PICKETS WERE placed on the offices of Meath County Council and the three town councils yesterday by 200 outdoor staff as part of a one-day strike over cutbacks the council wants to introduce in pay and allowances.
Gardaí were called to deal with traffic problems in Navan yesterday morning as delays began at the entrance to the county council offices which is near a major junction.
Some council staff who were not involved in the dispute claimed that they felt intimidated and harassed by some of those on the picket.
Such claims were strongly refuted by Siptu, a spokesman for whom said: “there was no intimidation, there is no truth in that”.
The three unions in the dispute are Siptu, Ucatt and the TEEU and the workers involved include traffic wardens, street cleaners, lorry drivers, as well as water and sewerage caretakers.
Some 95 per cent voted in favour of industrial action including one-day strikes, work-to-rule and an all-out strike several weeks ago. There were indications that conciliations talks would resolve the matter but this did not happen.
The Labour Relations Commission asked both sides to attend conciliation talks next week and the unions have been asked not to engage in any further industrial action pending the outcome.
Meath Siptu branch secretary John Regan alleges that last week the council began to introduce its cutbacks in “clear breach of contractor agreements where they are obliged to give us 30 days’ notice of the use of contractors”.
Plans to have a two-day work stoppage next week have been put on hold.
The council welcomed the suspension of next week’s work stoppage and promised to engage with the unions under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission.