Labour TD, Joe Costello, has stated that he intends to raise the Greyhound Lockout on the floor of the Dáil and table a motion which will request that the provision of waste management services involving state bodies is placed on the agenda of the Public Accounts Committee. Joe Costello said: “The Greyhound staff have now been locked out for more than ten weeks since 17th June. Non-union agency staff have been recruited to replace the locked out workers, and clearly the intention of the company is to break the will of the trade union workers. “The present action of Greyhound is a unilateral rejection of normal industrial relations, and would indicate a race to the bottom in terms of pay and conditions. “Moreover, with Labour’s historic commitment to collective bargaining legislation on the cusp of introduction in the coming Dáil term, it is imperative that there be no deterioration in the standards of industrial relations in the meantime.” He added: “We must question the suitability of Greyhound to retain its license as a bona fide provider of waste management services to Dublin’s local authorities. “When the Dáil returns, I propose to raise the matter on the floor of the Dáil. Moreover as a new member of the Public Accounts Committee, I will table a motion seeking that the provision of waste management services involving state bodies is placed on the agenda, and that the relevant stakeholders are brought before the Committee. The Greyhound workers have been locked out at the west Dublin based waste disposal company since 17th June. Management at the company is attempting to force workers to accept wage cuts of up to 35% and has employed strikebreakers to carry out waste collections during the dispute. SIPTU has 80 members in the company which has a contract to collect household waste for Dublin City Council. The Labour Relations Commission has invited SIPTU representatives and Greyhound to separate meetings today to discuss the long running dispute and to establish whether the company is prepared to engage in meaningful negotiations and to drop its demand for the workers to accept drastic wage cuts before discussions take place.
Costello to raise Greyhound dispute at PAC
