UP TO 200 major construction sites around the country could be hit by a threatened strike over pay involving up to 10,500 electricians.
The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) yesterday served strike notice on electrical contractors around the country over a pay claim that would raise the hourly rate from €21.49 per hour to €23.98.
The contractors said yesterday that they could not afford to pay the increase. The strike could begin on July 6th and the union warned that if it went ahead, it could have a serious impact in sectors such as energy, manufacturing and construction, causing widespread lay-offs across the economy.
The ESB said that there would be no threat to power supplies and that its staff were not involved.
The union said that among the construction sites that could be affected by the proposed dispute were: Terminal 2 at Dublin airport; the new Lansdowne Road stadium; the National Conference Centre at Spencer Dock and the Point Village in Dublin’s docklands; the Corrib Gas project in Co Mayo and the new Intel development in Co Kildare.
Traditionally, pay in the sector has been determined by unions and employers under a registered employment agreement (REA). based on the rates of pay in 16 companies during the previous year.
However, the TEEU said that in April last year implementation of the new REA rate of €22.54 – a 4.9 per cent increase – was frustrated by challenges brought by two groups of contractors.
It said the Labour Court had ultimately proposed direct talks between unions and employers.
It said that when the sides met, the employers had sought pay cuts and did not deal with the issue of increases.
TEEU general secretary-designate Eamon Devoy said that the main employer groups had used the developments over recent months “to avoid engaging with us seriously on negotiating a new REA rate”.
“It is now clear that the objective of the most cut-throat employers is to dismantle the REA system and drive rates for electricians down to the national minimum wage, simultaneously dismantling all the other improvements in conditions of employment secured over the past few decades,” he said.
The TEEU said some employers were threatening to cut rates to €19.34 per hour and even to reduce apprentices’ rates by 5 to 10 per cent.
Jean Winters, senior industrial relations executive at the Construction Industry Federation, said electrical contractors, like many other employers, were not in a position to pay increases at this stage.
The Electrical Contractors’ Association is a constituent member of the Construction Industry Federation.