This article is from page 15 of the 2006-05-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
A GOVERNMENT agency due to decentralise to Clare may soon become embroiled in industrial action over the move.
SIPTU, the union representing workers at Enterprise Ireland, has warned that workers at the agency could become involved in the action currently being taken by FÁS employees, over their mooted move to Birr in County Offaly.
The union says that staff in Enterprise Ireland, which is due to move 300 staff to Shannon, are being forced to move rather than being given a choice.
Owen Reidy, the SIPTU branch organiser for State agencies, said attempts were being made to compel certain Enterprise Ireland staff to relocate. Staff who had been reassigned, or promoted as a result of a voluntary early retirement scheme, were being targeted for relocation.
Up to 400 FÁS employees are already involved in a series of work disruptions over the proposal to move their staff.
Reidy said SIPTU would not hesitate to ballot for strike action if talks failed to find a solution. “In both organisations, there is no appetite for decentralisation among the employees,” he said.
The Department of Finance has suggested that the estimated €39 million which will be raised by the sale of Enterprise Ireland’s premises in Glasnevin, can be used to partly fund a new premises in Shannon.
But Amicus, the union which represents professional and technical staff has said that its members would not “stand by and watch their workplace being sold out from under them.”