SIPTU has welcomed the intervention of the Minister of State for Labour Affairs in the scaffolders' dispute.
Mr Tom Kitt urged the employers and the scaffolders' representatives to return to Labour Relations Commission talks which broke down on Thursday evening without agreement.
Scaffolders voted to resume their unofficial action yesterday morning, having previously halted it to enable their representatives to attend the LRC talks with the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).
One major contractor laid off scaffolders yesterday when the strike resumed, while another put the workforce on protective notice.
Mr Eric Fleming, secretary of SIPTU's Dublin construction branch, welcomed the Minister's "interest in this difficult dispute" and said he was "very concerned at the hardship the continuing dispute is creating".
A spokesman for the CIF said the dispute could only be resolved within the parameters of Partnership 2000 and "the registered agreements which SIPTU are a party to".
