This article is from page 2 of the 2008-02-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
AIR passengers at Shannon Airport breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as they dodged industrial action on two fronts.
As late as Sunday evening passen- gers faced disruption involving both Aer Lingus and air traffic control- Suse
Just yesterday air traffic controllers called off a planned 24-hour strike for Thursday.
The strike would have affected flights into and out of all Irish air- ports including Shannon, and all flights through Irish air space.
The dispute erupted over claims by
air traffic controllers that they were short staffed.
Their employers – the Irish Aviation Authority – maintained, however, that the industrial action related to claims for an increase in payment for overtime.
The air traffic controllers called off the industrial action yesterday (Mon- day) following talks at the Labour Coliian
The workers have also suspended their official overtime ban that was due to take effect from tomorrow.
Meanwhile threats of industrial ac- tion at Aer Lingus yesterday (Mon- day) was averted at the eleventh hour as management and the union SIPTU
reached agreement on a package of cost cutting reforms and work prac- tices. Following almost 34 hours of continuous talks Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion said, “We have agreement on the imple- mentation of productivity and cost cutting measures with SIPTU and we await the outcome of their inter- nal ballot process. Nothing will be implemented until the ballot 1s com- pleted.”
SIPTU National Industrial Secre- tary Gerry McCormack said agree- ment had been reached subject to a ballot of members.
“We accept there has been genuine commitment by both sides to reach
an agreement and the process has protected SIPTU members’ interests and also prevented disruption to Aer Lingus passengers,” he said.
Aer Lingus had threatened to sus- pend staff if they failed to cooperate with new work practices it planned to introduce yesterday morning without union agreement.
SIPTU will spend the next week consulting with members to explain the deal to them. It 1s expected the consultation process and the ballot will take two weeks. It 1s believed that €7.5million of the cost saving package will be generated in Dub- lin, with around €2.5 million being saved on the Shannon operation.