Siptu is to ballot its members for industrial action at Shannon airport in response to a move by the Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) to begin laying off 90 temporary staff.
Talks are to reconvene tomorrow at Shannon between airport management and unions under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to try to break the deadlock in the authority's cost-cutting plan for the airport.
In January unions overwhelmingly rejected the €35 million "survival plan" for Shannon which involved 200 voluntary redundancies and cost savings of €10 million per annum.
Following this rejection, the authority has told 23 temporary workers that their contracts will not be renewed on March 23rd.
The talks tomorrow are expected to focus on the staffing of the security operation at Shannon. The talks are seen as crucial in any alternative package that might be agreed between management and unions.
However, in a letter circulated among Siptu members at Shannon, industrial organiser Tony Carroll said:
"Siptu has now decided to proceed to issue notice of its intention to ballot its members on a protective ballot for industrial action to be implemented in the event of the DAA [ Dublin Airport Authority] proceeding to impose change unilaterally which may affect in any way our members and/or in breach of our procedural agreements.
"The protective ballot for industrial action in no way diminishes our commitment to engage with the DAA management through the LRC in trying to secure a settlement of all issues."
A spokeswoman for the SAA declined to comment on the move.
