Ministers send mixed signals on Shannon Aerospace dispute

DEFENCE Minister Willie O’Dea was on a collision course last night with Junior Labour Minister, Tony Killeen over Mr O’Dea’s decision to intervene in a major industrial dispute in Shannon.

Mr O’Dea has agreed to meet workers from Shannon Aerospace who have been issued with protective notice, in an effort to broker a resolution to a dispute with the company.

Mr O’Dea said he had been approached by workers and has agreed to a meeting. He said he did not want to see jobs lost at a major company like Shannon Aerospace.

His decision comes as Labour Affairs Minister, Tony Killeen has adopted a stand-off approach.

Mr Killeen said he was aware of the concerns of the workers and others at Shannon Aerospace and has ensured that the industrial relations institutions of the state are monitoring the situation.

Mr Killeen said: “Previous experience in these matters indicate that political intervention would be counter-productive and could be extremely damaging.”

The company issued protective notice to its 800 staff saying it had lost business as a result of threatened industrial action at the Shannon plant.

The company overhauls and carries out major technical checks on commercial aircraft.

Last month workers voted for industrial action in pursuit of the final two phases of Sustaining Progress which were due since last year.

A company spokesman said: “Due to a substantial reduction in workload, the company has no option but to issue protective notice to all its staff. The uncertainty generated by the threat of industrial action has resulted in a decision by customers to withdraw three aircraft scheduled for maintenance and to make alternative arrangements to conduct that work elsewhere.”

The company said the situation was very serious.

SIPTU claim the company is very profitable with profits of between €1.2 million and €12.5m each year since 2000.

However the company claim Shannon Aerospace has accumulated operating losses of €24m which have been offset by contributions from shareholders and from government grants.

The company says the average production employee earns 30% more than the average industrial wage.

A company spokesman said the emerging situation had the potential to develop very quickly to crisis point.