Talks were continuing tonight at the Labour Relations Commission in a bid to bring to an end the strike involving up to 10,500 electricians which has seriously affected the construction industry and parts of the manufacturing sector over recent days.
Representatives of electrical contractors held face-to-face talks with officials of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (Teeu) tonight following which employer sources said that they were more positive than they had been earlier that a successful outcome could be achieved.
A spokesman for both bodies representing electrical contractors in the talks, the ECA and AECI, said last night that they had "reiterated their commitment to the register employment agreement for setting pay and conditions in the sector in return for the ending of the strike".
Under the registered employment agreement system, pay cuts of 10 per cent as had been sought by employers could not be introduced without agreement of the union.
The TEEU did not comment on progress in the talks.
The general secretary of the TEEU earlier warned an all-out picket by unions in the construction industry will be in place by the end next week if the electricians' dispute was not resolved
Eamon Devoy made his comments this morning ahead of the talks aimed at resolving the strike at the LRC.
"An all-out picket by construction industry unions will be in place by the end of next week if the dispute over electricians pay is not resolved at the LRC today," Mr Devoy said.
He rejected the assertion that his members were seeking a pay rise, claiming "employers are withholding pay from our members for 2007-2008 pay period".
"Every other worker in the economy, that has been asked to take a pay freeze, have had a pay increase of between 10 and 17 per cent since our members got an increase.
"Our members are now being asked to take a 21 per cent pay reduction. This is not going to happen," he said.
"This is the third time in a week we have been at the LRC and the employers have not yet made an offer in an attempt to settle the dispute and until they do, we have nothing to discuss."
He warned that if a resolution did not come about today "it won't happen for a very long time".
Eddie Keenan from the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) said he was hopeful a resolution could be found but discussions must take place in the context of the current economic conditions.
He said many construction projects around the country had been forced to close because of the dispute and said some employers had already laid off workers.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) last night approved an application for an all-out strike in the dispute involving electrical contractors. Other units in sector will now ballot members over next fortnight or so.
The TEEU welcomed the Ictu decision to ballot its members. TEEU general secretary Owen Wills said: "Workers have not been fooled by the media campaign of the employer organisations. They realise that if those employers succeed in imposing cuts on us now, they will be next in line."
Also welcoming the move, Eric Fleming, Siptu's national construction sector organiser, said his union will complete its ballot by the end of next week.
The nationwide strike by 10,500 electricians today enters its third day despite warnings from employers that jobs in the wider economy are under threat as a result of the action. Hundreds of construction sites were affected as pickets halted or disrupted work across the country.
Ictu general secretary David Begg criticised comments made yesterday from Construction Industry Federation chief Tom Mr Parlon, who referred to "lunatics" in charge. Mr Begg said Mr Parlon's remark was "stupid, irrational, and intemperate".
The TEEU wants to raise the rate for electricians up by more than 11 per cent, from an existing €21.49 to €23.98 an hour. The TEEU says the increase is overdue by two years. Employers are pleading an inability to pay the increase and are looking for a 10 per cent cut in wages.
The strike has effectively brought to a halt work on a number of high-profile building projects around the country including the second terminal at Dublin Airport and the new Lansdowne Road stadium.
Another large manufacturing company, Irish Distillers, today secured a temporary High Court injunction restraining picketing of its plant at Middleton, Co Cork by the Teeu and others.
The Midleton plant employs about 100 people and produces about 50 million bottles of whiskey per year. Irish Distillers claimed that the picket may seriously affect jobs and operations.
In a separate case the High Court continued until next Monday an injunction preventing picketing of the Guinness brewery at St James Gate in Dublin in support of the electricians strike. Diageo Ireland had last Monday obtained a temporary injunction against a named picketer and against anyone with notice of the injunction.
Diageo claims the picketing outside their premises is unlawful because no notice of industrial action had been served on them by the electricians' union, the TEEU.
The company maintained that the supply of Guinness would be restricted almost immediately because it would need to conserve the stocks if the picketing continued. Diageo produces one billion pints of Guinness a year.
The company also claimed it was likely it would have to lay off a significant number of its 220 employees if the picket remained in being.
The chocolate manufacturer, Cadbury Ireland has also been granted a temporary injunction.