This article is from page 10 of the 2007-03-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
A BREAKTHROUGH is hoped for this afternoon in the talks between management and unions at Shannon Airport on the Airport Authority’s restructuring plan. A SIPTU ballot last month rejected the deal from the authority, which offered average payments to staff taking voluntary redundancy of €100,000.
Staff choosing to stay on would also receive a loyalty bonus, but the plan would require a major overhaul of work practices with the outsourc- ing of many Services and turning shops and restaurant facilities over to Jee-NNON oy
Since then, there have been what are being described as “exploratory meetings” under the auspices of the
Labour Relations Commission on a number of occasions.
The last meeting, on Thursday of last week, went on until 4am and it 1s hoped that the intensive discussions will produce results when the sides meet again today.
While nothing is certain about the Outcome of what are very detailed talks, covering wide-ranging issues including work practices and pen- sions, it is understood that there was a positive atmosphere at the end of Thursday’s marathon session. Attend- ing the talks were union representa- tives, members of the airport authority and members of SIGNAL, the airport workers’ representative group.
The sides sit down again together today at 10.30am, but it will be mid- afternoon before any breakthrough
which might be achieved is expected to be announced. Meanwhile, talks at the Labour Court between SIPTU and Aer Lingus management on the airline’s Programme for Continuous Improvement are also ongoing.
Discussions centre on a Labour Court recommendation on the plan and are covering issues such as cut- backs in leave and overtime pay and reductions in payments for bank holi- day work.
The union is expected to make a strong case for compensation for workers affected although manage- ment argue that the changes are a ne- cessity for the future of the airline.
There was good news for Shannon Airport this week, with passenger fig- ures since the start of the year up 11 per cent on the same period last year.