SIPTU to fight plan to relocate State jobs

Opposition to the Government's decentralisation programme hardened yesterday when SIPTU said it would step up its campaign against the project.

The union, which says it represents 1,500 of the 2,500 State agency workers whose jobs are to be relocated, had previously announced a boycott of the Central Applications Facility (CAF).

The CAF is a web-based system that was set up last month to allow public servants to transfer to their preferred locations.

Those choosing to remain in Dublin have been told that a separate process will be established for them at a later date.

Following a meeting yesterday of representatives from 20 State agencies earmarked for decentralisation, SIPTU said it would be intensifying its campaign of opposition to the programme.

In addition to a continued boycott of the CAF, members would also refuse to co-operate with implementation plans being drawn up to advance the programme, it said.

Mr Owen Reidy, secretary of the union's State and related agencies branch, said members were frustrated at the failure of both the Department of Finance and State agency employers to address their concerns about decentralisation.

"Unlike many civil servants, employees of State agencies do not have the flexibility to indicate a preference to move from one Department to another if relocation does not suit," he said.