Electric.ie July/ August 2020

ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • 49 UK Manufactured • Top Quality • Colour Consistency Guaranteed Outstanding Service • Full Range of Colours and Sizes Available Call: +44 (0)161 629 9333 • Fax: +44 (0)161 629 9444 Email: sales@clyndercables.co.uk • www.clyndercables.co.uk Also major stockist of: Tri-rated cable 2491X H05V-K Def Stan cable Superflex 2491B / 6701B (H05Z-K / H07Z-K) LOW SMOKE ZERO HALOGEN CABLE BASEC APPROVED NOW AVAILABLE EW-JULY19-CLYNDER v2:Layout 1 10/06/2019 11:13 Page 1 Industry News Connect Trade Union prepares to take industrial action to protect members’ wages and conditions C onnect Trade Union has begun preparations for industrial action against any employer who seeks to undermine its members’ pay and conditions following the High Court decision, earlier this week, to declare parts of the Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015 as ‘unconstitutional’. Connect Trade Union General Secretary, Paddy Kavanagh, said: “The executive of Connect Trade Union met yesterday afternoon (Thursday, 25th June) to address the recent High Court ruling striking down the legislation underpinning the Sectoral Employment Orders (SEOs) in the electrical contracting, mechanical contracting and construction sectors”. At the meeting the executive unanimously endorsed a strategy to prepare members to take industrial action in order to defend their existing pay and conditions, including those covered by SEOs. Connect Trade Union Assistant General Secretary, Brian Nolan, said: “In correspondence to all em ployers in the electrical contracting, mechanical contracting and construction sectors we will be giving notice that the Union considers that all existing pay and conditions in the sectors still apply. Further to that if any employer should seek to alter or undercut these rates and conditions they will be subject to industrial action and that site clients be put on notice that any such industrial action on any site would automatically involve our members employed across all three sectors. Union officials and activists will over the following weeks contact all Connect members to ascertain compliance with the current pay and conditions in each sector in their individual employments. Following this the Union will conduct a national ballot of all its 25,000 members across electrical contracting, mechanical contracting and construction sectors seeking a mandate for industrial action to not only protect existing pay and conditions nationally but also the improvements which are due to them.” He added: “ Employers who might seek to attempt to undermine our members’ pay and conditions should note that Connect Trade Union has in the past 15 years on three occasions undertaken industrial action on a national level in these sectors and it will not hesitate to do so again.”