WORKERS AT BORD na Móna Recycling have announced a two-day strike over concerns related to job security if the State’s plan to privatise the company goes ahead.

Siptu alleges that the state-owned recycling service made the decision “behind the back of its workforce” to sell to private company Killarney Waste Disposal, and is yet to guarantee employee job security once the transfer of ownership is complete.

Bord na Móna Recycling is the country’s last publicly-owned domestic waste collection service, with all others having been privatised by the early 2000s. 

The plan for strike action will affect Bord na Móna Recycling services in counties Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Limerick, Louth, Offaly, Meath, Tipperary, Westmeath, Wexford and Wicklow.

The union’s divisional organiser, Adrian Kane, who described the deal as “gombeen politics”, said: “No legally sound guarantees have been provided to our members that their hard fought for terms and conditions of employment will be maintained by a new employer.”

Siptu met last month with elected representatives of Labour, Sinn Féin and Social Democrats to discuss the issue. Kane was critical of the lack of transparency to date at board level, adding: “Management has so far refused to provide the workers with the legal protection of a Registered Employment Agreement that will ensure their standards of employment are not reduced and that under their new employer they can maintain their right to collectively bargain.”

As a result, employees have decided to take matters into their own hands by vowing to cease all collection of customer domestic waste on 2 and 3 April, warning of steep increases in bin charges and detrimental environmental impacts if provatisation proceeds.

Pat McCabe of Siptu said: “This is the final opportunity for the company and Government to engage seriously with Union representatives on the future of this key public service.”

Union representatives are set to stage a meeting with Bord na Móna Recycling management on Thursday.

It is also requesting that Minister for Climate, Environment and Energy, Darragh O’Brien, meets with Bord na Móna Recycling workers to discuss the proposed move. McCabe added: “The buck stops with him [Minister O'Brien] and he should have the decency to hear the workers’ side on the issues surrounding this proposed sale.” 

A statement from Bord na Móna explained the efforts the company has made to ensure a smooth transition of ownership that does not affect employees.

“Bord na Móna has shared with Siptu a framework for orderly transition in the event that the sale of its recycling business receives regulatory approval,” the statement read.

“This framework outlines a range of assurances to support employees through the transition, including commitments to honour existing terms and conditions and collective agreements, as well as provision of redeployment opportunities and transition payments.”

It continued: “Despite Bord na Móna’s efforts to engage with Siptu and the reassurances provided within its transition framework, the union has issued notice of strike and industrial action.”

The company stated that it vows to keep disruption to its waste collection service to a minimum over the two days designated for strike action, should it go ahead.