Aer Rianta unions to issue formal response to Brennan

Trade union SIPTU said today it will issue a formal response tomorrow to the Minister for Transport's plans to break up Aer Rianta.

The union represents 70 per cent of workers at Aer Rianta. On Thursday Mr Brennan announced the State airports authority would be broken up into three competing independent companies to run Cork, Shannon and Dublin airports.

But the Trade Union Federation, which comprises representatives from SIPTU, TEEU, Mandate, IMPACT and AMICUS, warned the break-up plans pose a "major threat" to the new national agreement Sustaining Progress. The federation are holding a meeting in Dublin tomorrow on the issue.

In a SIPTU statement today the union said it would be providing a detailed analysis of the Brennan proposals and "why these will be damaging for the travelling public, tourism, regional development, the business community and the wider national interest if they go ahead."

SIPTU said it will also be outlining its members' concerns and the likely future course of any industrial action if the Government presses ahead with what is "clearly a Ryanair agenda".

The meeting takes place in Dublin Airport at 4 p.m. tomorrow. Unions insist the meeting does not constitute a work stoppage. However there are fears it will lead to some disruption to the travelling public.