Confusion surrounds Shannon Airport redundancy package
THE deadline for acceptance of the redundancy package for workers at Shannon Airport expired on Monday evening, and confusion still surrounds the exact level of interest among workers.
Two hundred voluntary redundancies from the airport’s 550 staff had been sought by management, and a management spokesperson refused to say whether this figure had been reached, or to confirm how many people had applied. However the spokesperson did say that there was quite a lot of interest from the employees.
While there was speculation on Tuesday that only around 160 people had applied for the package, it is understood that the actual figure was somewhat higher. Further reports suggested that 185 people had sought redundancy but neither union nor management sources have been able to confirm this.
Under the terms of the package on offer, members of staff who have served in excess of 24 years will receive over 100,000 if they opt to go. The staff who stay on after the redundancy package will receive payments of 16,000 to compensate them for changes in working practices and schedules.
The Shannon Airport Authority expects the deal to result in savings of around 10 million per annum.
SIPTU are the biggest trade union at the airport and branch organiser Tony Carroll said he had asked the company to confirm how many people had applied for redundancy, but had not received a response.
Compulsory redundancies cannot be introduced if the company fails to reach the figure of 500, he added. “It has been stated since the very beginning of this process that there will be no compulsory redundancies.”
More time should be afforded to workers to make up their minds on the package, he said. “We have asked for an extension of time because there are still outstanding issues. It’s hard to tell workers that they have to have decided by 5pm on Monday, if they are still waiting on information.”
Michael Halpenny of SIPTU said that while there had been speculation that huge numbers of workers would opt for the package, this did not seem to have happened. He also claimed that the fact that the level of interest hadn’t been overwhelming showed that it had been necessary to renegotiate the original survival package.
The agreement on the redundancy plan followed torturous negotiations between unions and management, which began in the early part of 2005. At the start of the year workers voted overwhelmingly against the package then being offered, but after elements of it were renegotiated, they voted strongly in favour of the new offer this month.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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