Local authority water workers back industrial action over proposed transfer to Uisce Éireann

Local authority water workers have voted in favour of industrial action by an “overwhelming” margin as part of a long-running dispute over their proposed transfer to Uisce Éireann, Siptu has said.

The union said it would meet next week to decide whether to call a strike from June 7th.

Siptu officials had previously said the union would take the impact of any industrial action into account when deciding what form the action would take, but that disruption to commercial and residential users would be “inevitable” in the event of its members taking strike action.

The staff involved have the option of either moving to Uisce Éireann or remaining with their current council employers and moving to new positions.

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Amid fears that their public sector status might be lost at some point in the future, many workers want to opt for redeployment within their local authority. However, there are concerns they would be left worse off financially due to the loss of allowances currently paid for mandatory time spent on call.

There are around 3,000 workers involved in the dispute and the union says those affected stand to lose between €80 and €150 per week. Employers have said that the workers would not be worse off after the reorganisation.

In a letter to Siptu members on Thursday regarding the outcome of the ballot, sector organiser Brendan O’Brien said the result had been “overwhelmingly in favour” of taking industrial action on the issue.

He said some progress had been made on the issues involved with the Local Government Management Association but that its position “still falls short ... in relation to the protection of earnings for water workers choosing to remain with their local authority”.

He says the union is to inform the various local authorities that industrial action will commence next month and that the precise form it will take will be decided at a meeting of union representatives from around the country on May 12th.