Gama refuses LRC talks unless pickets lifted

MULTI-NATIONAL construction firm Gama yesterday refused to begin conciliation talks at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) as hundreds of workers continue to protest over allegations of wage fraud and underpayment.

In the latest stalemate in the six-week-long dispute, Gama said it would not enter LRC talks as long as employees continue to picket its construction sites.

The Turkish Workers Action Group (TWAG) this week voted to negotiate a return to work in what was seen as a potentially significant breakthrough.

However, the workers made a return to work conditional on Gama guaranteeing no one be sent home - a demand the company is refusing to meet.

In a statement last night Gama said it had advised the LRC that it was “prepared to meet for exploratory and/or substantive talks” next Tuesday as long as workers return to work.

“Gama continues to make itself available for talks in the event that pickets are lifted,” the statement said.

However, SIPTU called on Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin to “protect Gama workers who have suffered outrageous exploitation by a company which has and continues to profit from publicly funded construction projects.”

SIPTU national organiser Noel Dowling said the failure of the State to deal with Gama was “a scandal of monumental proportions”.

Mr Dowling said Gama appeared to be engaged in a “war of attrition directed at ensuring that workers are forced to give up their struggle for justice and that the company will never be held to account for the millions of euros still owed to its workers in return for up to 80 hours work per week,” he said.