This article is from page 3 of the 2006-09-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
MANAGERS at Shannon Airport have been warned that a €30 million redundancy package will be off the table at the end of the week if it is not accepted by unions.
John Horgan, Director of Change Management at Shannon Airport, said the package includes a voluntary severance deal, including enhanced pensions for those nearing retirement and various compensation measures for those staying.
Mr Horgan told The Clare People that Shannon Airport would lose an estimated €130 million during the next 10 years.
“We must find a way of reducing the cost at Shannon to bring it in line with the other airports,” he said.
“We were willing to discuss any proposal made by the unions that would contribute to the airport but no such proposals were forth coming,” he said.
Airport managers have voted unanimously to conduct a ballot for industrial action up to and including strike.
The managers, who are members of IMPACT, oppose cuts in services which they say will cost up to 75 jobs.
General election candidate, Cllr Madeleine Taylor Quinn (FG), has appealed to both parties to sit down to try to find common ground, in the interest of the workers and the future of the airport.
The union claims that closure of a bar and reduced opening hours in the airport restaurant are knock-on effects of a management decision not to replace certain part-time positions when staff leave.
IMPACT Assistant General Secretary Michael Landers said “the cuts would lead to an unnecessary loss of jobs and will undermine the airport’s viability at a time when passenger numbers and profits have never been higher.
“These are profitable operations and the airport authority is engaging in a reckless act of economic vandalism in a crude attempt to impose their will on the workforce.”
The issue has already been to the Labour Relation Commission, the National Implementation Body and the Labour Court.
“I regret that the management and unions are taking such a polarized position,” said Cllr Taylor-Quinn.
“I believe the forecast of €135 million loss over the next 10 years needs to be addressed in detail and it must also be taken into account that a loss was forecast in the past and that turned into a profit,” she said.