Scaffolders throughout the State yesterday began unofficial industrial action which employers claim will result in lay-offs and site closures unless it ends in the next few days.
The scaffolders are seeking pay increases of between 50 and 300 per cent. They also want improved training and health and safety measures. The current top rate for a scaffolder is £6.87 per hour. They are seeking new rates of between £9.50 and £18 an hour. Most earn between £230 and £350 a week, depending on the amount of overtime they work.
Employer representatives say scaffolders will have received an increase of 21 per cent in basic pay by the time the period covered by the Partnership 2000 agreement ends. However, many scaffolders claim they are not receiving the rates they are entitled to under existing agreements.
Scaffolders in Cork marched through the city and were supported by colleagues in other trades who downed tools briefly. A number of high-profile sites in Dublin were picketed by the strikers. They included the extension works at Leinster House, the development at Croke Park, and the largest building site in the State - the Citibank site at the International Financial Services Centre.
SIPTU also reported stoppages in Limerick, Kilkenny, Kildare, Carlow and Kerry. Union officials said that building contractors developing housing sites on the outskirts of Dublin had threatened yesterday to lay off workers.
Mr Eric Fleming, branch secretary of the construction branch of SIPTU, said that while the action was unofficial, it was "very widely effective" and was "causing pandemonium". He was concerned that the strike was "going to drag on" and that there could be "a whole plethora of different claims" from various trades in the building industry.
"Already we've had other categories of worker saying: `What about us?' I'm saying to the employers now, before they unleash something that's completely unknown to both them and us, to stop this nonsense and get around the table and start talking. Because if that doesn't happen, we're going to have a whole industry out."
Mr Eddie Keenan of the Construction Industry Federation said the federation was still willing to take part in Labour Relation Commission talks on Thursday, but only if scaffolders end their unofficial action and go back to work.
Mr Keenan said the full impact of the strike would not be clear until today. He said a joint committee of employer and union representatives was addressing issues on safety and training. The federation would "absolutely not" be recognising the Society of Scaffolders and would negotiate with SIPTU, he said.
