Irish Ferries is making alternative travel arrangements for passengers and freight facing disruption because of a 24-hour strike this Thursday.
The stoppage by ship officers belonging to SIPTU is over plans by the company to outsource staffing on its Rosslare to Cherbourg route with the loss of 150 jobs.
The union said it had been provoked into taking the action because management was moving ahead with outsourcing without consulting unions.
Earlier this year, Irish Ferries negotiated cost savings of over €3m with SIPTU and the Seamen's Union of Ireland in order to remain competitive against its rivals.
Now the company wants to replace the 150 staff on the Rosslare to Cherbourg route with workers outsourced from an agency. Irish Ferries says this would cut payroll costs by €3.5m a year.
Most of the 150 have accepted a redundancy package, and the rest will be redeployed.
But SIPTU fears that that once conceded, the principle of outsourcing will spread to other routes. It has therefore called for the 24-hour strike commencing at 6am on Thursday.
The routes affected are the Dublin to Holyhead cruise ferry and fast ferry, and the Rosslare to Pembroke cruise ferry.
The Rosslare to Cherbourg service was discontinued early for the winter because of the threatened strike.
Intending passengers can phone 0818-300-400 for further information.
A spokesperson for Irish Ferries said it was difficult to see what good could be served by an action which undermines customer confidence and has the effect of directing customers to its competitors.
At this point there is no sign of any intervention which could stave off the strike.
