The High Court has continued to Monday next injunctions restraining picketing by electricians at plants owned by Cadbury Ireland and Irish Distillers.
Counsel for the Technical, Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) told Ms Justice Mary Laffoy today extensive discussions were taking place in a bid to settle the electricians strike.
Counsel added there were difficulties getting instructions related to the TEEU’s response to the injunctions because some of the senior union officials involved were also attending this weekend’s Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) conference in Tralee.
Lawyers for the companies said they had no difficulty with the cases being adjourned until Monday as long as the injunctions stay in place.
Ms Justice Laffoy said she had already continued an injunction until Monday in a similar application by Guinness producers Diageo Ireland and she would maintain a consistent approach with the Cadbury and Irish Distillers injunctions.
The Distillers injunction restrains pickets at its plant at Midleton, Co Cork, which employs about 100 people and produces about 50 million bottles of whiskey per year. The order is against the TEEU, regional secretary Patrick Guilfoyle and three other men who are employed by an electrical contractor.
The Cadbury injunction is also against the TEEU and against “persons unknown” and restrains pickets of its Coolock plant where 900 people are employed. Cadbury claimed last Monday the pickets were having a “catastrophic” effect on production.
Cadbury said none of its own 33 directly employed electricians were involved in the dispute but because they and other trades people would not pass the picket, it had been forced to shut down its production.