The Water Group of Trade Unions, including UNITE, NIPSA and GMB, has defended industrial action which could lead to disruption of supplies in the Derry City, Strabane and County Derry.
The unions said the disruptions would inevitably escalate, blaming management at NI Water.
This is because of a work-to-rule which means staff are refusing to ensure supplies outside their normal working hours; so weekend cut-offs will happen unless there is an agreement.
Unite industrial officer, Joanne McWilliams, indicated that despite some progress at negotiations mediated by the Labour Relations Agency (LRA), management had failed to address the workforce’s concerns in relation to proposed changes to pension costs and terms and conditions.
“While management had moved to address some areas of contention, their proposals in relation to pension costs were completely inadequate. Furthermore, management sought a change to ‘bell to bell’ working arrangements which would drastically extend the working day for water service staff with no recompense offered,” she said.
“All three unions brought the revised management proposals to our membership who unanimously rejected them.
“Our members have the right to take industrial action but have decided to limit this to a work-to-rule. Over the festive period we agreed to provide emergency cover to ensure that households didn’t experience any adverse impact from our industrial action.
“Unfortunately, there were a number of instances where this gesture of goodwill was abused by management. As such, we have decided to withdraw from arrangements to provide emergency cover with immediate effect. This will mean that staff participating in industrial action will not be asked by the ‘strike committee’ to respond to any incidents outside their normal working hours.
“While we regret this situation, it has resulted from management intransigence. There is still time, even at this eleventh hour, for the Minister and management to avoid the consequences of this concerning situation to intervene and make serious proposals to address our members’ concerns”, Ms McWilliams concluded.
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