Union and management representatives at Anglo Irish Beef Processors (AIBP) are meeting at the Labour Relations Commission today to try to avert an escalation of the strike at the company's plants in Clones, Rathkeale and Waterford.
SIPTU is threatening to extend pickets to plants in Cahir, Nenagh and Bandon tomorrow. It is the first major industrial dispute in the foot-and-mouth crisis. An AIBP spokesman said yesterday the company was "deeply concerned" SIPTU and the ATGWU were not following "proper procedures".
"In each of these plants, employees who faced temporary lay-offs as a result of BSE and FMD outbreaks were all offered alternative employment at their existing locations," he said. "This offer was only taken up by a small number." The unions are seeking severance payments for employees because of continuing short-time working. SIPTU national industrial officer Mr John Kane said they would then be able to seek full-time, alternative employment.
The company spokesman said AIBP had "spent too much time and resources to build up a work force in each of our plants to contemplate losing them if this can be avoided".
He said it was not appropriate for some employees to take strike action in pursuit of redundancy payments when they had already decided to take up full-time jobs elsewhere.
The union is continuing with its plans to extend pickets tomorrow. Mr Kane said they could be reviewed depending on today's talks.