Catering firm's worker profiles 'sinister'

Siptu has described an attempt by a large catering employer in Dublin to create a "risk profile" of its workforce as sinister and reprehensible.

A leaked internal e-mail shows that Gate Gourmet Ireland, a UK company employing 200 at Dublin airport, is seeking to profile its staff for a number of factors, including their likelihood to raise a grievance, disobey a reasonable instruction or take illegal action.

Company managers were instructed to profile their workforce according to marital status and number of children, strength of work ethic, flexibility and union membership. They were told to have the "risk matrix" ready by yesterday because of a "difficult issue" the company had to face over the next few days.

The company and staff who are members of Siptu are currently before the Labour Relations Commission over plans to introduce new work contracts.

In the UK, Gate Gourmet sacked 700 workers at Heathrow airport last year, and ensuing industrial action led to travel chaos. The company makes 600,000 meals a day in its operations in 29 countries.

Siptu president Jack O'Connor described the e-mails as extremely sinister, and said they were symptomatic of a new approach to industrial relations. He challenged the employers' organisation Ibec to state its view on the development

"It does appear to show that while negotiations are under way, a strategy is being prepared to achieve an entirely different aim. That's an undesirable and reprehensible thing," he told RTÉ radio. He accused the company of designing a mechanism to put pressure on individual workers based on their vulnerability.

But Gate Gourmet Ireland's manager, Brian Murnane, said it was prudent for any company to engage in contingency planning to ensure that nothing happened to interrupt its services.

"Not everything sits well with every employee," he said, before referring further questions to a UK public relations consultant.

That spokesman said the company needed to improve operational effectiveness to enable it to provide a reliable and cost-effective service.

"The revised working arrangements which we are proposing are consistent with existing employment contracts and will enable the first stage of payments under the national wage agreement to be implemented."

This 3 per cent payment was due in October but has not yet been paid by the company.

Ibec declined to comment on the matter, saying it related to the implementation of a number of work practice changes by Gate Gourmet which were still the subject of discussion.

In the e-mail a UK manager, Jim Ball, warns colleagues that employees may refuse to work new arrangements planned by the company. He says the company needs the risk profile as evidence to hand to persuade employees to give flexibility, and should first target those workers least likely to raise a grievance.

In a letter to the company, the organiser of Siptu's civil aviation branch, Pat Ward, yesterday accused it of "provocative and negative" industrial relations practices. He claimed its actions breached a promise made at the LRC last week to suspend all new contract negotiations.