A Labour Court hearing aimed at resolving the dispute over pay cuts at the Davenport Hotel in Dublin is under way.
The dispute is believed to be the first over the introduction of lower pay scales following the recent cut in the minimum wage rate of €8.65 per hour by the Government.
The row centres on five housekeeping staff at the hotel who trade union Siptu says have been taken off the roster and the payroll for refusing to sign new contracts reducing their pay by nearly €1 per hour.
The union says pay levels for the staff were set at the previous national minimum wage rate
Arriving at the talks, Siptu official Pat Ward said he was "quite confident" that the Labour Court will give a fair hearing to the staff concerned. He said the staff members' contracts stipulated that they would be paid €8.65 per hour.
He said Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan had also given an assurance that staff paid at the old minimum wage rate had "nothing to fear" from the changes introduced by the Government.
Representatives of management at the hotel refused to comment on the way in to the talks and objected to photographers taking photos of them.
