LRC talks to resume in bid to end deadlock

TALKS at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) are expected to reconvene today in an effort to breach the deadlock in the Irish Ferries crisis as the dispute enters its third week.

After more than 100,000 people took to the streets in support of the Irish Ferries workers on Friday last, SIPTU marine officers remain barricaded inside the Isle of Inishmore in Pembroke while the company's other vessels also remain stranded.

SIPTU sources denied weekend reports that the union had turned down a company offer to pay the minimum wage to all employees in LRC negotiations last week, while the company denies reports that it is threatening to walk away from talks.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said yesterday that he "totally understood the concern about this issue."

"We are still faced with the same dilemma and we'll try and find a resolution to it. As I have continually said, this is going to be a very difficult one to resolve," he said.

Mr Ahern said the main concern people had was that "jobs could be replaced by non-nationals on far lower levels."

"That's not Government policy. The reason we brought in a minimum wage was actually to protect standards ... We do not want people to be paid less than the minimum wage," he said.

Asked what more he could offer SITU to tempt the union back into abandoned Social Partnership negotiations, Mr Ahern said he had already delivered a commitment to better protection of workers rights to SIPTU president Jack O'Connor.

"We've given it to him in writing. If we had a Social Partnership agreement we'd look forward to implementing it. We've given it back in October. We have outlined our position very clearly. We are ready to get into talks and hopefully we can get that done soon," he said.

Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said the unprecedented turnout on Friday indicated that concerns about the implications of the Irish Ferries dispute went way beyond the traditional trade union movement.

"There is a real concern that some other employers regard the Irish Ferries dispute as a 'test case' and if the management is allowed to get away with sacking its Irish workers and replacing them with low-paid agency workers from abroad, then others will follow suit. I hope that the Taoiseach will not attempt to misrepresent last Friday's marches ... by suggesting that people were taking to the streets in support of the Government's position," he said.