This article is from page 14 of the 2006-08-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
MEMBERS of SIPTU working in the Shannon Airport Great Southern Hotel have voted in favour of a deal which would allow the sale of the hotel group to go ahead.
The 60-strong SIPTU group took part in the ballot last week of 750 workers at eight hotels around the country.
The hotel workers voted to accept a deal finalised in the Labour Court which would tie any new owners of the hotels to on-going negotiations with SIPTU.
Buyers would also have to maintain the same level of contributions to the employee pension scheme.
The package also includes eight weeks’ redundancy for workers leaving and a six-week loyalty payment to staff who stay on.
It’s expected that 300 workers will take the redundancy deal, although three-quarters of the current staff have less than three years service with the group.
Others have much longer service and will qualify for redundancy payments of up to €230,000 or loyalty transfer payments of up to €175,000.
The transfer conditions will apply to all of the 40 firms and consortia which have submitted tenders to buy all or part of the state-owned chain, valued at between €200 and €300 million.
The company said they do not expect the conditions will cause any delay on the sale but it is likely that the deal will affect the price which rival non-union hotel groups are willing to pay.