DAA plans to offer workers lump sums of up to €10,000

Workers at Shannon airport who opt to remain in their jobs in Dublin Airport Authority's (DAA's) €30 million "survival plan" for the airport will receive lump sum payments of up to €10,000 each, it emerged yesterday.

Talks on the restructuring at Shannon have been going on since last summer and the Labour Court yesterday imposed a two- month deadline for their completion. Both the DAA and Siptu said yesterday they had made informal contacts with the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to re-commence talks.

The Labour Court stated that the parties should engage "genuinely and meaningfully", pointing out that the sides' failure to enter such engagement as recommended by the National Implementation Body last December "reflects no credit on the parties".

The airport authority is looking to cut the Shannon workforce of 520 by 200 through voluntary redundancies and outsource work in a number of areas at the airport, including exiting from catering.

To date, Siptu has refused to enter talks on any proposed outsourcing.

However, in its recommendation, the Labour Court said that the "full and meaningful" engagement "obligates the parties to fully engage on proposals on outsourcing and any other alternative means of operational cost saving or efficiency" at Shannon.

The Labour Court ruled that it was not for it to decide whether or not outsourcing should take place "in the absence of agreement in principle between the parties".

The court recommendation also reveals that the DAA made a set of proposals at the hearing on March 24th, "adding a lump sum payment for those remaining in employment".

It is understood that the lump sums are up to €10,000 each in recognition of changing work practices in the restructured airport operation.

The voluntary redundancy package gives staff with more than 24 years' experience a €100,000 pay-off, while it also entitles workers to their company pensions at 55. DAA director for change John Horgan has described the package "as probably the highest severance package available in Ireland and probably the highest available ever".

The Labour Court said that, at the end of the two-month engagement, if there were any unresolved industrial relations issues they can be referred back to the court for recommendation.