Musgrave staff to strike over pay and rostering

The 135 staff of Musgrave’s Cork chill warehouse will withdraw their services tomorrow.

Siptu organiser Karan O’Loughlin said: “The workers have decided to take this action due to the management of the company reneging on commitments in relation to their terms and conditions of employment.”

The action is being taken over rostering issues, promised wage increases and the introduction of new voice technology.

Musgrave said it was served with strike notice as it began to implement new voice technology at the warehouse. It says voice technology — processing orders through headsets — has already been implemented at its other depots in agreement with employees and union representatives.

Meanwhile, strike action by workers at the Irish Cement Ltd production plants in Castlemungret in Limerick and Platin in Meath has entered its third week.

According to Siptu, the workers are calling on the company to honour a Labour Court recommendation relating to the payment of outstanding monies.

Pickets were placed on the entrances to the two plants on Apr 3 following a decision to take industrial action by the Irish Cement group of unions.

The company has said pay rates have remained unchanged since 2008 and currently are 60% higher than the average industrial wage for unionised staff, despite what it described as the unprecedented deterioration in the construction sector.

“Pay rates are unsustainable and are impacting negatively on the competitiveness of the company in the markets in which it operates and also on its capacity to export.”