Government ministers looking to replenish State coffers with the proceeds of a speedy sale of Cablelink will not be pleased to see the renewal of Aer Rianta-style wrangles over letters of comfort in the group.
It appears about 35 of the staff of the cable group were seconded years ago from RTE, one of the shareholders in the group. Those staff have been offered £30,000 to effectively sell out their contractual links with the State broadcaster. To no-one's surprise, they are reluctant to do so.
SIPTU, which represents the employees at the heart of the dispute, has said it is open to reasonable offers but has firmly rejected the current "full and final" settlement. With hopes of the company attracting bids of the order of £360 million, it is hardly surprising the staff are holding out for more than a collective payment of just over £1 million to relinquish the security of public sector employment.
Not the ideal situation as the Government was awaiting final bids from the five suitors for Cablelink to arrive yesterday.
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