Siptu has described the dispute at Irish Ferries as a test of the viability of social partnership. Colm Keena, Public Affairs Correspondent, reports.

Siptu general president Jack O'Connor has called on the Government to do something about the company's plans to replace workers on the Dublin-Hollyhead route with non-Irish workers.

"It is now incumbent on the Government to actually do something instead of standing idly by wringing its hands," he said.

The employers' body, Ibec, responded by accusing Siptu of "doublespeak".

"This week saw the trade unions at their worst with one of the largest unions in Ictu posing the greatest threat to social partnership," said Brendan McGinty, director of industrial relations and human resources at Ibec. He was referring to the ATGWU which earlier this week engaged in industrial action at the ESB.

At the end of a two-day meeting in Dublin Siptu's national executive council said the Irish Ferries' plan was "an outrageous example of the acceleration of the 'race to the bottom' which is well under way in the Irish economy".

The company has sought 543 voluntary redundancies on the Dublin Holyhead and Dublin Rosslare service. It has said that if the offer is not accepted the routes will be closed. The union has served strike notice and says the company began seeking to recruit non-Irish labour for the route three weeks ago. The company has not commented on this claim.

In a statement, Siptu's National Executive Council said it was particularly disappointed at the failure of the National Implementation Body to insist on Irish Ferries adhering to the compliance clauses of the Sustaining Progress agreement. It said that, ironically, the clauses were included at the insistance of the employers' body, Ibec.

Mr O'Connor said he was calling on the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin, to bring forward proposals to prohibit job displacement and "protect employment standards against unscrupulous employers who are exploiting the vulnerability of migrant workers to maximise profits in already profitable companies."

Earlier this month Irish Continental Group, which owns Irish Ferries, reported a pretax profit of €1.7 million for the first six months of the year.

The exploitation of migrant workers is "prevalent in constuction, contract cleaning, security, catering and in some parts of manufacturing," Mr O'Connor said.

"We recognise that Ibec has to put the best gloss it can on the activities of some of its members but a line must be drawn somewhere. Indeed, some of the better employers must feel threatened by the activities of unscrupulous competitors."

Mr McGinty contrasted the actions of the ATGWU and the industrial action it took this week with the ESB, with the actions of Irish Ferries. He said Irish Ferries had sought to engage with its trade unions over the last few years but the unions had failed to deliver the pace and scale of change required.

"The current cost base of Irish Ferries is excessive relative to their competitors," he said.

"The issue now for the trade unions is to decide whether it is better to have several hundred moderately paid Irish jobs remaining in Irish Ferries or to have no jobs at all."

A spokeswoman for Mr Martin said all workers in the Republic are subject to the minimum wage and other employment laws. Irish labour law applies to ships flying under the Irish flag. The Irish Ferries craft that operates the Rosslare-to-France route flies the flag of the Bahamas.