Workers at Shannon airport have been refusing to attend briefing sessions to discuss a redundancy package, part of an "all or nothing deal" aimed at reducing the airport's workforce by almost half and securing the future viability of the airport.
The airport's 500 employees have been given until November 16th to make up their minds about whether they will accept the voluntary severance package while the company expects the unions to have balloted their members by November 25th.
Staff have been told that the airport authority wants a signed agreement three days later, while January 1st, 2006, has been set as the date for the implementation of the restructuring plan.
Staff were last week presented with an eight-page brochure from the Dublin Airport Authority, which still governs Shannon. Titled Programme for Commercial Viability Shannon airport, it tells staff that redundancies are necessary for the airport to survive.
Shannon is expected to suffer accumulated losses of €137 million over the next 10 years. However, this figure takes into account €85 million which the airport plans to spend on "upgrading and replacing aging facilities".
The majority of staff refused to attend briefing sessions on Thursday and Friday, with workers in one department returning the information brochures to management. "We won't even entertain what is being proposed. It is a scandal," one worker said yesterday.
The document states that while there would be no forced redundancies, "If at the end of the day there is not agreement or a sufficient number of volunteers do not come forward, there will be no severance package for any employee and none of the other measures will be implemented under this proposed plan."
The longest-serving members of staff could receive a package worth up to €100,000. Staff with only three years' service will be entitled to around €8,000, while colleagues who have worked at Shannon for 40 years, depending on their age, could be entitled to €93,000 or more.
Staff have been told that it is "essential that negotiations are concluded and agreement reached in good time for the measures to be implemented before the end of the year".