Electricians set for strike as contractor body votes to reject recommendation

ELECTRICIANS were last night considering a return to widespread strike action after one of the main electrical contractor bodies voted to reject a Labour Court recommendation for 4.9% pay increases in the industry.

The Association of Electrical Contractors Ireland, which represents some 300 small and medium-sized contractors, said “a large majority” of its members rejected the court’s recommendation that wage increases of 4.9% be paid over two phases to electricians and that a registered employment agreement in the industry remain unaltered.

“Members are adamant it would be impossible to recover these cost increases from their customers in the current economic climate,” said AECI president Jack Hegarty. “Contractors are locked into fixed price contracts going forward to the end of 2010 and, in the case of Government contracts, prices are fixed for 42 months.

“Members have expressed the view that any alteration in wage rates must be part of a review of the conditions of the Registered Employment Agreement (REA).”

Earlier this month electricians went on strike and mounted pickets because they said employers had refused to pay more than 11% in increases to which they said they were entitled. They also claimed employers wanted to change the terms of the agreement.

After protracted negotiations — first at the Labour Relations Commission and then at the Labour Court — the court issued its recommendation. The main electrical union the Technical Electrical and Engineering Union and the Electrical Contractors Association, which represents bigger employers, accepted the recommendation fairly quickly after it was issued.

Mr Hegarty said: “AECI wishes to appeal to all parties to get back to discussions and give sufficient time to arrive at a solution that will be beneficial to everybody involved.”

Owen Wills, TEEU general secretary, said the move by the AECI was disappointing and, while the union would have to reflect on the decision, they were facing a return to industrial action. “We will give some reasonable time to the parties to assess the situation but that period is not indefinite,” he said.

Mr Wills said all sides had agreed previously that Tánaiste Mary Coughlan would get involved and use the Labour Relations Commission to investigate non-compliance with wage rates and conditions in the electrical industry. He said that now needed to happen as a matter of urgency.