TALKS AIMED at ending an eight-week long industrial dispute involving workers at a Dublin Port company are to take place at the Labour Relations Commission next Monday morning.
Siptu is to meet Marine Terminals Limited (MTL) to try to resolve the dispute, which has resulted in a series of protests and a two-month strike by workers at the cargo-handling company.
The union claims the company wants to introduce compulsory redundancies and cut the pay and disimprove conditions of the remaining workers.
About 40 MTL staff and supporters continued their protests yesterday when, using five 5.2m (17ft) boats, they attempted to block ships entering and leaving the port. Siptu said no ships entered the MTL berth, which can accommodate up to five vessels, during the protest, and a Stena Line vessel was delayed for a time in the main channel because of the protest. “The floating picket was a declaration of intent by the community,” said one of the protesters, “that the community backs the strikers.”
Earlier this week, the company said “unions must recognise that, for the port of Dublin to remain competitive in a deteriorating market, changes must be made”.
