Siptu defers action for LRC talks

Siptu members have agreed to defer industrial action at the State's main airports to take part in talks at the Labour Relations Commission  tomorrow with Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport Authority.

At a meeting today, Siptu members from Aer Lingus  "reluctantly" agreed to defer the action planned for Monday, a a union spokesman said.

Siptu had proposed series of rolling two-hour work stoppages at Aer Lingus and the DAA could close Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports.

The DAA was to seek a High Court injunction tomorrow in a bid to prevent the action. It said today it will not now be proceeding with the action.

Aer Lingus had warned it would sue Siptu for damages if action went ahead.

Today's move came after the commission last night asked Siptu to withdraw its threat of industrial action before proposed talks to resolve a row over pensions could take place tomorrow.

The LRC also asked that Aer Lingus withdraw its threat to sue the union and that the airport authority withdraw its threat of an injunction.

A document of some 30 pages with proposals from the Labour Relations Commission was given to the parties last night.

Aer Lingus welcomed the move and said it was looking forward to re-engaging with all the parties under the auspices of the LRC to find an appropriate solution to the funding issues.

"We plan to operate a full schedule on Monday," it added. "We sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience and uncertainty caused by the proposed industrial action."

Yesterday, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar had also called on unions and employers to renew efforts to avoid industrial action.  He urged all parties to use the State's dispute resolution machinery to resolve the row.

He said "a renewed focus" was needed to avoid industrial action which would cause huge inconvenience to the travelling public.