SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Owen Reidy, has described as ‘completely misleading and false’ claims by the owner and management of Greyhound Recycling and Recovery that its enforcement of a 35% wage cut on workers is in line with a Labour Court recommendation. “The repeated claim by Greyhound owner, Michael Buckley, and other company spokespeople that the savage cut to wages and conditions of employment on their full-time employees is in line with a Labour Court recommendation is completely misleading and false,” Owen Reidy said.“The company’s actions, in fact, directly contravene a Labour Court recommendation which stated that further talks should be entered into by management and workers’ representatives to find a solution to the cost crisis in the company.”The recommendation made in May states that:“The parties engage in a concentrated process to identify and cost the level of labour productivity savings that can be generated within the business and to agree on further adjustments to the wage bill necessary to return the Company to viability. The talks should be completed within 14 days of the date of this Recommendation. The parties should engage the services of suitably qualified financial and productivity advisors to assist them through this process.” (For full text of recommendation and background click here).Owen Reidy said: “Rather than fully accept this recommendation the company has decided to unilaterally implement massive cuts to the wages of its workers and hugely inferior terms and conditions of employment without further negotiation. Knowing that no worker could accept such conditions the company prepared for dispensing with the services of its workforce.”“More than seventy members of SIPTU and their families cannot afford this attack on their incomes and are determined to remain on the picket lines until the company agrees to return to the negotiation table and to find a reasonable resolution of the issues at stake. Our members greatly appreciate the wide public support for this action which has thrown a light on the appalling and worsening employment standards in the privatised waste disposal industry.”
SIPTU criticises false claims by Greyhound owner in waste dispute
