Great Southern Hotels dispute halts sale of chain

MORE THAN 700 Great Southern Hotels workers are to go on strike if the Labour Court fails on Wednesday to break the deadlock over employee entitlements, ahead of the sale of the chain.

The workers were balloted by their union SIPTU over the last two days and yesterday spokesman Donal Tobin confirmed that over 80% had voted in favour of the strike action.

“The ballot follows a decision by the Dublin Airport Authority, which owns the hotels, and its agents, to continue to permit the sale of the eight Great Southern Hotels without reaching full agreement on a number of staff entitlements,” he said.

Before any sale can proceed, the union is demanding that GSH will ensure the new owners will continue to comply with existing collective agreements and will maintain existing pension entitlements, reckonable service and reckonable pay.

The unions are looking for those entitlements to apply to all future employees of the hotels, as well as existing members.

“The Labour Court has intervened and we have accepted its invitation to attend next Wednesday,” said Mr Tobin.

“In the meantime, SIPTU’s national negotiating committee will meet to discuss the course of the strike action if we fail to reach agreement in the Labour Court.”

The hotels were put on the market several weeks ago, and a tender date for their sale had originally been set for June 23. It was then extended to July 7 and later to July 28, as there continued to be no resolution of the dispute with the workers and their unions.

The selling agents for the properties, CB Richard Ellis Gunne, have reported huge interest from parties looking to purchase one or more of the hotels.

The unions have asked Transport Minister Martin Cullen to step in to resolve the dispute, but Mr Cullen seems to have distanced himself from it, urging both parties to engage with the Labour Court “in the best interests” of the hotel group.

Dublin Airport Authority called on SIPTU not to make any unwarranted threats of industrial action in lieu of the Labour Court recommendation, as this was not in the best interests of the Great Southern Hotel’s customers.