An unofficial dispute by lift maintenance operators has left many residents of Ballymun's tower and spine blocks without a lift service. Some mothers are being forced to carry buggies and young children up seven flights of stairs, while several old and sick tenants say they are virtually stranded in their homes.
Maintenance workers for Pickerings Lifts Ltd, the company with the contract for the maintenance and repair of the lifts in the Ballymun high-rise buildings, are refusing to work outside office hours as part of an industry-wide unofficial pay dispute. According to management at Pickerings, workers are seeking a pay increase from the current rate of £8.50 an hour to £11 an hour.
A Labour Party councillor, Mr Eamonn O'Brien, who is vicechairman of the Special Committee for Ballymun, says the situation is causing hardship for hundreds of residents.
Ms Michelle O'Leary, who lives in a block in Coultry Road, Ballymun, says her mother was virtually stranded in her home when she spent a period in a wheelchair recently.
"We had to get two men to help us with the wheelchair when we wanted to get her out of the flat. We live on the fourth floor and it's very hard for my grandparents to visit us while the lifts are out of order. My grandfather has cancer and he's winded by the second floor."
Mr Gerry O'Donoghue, chief regional officer for the Ballymun Whitehall area, says there is little Dublin Corporation can do to remedy the problem at present. "At the moment, our hands are tied. This dispute affects all lift companies, so there isn't another company we can use.
"During the day, calls are still being answered, so some lifts are being brought back into service," Mr O'Donoghue said.
Pickerings' contract with Dublin Corporation, which covers lift maintenance and repair in Ballymun and the Dublin Fire Brigade, is worth £5 million over three years. Mr John O'Brien, the company's managing director, sees little hope of the dispute being resolved immediately.
"We're totally restricted to the 2 1/2 per cent awarded in the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, which all the firms have already paid to their workers. Even if we were prepared to give in to this ludicrous demand, we couldn't get the money back from our customers.
"Because the action is unofficial, and doesn't have the backing of the workers' union, this can't go any further," Mr O'Brien said.
