Council’s outdoor staff agree by 85 percent to strike in January

Anton McNulty

MAYO County Council have been urged to ‘sit down and talk’ with union officials to resolve a problem affecting outdoor staff and prevent a strike in the new year.
The outdoor staff of Mayo County Council were balloted for industrial action earlier this month with 85 percent of workers voting in favour of strike action which is scheduled to take place in mid January.
The decision to ballot for strike action was taken after two members of the Council’s outdoor staff were transferred from their Westport base to Ballinrobe while another was moved from Belmullet to Ballina.
The trade union, SIPTU, say that Mayo County Council are in breach of the Lansdowne Road agreement regarding outsourcing.
Anthony McCormack, a SIPTU official, told The Mayo News that strike action can be averted if the Council reinstate the workers to their original base.
“If an issue is not resolved locally, the next step is to bring it to the WRC [Workplace Resolution Commission] but in return the status quo remains in place. However, Mayo County Council went ahead and moved the people in question and we had no option but to ballot our members. This [strike action] can be easily resolved if the Council return the people to their base and engage in the process,” he said.
A spokesperson for Mayo County Council said they regularly meet with the worker’s representatives and they hope any industrial action can be averted.
If a resolution is not agreed, the workers are expected to serve notice of industrial action on Mayo County Council with ‘an all out strike’ to take place in mid January.
The matter was raised at the November meeting of Mayo County Council where the executive were urged to resolve the matter. Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne said that councillors had believed the matter had been resolved, and called on both sides to sit down and prevent a strike.
“We thought we had it resolved at budget time when there was an understanding that the staff would be sent back to their base as soon as an opening arises. Obviously it was not resolved. I am disappointed that this might happen and affect services to the public. I would urge both sides to get together and sort it out,” he said.
Sinn Féin Senator Rose Conway Walsh also called on the executive of Mayo County Council to urgently intervene to resolve the dispute.
“It is imperative that Mayo County Council engages in meaningful dialogue with SIPTU representatives to find a settlement. I fully support the workers’ decision to strike and find it regrettable that they feel this is the only option open to them at this stage.
“The past number of years has seen the erosion of the rights of outdoor workers, both in terms of working conditions and resources. This situation has to be reversed and workers moved out of their working districts have to be reinstated to their original areas,” she said.