The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
‘Health and safety’ fears behind council staff move
COUNCIL staff at the authority’s outdoor facility in Listowel refused to enter their workplace on Thursday in an escalation, taken on health and safety grounds, of a dispute between workers.
Up to 18 employees of Kerry County Council who are based in a facility for outdoor staff adjacent to Listowel Town Park declined to enter their workplace on Thursday last, remaining outside the premises for at least part of the day.
Thursday’s development came amid an ongoing dispute between workers.
The Kerryman understands that attempts had been made to address the dispute in a manner satisfactory to all parties involved.
What has been described as ‘genuine health and safety’ concerns sparked Thursday’s refusal by workers to enter the workplace.
However, the move was in no way a ‘strike’ as it had been described by some locally last week.
A spokesperson for SIPTU, the union of which the workers are members, said the employees went back to work when they felt their health and safety fears were being addressed.
“There was a health and safety concern ongoing that needed to be addressed. In the absence of that being addressed our members were not in a position to attend work,” SIPTU Industrial Officer Con Casey told The Kerryman.
Kerry County Council would say nothing on the dispute, meanwhile. “Kerry County Council does not comment publicly on staffing matters,” Council communications officer Owen O’Shea told The Kerryman.
Mr Casey would not be drawn on the nature of the health and safety concern, but said that members were satisfied for now that the issue was being dealt with. They returned to work on the commencement of a formal investigation of their health and safety concerns.
The Kerryman understands that the escalation of the dispute between individual workers occurred amid allegations of audio recordings of workers’ conversations.
It is also understood that the impact of the escalation on the outdoor services provided by the affected staff was minimal on the day.
No complaints relating to the provision of services were received by the Council as a result of Thursday’s issue The Kerryman understands.