Fórsa seeks water assurances
by Hazel Gavigan
 
Peter Nolan warned that the union will not engage in processes where artificial deadlines are set, or where the outcomes are predetermined.
Peter Nolan warned that the union will not engage in processes where artificial deadlines are set, or where the outcomes are predetermined.

Fórsa has sought a meeting with local government minister Darragh O’Brien before any proposals for the future of water services are put to the Cabinet.

 

Peter Nolan, the head of the union’s local government and municipal divisions, wrote to him last week to express concerns over recent media reports on the issue.

 

It was reported that a document was circulated by the minister’s department which said a framework on the future of water service delivery must be drawn up by July and fully implemented next year.

 

This would result in the transfer of local authority water workers to a national water utility. The document also implied that an outcome may have to be enforced if agreement was not reached with Fórsa and other unions.

 

In his letter to the minister, Peter reminded him of guarantees previously given by his department.

 

“Assurances that there would be no forced transfer of staff to a new entity, that a constitutional referendum on the ownership of water services would be held, and that there would be no predetermined outcome on the corporate status of any new entity, amongst others, were given to unions in a Workplace Relations Commission process.

 

“At a meeting last July, the union side emphasised that workers had expressed a lack of confidence in proposed Government measures. If anything, this position has hardened in the interim.

 

“Throughout the pandemic, local authority workers have shown enormous flexibility to ensure the continued maintenance and supply of water and wastewater services. It will be next to impossible to retain this cooperation if the Minister reneges on commitments already given to the union,” Peter said.

 

This position was echoed by Tommy Kavanagh of Fórsa’s Municipal Divisional Executive, who works in Dublin city council’s water services. “Local authority workers in water services are not prepared to be conscripted to a new employer,” he said.

 

Peter warned that the union will not engage in processes where artificial deadlines are set, or where the outcomes are predetermined.

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