Pickets placed on school building site in Dublin

The trade union Unite today placed pickets on a school building site in west Dublin in a dispute over alleged under-payment of workers.

The move followed a ballot of Unite members working on the JJ Rhatigan construction site at Kishoge Community College in Lucan.

The union has maintained that a system of sub-contracting meant that bricklayers were earning less than €5 per hour.

JJ Rhatigan, has denied the allegations made by the union.

Unite Regional Officer Tom Fitzgerald said:

“Our members have been left with no choice but to take industrial action in order to secure decent terms and conditions.”

He said some workers were earning less than €5 per hour, or less than the minimum wage.

In a statement JJ Rhatigan and Company said: “JJ Rhatigan and Company feel it is inappropriate to comment in detail on this matter at this time as meetings have been arranged through normal industrial relations procedures in an effort to resolve the alleged issues. We would however like to state that the allegations are completely untrue.”

Kishoge Community College is one of 70 new schools that are under construction this year.