‘Summer of discontent’ threat from airport staff
Describing the mood of staff as one of "extreme anger", Arthur Hall, the regional secretary of the Technical Engineering Electrical Union, said the workers had taken it upon themselves to hold the mandatory meeting. Emergency cover will be provided but the co-ordinated move at all three airports is bound to cause serious disruption to flight schedules.
An emergency meeting of all Aer Rianta trade unions will also be held on Monday morning at ICTU headquarters in Dublin to discuss the crisis.
The meeting, arranged by Congress, will involve officials and shop stewards from the four main unions involved SIPTU, Impact, Mandate and the TEEU.
The purpose of the meeting is to co-ordinate a strategic response to the decision by Transport Minister Seamus Brennan to end the Aer Rianta monopoly.
Angry employees of the State company threatened a "summer of discontent" and called on their unions to fight the break-up.
The strongest immediate reaction came from the TEEU which renewed its threats to bring the airports to a close.
At its annual conference last week the Irish Congress of Trade Unions pledged full support for whatever the unions involved decided.
"The Taoiseach told that conference he did not want a confrontation. He also promised consultation but that promise lasted only six days," an angry Mr Hall said yesterday.
He also accused Mr Brennan of trying to bring the country to a standstill. "At the rate he is going there will be no buses, trains or planes operating. That is a highly irresponsible way for a Government Minister to act," he said.
Mr Brennan has received Cabinet backing to create three stand-alone boards to run the State airports at Dublin, Shannon and Cork.
Mr Brennan insisted no jobs would be lost and said the privatisation of the airports was not on his agenda. Jack O'Connor, vice-president of SIPTU, accused Mr Brennan of "institutionalised vandalism". He claimed the plans were reckless and defied commercial logic.
The anger of union leaders is compounded by the fact that many felt reassured by comments made by the Mr Ahern to last week's ICTU conference in Tralee.
Mr Ahern said he had no desire for conflict with the unions and he believed change could be implemented in a "spirit of partnership".
Last week the ICTU conference adopted an emergency motion opposing restructuring and some delegates threatened disruption of landing facilities for airlines.
Congress general secretary David Begg said the establishment of three interim boards for Cork, Shannon and Dublin suggests an intention to split up Aer Rianta in the next 12 months.
"This would seriously weaken the company and reduce its capacity to operate internationally," he said.
Leaders of the Trade Union Federation a SIPTU-TEEU alliance warned that plans to break up Aer Rianta "pose a major threat to the new national agreement and breach commitments given by the Taoiseach to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions last week".
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