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Tradespeople set to strike on construction sites, as pay talks definitively collapse

The dispute centres around the payment of the first hour of “travel time” which was cut following the 2008 crash.

UNITE THE UNION has announced that plumbers, fitters, and welders that it represents on construction sites will proceed with industrial action. The union confirmed that talks with the Mechanical Engineering Building Services Contractors’ Association (MEBSCA) broke down this morning.

Unite has served notice that industrial action, which will consist of a full day of work stoppages, will occur on Friday 6 September, with pickets at sites around the country.

The union said that 90% of its members voted in favour of industrial action when balloted earlier this month.

The dispute centres around the payment of the first hour of ‘travel time’, which was originally cut “as a so-called ‘temporary measure’ following the 2008 financial crash”.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said “MEBSCA employers must be in no doubt regarding workers’ determination to reverse this iniquitous cut. Unite is backing our members every step of the way”.

“Although this cut was meant to be reviewed after a year, that review never took place,” the statement said.

Unite said that a reversal of the austerity era cut would mean an increase in gross pay of up to 12.7% “at a time of ongoing cost-of-living pressures”.

However, MEBSCA said its members pay a travel allowance on top of pay and that they made an agreement with Unite in 2011, “which incorporated the first hour of travel into hourly rates”.

“This agreement had the effect of increasing the hourly rate which also resulted in a higher rate being paid for overtime and holidays.”

In response to this, Unite said that no such agreement exists, and that a “review is still outstanding in respect of this matter”.

“The ICTU Construction Industrial Committee has applied for an updated Construction Sectoral Employment Order, seeking incorporation of travel time in the Construction SEO – this has been rejected by the employer body (the Construction Industry Federation).

“This ongoing dispute, and the differing positions submitted to the Labour Court, is due to the fact that there is no agreement governing the application of travel time,” it said.

With reporting from David Mac Redmond.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:18 PM

    All together now Ramaphosa family , we’re in the money , we’re in the money .

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    Mute Mary Loony Mc Donald
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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:27 PM

    @Ken Hayden: S.A. was fookd when they had apartheid..and it’s been downhill since.

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    Mute Ken Hayden
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    Dec 18th 2017, 7:09 PM

    @Mary Loony Mc Donald: Cyril here is worth a cool $450 million .
    So I honestly don’t think he’ll need need to rip South Africa anymore , or anyless .

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    Mute Mary Loony Mc Donald
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    Dec 18th 2017, 8:14 PM

    @Ken Hayden: it’s never enough..and his cronies need money too..btw where’d he get that much?

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    Mute ktsiwot
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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:44 PM

    SA is now a one party state, the result of this will always lead to rank corruption. For the sake of SA the ANC needs to split or an alternative party take shape or else this overt corruption will continue and lead to the same fate as Zimbabwe.

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    Mute
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    Dec 18th 2017, 6:21 PM

    What’s happening with Zim no stories.

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    Mute Angela O'Riordan
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    Dec 18th 2017, 7:17 PM

    He has a lovely smile, I wish him all the best.

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    Mute Fergus Kavanagh
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    Dec 19th 2017, 5:40 AM

    @Angela O’Riordan: Is this an ode to Ken M Angela?

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Dec 18th 2017, 7:46 PM

    Don’t knock Ramsphosa. A pragmatic businessman and good negotiator.

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    Mute Minom Pnnomm
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    Dec 19th 2017, 8:57 AM

    @sean o’dhubhghaill: more hope for SA in terms of less corruption with this guy head of the ANC than another Zuma crony in the form of his ex wife.

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    Mute Aine Foley
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    Dec 18th 2017, 10:28 PM

    2019 will hopefully see ANC losing seats to DA! Then progress will be made.

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    Mute Brendan Hughes
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    Dec 19th 2017, 1:24 AM

    @Aine Foley: they won’t lose enough though. The elections are a vote for colour nothing else. The ANC have nothing else to offer.

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