Talks to be held on planned ferry firm job cuts

A High Court order blocking Irish Ferries from cutting more than 500 jobs on two of its ships was today struck out.

A SIPTU spokesman confirmed the injunction had been lifted after both sides gave guarantees that they would exhaust industrial relations avenues.

The union threatened a walk-out after the ferry firm revealed controversial plans to replace 543 Irish workers on services to Wales with cheap eastern European labour.

But the High Court imposed an interim order on Irish Ferries last Friday preventing the company from terminating any jobs.

Face-to-face talks in a bid to settle the dispute are to begin next Monday. SIPTU has also given an undertaking not to call for a strike while talks are ongoing.

Irish Ferries claimed around 90% of workers had signed up to a redundancy package of eight weeks pay per year of service. They had been warned they would have to accept less pay if they stayed on.

But in a further twist the Attorney General Rory Brady has advised that staff will not be entitled to state redundancy paymens if they opt for the voluntary severance package.