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By Mike Mitchell |
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January 23, 2010 – On Friday, |
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The dispute concerning the proper
classification of this work will be referred to the Court under
Section 20(2) of the Industrial Relations Act 1969 for final and
binding adjudication and both parties agree in advance to be bound
by the decision of the Court on that question. The Court will hear
the parties on the Tuesday 26th January 2010 and will issue its
adjudication as soon as practicable thereafter.
In consideration of the above the Union will, at the
request of the Court, withdraw its objection to participation in the
project work giving rise to this dispute and will undertake this work if
requested to do so by management. The proposal was agreed by all
parties. The On Tuesday the Irish Aviation Authority, (IAA) was
formally notified by the air traffic controllers union, IMPACT that a
work stoppage would begin on this day. The industrial action scheduled
by IMPACT would involve work stoppages between 14.00 and 18.00 in The IAA is calling IMPACT to desist from this action, to defer the 6% pay claim, to pay a pension contribution like everyone else in the public service, and to return to normal working. "We had no option but to suspend 14 Air Traffic Controllers," says Liam Kavanagh, Director of HR. |
More than 120 flights in and out of IMPACT has instructed Controllers not to co-operate
with a number of ongoing technology projects unless the Authority pays
for such changes. Ongoing
change is a core part of the IAAs work as the airlines demand greater
efficiency and the European commission has challenged all Air Traffic
service providers to become more efficient and embrace change. "We
cannot function if we have to pay people every time we upgrade a
system," Liam Kavanagh says. "The real issue here is money. Air traffic
controllers want two things. Irish Aviation Authority has stated the union wants a 6% pay increase agreed in the last partnership agreement - despite the fact that the whole world has been turned on its head since that agreement, the industry is in trouble, and volumes of work are decreasing. And they do not want to pay anything towards their pensions - even though all other public service staff now pay the pension levy. The Controllers make no contribution to their own pensions. The Authority, meanwhile, pays a contribution of 30.5% of salary for every member of staff. |
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