Bin collection workers at Dublin City Council have voted for industrial action in a move they said was aimed at protecting waste services in the greater Dublin area.
The Siptu members now join waste collection workers in all four Dublin local authorities who have voted for industrial action.
Speaking after the ballot, Siptu sectoral organiser Paul Smyth said the dispute was about “protecting a vital public service to householders”.
Earlier this week, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council agreed to defer the signing of contracts with a private waste collecting firm in a bid to help resolve a dispute over refuse services in south Dublin.
This followed talks at the Labour Relations Commission between unions and management in the county council.
The council planned to outsource part of its waste collection service to Panda Waste from next Monday, but Siptu opposed the move and had threatened to take industrial action from today. The union also deferred the strike plan.
“At present the total lack of regulation in the market means that waste companies can cherry pick areas and leave local authorities to provide all the infrastructural supports,” Mr O’Reilly said.
“While the idea of low rates is obviously attractive in the short term, experience throughout the country shows that once the local authority stops providing a service these rates rise sharply and householders on low incomes who cannot afford the increased costs and people living in isolated locations are left stranded.”
Mr O’Reilly said it was time for the Minister for the Environment to introduce a regulatory framework for the waste collection market that was “fair, sustainable and environmentally friendly”.
“The present regime does none of these things.”
Siptu organiser Ramon O’Reilly, who represents the waste collection workers in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, said they welcomed the support of their colleagues in Dublin City, South Dublin and Fingal.
“We will be resuming talks with management in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown on Monday in the hope that the matter can be resolved.”