Renewed talks between Aer Rianta unions and the Department of Transport are likely to get under way next week, following SIPTU's decision to call off a planned airports stoppage yesterday.
A structure for the talks, to take place within an agreed time frame, is expected to be drawn up today. While no deadline had been set yesterday, union sources indicated that an OECD meeting in Dublin in mid-March could be the next event targeted for disruption, if a resolution has not been found.
After three days of deliberation, SIPTU decided to accept an invitation from the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, to enter talks, and deferred the action.
Both Mr Brennan and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, had offered assurances that workers' job security and pay and conditions would be protected after the planned break-up of Aer Rianta.
Mr Dermot O'Loughlin, secretary of SIPTU's civil aviation branch, said yesterday the union would be asking detailed and searching questions about how those assurances could be sustained. For example, it wanted to know how jobs could be guaranteed at Dublin Airport in the event of a new terminal securing a major airline as a core client, and taking away 40 per cent of the existing airport's business.
Mr O'Loughlin said workers were still prepared to take industrial action in the event of the Government's failure to provide satisfactory answers. "We haven't gone back down the hill. We're merely camping on top of the hill," he said.
Fine Gael's transport spokesman, Mr Denis Naughten, said he was also sceptical about the assurances provided by Mr Brennan.
He said the general public had not been "let into the secret" of the Minister's plans for the three airports.
