Friday, 10 Mar 2023
Updated / Friday, 10 Mar 2023 12:29
Workers strike at the Pfizer site in Grange Castle
By Brian O\u0027Donovan
By Brian O'Donovan
Work & Technology Correspondent
Pickets have been placed at construction sites at Intel in Leixlip, Co
Kildare and Pfizer in Grange Castle, Co Dublin.
It is part of a 24-hour strike by mechanical workers at two engineering
companies, HA O'Neil and Leo Lynch.
Plumbers, pipefitters and welders, who are members of the Unite trade
union, voted in favour of taking industrial action in a dispute over
the restoration of a travel allowance.
HA O’Neil, which is part of Jones Engineering, had sought a High Court
order aimed at preventing the strike.
The work stoppage has gone ahead but Unite has given an undertaking to
the court that no further industrial action will take place after today
pending the decision of the High Court.
Unite members strike at the Intel site in Leixlip
Unite said that the first hour of "travel time" was cut as a temporary
measure following the 2008 financial crash and that the restoration of
the payment would mean an increase of up to 12.8% in gross pay.
"Construction workers are continuing to shoulder the burden of
austerity-era pay cuts during an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis,"
said Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham.
"There should be no doubt regarding Unite’s determination to see our
members’ pay increased. This dispute will escalate unless employers
come to the table," Ms Graham said.
The Mechanical Engineering & Building Services Contractors Association
(MEBSCA), which is part of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF),
said that the workers have received pay increases over the last year
and that in 2011 agreement was reached to incorporate the travel
payment into hourly pay.
MEBSCA said that Unite's claim for an additional hour's travel was
rejected by the Labour Court last year.
The association said that the workers concerned are covered by a
Sectoral Employment Order (SEO) which sets out the legally binding
rates of pay and conditions of employment, and that the two companies
that have received strike notice have honoured all agreements entered
into with the unions.
MEBSCA had urged workers not to picket today and called for Unite to
channel its claim through the SEO process.