A 24-HOUR strike by workers at GoSafe Ireland, the company which manages speed cameras around Ireland, is set to go ahead tomorrow.

Trade union Sitpu has said that workers have been “left with no option” but to go ahead with the Strike as it accuses management not recognising its representation of the workers.

Workers claim they are working in dangerous conditions, confined to speed vans for several hours, forced to take lunch while monitoring the machinery and reduced to urinating in a bottle due to a lack of toilet facilities in the vans. 

Siptu has said the workers have tried to resolve the issue through the Labour Court but to no avail.

As a result, the strike is set to begin at 6am tomorrow and those protesting are asking motorists to adhere to speed limits during the action.

“Our members have been left with no option other than to conduct this work stoppage,” Sipru organiser Brendan Carr said today. 

They are aware of the implications this will have on the vital role they play in road safety and have called on motorists to respect speed limits during their action.

Carr added that the company “refused to engage with the workers through their union” despite the service being funded by the State. 

Addressing this point, Labour leader Brendan Howlin has said that it is wrong that the Minister for Justice will not intervene.

“Charlie Flanagan is washing his hands of the matter, by claiming that GoSafe is a private company,” Howlin said this afternoon.

The government should never give contracts to companies that ignore the industrial relations bodies of the state, as GoSafe has done by ignoring a Labour Court ruling that SIPTU is the only valid negotiator on behalf of these workers.

Yesterday, gardaí said that 27,522 vehicles were checked by GoSafe Ireland and 245 vehicles were detected in excess of the speed limit as part of a 24-hour enforcement operation.