Union offers to support application for SEO incorporating ‘travel time’

Sectoral collective agreement best way to ensure level playing field

Trade union Unite, which represents plumbers, fitters, welders and apprentices, today (Thursday) said that the Mechanical Engineering & Building Services Contractors’ Association (MEBSCA) is failing its members by rejecting Unite’s offer to support an application for a new Sectoral Employment Order (SEO) incorporating ‘travel time’.

Mechanical workers on construction projects across Ireland are preparing to down tools on Friday 6 September in a dispute surrounding the union’s claim for reinstatement of the first hour of ‘travel time’, which was cut in the wake of the 2008 financial crash. ‘Travel time’ was originally introduced in the 1960s to compensate construction workers for the fact that they have no set place of work but may be required to travel to sites around the country, often at short notice.

Pointing out that the austerity era cut to ‘travel time’ was originally supposed to be subject to a review in late 2011 which never materialised, Unite said that it had made a series of attempts to resolve the matter through collective agreements, Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearings and SEO applications, but MEBSCA has consistently refused to engage on the issue. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s efforts to resolve the ‘travel time’ issue have been frustrated by MEBSCA at every turn and our members have been left with no choice but to take industrial action.

“Unite has a laser like focus on the jobs, pay and conditions of its members, and mechanical construction workers will receive the union’s unstinting support.”

Most recently, in talks which broke down without agreement on Monday, MEBSCA argued that the reinstatement of the first hour of ‘travel time’ would put them at a competitive disadvantage in the sector. Unite responded with a commitment to seek a new SEO, which would include travel time. This would apply to all employers in the sector, creating a level playing field which would be of particular benefit to smaller contractors. Unite was surprised that MEBSCA rejected this offer for reasons which it did not choose to explain.

Unite regional officer James McCabe said: “The interests of both workers and employers in the mechanical sector would best be served by a new Sectoral Employment Order. Unite remains committed to making a new application for an SEO in return for inclusion of the first hour of travel.

“As an employers’ association, MEBSCA is failing its members by refusing to work with Unite on a new SEO which would prevent decent employers being undercut by rogue operators. MEBSCA needs to come back to the table, resolve the travel time issue and work with Unite to secure the sector’s long-term future”.