ANALYSIS:Court injunctions and the laying-off of factory workers are possible effects of dispute, writes MARTIN WALL.
THE STRIKE involving around 10,500 electricians over a pay increase which they maintain is outstanding for two years has the potential to cause more disruption to industry in general than most other disputes in recent years.
The strike centres on a grievance between electricians and electrical contractors. However, because contractors not only provide services on building sites but also in factories, it is having an effect on businesses not directly involved in the row.
Last night the drinks group Diageo secured an injunction to prevent picketing at its plants and it is expected that further applications to the High Court will be made by other companies today and in the days ahead if the strike continues.
In essence, although the strike currently only involves one union, the TEEU – and an all-out stoppage has not been yet approved by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions – the reality on the ground is that other staff have refused to pass pickets both on a number of high-profile construction sites and in some other companies.
The chocolate manufacturer Cadbury, for example, said yesterday it had nothing to do with the dispute but that its site had been targeted for what it said was “secondary picketing” by persons unknown to its business.
It said a small number of employees had not reported for work and that this had caused considerable disruption and resulted in a “complete cessation of production in Coolock”.
“Regrettably we have had no option but to place Coolock production-related employees on protective notice,” the company said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Cadbury did not give details last night on the number of staff who have been placed on protective notice.
The employers’ group Ibec has gone further and warned of possible lay-offs in companies hit by the electricians’ dispute.
It said many companies were having to consider measures that would have a major impact on all their employees, unionised or not, in response to TEEU pickets.
“Some manufacturing operations may have to stop production, and if this happens companies will be forced to lay off general workers. Some are already putting employees on protective notice in anticipation of further disruption.”
The TEEU, for its part, maintained that Ibec was seeking to create a climate of fear and to divide workers.
The Government is also aware of the potential of the dispute to cause widespread disruption. Last night Tánaiste Mary Coughlan urged both sides to seek a resolution using the State’s industrial relations machinery.
The row has already been considered by both the Labour Court and the Labour Relations Commission and a further intervention is unlikely without the parties indicating they are willing to move from entrenched positions. The position is further complicated as one group representing electrical contractors has not been part of this process.
Traditionally, pay in the electrical contractor sector has been set down in a registered employment agreement reached between the union and two bodies representing employers and approved by the Labour Court. However, when a new agreement for an increase of 5 per cent was reached in 2008, this was challenged in the High Court by a new organisation representing contractors, the National Electrical Contractors Ireland.
By the time a High Court injunction was lifted the original employer parties to the agreement claimed the world had moved on and that they could not afford the increases. They later suggested that a 10 per cent reduction was merited rather than a pay rise.
The Labour Court, following a marathon hearing earlier this year, urged the parties to return to direct negotiations on pay but these proved fruitless.
The Electrical Contractors’ Association, which represents around 50 of the larger employers, has said that the increases in the 2008 agreement are not off the table for good but that it cannot afford to pay at the moment.
The TEEU is seeking the payment of both the 5 per cent set out in the 2008 agreement and a further 6 per cent – basically the rises due under the social partnership deal reached last autumn.
