DUBLIN PORT Company has been granted a High Court injunction against a group of protesters who attempted to prevent ships entering and exiting the port on Thursday afternoon.
About 40 supporters of striking staff from Marine Terminals Limited (MTL), a cargo handling company based in Dublin’s south port, attempted to block port traffic for a number of hours using five small boats.
The workers – members of Siptu who claim the company is attempting to implement compulsory redundancies and cuts to pay, terms and conditions – have been on strike for eight weeks.
Earlier this week MTL said “unions must recognise that, for the port of Dublin to remain competitive in a deteriorating market, changes must be made”.
The staff have held a number of pickets and demonstrations in recent weeks.
The protesters’ boats were involved in a a brief stand-off with a Stena Line ferry which was attempting to depart the port on Thursday evening.
The injunction against the protesters was obtained in a late-night sitting of the High Court that night before Mr Justice McCarthy.
Dublin Port Company said it had obtained the injunction against named individuals and associated parties to stop “irresponsible and dangerous actions” which “posed a reckless endangerment to human life”.
“The actions, which constituted dangerous illegal secondary picketing, attempted to involve Dublin Port Company and other port customers in a dispute which they are not party to,” it said.
Dublin Port Company said Siptu’s “tacit support and encouragement of the dangerous and illegal action was highly irresponsible”.
“Instead of this appalling breach of its duty, Siptu should condemn any action which threatens to block vessels from entering or leaving the port and certainly any action which would pose such a high risk to vessels’ and people’s safety.”
Siptu said it was not involved in the protest, but that it would not condemn local people for taking action in support of members of their community who had been on strike for almost two months.
“Dublin Port should address the fact that Marine Terminals Limited, and its parent company Peel Ports, have been in breach of industrial relations procedures. They are a tenant of Dublin Port Company and they should look into that issue,” the union said.
Talks between Siptu and MTL aimed at ending the dispute are to take place at the Labour Relations Commission on Monday.
Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin South East Chris Andrews said he supported the workers who he said were responding to Marine Terminals Limited’s attempts to implement new employment contracts and forced redundancies without any negotiation or discussion.
“While redundancies have been implemented across all sectors in the last year, to force through changes with no consultation or transparency is unacceptable,” he said.
