All Forfas agencies face an electronic "black out" in two weeks if a long-running dispute over pay structures is not resolved.
SIPTU staff plan to progressively stop using telephones, email and computers. The hardesthit agency is likely to be IDA Ireland, which is totally dependent on electronic communications systems to conduct its business.
Enterprise Ireland, on behalf of all Forfas agencies, has called for the dispute to be referred to the Labour Court.
The decision to impose an electronic "black out" was taken at a meeting in Liberty Hall, Dublin, yesterday. Over 500 SIPTU members in the two Forfas agencies, IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, endorsed the plan. The branch secretary, Ms Patricia King, is expected to formally present the agencies with notice of industrial action on Monday morning.
It provides for SIPTU members to "black" telephones from Monday, February 1st, e-mail from Wednesday, February 3rd, and computers from Friday, February 5th. Only fax machines are being exempted from the action.
Ms King said the action was being "tightly focused and will aim to influence those responsible for the present chaos, but not the clients". That was why fax communications would be maintained throughout the dispute. On the other hand, communications with Government departments, including Enterprise, Trade and Employment, will not be facilitated from day one of the industrial action.
However, serious disruption to negotiations on inward investment by foreign companies, administration of financial supports, and technical and scientific services to existing firms, indigenous as well as foreign-owned, is bound to occur. as management and the Government had persistently failed to address pay anomalies of up to 40 per cent between Forfas employees doing essentially the same work.
There are 63 grades in Forfas, of which 48 are "active". Ms King said: "All we want is equal pay for work of equal value." She pointed out that the first definite upgrading offer from Forfas only came last Tuesday, after SIPTU members had voted overwhelmingly for industrial action.
SIPTU represents well over half of the 1,100 employees of Forfas.
