Hundreds of thousands of water customers are expected to be affected by a boil water notice issued by Uisce Éireann due to a dispute between the Unite Trade Union and eight local authorities from this morning for three days.
The warnings were issued by Uisce Éireann last Friday, July 28th. The planned industrial action will come into place at midnight on Tuesday and will last until Friday in the counties of Carlow, Cork city and county, Fingal, Kerry, south Dublin, Tipperary and Waterford city and county
Now in a statement on their website Uisce Éireann warned that the boil water notices may run for several days as they will need “time to assess the impacts on treatment plants and processes post-strike".
The statement added: “There may also be some disruption to water services, in particular, the speed at which bursts to the water network are repaired in all counties impacted by the strike action.”
Dispute
Tom Cuddy, head of operations for Uisce Éireann, said the dispute is not with Uisce Éireann and is outside their control. However, it will regrettably impact Uisce Éireann customers.
“We have stood up our incident management team and are working closely with management in the local authorities to ensure that contingency plans are in place to minimise and manage disruptions to water and wastewater services,” Mr Cuddy explained.
“To protect public health, we will have to put a number of areas on Boil Water Notices from midnight Tuesday the 1st August. It is essential that customers follow this advice and boil their water."
Mr Cuddy added that he would urge Unite to use the recognised dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve this issue and to engage with the relevant representative bodies.
“While industrial action is a right, we again call on Unite to provide guarantees that strike committees will comply with the codes of practice that ensure essential services are maintained for homes, hospitals and businesses,” he noted.
Vulnerable customers who have registered with Uisce Éireann receive direct communication on boil water notices. Customers are reminded that the water is safe to consume once boiled.
However, confirmed that Unite members working in water delivery services for eight local authorities around the country will escalate their industrial action this week with a further three days of stoppages.
Water workers will take strike action at Carlow County Council, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Fingal County Council, Kerry County Council, South Dublin County Council, Tipperary County Council and Waterford County Council.
In a statement Unite explained that the action is due to the “continued refusal of local authorities and its representative body, the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) to meaningfully engage with the union over its members’ concerns regarding shortcomings to the ‘Framework for the Future Delivery of Water Services’ document put forward by the Workplace Relations Commission last year".
Framework document
The Framework document was rejected overwhelmingly by Unite members employed in water services delivery as essential workers, as it failed to address their concerns.
Unite is seeking a commitment that members transferring to Irish Water will retain their public service status, a strengthening of existing commitments regarding protection of local authority workers involved in water services delivery, and a removal of service and age barriers for those wishing to avail of the redundancy option.
Furthermore, the union has urged that the framework be amended to specify a date and wording for a referendum enshrining public ownership and management of Ireland’s water system in the Constitution.
Unite wrote on July 20th to the Local Government Management Agency to notify the employer of the escalated strike action. The union has indicated that it remains available to meet directly, or via a proposed and agreed third party, to attempt to resolve the dispute.
Last month Unite said 12 local authority areas would be affected with the previous notice issued on July 12 but was lifted nine days later.
Customers can check if their property is included by setting your location on our website or by calling our customer care helpline, open 24/7, on 1800 278 278. A map of the areas affected are available to view on the supply and service section of water.ie
