ABSTRACT
The partnership arrangements agreed between management and unions in Aer Rianta in the mid 1990s were among the most radical of their kind in providing for union and staff involvement in all aspects of company decision-making. Less than ten years later, these arrangements had broken down and relations between the parties had returned to a more conventional pattern. Between the genesis and breakdown of partnership, the parties had experimented with new forms of decision-making and a new approach to industrial relations. At the high tide of partnership in the late 1990s, CP had provided a basis for a joint response to major commercial challenges such as the disappearance of duty-free sales and a review of the future status of the company. In these areas, partnership had effectively displaced traditional modes of decision-making and established industrial relations arrangements. Later, partnership had provided the basis for reaching agreement on changes in work practices and pay systems in two departments, cleaning and maintenance.
