Trade union officials and shop stewards at Lufthansa Airmotive Ireland are due to appear in the High Court this morning. They will respond to an injunction preventing them from taking unofficial industrial action at the plant. The injunction was granted to LAI by Mr Justice Roderick Murphy on Sunday.
The dispute, over contract working, has disrupted production at the aircraft maintenance plant for the past week.
Yesterday the unions at the plant, which represent 370 of the 450 employees, instructed shop stewards "to use your good offices with the membership with a view to securing the earliest possible resumption of normal working, pending the expiry of the notice of official industrial action". Notice for official strike action runs out on Friday. The three contract workers whose introduction to the plant led to unofficial industrial action last Tuesday did not report for work.
The company wants to hire more contracted labour because of the difficulties it has in recruiting and holding staff. Mechanics outside the gate yesterday claimed the company was paying £17 an hour for contract workers compared with £8 an hour for permanent staff. The company yesterday declined to comment on the rates. Most of the men seemed willing to return to work if the three contract mechanics were withdrawn, along with the declaration the firm is now requiring the strikers to sign before allowing them back into the plant. The declaration commits the men to working alongside contracted labour and to being "reasonably available" for night shifts and Sunday working. The company has denied any intention of bringing in large numbers of contract workers.