A strike at Dublin Port is due to go ahead next Tuesday after Labour Relations talks broke down tonight in acrimony.
There were hopes of averting the action when talks involving the Dublin Port Company (DPC) and the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) began after the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) invited both parties to talks.
The TEEU has claimed that five shore staff, who had no training as crew members, were suspended when they refused to man tug boats this week.
Dublin Port Company said the union's claims were "false and grossly misleading" and were a "huge shock". It denied staff were suspended for refusing to operate tugs, although it said some workers had been suspended.
Tonight the TEEU claimed the company had offered even worse terms for averting a strike than had originally been on offer.
Regional secretary Arthur Hall said: "The union put a conciliatory position to the company that its members would have undertaken the familiarisation course on the tugs that the company was seeking for a period of three weeks."
This was on condition that over the period parallel discussions to resolve the issue which could be referred to a third party would take place.
The union also sought the lifting of suspensions the expunging of the relevant personnel records full payment of wages.
"The company put a counter proposal that was far worse than the proposal that they put to our members on Monday, January 22nd. It said that if the men returned to work and carried out any instruction given to them by management, the company would lift the suspensions," Mr Hall said.
He said this proposal was evidence of management's "contempt for its own employees" and confirmed that picketing would start next Tuesday.
The company issued a statement this evening expressing disappointment at the failure to resolve the issue.
The statement said the proposed strike action was "unwarranted, irresponsible and unnecessary".
It said the company had "invested significantly in and honoured" an agreement with the union which included "substantial increases in pensionable salaries".
It said the agreement nullified previous understandings and entailed "a completely new way of working" including an end to demarcation.
"Dublin Port Company categorically rejects further false and misleading claims made by the TEEU in a statement issued by them this morning, that Dublin Port Company made shore based fitters and electricians 'work on board tug boats in Dublin Bay, without training or proper equipment, on the weekend of January 12th to 14th in atrocious weather conditions'.
It said the union was attempting to use "unfounded health and safety allegations to deflect attention from the core issue".