LRC steps in to avert strike at Dublin Airport

THE Labour Relations Commission has intervened in the pensions dispute between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and its unions, which threatens to escalate into full-scale strike action.

SIPTU, which represents 1,200 staff at the airport, yesterday confirmed its members had voted 98% in favour of industrial action in an attempt to improve their pension entitlements. The pension scheme at the DAA is part of the Irish Aviation Superannuation Scheme, which also includes employees of Aer Lingus and the SR Technics airline maintenance firm. Changes in staffing numbers in the constituent companies has meant that two contributing DAA employees are having to contribute to benefit one benefactor member.

The union said it has been calling for that anomaly to be addressed since it lodged a claim three years ago. Relations between the two sides soured dramatically in March when the company produced a document listing 27 changes it wanted to implement as part of a settlement in the pensions dispute. The union said among those changes is an outsourcing of functions carried out by SIPTU members in the DAA.