40 Bord na Móna staff suspended in earnings row

FORTY workers at Bord na Móna have been suspended over an unofficial dispute at a power station.

The company claimed workers refused to return to normal duties at the peat-fired Lough Ree Power Station, Co Longford, when it reopened four weeks early after it was shut down for essential maintenance.

A Bord na Móna spokesman said that during the period of the overhaul, transport workers affected were deployed to alternative work.

“As the overhaul was completed all transport workers were requested to return to normal work on standard pay and conditions. The workers involved refused and the company was left with no alternative but to suspend the 40 workers involved in the unofficial industrial action.”

It is understood the workers are refusing to bring peat into the station over claims they are owed money for loss of earnings of about €100 a week while the power station was closed for 16 weeks.

SIPTU’s Greg Ennis said: “Union officials will meet members in the morning to try and resolve the dispute.”