Strike action at STERIS Tullamore to begin next week in union recognition dispute

SIPTU members employed by STERIS AST in Tullamore, today (Friday, May 8), served notice of strike action on their employer, in a dispute resulting from management at the contract sterilisation and lab testing facility’s refusal to engage with their Union on issues including sick leave and pay.

SIPTU members will conduct work stoppages commencing at 8am on Friday, May 15, and concluding at 8am on Saturday, May 16.

During this time, pickets will be placed at the entrance to the plant.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Andrea Cleere, said: “These workers have been forced to take strike action due to the company’s failure to respect their right to collectively bargain with their employer, who has unilaterally imposed changes to their sick pay and structure of remuneration.

“Our members in STERIS have been seeking to collectively negotiate with the company through their Union, SIPTU, for more than a decade. However, throughout this time, and despite the intervention of the Labour Court in 2018, management has refused to engage.”

She added: “This situation vividly highlights the failure of the Irish State to ensure that workers have a right to collectively bargain with employers, something which improves working conditions and productivity. Despite a Labour Court recommendation stating the company should engage with SIPTU, there has been no change in the company’s attitude.

“In recent months, the company has unilaterally implemented changes to work practices against the wishes of workers. This left them with no option but to ballot for industrial action, up to and including strike action, to protect their terms and conditions of employment into the future.”

SIPTU Organiser, Martin Mannion, said: “These workers are tired of asking for union recognition. The time has come that they are now demanding that management sit down with their Union to negotiate an agreement that benefits the workforce and, in the long term, will benefit the company. Workers in Ireland deserve to have the same rights as their UK and EU colleagues to collectively engage with their employer on issues relating to their workplace.”

He added: “The only way that can currently be achieved in Ireland, if the employer refuses, is through workers coming together to engage in effective industrial action.”