SIPTU have said their members in Bord Fáilte and CERT will not be co-operating with the merging of the two bodies to form the National Tourism Development Authority (NTDA) this week.
The Union has expressed its "disappointment" at the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue's decision to set May 28th as the date for the establishment of the new authority, "despite the fact that agreement had not yet been reached between the staff and management".
SIPTU say that as they "have no agreement" covering the transfer of staff into the NTDA, its members would "cease all co-operation with the establishment of the authority and have no involvement with any matters associated with it". The Union added that they were "deeply disappointed at the failure of the NTDA to put forward realistic proposals covering the transfer of staff".
Members of the Union would continue to work to "ensure that the talks of the merger did not interfere with the tourism effort which is essential to the success of the industry" and will continue fulfilling their "normal" duties in their "respective" organisations, SIPTU regional secretary, Mr Brendan Hayes said.
The NTDA, was set up to merge the functions of Bord Fáilte and CERT, before the start of next year's tourism season. This precedes the establishment of Tourism Ireland, the all-island agency now charged with marketing Ireland as a tourist destination.
Bord Fáilte was established in 1955 to promote tourism in Ireland. CERT was set up in 1963 to co-ordinate the education, recruitment and training of personnel for the tourism and catering industry.