SIPTU members at Shannon Aerospace, have served served management at the company with notice of industrial action that will begin on Tuesday, March 4.
The move is the latest development in a row about company plans to move from Direct Benefits pensions to Direct Contributions.
The industrial action will start with a four-hour work stoppage and an overtime ban, a SIPTU organiser Tony Carroll said.
“Further industrial action including work stoppages and other measures will be instigated in the following days if management refuses to enter negotiations on the issues of concern to workers,” he added.
“The workers were left with no option but to commence a campaign of industrial action in order to secure their pension entitlements. The workers’ pension scheme is fully funded and the company is in profit. There is no reason why members should be denied their full entitlements from a scheme into which they have paid.”
SIPTU members at Shannon Aerospace earlier this month voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action to protect their pension entitlements.
Shannon Aerospace Ltd confirmed that it has received notice of industrial action from SIPTU, which represents around 60 per cent of its workforce at Shannon.
“The company believes that industrial action is not the only option open to employees and is open to negotiate the transfer values from the Direct Benefit Scheme, the terms of a Direct Contributions Scheme and additional financial compensation”.
“Moving to a DC Scheme will provide an affordable model for the company’s pension plan and will eliminate the significant fluctuations in the financial accounts that arise from the DB Plan. Industrial action in response to this issue is only serving to damage the company and our ability to do business in Shannon”, a spoksewoman for the company said.
“We respect the right of our employees to take industrial action, but management has never refused to enter into negotiations with Union representatives and remains open to talks about the future of the Pension Scheme, on a Direct Contribution basis, and all of the options that this presents.
“In light of SIPTU’s announcement, the company will now need to examine how the work stoppage and overtime ban will impact on customers and operations and take whatever action is necessary to ensure that customers are not inconvenienced in any way.
