SIPTU are calling on Gas Networks Ireland to intervene in a dispute between a company contracted to maintain the country’s gas network and it’s employees.
Staff at GMC Civil and Mechanical Engineering are striking after talks at the Workplace Relations Commission broke down on Tuesday.
The issue has been referred to the Labour Court and SIPTU are meeting with their representatives at Gas Networks Ireland this morning.
GMC says their employees are paid in accordance with, or more than, the construction industry standard and has made numerous concessions throughout the process.
Speaking to RedFM News Adrian Kane from SIPTU says the outsourcing model is broken and is calling on Gas Networks Ireland to employ the workers directly:
All that outsourcing does is decreased wages for workers. That's all it does. It depresses wages, it depresses terms and conditions of employment. And what employers are increasingly finding is that they don't have control. And so it's somebody else's responsibility. That's not my job. That's somebody elses. etc. And ultimately, that the resolution of this dispute is more of the work going back into Gas Networks Ireland
