SIPTU may impose precondition on partnership talks

SIPTU branch representatives are due to decide today whether to withhold their support for social partnership as a result of the situation at Irish Ferries.

The union's biennial conference is due to vote on a motion deferring support for the partnership process until it receives assurances that employment rights will be protected.

The vote follows Irish Ferries' move to replace staff on its Irish Sea routes with cheaper labour from abroad.

The company is allowed to pay these foreign workers less than half the minimum wage because Irish labour laws do not apply while they are on the seas.