Pickets have been organised at sites in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Kildare. Pickets began today from midnight and will run up to 11.59 pm tonight.
Trade union Unite has said the full-day work stoppage today will involve official pickets being placed on selected large construction sites where members of the Mechanical Engineering and Building Services Contractors’ Association (MEBSCA) are carrying out works.
The pickets have been set up at the Diageo site in Dublin, ESB site in Grange Park, Dublin, the Intel site in Leixlip, Kildare, Eli Lilly sites in Limerick and Cork as well as the Analog Devices site in Limerick.
The union represents plumbers, fitters, welders and apprentices on construction projects throughout Ireland.
Last month Unite mechanical members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in pursuit of restoration of the first hour of travel expenses or ‘travel time’.
Unite accepted an invitation to renewed talks on August 26, however, after these talks broke down, the union served notice of industrial action on relevant mechanical employers.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said while MEBSCA employers have seen their turnover skyrocket, while workers are continuing to “pay the price” for a crisis that was “not of their making”.
“Unite members know that they have their union’s unstinting support as they fight to have this shameful cut reversed,” she said.
In the absence of a meaningful offer from MEBSCA, further strike action will follow, with pickets being placed on additional sites, the union said.
Payment of the first hour of ‘travel time’ was originally cut as a so-called ‘temporary measure’ following the 2008 financial crash.
This austerity-era cut was meant to be reviewed after a year, but over a decade later workers are still waiting.
Restoration of the first hour of ‘travel time’ would mean a significant increase in pay for mechanical construction workers at a time of ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
Unite regional officer James McCabe said: “Unless MEBSCA returns to the table and engages meaningfully with Unite regarding restoration of the first hour of ‘travel time’, industrial action will escalate.”
“Resolution of this dispute is in the employers’ hands”.