Strikes ‘unstoppable’ after union walk out

THE prospect of industrial action crippling air, road and rail transport rose dramatically last night as SIPTU’s Aer Rianta negotiators walked out of talks with the Department of Transport.

Citing no progress after six months of talks, angry union officials said strikes at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports were now virtually unstoppable. The move comes as CIÉ unions are expected to agree a resumption of their postponed strike action at a meeting today.

Both CIÉ and Aer Rianta unions already have strike mandates from postponed actions last year and could move in a matter of weeks to full stoppages.

But a spokesman for Transport Minister Seamus Brennan said yesterday's meeting with Aer Rianta unions had been positive, with just one issue to be clarified. "My understanding was that there was just one issue that we were to come back to clarify," he said.

However, SIPTU Aer Rianta's largest trade union firmly closed the door on any future talks.

SIPTU's Aer Rianta branch secretary Dermot O'Loughlan said talks could no longer proceed. "The talks have ended. We didn't get answers to any of the questions we asked."

Mr O'Loughlan said none of the three substantive issues raised by the union pensions, the lack of a business plan for the break up and job security had been addressed.

"We won't be going back," he said.

Peter Dunne, a worker director at Aer Rianta, said the department's response had been ludicrous and completely contrary to the job security which had been promised by Mr Brennan.

"The workers were already very angry but he's after inflaming the whole situation now. This is the end. We will not meet with Seamus Brennan again unless there is a complete turnaround," he said.

SIPTU national industrial secretary Michael Halpenny said: "There's a gap a mile wide between what we were looking for and what they were offering."

Mr Halpenny said Mr Brennan had failed to back up his frequent guarantees that workers had nothing to fear from the break up of Aer Rianta.

"There was nothing in terms of a business plan. There was nothing in terms of any substantial reassurances to support the guarantees at all."

And in a move aimed at generating as much embarrassment as possible for the Government, senior union officials vowed to deliberately target diplomatic traffic for Ireland's EU presidency.

Meanwhile, after talks between CIÉ unions and the department broke down on Tuesday, SIPTU has backed the National Bus and Railworkers Union (NBRU) saying industrial action at CIÉ is now inevitable because Transport Mr Seamus Brennan had made it impossible for them to remain in talks on the future of the company.

CIÉ unions are to meet today to consider what form of action to take.