The vice-president of SIPTU, Mr Des Geraghty, has warned the Government and employers that they risk a serious confrontation with the trade union movement if Ryanair is allowed to operate outside accepted industrial relations procedures.
He was speaking after SIPTU made its submission to the Labour Court investigation into the union recognition dispute at Ryanair.
The airline, which is refusing to recognise SIPTU's right to represent the company's baggage-handlers over issues of pay, health and safety, declined an invitation from the court to yesterday's hearing. Instead the chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, sent a letter outlining the company's reasons for not attending.
Meanwhile the Irish Congress of Trade Unions told the Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Mr Tom Kitt, that urgent legislation was needed to provide for mandatory orders which would allow the Labour Court to investigate and, "in exceptional cases such as has arisen with Ryanair, to arbitrate on the issues in dispute".
The ICTU assistant general secretary, Mr Tom Wall, told the Minister that Ryanair was "thumbing their nose at the Government and Labour Court" as well as denying low-paid workers the right to union representation.
In the past Congress has tended to argue for a voluntary code as the best strategy for achieving union recognition. But it has been coming under increasing pressure from SIPTU and other unions to demand mandatory sanctions as a result of the Ryanair dispute.
In his letter to the Labour Court Mr O'Leary said; "Our principal reason for not accepting your kind invitation was because quite a number of our people were returning to normal working in recent days."
The number of baggage-handlers returning to work was considerably higher than the three SIPTU had claimed on Thursday.
"To give a true indication of the growing support amongst our baggage-handlers for our policy of calm, reasoned and direct talks, may I confirm to you that out of a total ground operations shift this morning of 59 staff, a mere five people participated in the work stoppage."
A SIPTU official, Mr Paul O'Sullivan, confirmed that only five members had taken strike action yesterday morning. Two more were on holiday and two had reverted to normal working.
However, he said that out of the three shifts involved in the dispute, this was the most poorly organised. He added that Ryanair was counting all ground employees, such as check-in staff and supervisors, in its total of 59 employees working normally.
Out of 59 ground handlers who originally joined the union, well over 40 were still involved in industrial action, he said.
"The company has spent four weeks trying to wear people down by continuous pressure, isolating them in the workplace, contacting them at home and offering them financial inducements and promises of career progression; yet twothirds of them are continuing industrial action in extremely difficult conditions."