Laois Firefighters instructed to escalate action this weekend

Retained firefighters throughout Laois were instructed to escalate their industrial action this weekend. 

It follows a meeting of SIPTU in Dublin on Wednesday where the union instructed its members in the retained fire service to engage in ‘Going Dark’, a cessation of normal communications with management this Saturday.

The decision was taken as part of ongoing industrial action over staffing, pay and conditions in the retained fire service. 

If progress isn’t made, SIPTU plans a further escalation of its industrial action on Saturday, August 19 and again on Saturday, August 26. 

Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan has described a decision by the State’s almost 2,000 retained firefighters as ‘clear evidence that the so-called mediation process has failed to adequately grasp the depth of anger among members of the service.’

“It is nothing short of insanity that this protest and industrial action has still not been resolved to the satisfaction of our retained firefighters,” said Deputy Nolan.

“I have heard the anger first-hand, including when I visited striking members at the fire station in Birr. There is almost a sense of disbelief that it has been allowed to go on for so long in the absence of a genuine political will to break the impasse.”

“This is not some fringe public service that we are talking about here. It is a critical life-saving service. Yet here we are into the third month of this action and there is still no resolution in sight. In fact, if anything, the crisis is deepening.”

“I know that the Labour Court has made a number of recommendations in relation to the dispute, but these have been assessed and rejected by a margin of 82 per cent to 18 percent. That should have told Government and the Local Authorities that what was being offered was an insult,” said Deputy Nolan. 

“The alarm is ringing on this issue. All of the political rhetoric at Government level appears to have turned to ash as they wait it out or hope the firefighters will cave. In that respect at least Government will have radically underestimated the level of public support for the firefighters and the resolve among members to finally have issues around pay and conditions resolved,” Deputy Nolan concluded.

SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, Karan O’Loughlin expressed astonishment that the issue has been allowed to continue.  

“It has been nine weeks since this industrial action commenced and the silence from the Government has been astonishing. It has abandoned the retained fire service, leaving firefighters at the side of the road in an effort to break their dispute,” she said. 

 “This strategy will not work. The men and women of the retained service are steadfast in their belief that the service will collapse if adequate measures are not taken to address the current recruitment and retention crisis and this dispute will continue until this happens,” she said.  

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“As of 8 a.m. On Saturday, 12th August, all stations will go dark and will have no internal communications other than life saving information,” she said.  

“If this does not encourage management back to the table then on Saturday, 19th August, an additional one station will close each week in each county. Stations around the country are already closed fifty per cent of the time because of the refusal by management to agree adequate cover arrangements with fire fighters, and because many of them don’t have enough staff to respond to calls. This situation will now escalate.”