Write a commentYesterday SIPTU members at the Glen Dimplex manufacturing plant in Greenbank, Newry implemented a 'Work Stoppage' in a dispute with the company concerning pay.
The Strike action is from 7.45am Thursday 18th August until 7.30am on Friday 19th August. The work stoppage is the first of several planned for the coming weeks and is in addition to an on-going work-to-rule campaign at the plant which includes a ban on overtime and call outs.
There are approximately 120 SIPTU members employed at the Glen Dimplex Plant in Newry, which has been in operation since 1973.
Alan Clark, SIPTU Chop Steward said " Our members have sought to find a negotiated solution to this dispute. Glen Dimplex is a profitable company and it is only fair that the workers who produce it high quality heating and other products are rewarded in an acceptable manner for their work".
" We regret that we have found it pessary to implement strike action in an attempt to bring an end to this dispute. "
Speaking on the action and expressing the wish that a solution can be found soon Cllr Kevin McAteer said “I want to commend the workers of Glen Electric for taking a stand in this pay dispute. We can’t ignore the fact that 93% of SIPTU members in the factory voted in favour of strike action and we must respect that democratic process.
“There have been extensive talks as of late between workers and management, however as no agreement could be reached members voted overwhelmingly to strike and they should be commended for that.”
Newry MLA Conor Murphy, MP Mickey Brady and Councillor Valerie Harte also joined workers on the picket line.
Mr Murphy said it was the company’s duty to engage with its workers. “We have spoken to the staff here on the picket line and it’s quite clear that they do not want to be striking today; they have been forced into this position by management’s refusal to engage meaningfully with them,” he said.
“These are very dedicated workers; people who have been loyal employees of the company for decades, some of them with 30 or 40 plus years of service; they are not the type of people who would make a decision like this flippantly.
“They’re not asking for anything beyond what will allow the staff to keep up with the cost of living. Their demands are completely reasonable and I think, given the years of loyal service and experience they have here, the company has a duty to engage in proper negotiations with the workers and their representatives.”
MP Mickey Brady said negotiating was not only the appropriate thing to do but the right thing to do. “We’ve been talking to the staff a lot today and as well as a sense of anger at the intransigence of management there is a very genuine sense of hurt that a company they have worked for for so long could dismiss their very modest requests so thoughtlessly,” he said.
“Their demands are not unreasonable and in this case in particular, given the years of service, I would say engaging with the staff and their representatives is not only the appropriate thing for Glen Dimplex to do but the right thing, indeed the decent thing.”
