A WORK-TO-RULE by solicitors and technical officers threatens to disrupt the Chief State Solicitor's office from Monday. This is the second time in three months that industrial action has been threatened because of staff shortages and a lack of promotional opportunities.
Delegates at the IMPACT Civil Service divisional conference in Galway have voted overwhelmingly to back their colleagues. The union's assistant general secretary, Mr Dave Hughes, said the action, although limited, would cause "chaos" because of the staffing shortages.
From Monday, staff will not use photocopiers or reply to correspondence with handwritten letters, as they are obliged to do at present because of inadequate clerical support. According to Mr Hughes, it can take up to 10 days for a letter to be typed.
As a result of the industrial action many files in criminal and civil cases will be delayed and prosecutions in murder, rape and drug trials could collapse. Support services to Government Departments in areas such as conveyancing will be affected as well as the work of public tribunals.
If there is no response from the Department of Finance, Mr Hughes said, the action will escalate in 10 days to include an embargo on telephone calls, faxes and the use of couriers. Staff would be "practically incommunicado with the outside world".
The staff threatened action at the beginning of March, but deferred it after the Taoiseach announced in the Dail that extra resources would be made available. But Mr Hughes said that when union officials met the Department on March 12th, they were told it was not in a position to make an offer.
There are 39 solicitors involved in the action and 36 technical legal officers. The solicitors say they need at least 15 extra staff appointed, while the legal officers want seven extra posts. Work in some areas has increased by up to 300 per cent, but overall staffing has not kept pace.
There was no comment available from the Department yesterday.