LAST UPDATE | 16 Jun 2023

RETAINED FIREFIGHTERS WILL suspend their industrial action to allow for “exploratory discussions” at the Labour court on Monday.

The Retained Fire Service is a 2,000 strong part-time workforce which provides fire and first responder emergency services across the country.

Siptu members employed as Retained Fire Services firefighters had been engaged in industrial action this week due to what the trade union describes as a “staffing crisis which threatens this vital community resource”.

It was warned that this would escalate to a “full-out strike” beginning Tuesday, 20 June, “if the measures necessary to safeguard the future operation of this vital resource are not implemented”.

This “full-out strike” will go ahead as planned on Tuesday if Labour Court discussions aren’t successful. 

The Labour Court has written to Siptu representatives to invite them to “exploratory discussions” around the dispute on Monday morning at 10am.

The Labour Court has also written to the Local Government Management Association (LGMA), as the employer in the dispute, requesting its attendance at the talks.

Siptu community division organiser Karan O Loughlin said members have “unanimously agreed to suspend all industrial action and strike action for a period of 24 hours to facilitate the explanatory discussions at the Labour Court”.

She added: “While our members appreciate the intervention of the Court in this matter, the resolution to this dispute will be complex and difficult.

“However, the Siptu negotiating committee has agreed to attend and will make every effort to create the space for a resolution to this dispute.”

Siptu’s sector organiser Brendan O’Brien also pledged that the negotiating committee “will do their utmost on Monday”.

However, he said it is “imperative that the employers attend this meeting with a willingness to engage in a manner that they have not done to date”.

“There must be a willingness to acknowledge that there needs to be resources put into the Retained Fire Service in order to commence its rebuilding,” said O’Brien.

“There must also be proper remuneration of firefighters to reflect the responsibilities of their job.”

Labour workers’ rights spokesperson Marie Sherlock has called for “meaningful engagement from Government in the Labour Court to avoid an all out strike on Tuesday”.

She said there is “a lot riding on the negotiations given the sheer depth of frustration amongst retained firefighters”.

Sherlock added: “Significant progress has to be made on Monday in order to stave off the all out strike on Tuesday.

“It would be an appalling inditement of the Government’s approach if these talks were to fail.”