Unite proposals include alert-dependent mandatory closures and ‘climate leave’

Time to climate-proof health and safety legislation 

Union seeks meeting with Minister Peter Burke to discuss proposals

Trade union Unite, which represents workers throughout Ireland, today (Monday 28 April – International Workers’ Memorial Day) released the results of a survey of union members carried out following Storm Éowyn together with a set of policies to protect workers from the impact of extreme weather. The findings include: 

• 55 per cent did not feel safe travelling to and from work during the storm
• Of those who had to work outdoors on the day of the storm, over half of respondents did not feel their employer had taken all reasonable precautions to make work safe
• Of those whose employer did not require them to work on the day of the storm, nearly a third had to take the day as annual leave, unpaid leave, flexitime, sick leave or time-off-in-lieu (TOIL).

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our survey exposes that many workers felt unsafe working and travelling during Storm Éowyn, while some employers even attempted to shift the financial cost of closure onto workers by insisting, they take a day’s leave.

 “On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we are demanding that the government climate-proof health and safety laws to ensure that workers’ lives and incomes are protected during extreme weather.”

 Unite is proposing a package of ‘Extreme Weather’ measures to protect workers from the impact of such events.  As well as statutory maximum working temperatures, Unite’s proposals include an obligation on employer to conduct risk assessments during extreme weather events and Unite’s proposals include an obligation on employers to conduct risk assessments during extreme weather events, cease all routine outdoor work during orange alerts and cease all non-essential work (whether indoor or outdoor) during red alerts, with workers continuing to be paid during such closures.

 The union is also proposing four days’ paid climate leave,  along the lines of that introduced in Spain following last year’s devastating Valencia floods, if conditions render travel hazardous or workers need to address pressing domestic needs resulting from extreme weather.  A summary of Unite’s survey results and policy proposals is available here.

Unite has written to Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Minister Peter Burke requesting a meeting to discuss the union’s proposals. 

Unite’s Irish secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “Accelerating climate change means that the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are set to increase.  Workers must not be made to pay the price – in terms of their safety, health and livelihoods – for a climate crisis not of their making”.