Industrial action has been threatened at the State's largest Irish-owned lifts company over pay rates for its Filipino workers.
Ennis Lifts issued a strongly-worded statement yesterday denying claims by the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) that it was underpaying six Filipino staff.
The company is based in the constituency of Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen, and held a meeting with the Minister last night to discuss the allegations. Mr Killeen was in Ennis on other business and the meeting was organised at the company's request.
The TEEU, which has issued strike notice on the company, claims the six Filipino workers are earning less than half the agreed rate for the lifts sector and work 48 hours a week.
In its statement the company said it was "surprised, concerned and disappointed" at the union's "false allegations".
It said the six workers concerned were not, in fact, employees of Ennis Lifts, but were employees of IEE, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric Corporation in the Philippines.
Ennis Lifts was the official distributor of Mitsubishi elevators and escalators in Ireland, and the six IEE employees provided technical training to its workforce.
"Ennis Lifts' only involvement in relation to IEE employees is that, in accordance with agreements it has with IEE's parent company Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, it pays a contribution towards subsistence for those workers. This includes accommodation support, a daily allowance and other benefits," the statement said.
TEEU regional secretary Arthur Hall said if Ennis Lifts was not the employer of the six workers, then it should not have been issued with work permits for them.
A spokesman for Ennis Lifts told The Irish Times that the company had applied for the work permits for the six, as IEE required that such paperwork be handled locally. The company is to meet the TEEU to discuss the situation tomorrow.