The sooner there is a resolution of the dispute at Irish Ferries, the better. Workers at the company have no certainty about their futures. The ships involved have been lying idle for 11 days. The company is losing money. And exporters and importers have been seriously inconvenienced at a very busy time of year.
These negative effects should, in themselves, provide sufficient reason to concentrate minds. But when the dispute places industrial peace and a new social partnership agreement at risk, its importance goes far beyond the mundane.
The mood music emerging from the Labour Relations Commission yesterday, where unions and management engaged in exploratory talks, gave some grounds for hope. But the prospect of a settlement being reached by tomorrow - as suggested by the National Implementation Body (NIB) - is uncertain. This is in spite of the fact that the NIB, which represents Government, the employers' body Ibec and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), was unusually specific in its proposals for settlement. And both management and unions agreed to engage on those terms.
It has become clear in recent weeks that Siptu and its general president, Jack O'Connor, regard the Irish Ferries dispute as a mechanism through which Ibec and the Government can be encouraged to underpin existing employment standards through a national pay deal. Fears of "a race to the bottom" in wages and conditions were given credence by the actions of management at Irish Ferries. They planned to displace 543 Irish employees with low-cost migrant workers. Those who wished to remain were offered reduced pay and conditions.
From a position where Ibec was offering conditional support to management at Irish Ferries, it is now urging immediate settlement. And on terms that will maintain basic employment standards. In doing so, it has effectively aligned itself with the Government, which has been highly critical of the company's actions from the outset. It has also opened the door to social partnership negotiations that will specifically address employment standards and the use by employers of migrant labour.
An amount of posturing and macho behaviour has been on display from both unions and management in this dispute. Irish Ferries lost the public relations battle because of its unilateral and aggressive actions. It would be well advised, at this stage, to cut its losses. The terms of agreement proposed by the NIB involve concessions being made by both sides. They should be accepted.
On the broader industrial relations front, Siptu and Ictu should urgently review the decision to hold a national day of protest next Friday. Even if the dispute at Irish Ferries has not been formally resolved by then, it is to be hoped that it will be on the cusp of settlement. In such circumstances - and in spite of the obvious momentum behind the planned protest - the responsible thing to do would be to call it off. Ictu's executive council will consider that issue today.