Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise this issue because it is a concern of mine and of many workers within Bord na Móna that jobs are being put at risk in its transport rail and road divisions by the board's plans to outsource those services and impose unilateral pay cuts on existing workers. There was much consternation, deliberation and negotiation, and ultimately it went to the Labour Court. Other aspects of the negotiations took place over a protracted period of time and culminated earlier this year in a Workplace Relations Commission agreement, which spoke about the ability of the relevant section of the board to outsource services. In this case, as a result of Bord na Móna's intention to outsource its road division and impose cuts on its rail division, 130-odd workers are affected. If there is a breach of the WRC agreement it could have a knock-on effect on the 600 workers involved in the entire peat production, known as feedstock. My contention is that the board feels it is within its powers as detailed within the agreement, which states:

Bord na Móna's road haulage operations are currently being reviewed with a view to significant cost reductions and while the company notes the union's opposition to outsourcing in general, the option of outsourcing has been included in this review and if this standard tendering process determines that outsourcing is the most economic option it will be pursued. In that eventuality, existing Bord na Móna drivers will not be required to transfer to an external operator or operators and will have the option of redeployment on current pay and terms within Bord na Móna or voluntary redundancy applications may be sought.

Also within the WRC agreement was the proposal to appoint a joint industrial relations commission, which had been suggested as a forum to deal with issues such as this if there was contention around them. The contention around them is by virtue of the fact that the workers or unions were not afforded an opportunity to offer similar savings from within their own divisions to meet the demands that were being placed on them by Bord na Móna, whose overall reductions amounted to 30%, much of it from pay, as per the agreement that was reached with the entire staff in January. Based on the WRC agreement, in the event of dispute in areas such as this, there was provision for the setting up of a joint industrial relations council to further adjudicate on such issues. That opportunity has not been availed of, and now we have a situation whereby the transport staff voted yesterday on a work to rule. The unions may eventually take the opinion that this is a breach of the entire agreement, which has a knock-on effect on 600 workers. Intervention is needed to adjudicate on that and to allow the joint industrial relations council an opportunity to further adjudicate.

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