Locked out Greyhound workers and their families will march to City Hall, Dublin 1, on Monday, 1st September, to demand that the City Council use all its powers to bring to an end the 11-week-old dispute at the waste disposal company. The march will begin at 5.00 p.m. at Liberty Hall and conclude with a rally outside City Hall at 6.00 p.m., where the first meeting of Dublin City Council since the summer break will take place later that evening. 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 workers and their families are also addressing a series of community meetings across the city to explain to residents and local elected representatives the background to the industrial dispute. Last night (Thursday, 28th August) more than 60 people attended a community meeting in Naomh Fionnbarra GAA Club, Cabra. Among those who attended the meeting were Labour Party TD, Joe Costello, Labour councillor, Brendan Carr, Sinn Féin councillor, Seamus McGrattan, Fianna Fáil councillor, Paul McAuliffe, Independent councillor Cieran Perry and Independent councillor Éilis Ryan. SIPTU Greyhound Shop Steward, Jesse Hughes, said: “The Greyhound workers feel it is important that local communities know what has happened to us in the weeks since we were locked out of our jobs. It has been a very hard time but the dispute has united the workers and as each week passes we have become more determined to see it through until its success. This is simply a dispute we cannot afford to lose”. The wife of a locked out Greyhound worker, Michelle Corbally, was among those who addressed the Cabra meeting. She said: “My husband, Gary, and his colleagues turned up for work one day and were told their wages were being cut by up to 35% and there was nothing they could do about it. This simply cannot be accepted and it is important that a clear message goes out to all employers that workers will not be simply walked over”. Public meetings to discuss the Greyhound Lockout and the wider issue of ‘the race to the bottom’ in workers wages and conditions will be taking place across Dublin during September. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for the Cobblestone Pub, Smithfield, Dublin 7, on Tuesday, 2nd September, at 8.00 p.m., Kilmore West Community Centre, Coolock, Dublin 5 on Wednesday, 3rd September, at 7.30 p.m. and the Axis Centre, Ballymun, Dublin 11, on Thursday, 4th September, at 7.30 p.m.
Locked out Greyhound workers to march to Dublin City Hall on Monday
