Irish Ferries dispute enters third day

Irish Ferries dispute enters third day

	Published : Mon, 28 Nov 2005 03:05 By : David Simms Print this Story

DUBLIN - The Irish Ferries decision to go ahead with its cost-cutting drive by hiring workers from Latvia and other Eastern European countries has triggered a blazing industrial row that has resulted in two Irish Ferries being held up as the management and crew are involved in a tussle in Pembroke Dock and in Holyhead.

The crew claims that the management is using security guards who boarded the ship in camouflage, to ensure that the overseas staff began their jobs smoothly. As of Saturday, the two ships in question, The Isle of Inishmore and Ulysses were still at port. The dispute started on Thursday and the Irish Ferries maintained that the security was to ensure that the new staff would familiarize themselves with their duties on board. It has emerged that four officers are locked up in the control room of the vessel at Pembroke Dock. The crew of the Holyhead ship is refusing to allow the normal agenda to proceed.

Unions say that the members are upset in the manner the security personnel were introduced onto the ship. It seems they boarded as passengers, but changed into their gear as soon as they boarded the vessel. "We have secured the engine room/control room because there's a presence of - the company has now told us - a security firm on board, trying to remove us from the vessel and replace us with cheap European labour," said Gary Jones. an engineer and an officer barricaded in the control room of the vessel. He is also a member of the Irish SIPTU union.

But Irish Ferries maintained that it had been pretty open about its intentions and was not indulging in questionable practices. The decision to hire cheap labour was already told to the members as well as the unions, the company said, "The security measures were necessary because in December of last year Siptu staged two strikes... and totally locked up the ship in Holyhead and would not allow regulatory agencies or any management on to the ship," commented Irish Ferries spokesman Alf McGrath. He added that the firm had the duty and responsibility to ensure that their assets were safe. Irish Ferries has also announced that it does not expect the services to resume until early next week.

The workers who are to lose their jobs have been offered generous severance packages and it is reported that 90 percent of them have agreed to the terms. The current dispute centers around the remainder of the staff who wish to retain their jobs.