THE suspension of domestic refuse collections in the South Dublin County Council area is to continue today as council workers begin their second day of strike.
The local authority has asked householders not to leave refuse out until a settlement has been reached in the dispute which centres on the introduction of "wheelie bins" and the alteration of lorry routes.
The council's personnel manager, Mr Eamonn Kavanagh, said he does not expect an early resolution. "It's not looking bright. There are no plans for talks at the moment and, unless someone else gets involved, like the Labour Court, they don't seem likely. The last talks we had, on Thursday, failed."
He claimed an offer to set up a working group with an independent chairperson was rejected by the workers' union SIPTU. "We are available for talks anytime." The new collection plan involves increasing the workload of each lorry from 740 houses to over 1,000 a day. A once off £1,000 bonus has been offered to each worker who accepts the higher workload, said Mr Kavanagh.
SIPTU claims that certain terms of the agreement have not been respected.