Bord Na Móna refuse collection workers in Laois serve notice to strike
Notice has been served by SIPTU members Bord na Móna Recycling that they intend to go on strike on Wednesday and Thursday 2 and 3 April
SIPTU members employed by Bord na Móna (BNM) Recycling, the country’s last publicly owned domestic waste collection service, have served notice of a two-day strike on Wednesday and Thursday 2 and 3 April.
SIPTU Divisional Organiser Adrian Kane said: “The management of BNM Recycling have carried out a plan to privatise the company behind the backs of its workforce. No legally sound guarantees have been provided to our members that their hard fought for terms and conditions of employment will be maintained by a new employer.
“The deal to privatise the state’s last publicly owned domestic waste collection service has been structured in a manner which doesn’t provide the workers with the legal protections to their terms and conditions of employment which is normal in such a transfer of owners. Management has so far refused to provide the workers with the legal protection of a Registered Employment Agreement that will ensure their standards of employment are not reduced and that under their new employer they can maintain their right to collectively bargain.”
Mr Kane said: “Our members have been forced to take this course of action. They are calling upon the loyal customer base of BNM Recycling to support them in this action, as protecting the manner in which the company operates will ensure that they will not be victim to massive increases in bin charges and ensure the service maintains its record of adherence to the highest standards of environmental legislation.”
SIPTU Organiser Pat McCabe said: “This is the final opportunity for the company and government to engage seriously with Union representatives on the future of this key public service.
“Union representatives will meet with BNM Recycling management on Thursday 20 March. We are also renewing our request that the Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O’Brien, meets with a delegation of BNM Recycling workers and Union organisers to discuss this move by the State out of waste management and recycling.”
“It is the Minister who has the final responsibility concerning whether this service is sold and if our members are to have their terms of employment protected. The buck stops with him and he should have the decency to hear the workers’ side on the issues surrounding this proposed sale,” said Mr McCabe.
The strike will affect Bord na Móna Recycling domestic waste collection services in counties Laois, Offaly, Carlow, Kildare, Dublin, Limerick, Louth, Meath, Tipperary, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.
