Staff running 999 phone service consider 12-hour work stoppage

Staff operating the 999 emergency call answering service are considering a 12 hour work stoppage in a dispute over pay and trade union recognition.

The Communications Workers’ Union said the staff have voted strongly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.

They arre seeking the introduction of an €11.50 per hour “living wage” as well as “immediate end to unnecessary and punitive suspensions, the negotiation of a fair corrective action policy, a fair on-call policy and collective bargaining”.

The emergency call 999 service operates from three sites at Eastpoint (Clontarf), Navan and Ballyshannon.

The contract for the emergency call answering service was awarded to BT Ireland in 2009 by the Department of Communications. BT then outsourced the work to Conduit Global.

Last month CWU maintained that staff operating the 999 emergency call service had been told they must take no longer than seven minutes for toilet breaks as part of a new policy.

The CWU said that over the past two weeks, management in BT/Conduit had held “a series of hastily arranged meetings with staff in a bid to avert industrial action”.

“Members are aware that management is only meeting with staff because of the ballot for industrial action and the recent publicity around the company’s policies on toilet breaks.

“However, CWU members report that company management has refused to adequately address the key issues at the heart of this dispute. 999 workers have been told by company bosses that Conduit will not pay a Living Wage of €11.50 per hour and that they would continue to refuse to meet with the workers’ trade union, the CWU.

“The threat of disciplinary action against workers for spending too long in the bathroom still stands.”

Steve Fitzpatrick, CWU general secretary, said: "For the first time, Conduit/BT appears to be taking the concerns of their workers seriously. This is only happening as a direct result of the ballot for industrial action.

“However, the company is still refusing to concede on any of the key issues at the heart of this dispute. If the Conduit bosses want to avoid a strike they need to address the four legitimate requests our members have made.”

Both BT and Conduit refuses to negotiate with the CWU.

A BT spokeswoman said: “It is very disappointing that a trade union, which is not recognised by BT or Conduit, has decided to take this unnecessary course of action in relation to the vital emergency call answering service and continues to issue inaccurate statements.”

“Conduit Global has been working closely with its employees, who handle 999 and 112 calls, to understand their issues and they have implemented significant changes as a result of that direct dialogue .”

Conduit Global also said it was very disappointed at the decision for industrial action taken by CWU members.

“Our senior management team opened direct dialogue with our staff and is making significant progress on all issues raised. To date, Conduit Global, in consultation with our staff, has reviewed internal policies, analysed staff feedback and committed to change.

“We’ve also proposed an interim change to the on-call policy seeking input and feedback from staff and can confirm that staff, when all aspects of the remuneration are considered, earn in excess of the living wage being sought by the CWU.

“It seems, therefore, that the CWU is seeking to disrupt this critical, public service in an attempt to get collective bargaining recognition, which we find very disappointing and self-serving. Conduit Global remains committed to deliver this vital public service and will continue to work with our staff directly to avoid any unnecessary disruption to the emergency call answering service.”