Talks aimed at resolving the dispute at Irish Ferries which led to the cancellation of services for 10 days are to begin at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) on Tuesday.
The company's services returned to normal yesterday after SIPTU called off its strike by ships' officers following an intervention by the National Implementation Body (NIB).
The strike was called in response to a plan by the company to outsource employment on its Rosslare-Cherbourg service next year.
SIPTU is opposed to the move and has suggested alternative means of cutting costs on the route. Both it and management have now agreed to explore "all options" to achieve the viable operation of the route in talks at the LRC.
However, a SIPTU official, Mr Paul Smyth, warned yesterday that the union would not accept an outcome to those discussions that involved outsourcing.
He said the union had made this clear to the NIB, a body set up under the partnership process and comprising high-level Government, union and employer representatives. It recommended that if the parties failed to agree in talks at the LRC, the matter should be referred to the Labour Court for investigation.
Mr Smyth said if outsourcing was still the company's objective at the end of the process, "then we are heading for a big row".
The company's Irish Sea services are now operating as normal, weather permitting. Sailings of the high-speed MV Jonathan Swift between Dublin and Holyhead today have been cancelled because of adverse weather.
