A sit-in today by Servisair ground staff at Dublin Airport has not caused disruption to flights, according the company.
The protest was staged by 70 to 80 workers after they refused to operate new roster arrangements and were suspended by the company.
"Having been tried and tested through a critical business period, the management is confident that the mechanisms it has put in place will ensure that the traveling public and cargo customers should not suffer disruption," Mr Gareth Kyne, Servisair Human Resources Manager said.
Servisair say they do not discuss arrangements for cover but it has been claimed that staff from Northern Ireland and Britain have been brought in as replacements.
SIPTU spokesman Mr Dermot O'Loughlan told ireland.comthat Servisair has brought in replacements from Belfast and the UK following this morning's suspensions. Industrial action by workers is expected to continue until the situation is resolved.
In a statement this evening, Mr Kyne said Servisair wanted to adopt flexibilty practices "commonplace throughout the industry".
The dispute is over the introduction by the company of rostering arrangements to include the unloading of both cargo and passenger aircraft.
The 300 Servisair employees have been contesting the amalgamation of tasks and are seeking remuneration for the new rostering, which they say will lead to earlier and later starts for employees.
Servisair spokesman Mr Peter White said the company offered all employees the opportunity to adhere to the new rostering scheme, which he claimed applies across the entire ground-handling business. "Those who didn’t adopt them were suspended," he said.
Mr White said SIPTU members walked out of a meeting with Servisair and the Labour Relations Commission yesterday, following a rejection by the union of a company proposal ten days ago.
But SIPTU claims it did not walk out, insisting "the process literally broke down".