Locked out Greyhound workers and their partners addressed over 50 local residents at a SIPTU organised meeting in the Sean O’Casey Community Centre, East Wall, Dublin 3, on Wednesday (20th August). The meeting was held for locked out workers to explain to residents and local elected representatives the background to the industrial dispute, which is entering its tenth week, and the impact it is having on their families.Labour Party TD, Joe Costello, and Green Party Councillor, Ciaran Cuffe, attended the event. Dublin Lord Mayor Christy Burke, Independent Councillor Nial Ring and Independent Councillor Cieran Perry sent apologies for not attending the meeting due to prior engagements but pledged their support to the striking workers.SIPTU Greyhound Shop Steward, Jesse Hughes, said: “The Greyhound workers feel it is important that local communities know what has happened to us in the weeks since we were locked out of our jobs. It has been a very hard time but the dispute has united the workers and as each week passes we have become more determined to see it through until its success. This is simply a dispute we cannot afford to lose”.The wife of a locked out Greyhound worker, Michelle Corbally, was among those to address the East Wall meeting.She said: “This dispute is having a terrible impact on families. We need a solution to it but realise that the Buckley brothers, the owners of Greyhound, cannot be allowed to succeed with their bullyboy tactics.“My husband, Gary, and his colleagues turned up for work one day and were told their wages were being cut by up to 35% and there was nothing they could do about it. This simply cannot be accepted and it is important that a clear message goes out to all employers that workers will not be simply walked over”.The Greyhound workers have been locked out at the west Dublin based waste disposal company since 17th June. Management at the company is attempting to force workers to accept wage cuts of up to 35% and has employed strikebreakers to carry out waste collections during the dispute. SIPTU has 80 members in the company which has a contract to collect household waste for Dublin City Council.Public meetings to discuss the Greyhound Lockout and the wider issue of ‘the race to the bottom’ in workers wages and conditions will be taking place across Dublin during late August and September. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for the Naomh Fionnbarra GAA Club, Faussagh Avenue, Cabra, on Thursday, 28th August at 8.00 p.m., and the Axis Centre, Ballymun, Dublin 11, on Thursday, 4th September, at 7.30 p.m.
Locked out Greyhound workers address community meeting in East Wall, Dublin
