In the last IMPACT members’ ebulletin we reported that the union had given €10,000 to an ICTU support fund established to help the 70 Dublin workers, members of Siptu, whose company has refused to let them work unless they accept a 35% pay cut.

The IMPACT social workers’ chairperson Kerry Cuskelly also wrote to the workers last month. “As social workers, whose values are based on fighting for social justice and human rights, we stand in full support of you as you continue to fight for your right to a decent wage and terms and conditions of work. We condemn the actions of the Greyhound waste company in this issue. We join with others in calling for you to be allowed return to work under your existing terms and conditions of employment while talks on changes at the company are underway,” she wrote.

IMPACT strongly opposed the 2011 privatisation of Dublin’s refuse collection, correctly predicting that it would lead to higher charges, poorer service and an erosion of workers’ rights. The union’s executive has agreed to explore possible campaigns to bring privatised services like this one back into public control.

Members of all unions in the Dublin area have been encouraged to complain directly to Greyhound about how it’s treating its workers, and to sign a petition calling on Greyhound to stop using strikebreaking tactics and negotiate with staff.

Read the letter from the IMPACT social workers’ vocational group HERE.