Updated 11pm
THERE IS NO end in sight to the bitter and ongoing pay dispute between Greyhound Waste and workers this evening.
SIPTU members today overwhelmingly rejected proposals for a settlement emerging from talks in the Labour Relations Commission.
The company has said it will now be going to the High Court tomorrow morning, seeking enforcement orders against what a Greyhound spokesperson called “illegal picketers.”
Greyhound also said it would be suing some protesters for damages and costs, and that the workers’ rejection of the deal had jeopardised “the future of the company.”
In a statement today, the recycling company said:
These proposals represented the best settlement package the company could afford if it is to have a sustainable business in the future.
It involved a €1.5 million package.
The vote puts both the future of the company and any future compensatory package for the workers at risk.
After days of talks between SIPTU and Greyhound negotiators at the LRC, the company had reportedly offered workers a reduction in the proposed pay cut from 35 to 31%, as well as voluntary redundancy.
Some 75% of balloted SIPTU workers rejected the proposal this morning, however, the union said in a statement:
SIPTU members rejected the offer which included new conditions of employment and a 31% pay cut for those who wished to return to work.
The offer also included statutory redundancy plus 1.5 weeks per year of service.
For those who returned to work a compensation of 30% of the redundancy package was on offer.
SIPTU Divisional Organiser Owen Reidy cited “distrust of the employer” as the main reason for the rejection of the plan, claiming Greyhound had “reneged on previous agreements.”
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