More than 600 hotel employees could lose their jobs in Dublin under the restructuring plans announced by Jurys Doyle Hotel Group, according to Siptu.
The trade union said about 900 people were employed at the company's three Ballsbridge hotels, and only about a third of these would be accommodated in the newly developed Berkeley Court.
The company has disputed Siptu's figures, citing 410 full-time and 230 part-time employees at the three hotels. However the union said management was failing to include banqueting and conference staff in its calculations.
Siptu catering branch secretary Kieran Connolly said whatever the exact number of redundancies, "it will be significant".
"We were expecting the company to redevelop the site but the high level of job losses is a major shock. Even if you take 250 jobs into the new Berkeley Court Hotel that still leaves 650.
Reactions from staff were inevitably mixed yesterday. Some said they would welcome the opportunity of taking an early retirement package, if generous conditions were offered. However, others expressed concern at the possibility of being uprooted and moved to another Jurys hotel where lower pay rates might apply.
Mr Connolly said terms and conditions at Jurys Ballsbridge and the Berkeley Court would be better than at other premises in the group. "The Ballsbridge hotel has been there since 1963 and terms would have built up over that period of time. In terms of people being affected by this, you are talking about some members with over 40 years' service."
The company declined to say how many redundancies it envisaged under the plan. However, its chief executive Pat McCann, said it "may be not that substantial at the end of the day".
He added: "It is our objective over the next two years to look at each individual and see what positions they might be able to develop within the company."
Recruitment would begin shortly for 160 vacancies at Jurys Croke Park, which was due to open in September, while another 140 vacancies would be available at the revamped Jurys in Cork, due to open in summer 2006.
Mr McCann admitted, however, "for a lot of people, quite frankly, there will be a redundancy programme.
"Some people have asked about that already and they want to take that up, and we will enter into discussions with SIPTU on how best to achieve that."
Concern was raised among some employees yesterday about the fate of non-national staff whose residence in Ireland depended on the renewal of work permits by the company. Mr McCann said it would deal with such individuals on a case-by-case basis. "What we are putting in place now is a structure where each individual can come and talk to us . . . What we want to try and do is be fair to everybody and obviously protect as many people as we can in terms of their employment."
The union has already put down a marker in redundancy talks, rejecting management claims that it was dealing with a voluntary severance package. "We would be saying quite clearly this is a compulsory redundancy situation and would be maximising the terms available under those circumstances," Mr Connolly said.
