BREAKING: SIPTU serves strike notice on Kildare County Council
The Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) has served a strike notice on Kildare County Council (KCC).
A letter seen by the Leinster Leader, which is addressed to KCC chief executive Sonya Kavanagh, shows that SIPTU is planning to strike against KCC, citing frustration over key issues facing the council's Retained Fire Service (RFS).
In the letter, industrial organiser Noel Maguire, on behalf of SIPTU said that members of the RFS have sought to progress the 'ongoing recruitment and retention crisis' in the service through the Fire Services National Oversight and Implementation Group (FSNOIG) Retained Division.
He added that the following a number of meetings with the FSNOIG, the Department (of Housing, Local Government and Heritage) invited rank and file firefighters to participate in a survey.
Subsequently, the Department made a number of presentations to the FSNOIG, which identified issues regarding fixed incomes and structured time off.
Mr Maguire elaborated: "We are now at the stage where, despite having repeatedly sought to address this issue through the agreed channels, management (at KCC) have failed to table any meaningful proposals, contrary to their commitment to do so; by extension failing to meaningfully address the recruitment and retention crisis and its attaching adverse impact on our RFS members."
He signed off the letter by alerting KCC that the RFS would be serving two weeks' notice of its intention to ballot its members for strike action.
Mr Maguire also said that the group 'remains available to seek an agreed solution to this dispute.'
RESPONSE
When asked about the strike action, KCC told the Leader: "We can confirm that SIPTU served notice of their intention to ballot their members for industrial and strike action on all local authority Chief Executives that operate a Retained Fire Service.
"As this is a national issue, the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) has responded to the correspondence on behalf of the local government sector.
"Given that this is a live industrial relations issue, we have nothing further to add at this time."