September/October Edition

ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • 13 Industry News A Fast Track to an Engineering Degree for Qualified Electricians C ompanies are crying out for trade qualified engineers throughout Ireland. The Limerick Institute of Technology and TUD in Dublin are offering a degree level apprenticeship designed to upskill qualified electricians to enable them to qualify as Electrical Engineers in just two years while working. Vincent Cunnane, the president of LIT says "We want to see people learning when earning. This is a model which we believe will succeed and one that can be applied in other sectors. This apprenticeship is at the forefront of how learning is changing in Ireland" To learn more about the apprenticeship programme in either LIT or TUD Limerick Institute of Technology (Coordinating Provider) Website: apprenticeship.lit.ie For further information – Dr Maura Clancy, Head of Department, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Phone: +353 (0) 61 293227 . For queries on the application process please contact claire.allen@lit.ie or phone 061-293183. Technical University Dublin (Tallaght Campus) For further information – course specific Contact: email siobhan.ocallaghan@tudublin.ie or phone: 0873593530 For queries on the application process please contact LLL@tudublin.ie or phone 01-4042101 Mechanical workers vote for industrial action U nite trade union, which represents mechanical workers (plumbers, fitters and welders) in the construction and mechanical services sectors throughout Ireland, has announced that members have voted almost unanimously to take industrial action if any employer in the sector seeks to reduce terms and conditions in the wake of June’s High Court decision striking down Sectoral Employment Orders. They are also seeking the implementation of a pay increase scheduled to come into effect from the beginning of September. Tom Fitzgerald, Unite Regional Officer commented “A pay increase agreed under the mechanical collective agreement is due to take effect from September 1st and Unite is monitoring the situation to ensure all employers adhere to the agreement. We have written to employers’ bodies rejecting their calls in mid-August for a deferral of the increases, and we have informed them that any employer failing to implement the pay increases due from September will be deemed to be in breach of negotiated agreements." During the month of August, mechanical members of Unite have been voting in a protective ballot to decide whether they will take industrial action if any employers renege on the agreed pay increases, or hides behind the High Court decision in order to attack terms and conditions in any way. “ The ballot is now concluded and our members voted almost unanimously in favour of such action. A similar protective ballot of non-mechanical workers in the construction sector is still under way, and will conclude on Monday September 14th. Employers have a simple choice: they can either abide by all agreed terms and conditions, including scheduled pay increases, or they can face determined industrial action". "Our members’ position is very simple: What we have, we hold”, Mr Fitzgerald concluded.