The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) has said that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has significantly escalated the dispute involving its members in a number of hospitals in the south of the country. The dispute has been described by management as a row over who should change light bulbs.
The TEEU said that management at Cork University Hospital and Waterford Regional Hospital had taken swipe cards and workshop keys from TEEU members.
The union described the action as a de facto lockout.
However, HSE management has denied escalating the dispute.
HSE assistant national director for human resources in the south, Barry O'Brien, said no swipe cards had been confiscated.
He said management needed keys to storerooms and cupboards to have access to these facilities.
Nearly 40 TEEU members, mainly electricians, in hospitals in the south have been suspended from the payroll since last week as part of a dispute over a range of issues.
However, the staff have continued to attend their workplaces in the hospitals to provide emergency cover if required.
TEEU general secretary Owen Wills said yesterday that it was impossible for union members to provide emergency cover when tools and equipment that were essential were locked up.
"The only interpretation we can put on such actions is that the HSE is more intent on escalating the dispute and provoking a reaction from our members than resolving the problems that gave rise to it," he added.
"The action by HSE management represents a significant escalation of the dispute and is a de facto lockout of our members.
"The HSE has complained about the threat to services posed by the dispute but its latest action has only made things worse," he said.
The TEEU remained available for talks and for binding arbitration, Mr Wills said.
Mr O'Brien said management had asked the union to resume normal duties and to allow the Labour Court deal with matters of concern.
Management has claimed the dispute is over a refusal by the union to agree a protocol which would allow staff other than electricians to change light bulbs.
However, the TEEU has maintained that it is about pay and conditions for call-out and standby arrangements for its members, the filling of job vacancies and the fact that the HSE is employing contractors to carry out work for less than the registered employment rates.