Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Exactly. Why would the Minister want to exclude a union representing the workers at the coalface? From talking to workers on the ground, I know managers do not have a hand-to-hand approach in the communities. They see them once or twice a year when they call in to see how operations are working. The union representation, SIPTU, should not be locked out of these negotiations. It is not good enough for the Minister to refer to the situation in three weeks time, when much negotiation has already been done and the workers have not been involved in it. Already, local authorities are going to the community development workers and saying that they must work hand-in-hand with local authorities to map out the work they do. That should not be done before the workers have an opportunity to be part of negotiations rather than being told what is happening. The Minister should support the workers and I expect him, as Minister, to do so.

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