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CLEANING STAFF AT the Garda College in Templemore have served notice of industrial action today.
Impact, the union representing workers, described them as “the lowest paid civil servants in Ireland”, noting they start work on “the lowest possible legal wage”.
It claims there has been a failure by management to hire enough staff to deal with increased student numbers at Templemore after garda recruitment recommenced.
The union has also raised a number of safety concerns with management and is seeking a formal Health and Safety Authority inspection of the facility.
“Pay for college cleaning staff is the lowest in the civil service, with a starting salary at the national minimum wage, and well short of the recommended €11.50 living wage,” commented Impact’s national secretary Andy Pike. “Staff are also expected to carry out a wide range of extended housekeeping duties without receiving any additional reward.”
There is now a two-week window for management to engage with Impact before staff start their work to rule, which will see cleaners revert solely to cleaning duties instead of working as housekeepers or hotel services staff.
The union has also threatened to take an equal pay case against the State because male staff doing similar work in other parts of the public service are paid significantly more than the female college cleaners in this dispute.
So we have the guards working for free under the Haddington road agreement and the cleaners getting paid subsistence wages but guess what, they’ll just take it because their told to. Putting on the green jersey while the multinationals get away with murder.
Exactly Aoife, it’s galling.
Aoife give me the lin m k where th jhno e guards are working for free,and the what’s the difference between a cleaner in the private sector and the kps that get paid same as for u to eat our. .
And may I add without a pension plan
Google garda & Haddington Road; you’ll find any number of articles on the requirement.
Lay off the disco biscuits sparky
Crcker— LANA $pin ti.
Sparky. Check this out. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/garda-used-extra-hours-for-issues-not-envisaged-in-pay-deal-1.2422154
30 hours per year!!! Garda management took advantage..cheers. .if I was to get paid for every hour I’ve worked overtime..not condoning this but who speaks for the underdog in the private sector
Sparky. If you want to work for free that’s fair enough but is it a stipulation of your job that you do. Personally I’d rather spend time with my friends and family than work for free for the government. It’s almost a full week of work for free that they’re doing. That’s ridiculous really.
In fairness having people to clean up after must have come as quite a shock considering the place had been empty for so long.. Seriously though, minimum wage is terrible for the work involved.
It is gardly skilled nor requires a huge amount of training.
And when you use public facilities are you happy when they are clean?
garda training or the cleaning, shawn. #equalPayWithGuardsForDifferentJobd
You don’t see army recruits needing cleaners…
They have their finger on the pulse.
They’ll brush this one under the carpet I suspect!!
Good on them. Best of luck and solidarity.
solidarity with the workers!
Someone has to be the lowest paid civil servant….just because you are getting paid the lowest doesn’t mean you deserve a raise. If you don’t like the pay or conditions go somewhere else and get paid for what you are worth. Now if there are proper safety concerns, yes that’s a valid complaint. Or if you are being made to work hours without being paid, sure that’s a valid complaint.
So now we have a despute over cleaner’s claiming that they are over worked because there are too many graduates, and a force that nothing is changing..lol
€9.75 an hour .. minimum adult rate of pay is € 9.15 .. I have full respect for cleaners. . It’s a hard job to do but they are not paid to clean based on how many are in the college ..
Suzie your “I have full respect for cleaners … but” line sounds awfully like the “I’m not racist but” line so frequently heard in other situations
Sparky, they just want fair play and a decent wage, just as the Recruit Gardai need, a bit of fair play.
Eugene..so take the kp in the private sector,very underpaid because I work in that sector. .give them their proper wage and the chefs that work on Sundays without double time..are you willing to pay double for your Sunday lunch.
Gunnarsahn , nope I do actually have full respect for cleaners . It’s a tough job ..
Work harder in your youth build a skill through dedication and hard work. Wave goodbye to €9.15 an hour.
Drives me mad all these wasters who coast by without any effort then realise one day that to live they need an income. Grab the 1st job they can get without any qualifications as a result of previous laziness and then complain that they are not getting paid enough. You get out of life what you put in, deal with it.
You see everyone does not and cannot go to University and obtain Degrees. We need cleaners, mechanics, roofers, labourers . If everyone had a University education not too many of them would want to clean and there would not be enough plum jobs to go around. Cleaners and kitchen staff work harder than a. Lot and they to deserve a fair wage, just as the young teachers, nurses, and gardai.
Big big news. That’s a fascinating story.
Must be looking for more lemon pledge
Didn’t see them going on strike when there was little or no recruits going through Templemore..now they have some work do do they want more staff so they can keep their cushy civil service hours…nothing but a drive for pay increase and a union looking for morw staff to increase member..let them go on strike..hire cleaners in to do their job and stop their pay
Outsource it !
have your say