Irish Ferries faces the threat of strike action next Tuesday because it dismissed a shop steward after holding its own investigation into the alleged rape of a female crew member.
Both workers are in SIPTU, and the union has appointed each an official to represent their side of the story.
The matter has been referred to the Labour Court, which offered to bring forward the hearing if Tuesday's strike was averted. It had been expected that the union members would agree. However, yesterday morning the company posted copies of a letter sent to a SIPTU branch secretary, Mr Michael Corcoran, on the ship where the former shop steward worked. The company said it had concluded from its own investigation that the man "was guilty of raping and harassing a fellow employee".
There was a Garda investigation into the incident, but no charges were preferred.
Mr Corcoran said yesterday that members were "outraged" at the company's action. "It has aggravated a very difficult situation and made its resolution much more difficult."
The former shop steward at the centre of the controversy denies the allegations and says that the only way to clear his name is by winning reinstatement.
He says the only evidence offered to him was a copy of a statement made by the woman in the case, which was presented to him more than a week after the alleged incident last November.
The man was formally dismissed on April 16th after an internal hearing by the company. Senior management upheld the original decision at an appeals hearing on June 2nd. The man has been unemployed since April and has had to put the family home up for sale.
The company has declined to comment on the case. However, Irish Ferries sources said more than 30 people were interviewed about the incident and questions put to the man were culled from their statements. The sources claimed the shop steward refused to co-operate with the investigation.
The woman is understood to be still receiving counselling and is not at work. The company told the union it was prepared to go to the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Labour Court on the issue, but it did not feel that normal dispute procedures were an appropriate forum for resolving it.
Both sides have tried to avoid publicity over the incident. Irish Ferries has just come out of a damaging dispute with ships' officers which marred the launch of the Jonathan Swift, the new fast ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, and does not want to become embroiled in fresh industrial action.
At the same time, it has an obligation as an employer to protect employees, and senior management is understood to feel that the action taken was not only justified but necessary.
SIPTU's membership is 40 per cent female. It has a long track record of combating sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace, with an even longer history of defending victimised shop stewards.
The summer season is over but the strike would seriously disrupt all passenger and freight traffic. SIPTU members, who voted by 103 to six for strike action, will decide their next step on Monday.