IMPACT members at Cork City Council have backed the outcome of two conciliation conferences in a dispute over staff parking facilities. The proposals include a guarantee on replacement parking spaces and confirmation that parking charges will not be introduced for staff during 2017 and 2018.

Following Cork City Council’s sale of Navigation House in 2008, the Council continued to avail of around 120 staff parking spaces at the site. In May this year, Cork City Council advised staff that the council was notified that it must vacate the spaces by 1st June. This was despite earlier assurances by management that arrangements would not be affected, and not before alternative arrangements were agreed.

In the absence of alternative proposals or assurances on staff car parking, IMPACT members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, and were joined by members of the Local Authority Professional Officers (LAPO) division of SIPTU. Unions served two weeks’ notice of industrial action.

Two conciliation conferences took place at the WRC in July. A series of proposals were put to members:

• Replacement staff car parking spaces, in close proximity to City Hall, were guaranteed, in addition to the continuation of arrangements at North Main Street and the Kinsale Road park and ride facilities
• Confirmation from the employer that no charging would be introduced for car parking facilities during 2017 and 2018
• With effect from 1st January 2018, consultation to commence through the partnership process in relation to devising a car parking policy.

The proposals were backed by members in a ballot.

IMPACT organiser Ruth Crowley said, “No local authority in the country currently charges staff for car parking facilities. In this case, if the employer succeeded in introducing staff charges it could open the floodgates for others to introduce charges for their employees.”

Ruth added that IMPACT’s Cork City Council committee, chaired by Paul Walsh, had done an excellent job of keeping members informed and engaged throughout the process. “Such a positive outcome can be attributed to the long established work of these members and their dedication to fairness in the workplace,” she said.