Cork city firefighters reject proposal in dispute over staffing numbers

It is understood that among their concerns was the taking of two crew members from Anglesea St HQ to bring the Ballincollig fire station crew numbers to six

The proposal, which was recommended for acceptance by Siptu trade union officials, was unanimously rejected by the city's 140-strong fire fighting brigade, in a ballot with a turnout of around 70%. File picture: Larry Cummins

Firefighters in Cork city have unanimously rejected a proposal designed to end a nine-week-old industrial relations dispute over staffing numbers, which would have also secured the day-time only re-opening of a large town’s fire station.

The proposal, which followed two days of talks facilitated by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), outlined how Cork City Council planned to base and crew a ‘fourth pump’ at Ballincollig fire station from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, with night-time fire cover provided from Anglesea St headquarters.

But the proposal, which was recommended for acceptance by Siptu trade union officials, was unanimously rejected by the city's 140-strong fire fighting brigade, in a ballot with a turnout of around 70%.

It is understood that among their concerns was the taking of two crew members from Anglesea St HQ to bring the Ballincollig pump crew numbers to six—five firefighters and an officer.

They also had concerns about a requirement that any Ballincollig-based firefighters would have to take their day-time breaks in Anglesea St fire station, and they had issues with the proposed command structure if Ballincollig station re-opened.

The rejection of the proposal means that the open-ended industrial action embarked upon by the brigade’s Siptu members almost nine weeks ago continues. The industrial action relates to administrative duties only and has not affected the emergency 999 service.

Sources said a 24-hour re-opening must form part of any future proposals and stressed that the rejected proposal does contain elements which could form the basis for a negotiated resolution, through further engagement with the WRC.

Ballincollig station

The union has always insisted that the root cause of this dispute lies with the failure of fire service management to reinstate the Ballincollig retained fire and rescue service or provide additional resources to the Cork City Fire Brigade to provide cover in Ballincollig following the 2019 city boundary extension.

The town had a retained fire service when it was within the administrative area of Cork County Council. It also had a full-time fire service for several months after it came within the administrative area of the city after the boundary extension.

But despite the launch of a high-profile retained firefighter recruitment campaign over two years ago, the city council has yet to hire a single retained firefighter to crew the Ballincollig station. Siptu said the boundary extension has seen an expansion of the area covered by the Cork City Fire Brigade without the provision of enough additional staff.

Seven former retained firefighters in the town were interviewed for and secured full-time firefighter jobs after the boundary extension—a 7% increase in the fire brigade’s operational staffing numbers. But in comparison, firefighters say the city council saw a 15%-16% increase in staff post boundary extension to deal with the extra workload for the larger city.