Intensive discussions between Fórsa and management at the Oberstown youth detention campus have continued in recent weeks, with union representatives now confident that a new collective bargaining arrangement will help ensure industrial stability at Oberstown.

Fórsa official Seán McElhinney described the schedule for negotiations as comprehensive. “The aim is to obviate the potential for disputes in the future, and establish a robust framework for negotiations and consultation in the context of dispute resolution machinery,” he said.

Seán said the union’s opposition to mixed-gender units, the subsequent threat of industrial action in October, and management’s positive response to the union’s position, led to the current round of discussions.

Single-gender units were restored within a week of Fórsa warning management of potential industrial action, and arrangements for the staffing of separate boy and girl units have since been agreed with Fórsa. 

“Health and safety and good sense triumphed when the employer re-established the single-gender-units. It is to the credit of our members at Oberstown that we’ve established a means to end the perpetual cycle of disputes that have occurred at the centre over the last number of years,” said Seán.

The discussions have led to an agreed schedule for the creation of a joint negotiating and consultation committee, which will undertake to provide Fórsa with the necessary information for it to carry out effective consultation and negotiation, including information on organisational developments and the centre’s economic situation.

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