The Government today intervened in the dispute at Irish Ferries after an all-out strike was announced for next Monday.
The Minister of State at the Department of the Marine, Mr Pat 'the Cope' Gallagher, met Siptu and management urging them to begin talks to avert the action.
Workers marched on Leinster House today as part of a 24-hour strike in protest at the company's plans to lay off the crew of the MV Normandyon the Rosslare - Cherbourg route and outsource the work to agency workers.
And following a meeting at Liberty Hall agreed the dispute should be escalated to a strike of "indefinite duration" beginning next Monday.
Mr Gallagher spoke to the parties today and afterwards said the planned disruption would have "serious effects for trade in and out of Ireland".
"Such a scenario would have a hugely damaging impact, particularly in the run up to Christmas," he said.
Mr Paul Smith of Siptu says the union was "provoked into action" because the company had used a clause in a restructuring agreement to attempt to enforce changes not covered by the deal.
He also accused management of inadequate consultation but said Siptu was willing to enter talks through the Labour Relations Commission condition the company postpone its plan.
He said the company intended to lay-off the entire crew and replace them with low-cost workers from abroad. The proposal could lead to nearly 300 people being made redundant, he said. The company puts the figure at around 150.
Irish Ferries said the move is needed to keep the route viable in the face of competition from low-cost air carriers and Brittany Ferries which is subsidised by the French government and also sails to Rosslare.
The company also maintains Siptu has breached a legally binding agreement with it by calling the strike before bringing the dispute before the LRC and the Labour Court.
It said there would be no forced redundancies and that €7 million had been set aside for those availing of the voluntary redundancy package. It said the offer had been accepted by over 80 per cent of crew members
"Only by placing its Ireland — France service on a competitive footing through the proposed new crewing arrangement can Irish Ferries be hopeful of protecting its future operation in the wider interests of Irish tourism and the import/export trade and of the economic well-being of the South East region in particular," the company said in a statement issued this evening..
Siptu received support from the Labour party's marine spokesman, Mr Tommy Broughan, who said the redundancies were a retrograde step for the marine industry which could be replicated on other vessels.
"This unilateral decision is clearly designed to drive down wages in the industry and it is a disaster for the future of marine jobs," he said.