Luas staff deal scraps ‘no-strike’ clause

A WEEK after Transport Minister Noel Dempsey demanded that “no-strike” clauses be introduced into the transport industry, the one Irish company that operates such a clause has scrapped it.

The operators of the Luas, Veolia Transport, have signed a new collective agreement with staff union SIPTU.

The deal contains a number of sections, including the removal of the no-strike clause, which has been in place for a number of years.

That clause had been the subject of controversy on occasions in the past.

In 2004, there was speculation that workers were going to engage in an unofficial “choo-choo flu” similar to the Garda blue flu over staff shortages and rostering problems.

The workers could not take industrial action because of the prohibitive clause.

According to Industrial Relations News the “no-strike clause” was in place because any disruption in service would mean the imposition of a financial penalty on the company.

First, in May 2008, and then again following last Wednesday’s strike by air traffic controllers in Dublin, Cork and Shannon, Noel Dempsey made a call for “no-strike” clauses in essential services.

“Unofficial industrial action hinders the promotion of public transport as a viable alternative and there is a case to be made that no-strike clauses would improve confidence in public transport and ensure the efficient operation of public transport network services,” he said.

Meanwhile, the root cause of the air-traffic dispute, the introduction of new work practices, has been resolved by the Labour Court which found they constituted normal ongoing change.