Unite highlights concerns regarding contractors charging clients for ‘travel time’ not paid to workers

Unite members working as plumbers, fitters, welders and apprentices are set to down tools tomorrow (Friday 20 September) in a third day of action to secure the reversal of the austerity-era cut to ‘travel time’. 

Official pickets will be placed from 00.01 am to 11.59 pm tomorrow (Friday 20 September) on a number of major construction sites in Dublin and Athlone where members of the Mechanical Engineering & Building Services Contractors’ Association (MEBSCA) are carrying out works (see note to editors).

Unite members will also be holding a protest in London tomorrow involving a major MEBSCA employer.

Last month Unite mechanical members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action in pursuit of restoration of the first hour of ‘travel time,’ which was cut in the wake of the 2008 financial crash. Unite served notice of industrial action on MEBSCA members after talks with the group and its parent organisation, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), broke down as a result of the employers’ refusal to engage.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “MEBSCA employers have enjoyed massive increases in turnover and they can well afford to reverse this outrageous austerity-era cut.  Unite is backing our members every step on the way in this fight.”

In recent days concerns have emerged that some large mechanical contractors may be including the first hour of ‘travel time’ for mechanical workers when pricing and invoicing for works – despite the fact that this money is not actually being paid to the workers concerned. Unite has written to a number of major clients, including the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, highlighting its concerns and asking that they investigate.

Unite regional officer James McCabe said:

“Unite has received credible reports that some mechanical employers may be using non-existent ‘travel time’ payments to mechanical workers to pad their tender pricing and invoices. This kind of sharp practice would be tantamount to pilfering from clients and workers – and, in the case of publicly-funded projects, from the taxpayer.”