This article is from page 4 of the 2007-06-12 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE restructuring plan at Shannon Airport, which includes 185 volun- tary redundancies, has already be- gun. Current workers expect the first instalment of their “loyalty bonus” on June 20.
The €10,000 payment to around 350 workers will be followed with another €6,000 within four and half months according to the original agreement, which was given the all clear after management and trade unions resolved outstanding differ- ences under the auspices of the La-
bour Relations Commission (LRC) last week.
A spokeswoman for the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) said that some redundancy dates had already been agreed.
‘Some people have been given an exit date but the majority will be phased out over the summer. That is our busiest time so changes will be gradual. We also have catering busi- nesses taking over so everyone will be working together as the structure undergoes a major transformation.”
The catering companies, HMSHost and EFG In-Flight, will also start
providing terminal and services from June 20.
The SAA fell 15 short of the origi- nal redundancy target of 200 but this was not a major stumbling block.
‘Between the number that applied and their gradings, we are satisfied that we will make the savings we need. Workers with over 24 years experience will get redundancies of approximately €100,000 and other payments will be decided on a slid- ing scale,’ she added.
“The airport is in a good position with a bright future and lots of new routes have been announced. We
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SIPTU Industrial Organiser at Shannon Airport, Tony Carroll, said that although redundancies were al- ways disappointing, SIPTU tried to negotiate for the best result.
‘We had to work on the basis that the company wanted voluntary re- dundancies and if people wanted to go, they could. The important thing was to structure and secure the jobs for those remaining. We are satisfied that the remaining staff have viable jobs.”