Tensions are rising in the building trade. This week the Construction Industry Federation broke off pay talks with the unions because SIPTU has threatened strike action at sites where it believes there are too many casual workers being supplied by recruitment agencies. It wants them made permanent and says the CIF gave a commitment to cut back on the use of casuals as long ago as last September.
SIPTU decided to issue the warning last week. Unfortunately the letter was never sent and the CIF first learnt about it through The Irish Times this week. There is also considerable inter-union tension. BATU, which represents the bricklayers, has been pursuing its own industrial strategy for months and some of the other craft unions think SIPTU members are getting above themselves by claiming that the likes of crane drivers and scaffolders should be paid as much as plumbers, plasterers and electricians.