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2009

SIPTU local authority workers in Cork City exempted from industrial action on Tuesday to tackle storm and flood damage

Date Released: 22 Nov 2009

SIPTU outdoor staff members with Cork City Council have been exempted from industrial action on Tuesday (November 24) so that they can continue tackling the extensive damage caused by the recent storms and floods.

“Over 90 per cent of SIPTU members voted to support the national strike on Tuesday but they recognise Cork City faces a civic emergency because of the extraordinary weather conditions”, Gene Mealy, SIPTU National Organiser for the local authority sector said today. “SIPTU outdoor staff members in Clare and Galway have also agreed to work on Tuesday and we will be assessing the situation between now and then on an area by area basis throughout the country.

“Some of our members have been working virtually non-stop since the floods began, despite having allowances stopped last summer by their employers, and they will continue to carry out emergency work as required.  Public health and safety must be the first consideration in these unprecedented weather conditions. Their commitment to their local communities is the finest rebuttal possible to the barrage of hostile criticism in recent weeks from some media commentators who seek to depict our members as selfish and uncaring.

“Our members’ commitment to the public service ethic is in marked contrast to the failure of their critics to challenge the power and privilege of the wealthy in our society. Instead we are treated to the monotonous refrain that ‘There is no pot of gold out there’. All we are asking is that everyone pays their fair share.”

Up 1,500 SIPTU outdoor staff in Cork City, Clare and Galway will now be working to repair storm damage on Tuesday. The strike action, which SIPTU fully supports, is against further unilateral cuts in pay, conditions and services threatened by the Government, and it is also in support of ICTU’s ‘Fairer, Better Way’ Campaign.





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