its proposals. “In our view, They represent the best way of giving Shannon a sustainable future,” the letter said.