Building industry chief takes swipe at union

THE head of one of the country’s top five construction companies says excessive union action has the potential to be a disaster for the industry.

Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU) general-secretary Paddy O’Shaughnessy, however, dismisses the claim as nonsense.

Managing director of John Sisk & Son, Tom Costello, singled out BATU for special criticism at the Institute of Engineers in Ireland seminar held in Cork yesterday.

“One of the major threats to successful delivery is the risk of industrial relations problems, particularly associated with the brick and blocklaying union, BATU,” Mr Costello said.

He said that a prerequisite to any new national agreement should be that BATU are “brought into line”.

“Industrial peace has not prevailed. Disruptive work practices, unofficial action and low productivity performance have raised costs and brought uncertainty to project completion.

“The continuation of this in the next few years, when the industry is already challenged with lower volumes and tighter margins, would be disastrous for output and employment,” he said.

Reacting to Mr Costello’s remarks, Mr O’Shaughnessy said: “Nonsense. This is about power. Mr Costello does not want my 9,000 members to have a say in how and what they work for. No schools or hospitals have been delayed. Tom should stop whingeing,” said the union leader.

Mr Costello said that between 1997 and 2002 tender levels increased by 45%, compared with an increase of 20% in the UK. Labour costs increased by 90% in the same period. “In some trades there has also been a considerable reduction in productivity levels.”

He said the industry responded extremely well to the challenge of building the infrastructure for the Celtic Tiger. “For an industry that experienced little growth during the 1980s and early ’90s, its ability to adapt to the phenomenal growth from 1994 to 2001 was truly remarkable. Construction output in the period increased cumulatively by 114%” he said.

Mr Costello said the need to roll out the National Development Plan is more acute that ever. “Yet many civil engineering contractors are running out of work. It is now almost certain that most contractors will be operating at less than 50% capacity within the next 12 months,” he said.