Talks between SIPTU and Servisair, aimed at resolving the five-day strike by 300 workers at Dublin and Cork airports, ended in consensus last night and a settlement proposal is to be put to a meeting of Servisair staff today.
The proposed settlement, agreed jointly between management and the union, is being recommended to the strike committee for acceptance, according to Ms Carmel Hogan, SIPTU's civil aviation branch secretary. If agreed by the general meeting of baggage-handlers, normal working would resume by tomorrow, she added.
Both Servisair and SIPTU declined to give details of the proposal. Earlier, however, a company spokesman said that it had accepted the findings of the State's labour relations mechanisms and the terms of Partnership 2000, and it expected the union to do likewise.
"We proposed to increase the shift premium to the £50 per week sought by SIPTU and have proposed that subsequent employees have a weekly shift premium of £44.25 for their first year of employment", the Servisair spokesman said.
The union had said that it wanted the emphasis to be on shift pay. "Shift payments are guaranteed whether you work weekends or not", Ms Hogan said yesterday. "We need our members' earnings to be increased, along with improved retrospection."
Servisair operates in Dublin, Cork and Shannon and employs up to 500 staff in the summer and about 400 in winter.