Two days of strike action that threatened to leave thousands of Bord na Móna customers without bin collections next Wednesday and Thursday have been deferred, with the sides set to return to the Workplace Relations Commission on Monday.
The dispute, which involves about 250 Siptu members at the company, was prompted by concerns about the protection of terms and conditions as the operation is sold off to KWD, a Co Kerry-based waste disposal firm.
On Friday, Siptu division organiser Adrian Kane said the company had, in a meeting between the two sides, acknowledged the concerns of the union’s members, which he said represented “a breakthrough”.
On that basis and given the prospect of an invitation to new talks at the WRC, he said the union would defer the strike action.
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On Thursday, Bord na Móna said it had “shared with Siptu a framework for orderly transition in the event that the sale of its recycling business receives regulatory approval”.
“This framework outlines a range of assurances to support employees through the transition, including commitments to honour existing terms and conditions and collective agreements, as well as provision of redeployment opportunities and transition payments.”
Mr Kane said there were also a political policy aspect to the sale that needed to be addressed and the union was keen to make the case to Government for Bord na Móna retaining ownership of the company.
“We are happy to have further talks with the company but we also want to engage with the Minister for the Environment, Darragh O’Brien, because if this sale does go ahead, it will represent a very poor policy decision,” he said.
The union, which has consistently pushed for greater State involvement in or regulation of the waste disposal sector, regards the proposed sale as the State exiting a sector key to the implementation of environment policy.
