Tipperary County Council says it is extremely concerned by SIPTU’s decision to escalate its industrial action, closing 50% of retained fire service stations on a rotational basis.
The dispute is causing strains between the Fire Service management and the Retained Firefighters as SIPTU says Fire Service management locally are not keeping to the terms of an agreement for emergency cover and co-operating by using telephone for communication. The Firefighters are not using their radios when responding to emergency calls as part of their industrial action.
Tipperary Council says it acknowledges that a recruitment and retention crisis is impacting the service and that there is a risk to the sustainability of service – the Council believes that the Labour Court proposals offer a clear pathway and plan to address these issues. The Firefighters rejected these proposals on a vote of 82% to 18%. The Management side also highlight that further negotiation on pay is possible through the national pay talks, due to start in a matter of weeks.
The Council is underlining that the retained firefighter role is a part-time role and currently, retained firefighters earn on average €25,000 per year. This ranges from €20,000 in stations with the lowest activity to in excess of €55,000 in stations of high activity according to Tipperary County Council.
Tipperary County Council is calling on SIPTU to recognise that the issue can only be solved at National level and wants the union to call off what it terms “unconstructive and unnecessary industrial action, which has a significant impact on public safety.”
The public are advised to continue to call 999/112 in the event of an emergency.
