Passengers using Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports face serious disruption tomorrow afternoon due to an industrial dispute involving air traffic controllers.
The Irish Aviation Authority has confirmed that it has suspended 15 air traffic controllers - ten in Dublin and five in Shannon - for failing to co-operate with three new technology projects.
Controllers union IMPACT says it will respond by instructing members to attend mandatory meetings tomorrow afternoon between 2pm and 6pm at the three airports.
The Irish Aviation Authority has confirmed that this will effectively shut down the airports for the afternoon.
The new work practices have been under discussion at the Labour Relations Commission and are due to be referred to the Labour Court.
The Irish Aviation Authority says that up to now it has suspended staff on full pay when they refused to co-operate, but it can no longer afford to do so. As a result, staff are now being suspended without pay.
IMPACT official Michael Landers said the action is in direct response to the staff suspensions.
He said that the core issues have been referred to the Labour Court, and that the IAA should not be suspending staff while the process is ongoing.
However, the IAA said another issue in the dispute was the €234m pension deficit. The company currently pays 30.5% of salary to the pension for staff, while staff contribute nothing.
The company says it wants staff to contribute at the same rate as the public sector, but that staff are resisting that move.
