Shannon workers angry over Harney’s asset transfer plan
The report into Aer Rianta’s break-up has recommended this money be used to clear the airport’s annual losses of E5m. But the Shannon Development’s SIPTU branch believes the proposal would lead to the company’s closure and not deliver a stronger authority.
At an extraordinary general meeting SIPTU workers voted unanimously to reject the proposal to transfer Shannon Development’s industrial free zone assets to the new airport authority.
“This proposal would lead to the closure of Shannon Development, which has become an internationally renowned pioneering development agency,” said SIPTU Shannon branch secretary Tony Kenny.
Shannon Development is the only State development agency outside Dublin and has adopted a very dynamic approach to securing industry for the region, he said.
More than 30,000 people are employed indirectly in the midwest in jobs created by Shannon Development. Indirectly, 100,000 jobs are connected to Shannon Development’s industries.
In tourism, more than 47,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created by Shannon Development.
SIPTU says the Tánaiste’s proposal will lead to the disappearance of the Shannon industrial free zone, which employs 7,500 workers.
The unions have a week to consider the proposal and report back to Transport Minister Seamus Brennan.
