Legal challenge to ferry strike plan

Talks aimed at avoiding the strike broke down

A ferry passenger is set to take legal action in the High Court to try to prevent a strike by employees on Seacat's Belfast to Heysham and Troon routes.

Talks between Seacat management and union representatives at the Labour Relations Agency aimed at avoiding the strike broke down on Tuesday.

Employees working on the routes said they would be taking indefinite strike action from Thursday over working conditions.

Gerry Doherty from the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), which is involved in the dispute, said Seacat management must accept the blame for any inconvenience caused to passengers.

He said: "If people have to suffer, I have to say, it is the management which would have to bear the blunt of that blame.

"Our door is open to resolve these matters and to make sure people don't suffer in that manner."

The TSSA said the company was refusing to recognise the union, which represents more than four-fifths of employees.

Unions says door is open to resolve matter

A spokesman for Seacat said its contingency plans should ensure that sailings would be unaffected despite the planned strike action.

In a statement on Tuesday night, the spokesman added: "Contrary to the claims made by the TSSA it does not represent a significant proportion of our seagoing staff.

"Of the 198 employed on the Irish Sea routes only 23 voted in that TSSA ballot.

"The company regrets that intending passengers have faced uncertainty but the blame lies firmly on the shoulders of the TSSA who are currently involved in an inter-union dispute over recognition rights."

Success of route

Seacat, a subsidiary of Sea Containers, launched the Troon service in April last year.

The company then abandoned its Stranraer to Belfast link in March this year, citing the success of the new route as the reason for consolidating its Irish Sea operations in Troon.

Earlier this year another subsidiary of Sea Containers, the Argyll and Antrim Steam Packet company, announced it was withdrawing from the loss-making Campbeltown to Ballycastle route.