The State company that runs the State’s natural gas supply network faces industrial action in a dispute over the suspension of a worker.
Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) operates the pipelines that supply the fuel to homes, industries, and to power stations that provide around half the Republic’s electricity.
Workers at the company voted “overwhelmingly” for industrial action on Wednesday, according to their trade union Unite, which accused the company of breaking a collective agreement with staff.
Union members will meet on Thursday night, October 30th, to decide on what industrial action they will take, Unite said.
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Tom Fitzgerald, its regional co-ordinating officer, said the union had emergency obligations to ensure that gas customers were “not left stranded” in the event of industrial action.
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“We will meet those obligations while we try to advance this issue,” he added.
The union maintains that the dispute between workers and GNI broke out when the company attempted to convert a grievance raised by one of its members to a disciplinary procedure.
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GNI suspended the individual involved, it is understood.
The union argues that the company denied the member a right to representation required by long-standing collective agreements.
Sharon Graham, general secretary, warned that Unite would not tolerate employers bidding to bypass such arrangements.
“Our members are fighting to defend the rights of all workers at Gas Networks Ireland, and they have Unite’s full support,” she added.
Mr Fitzgerald said that if management wanted to avoid an escalation of the dispute, it should “reinstate our member with a guarantee of no penalisation” and pledge that the company would in future adhere to its agreement with Unite.
GNI said the issue was not collective and therefore it could not disclose any information.
“Gas Networks Ireland is seeking to engage proactively and remains committed to constructive discussions with our employees’ representatives,” added a statement.
The union must give the company at least seven days notice of any industrial action it intends to take.
Most industrial disputes relate to pay or other employment terms and conditions.
Irish law allows unions take industrial action in disputes involving individual workers where collective agreements govern disciplinary action and grievance procedures.
GNI does not supply gas directly to customers, but operates the network used by other businesses that sell the fuel.
The company is also responsible for the Moffat Interconnector, a line from Scotland through which this country imports natural gas from Britain and Norway.
