Employees at Bord na Móna Recycling have announced a two-day strike on April 2 and 3 to protest plans to sell Ireland’s last publicly-owned domestic waste collection service to private operator Killarney Waste Disposal.
The industrial action will affect waste collection services across twelve counties including Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, Louth, Offaly, Meath, Tipperary, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow.
According to Siptu, the state-owned company made the decision to privatize “behind the back of its workforce” and has failed to provide adequate guarantees regarding job security and employment conditions following the proposed transfer of ownership.
Adrian Kane, Siptu’s divisional organizer, criticized the deal as “gombeen politics” and expressed concern about the lack of transparency at board level. “No legally sound guarantees have been provided to our members that their hard fought for terms and conditions of employment will be maintained by a new employer,” Kane stated.
The union is particularly concerned about the absence of a Registered Employment Agreement to ensure employment standards are maintained and employees retain collective bargaining rights under new ownership.
Workers are warning that privatization could lead to steep increases in bin charges and negative environmental impacts. Pat McCabe of Siptu described the upcoming strike as “the final opportunity for the company and Government to engage seriously with Union representatives on the future of this key public service.”
Siptu representatives are scheduled to meet with Bord na Móna Recycling management on Thursday. The union has also requested a meeting with Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O’Brien, insisting that “the buck stops with him” and urging him to “hear the workers’ side on the issues surrounding this proposed sale.”
Bord na Móna has defended its approach, stating that it has shared with Siptu “a framework for orderly transition” that includes “commitments to honour existing terms and conditions and collective agreements, as well as provision of redeployment opportunities and transition payments.” The company has pledged to minimize disruption to waste collection services during the planned strike days.
Adding to worker concerns is the fact that the prospective new owners will not be obligated to publish accounts with the Companies Registration Office, potentially reducing transparency in the operation of this essential public service.