Servisair ground staff end strike

Striking ground staff at Dublin and Cork Airports lifted their pickets and agreed to return to work today after voting overwhelmingly…

Striking ground staff at Dublin and Cork Airports lifted their pickets and agreed to return to work today after voting overwhelmingly yesterday to accept an improved pay deal from Servisair.

The five-day stoppage ended when workers voted by 202 votes to 31 to accept the new package. The pickets were lifted before the vote.

Servisair said it was pleased the joint proposals were accepted. It was also satisfied that contingency plans implemented for the duration of the dispute had been successful and that there had been virtually no disruption or delay to the travelling public or other airline customers.

Under the agreed deal, all staff will receive a £50 shift payment. Previously this had been denied to new employees. The supplementary shift payments will also be paid for five different shifts.

READ MORE

A once-off lump sum of £225 will be paid to all employees. This, together with strike pay, would cover any losses suffered as a result of the industrial action, SIPTU said.

As part of the proposal the introduction of a 39-hour week will be delayed, with discussions deferred until next January and implementation not to take place before July 2001.

The deal represented a win-win situation for the company and the workers, the SIPTU branch secretary, Ms Carmel Hogan, said. "I am confident that the new agreement will allow both sides to move forward toward building an environment with improved and harmonious industrial relations for the future," she said.

The work of striking staff included passenger bookings and the loading of cargo for several international airlines.

In another industrial dispute, a 24-hour picket was put on Chilton Electric, part of the Glen Dimplex group, yesterday morning in a dispute over weekly rates involving more than 200 employees. They want the basic wage raised from £165 to £190, which is the rate at a sister company, also in Dunleer, Co Louth.

The pay claim was made by SIPTU last October, and went to both the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court. A SIPTU shop steward, Ms Vera Grimes, said the recommendation of the Labour Court was that the company be "inventive with its bonus pay".

"We are in dispute over our basic pay, not our bonus pay. Bonus payments are not guaranteed but our basic pay is, and that is what we want raised," she said.

The company makes fan heaters, toasters and other electrical household goods.

Late yesterday afternoon, Mr Muiris Flynn, general manager of Chilton Electric, issued a statement saying: "This claim has already been before the Labour Court, which held that the claim is outside the terms of Partnership 2000. The company has honoured all the terms of Partnership 2000 and expects the members of SIPTU to do the same."