Irish Ferries strike enters second week

There was no development over the weekend in the Irish Ferries dispute, which enters its second week today

There was no development over the weekend in the Irish Ferries dispute, which enters its second week today. The strike by ships officers has caused the cancellation of all the company's services since last week.

The strike, organised by SIPTU, is in response to the company's plan to outsource employment on its service between Rosslare and France next year.

An attempt to broker a deal at talks at the Labour Relations Commission failed last Friday.

Alternative cost-cutting proposals, presented by SIPTU, were discussed at the talks. However, the company insisted these came nowhere near the savings it would generate through its outsourcing plan.

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Management believes that the actual savings generated by the union proposals would be €2.1 million. This compares with savings of between €5 million and €6 million which the company could generate through sourcing its crew through a third-party agency.

Meanwhile organisations representing hoteliers and exporters have expressed concern that a prolonged dispute could cause serious economic damage.