Staff at airport services firm consider industrial action

Trade union SIPTU said its members in Sky Handling Partner, a company delivering services in Dublin Airport, are considering industrial action.

SIPTU has accused management of failing to recognise the union for the purpose of collectively bargaining wages and conditions.

Sky Handling Partner provides services such as reservations, ticketing, boarding, baggage handling and load control.

SIPTU said the company has failed to engage with its representatives both locally and through the auspices of the Workplace Relation Commission (WRC).

“The company has done this despite the fact that most of its staff are members of our union,” said SIPTU organiser Jerry Brennan.

“As Ireland has some of the weakest collective bargaining laws in Europe, these workers are left with little option but to contemplate industrial action to vindicate their fundamental right to negotiate with their employer as a group of workers rather than as just individuals.

“Sky Handling Partner can easily avoid industrial action; all they have to do is sit down and negotiate a fair deal for their staff with their SIPTU representatives.”

Sky Handling Partner said it has comprehensive arrangements in place to deal with its employee representatives directly in respect of their terms and conditions and that these arrangements have been working effectively for over 20 years.

“We recently implemented a number of enhanced terms and conditions following agreement with our employees, including enhanced permanent, full time, pensionable contracts; substantial pay increases benchmarked against the market; and a dedicated Employee Assistance Programme, among others,” a spokesperson said.

“Feedback from our employees indicates widespread satisfaction with our existing arrangements,” the company added.