Staff operating the 999 emergency call answering service are to stage a second day of industrial action on Thursday.
Memebers of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) will go ahead with a planned 12-hour work stoppage at the BT/Conduit Global call centre in Navan in pursuit of their claim for a Living Wage of €11.50 per hour.
This strike follows a previous work stoppage which took place in February after BT/Conduit Global refused to meet with the communication workers.
BT/Conduit Global said it strongly regrets that the CWU plans to press ahead with its proposed industrial action. “We would like to assure members of the public that contingency plans have been put in place to ensure the safe delivery of the service,” it added.
The CWU said the stoppage will be followed by a month of industrial action which will mean operators across all three 999 centres at Dublin, Navan and Ballyshannon withdraw from extra duties outside of their employment contracts.
This follow-on industrial action will take place from Friday, April 8th, to Friday, May 6th, inclusive.
The CWU said it understands that the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has written to Conduit Global last week inviting them to conciliation talks and that the company has yet to respond.
‘Corporate greed’
CWU general secretary Steve Fitzpatrick has branded BT/Conduit Global’s refusal to pay a basic Living Wage to its 999 call workers as “blatant corporate greed”.
“Last year British Telecom made a €44million profit in Ireland – an increase of 42 per cent on the previous year. In 2014, Conduit Global’s profit in Ireland was more than €6 million. These are hugely profitable companies. Their refusal to pay their 999 workers, who deliver a vital public service, an extra 50 cent per hour is pathetic and miserly in the extreme. It can only be seen as one of the worst examples of blatant corporate greed,” he said.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the union remains open to dialogue with the company, either directly or under the auspices of the commission.
“Up to now they have refused to engage. It is doubly galling that Conduit Global, which enjoys the financial benefits of delivering a State-awarded contract, should display such contempt for the industrial relations machinery of the State by ignoring or declining the invitation to talks extended by the WRC,” he said.
BT/Conduit Global said: “Conduit Global has consulted repeatedly with its employees on any concerns that they have, including on pay, and significant progress has been made.
“No operator is on less than the ‘Living Wage’ and as well as the 10 per cent pay increase announced in November 2015, a further ‘on-call’ payment has been agreed directly with staff in the last week.”