Port workers refuse to handle Irish Ferries' ships
Dublin port workers voted to support Irish Ferries staff fighting attempts to replace them with cheaper foreign labor by refusing to handle any of the firm’s ships, according to an Ireland Online report. The vote was unanimous. As a result of this ballot, SIPTU (Ireland’s largest union) members will not handle any Irish Ferries ships – such as the MV Normandy – until the dispute is resolved, according to the report. The MV Normandy was allowed to dock late on Sunday night at Dublin with 113 passengers, for what was described as humanitarian reasons, after protests by port workers in Rosslare forced it to divert to the capital. It has since sailed to Cherbourg and SIPTU has given the company notice its members will not allow it to return.
Irish Ferries Labor Dispute Continues
A labor showdown crippled Irish Ferries for a fourth straight day Monday, as company officials and union leaders refused to budge from their demands, presented in rival plans to independent mediators, according to an AP report. In dispute is the company's widely condemned plan to pay off 543 unionized workers from its key Britain-Ireland routes and replace them with Eastern European workers at much lower wages. None of Irish Ferries' four vessels tried to sail Monday, partly because Ireland's largest labor union - the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union, known as SIPTU - warned that their members would refuse to let any of the company's vessels dock, according to the report.
Irish Ferries Dispute Goes to Labor Court
According to an Irish Independent report, the Labor Court will hold hearings into the dispute over Irish Ferries' plans to replace its seafaring staff with cheaper labor from eastern Europe. Talks between company management and the main union SIPTU broke down last month and the row is now threatening the future of social partnership. Irish Ferries is allowed to replace its workers with cheaper crews from abroad because Irish labor laws do not apply on the seas. It is planning to pay its new crews less than the minimum wage and give them less favorable working conditions than those currently in existence, according to the report. The company claims the move is necessary to protect its profitability in the face of increased competition. Source: The Irish Independent
Irish Ferries Must Cut Costs to Survive
Irish Ferries is offering voluntary severance package to its 543 seafaring employees on its Irish Sea services between Dublin/Holyhead and Rosslare/Pembroke. These offers of voluntary severance for those who wish to leave the company are supported by packages to compensate staff who choose to continue in employment on the ships for any changes in work practices required of them. The decision results from Irish Ferries’ inability to continue its operations at its current high cost base in the face of low cost shipping competition and increased capacity from low fares airlines. In 2002, the company indicated to staff and unions that its costs position was untenable.
