Exporters face difficulty getting goods to Britain from Monday when an all-out strike is to begin at Irish Ferries.
The Irish Road Haulage Association said the strike, announced yesterday by SIPTU, could not have come at a worse time for business.
The indefinite stoppage, over plans by the company to outsource crew next year on its MV Normandy service to France, follows a 24-strike by the same union yesterday.
SIPTU members placed pickets on company premises and, alongside colleagues from the Seamen's Union of Ireland, marched from Liberty Hall to the gates of Leinster House.
Union leaders had a meeting there with the Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher, who later called for both sides to engage in dialogue.
A spokesman for the haulage association, Mr Jimmy Quinn, said there was no spare capacity on alternative ferry services at this time of the year.
"There is a huge export trade with everything from Christmas trees to turkeys. Every ship in and out of Dublin Port is packed."
Mr Quinn criticised SIPTU for its action and said hauliers had sympathy for Irish Ferries, which had to cut costs in an increasingly competitive market. "Everyone knows there has been a bloodbath among European ferries. This is no time for anyone to be throwing toys out of the pram."
SIPTU official Mr Paul Smyth defended the action, saying the union could not accept the outsourcing of Irish seafaring jobs.
The union, he said, was prepared to discuss with the company proposals to cut costs on its continental service. "But we will not talk about outsourcing."
Irish Ferries said the decision to contract out employment on its Ireland-France service was taken in the interests of safeguarding the long-term operation of the service.
Its passenger numbers had declined in recent years due to competition from low-cost air carriers and a state-subsidised French competitor, Brittany Ferries. Crew to be contracted in under the new arrangements next year would be drawn from Ireland, Britain and other EU states.
Mr Smyth dismissed as "nonsense" the company's justification for the move. He claimed it was motivated by profit alone and that the company had "an agenda" to outsource crew on all of its services.
This is denied by Irish Ferries, which says it is prepared to offer guarantees to unions that it will not seek to contract out employment on its Irish Sea routes.
About 150 people were employed on the MV Normandy service between Ireland and France before it was suspended for the winter. Irish Ferries says more than 80 per cent of the staff have accepted a voluntary redundancy package. Those who chose to stay in the company would be relocated to other jobs.
