IMPACT to ballot workers on industrial action

IMPACT to ballot workers on industrial action


Anton McNulty

THE public sector trade union IMPACT will this week ballot its members in Mayo on industrial action and has not ruled out strike action if members vote in favour.
Workers in the public sector in Mayo have been very vocal in their opposition to the Government’s proposed pension levy and made their feelings heard at a meeting attended by Mayo’s five TDs earlier this month. The Chairman of the Mayo branch of IMPACT, Jerry King, which represents over 1,000 public sector workers, told The Mayo News that members will be balloted on industrial action which could include strike action.
Mr King explained that the union was recommending to its members to vote in favour of industrial action as the ‘only way to save the country’. He said the Government had no plan to get the country out of the current situation and said they had to sit back down with the unions.
“The Irish Congress of Trade Unions [ICTU] have a plan, we have seen the plan from the Government which amounts to introducing a levy for one-sixth of the workforce in Ireland. That cannot save the country on its own. The consequences of imposing the levy will result in  the public sector spending less which will result in job losses in the public sector. The only leadership I can see at the moment is from the trade unions because it is not coming from the Government,” he said.
Mr King said they had not decided what action to take if members vote for industrial action and there were other options along with striking. However, he said if the Government don’t use the window of opportunity to speak to the trade unions, he predicted ‘widespread’ industrial action and strikes.
Mr King said he was part of a sizeable Mayo contingent which attended the national demonstration in Dublin on Saturday, which he said was made up of both private and public sector workers. He claimed there was an agenda by the Government and other agencies to create a division between the public and private sector workers, but said that the only division was between the ordinary worker and the greedy.
Mr Noel Kilfeather of the Mayo Number two branch of SIPTU explained that the National Executive of SIPTU was to meet on whether or not to ballot its members for industrial action and would know before the end of the week. He said there was a real worry among all employees – both private and public – and not just about pension levies.
Castlebar town councillor, Harry Barrett, hit out at the Government’s decision to impose a pension levy and complimented all Mayo workers who protested in Dublin.
“The pain must be spread evenly. But it must be spread from the top down and not from the bottom up. Too often when it is spread from the bottom up it stops along the way and never reaches the top echelons. These untapped sources should be targeted first before the Government moves to target either the public or private workers,” he said.