This article is from page 8 of the 2006-03-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A Labour Court recommendation on the €30 million ‘survival plan’ for Shannon Airport is expected within the next two weeks.
Unions representing airport workers and the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) management met at the Labour Court last Friday and both sides made submissions on the proposed restructuring programme.
Speaking after the private hearing, SIPTU’s National Industrial Secretary, Michael Halpenny said that SIPTU’s submission centred on the company not following agreed procedures and not giving the union an opportunity to engage in the process. The DAA’s Director for Change, John Horgan said that the hearing was a private one and that the recommendation of the Labour Court was awaited.
“As it was a private hearing, it would not be proper to comment further,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD Pat Breen has urged the Government not to sell off Aer Lingus following the uncertainties raised recently over the sale process.
Deputy Breen, the Fine Gael spokesman on small business, said there were no compelling reasons for the airline’s sale except ideological ones.
“Aer Lingus is a strategic asset and like Eircom, its loss as a national asset would be sorely missed,” he said.
As an island nation, the reasons why Aer Lingus was formed originally in 1936 remain as valid today as back then, according to Deputy Breen.
“We would have no guarantee that a privatised transatlantic airline, having cherry-picked the Heathrow landing slots would not just fly over Ireland if there was no compelling, commercial reason to land here.
“This is particularly worrying for the Shannon region. Shannon Airport could be bypassed by all the major airlines in the event of an economic downturn.”