Both sides in the electricians' strike have agreed to enter talks at the Labour Relations Commission tomorrow.
The Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) said tonight that although it had accepted the invitation to talks at 11am tomorrow, employers "must come up with meaningful offer".
“We are doing so out of deference to the Tánaiste and in the public interest”, TEEU General Secretary Eamon Devoy said this evening.
“We are willing to engage in meaningful talks with the employers. However for these to take place will require the employers putting a meaningful offer on the table, which has not happened to date.”
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) this evening approved an application for an all-out strike in the dispute involving electrical contractors. Other units in sector will now ballot members over next fortnight or so.
The TEEU welcomed the Ictu decision to ballot its members. TEEU general secretary Owen Wills said: “Workers have not been fooled by the media campaign of the employer organisations. They realise that if those employers succeed in imposing cuts on us now, they will be next in line.
Also welcoming the move, Eric Fleming, Siptu's National Construction Sector Organiser, said his union will complete its ballot by the end of next week.
The nationwide strike by 10,500 electricians today entered its second day as employers issued warnings that jobs in the wider economy are under threat as a result of the action. Hundreds of construction sites were affected as pickets halted or disrupted work across the country.
Ictu general secretary David Begg criticised comments made earlier today from Construction Industry Federation chief Tom Mr Parlon, who referred to "lunatics" in charge. Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Mr Begg said Mr Parlon's remark was "stupid, irrational, and intemperate".
The TEEU wants to raise the rate for electricians up by more than 11 per cent, from an existing €21.49 to €23.98 an hour. The TEEU says the increase is overdue by two years. Employers are pleading an inability to pay the increase and are looking for a 10 per cent cut in wages.
Speaking at the biennial conference of Ictu, which opened in Tralee today, the leader of the Labour Party Eamon Gilmore had called on Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan to direct the Labour Court to intervene in the dispute.
He said the Government had power under the 1990 Industrial Relations Act to direct the Labour Court to enter the fray and to bring the sides together in cases where the dispute was of particular national significance.
Ms Coughlan last night urged the sides to move away from their existing positions in new talks involving the State’s industrial relations machinery. The move came as the impact of the dispute began to spread from construction sites into manufacturing industry, leading to staff being placed on protective notice.
Employers’ body Ibec said some manufacturing operations may have to stop production and that companies could be forced into lay-offs. Drinks company Diageo secured a temporary High Court injunction to prevent picketing at its plant in Dublin which it said could restrict the supply of Guinness and place jobs at risk.
It is expected that other companies may seek similar injunctions.
Chocolate manufacturer Cadbury Ireland today secured a temporary High Court injunction preventing picketing outside its plant at Coolock in Dublin by supporters of the electricians’ strike.
Cadbury said it had put production workers at its plant in Coolock on protective notice after it had been targeted for secondary picketing by persons unknown.
The strike resulted in work being halted or disrupted at a number of high-profile construction sites around the country. These included the second terminal at Dublin airport and the new Lansdowne Road stadium.
The union said 250 of its members at the Corrib gas pipeline project had taken part in the strike.
The TEEU said its dispute was with electrical contractor bodies, the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) and the Association of Electrical Contractors Ireland and that its members were only picketing these employers, as they were entitled to do.
In a statement last night Ms Coughlan urged the parties “not to restate their stated positions but to explore all the options” in attempting to find a resolution.
Last night the Construction Industry Federation on behalf of the ECA said that it could not afford to pay the increases.
