Irish Ferries has suspended all sailings between the UK and Ireland as management and crew begin a tense stand-off over company plans to outsource jobs, write Joe Humphreys, John Downes and Martin Wall in Pembroke
Trade union representatives were last night discussing possible means of escalating the dispute as four ships' officers continued to barricade themselves into the control room of the Isle of Inishmore at Pembroke in Wales. The four, who are members of the Siptu trade union, have stockpiled food supplies "to see them through until Christmas", according to one union source.
Crews attached to the Ulysses, last night moored at Holyhead, and the Jonathan Swift at Dublin Port, are threatening to take similar disruptive action if the company attempts to sail with cheaper agency staff brought in from eastern Europe.
Irish Ferries said yesterday all sailings had been suspended because of the combined impact of poor weather and the dispute.
The executive council of Congress is to meet on Tuesday to discuss the dispute, which moved into a new phase on Thursday when the company sent security personnel on board the Isle of Inishmore at Pembroke and the Ulysses at Holyhead. Agency staff from eastern Europe later arrived on both vessels. A company spokesman said that the agency staff were going on board for familiarisation programmes before they replaced existing staff who had accepted voluntary redundancy. The spokesman said the security personnel were to protect the vessels and staff.
Congress general secretary David Begg said he deplored the actions of the company which had "not only violated every precept of normal industrial relations conduct, but which could also have put the lives of crew or passengers at risk". He urged the three non-executive directors on the board of Irish Continental Group, which operates Irish Ferries, to intervene in the dispute.
Referring to one of the directors - Peter Crowley, chief executive of IBI corporate finance - Mr Begg told RTÉ: "We would hope that people of substance like that would try to make their influence felt and try to get a change in direction."
The two other non-executive directors are John McGuckian, chairman of Ulster Television and a director of AIB Group; and Bernard Somers, director of a number of public companies including Independent News & Media.
Congress executives are to consider at their meeting next week a Siptu proposal to stage a second day of action over the Irish Ferries dispute. The move comes against a background of stalled talks over a proposed new partnership agreement with employers.
Siptu president Jack O'Connor said it was difficult to see how social partnership could survive if the Government failed to address the issues at the centre of the dispute, namely "job displacement, exploitation and protection of employment standards".
Mr O'Connor said: "The Irish Ferries dispute is a defining moment in the relations between employers and workers in this country."
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also condemned the actions of Irish Ferries yesterday, saying they were "not in line with proper labour relations".
Mr Ahern said Irish Ferries should have accepted a recent Labour Court ruling on the matter. "I fundamentally and totally disagree with their handling of this," he added. Labour leader Pat Rabbitte criticised Mr Ahern for saying on Thursday that the Government could do "no more" in relation to the dispute. Mr Rabbitte said the Taoiseach had "intentionally or otherwise" given a message to the company to take the action it did. However, Mr Ahern said he had made his remarks because he had learnt through "union sources" of the company's plans.
Siptu said it would consider a blockade of Dublin Port in the face of further provocation. However, officials signalled their preference for action that would affect Irish Ferries but not its competitors.Alf McGrath, director of human resources at Irish Ferries, reiterated that its outsourcing plan was necessary for survival.