No change for airport workers’ conditions, claims minister

The terms and conditions of employment of former Dublin Airport Authority workers in Shannon Airport will not be diminished in any way when they become staff of the Shannon Airport Authority.

 

That’s according to Transport Minister Leo Varadkar who moved to try and reassure existing workers in Shannon Airport they have nothing to fear when they transfer to the new State-owned NewCo next year.

Speaking during a Dáil debate, which copper-fastened December 31 as the appointed day for the separation of Shannon Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Minister Varadkar insisted he understood the concerns of staff in both Shannon Airport and Shannon Development at this time of significant change.

He stressed the new model for Shannon Airport offers a great opportunity for Shannon and the region.

“The terms and conditions of the DAA employees working in Shannon Airport will not be diminished in any way when they become staff of the Shannon Airport Authority,” he said.

“This was agreed following intense negotiations with ICTU in 2004, while the State Airports Act was being enacted and their protections are enshrined in that legislation. The terms of the Croke Park agreement apply to the staff in Shannon Development and, when the State-owned NewCo is established in due course, they will transfer to that company with their current terms and conditions.

“The workers in both Shannon Airport and Shannon Development are vital to the success of the airport and the vision for NewCo. Together with management, I am convinced that they can and will work together to ensure not just the survival but also the renewed growth and success of the airport.

“I am aware that some in the unions are unhappy with how these policy initiatives have been progressed to date and feel excluded from that process, notwithstanding the arrangements for consultation in place,” he said.

The minister has invited ICTU to nominate a representative to join a steering group of key departments that the Minister for Jobs,

Enterprise and Innovation, will establish to oversee implementation of the Government decisions on NewCo.

He has also pledged the workforce in the Shannon Airport Authority can have representation at board level as soon as separation is effected on December 31.

He also invited ICTU to nominate an employee representative for appointment to the board of the SAA on a temporary basis pending agreement on the arrangements for NewCo.

SIPTU official Tony Carroll confirmed last week their members were already balloting for strike action.

“We’re balloting because no assurances have been given to anyone and nobody knows what’s happening,” he said.

He added that they want their members to be allowed to remain employees of the DAA.

“We’re looking for the staff to be seconded to Shannon Airport rather than transferred to Shannon Airport. They’d remain DAA staff but be working in Shannon.”

Shannon should have been left with the DAA he claimed.

“What we are saying is that all they are planning to do could be done under the DAA. One of the problems is that the DAA has had a mixed mandate as to what it was supposed to be doing,” he said.

Once the ministerial order for the new Shannon board has been approved by the Seanad after its approval in the Dáil, it provides the legal basis to progress with the plan that will secure the future of Shannon Airport.

Minister Varadkar’s hope is that through co-ordinating with all interests in the Mid-West region and working together with the Government, exciting and innovative opportunities that will benefit business, tourism and job creation in the region can be provided.

“Shannon Airport is currently in this unenviable position. It is loss-making and its passenger traffic has fallen dramatically since 2007. It is being supported by the DAA and is not delivering its potential for the Mid-West region. Regardless of where ownership of Shannon Airport lies, this cannot continue.

“The stark facts are that passenger traffic at Shannon more than halved, from 3.6 million to 1.6m, in the period 2007 to 2011 and is expected to fall further, to less than 1.5m, this year.

“Clearly, this trend could not be allowed to continue without putting the very future of Shannon Airport at risk. There was a need for some intervention to put the airport on a more viable footing.

“It has been suggested the passenger projections for Shannon Airport seem fanciful. While the business plan is confidential, in the next five years, the Shannon plan projects passenger numbers to grow from approximately 1.5m this year to 2.3m in 2017 and 2.5m in 2021.

“Shannon traffic peaked at 3.6m passengers five years ago. I do not deny that it will be a challenge to meet these targets but they are achievable. Moreover, the alternative of accepting that passenger numbers at Shannon cannot be improved is much worse because that would spell the continued decline of the airport.

“In that eventuality, we would soon be seeking to downgrade or even wind down the structures at Shannon. That is not the future I want for the Shannon area,” he said.

However, Deputy Timmy Dooley described the projection that passenger numbers at the airport will have increased on current levels by 500,000, or 33%, by the end of 2014 as “fanciful”.

“While I hope that happens, I think it is fanciful to anticipate that it will. It is foolhardy to move on separation without putting in place some kind of secure backstop, in terms of a source of revenue for the airport at a time when this country is going through a very difficult financial crisis.

“Confidence is at a low ebb and people are not travelling to the extent that they did in the past. It is somewhat foolhardy to expect Shannon Airport to outstrip the general level of demand from a tourism traffic perspective and achieve a 33% increase. I ask the minister to review the matter,” he said.