Boil water notices issued to almost 83,000 households and businesses in Waterford and Tipperary could be in place for several days Uisce Éireann has warned, with customers in 10 other local authority areas facing potential supply disruption due to strike action by members of the Unite trade union.
More than 100 workers are due to take part in the action on Thursday and Friday over the terms on which it is proposed they transfer to Uisce Éireann from local authorities or transfer to other roles within councils.
Unite is seeking a commitment that water staff transferring from local authorities to Uisce Éireann will retain their public service status.
In addition to the precautionary boils water notices, disruption to supply could affect households and businesses in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, South Dublin County Council, Cork city and County, Kerry, Louth, Carlow, Galway City and Wexford.
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By Thursday afternoon no cuts to supply had been reported to Uisce Éireann, beyond those notified as part of scheduled works, but the potential for disruption remains a possibility on Friday. However, it may take several days before all boil water notices can be lifted to ensure the safety of supplies. Customers under boil water notices should boil water before using it for drinking, preparation of food that is not cooked before eating, or teeth brushing. Details of areas affected are at water.ie.
“The situation as of this morning is stable with no further Boil Water Notices in place. Unfortunately, the Boil Water Notices in Waterford and Tipperary may run for several days as we will need time to assess the impacts on treatment plants and processes post-strike,” Tom Cuddy, head of operations for Uisce Éireann said.
Uisce Éireann had established an incident management team working closely with management in the 12 local authorities to manage any disruptions to the water and wastewater system. However, there may be water supply interruptions and other water or wastewater issues, he said.
“We would appeal to Unite to engage with the relevant representative bodies and avoid putting the water supply and wastewater service for homes and businesses at risk. While Uisce Éireann is not a party to the dispute our Incident Management Team is continuing to monitor and assess any impact due to industrial action and we are working closely with management in the local authorities to ensure that the plans in place continue to minimise and manage disruptions to water and wastewater services.
Tom Fitzgerald, regional co-ordinating officer with the Unite trade union, said strike action had been taken because the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), which is the body charged with engaging with trade unions on behalf of local authorities, had refused to meet members of Unite.
This was not an acceptable position for one state agency to say that they would not engage with a trade union, he said. Unite is seeking a commitment that water staff transferring from local authorities to Uisce Éireann will retain their public service status.
“Our members democratically rejected a framework for future delivery of water services.” The trade union wants to sit down and discuss the difference in approach to standard operating procedures and industrial action.
“Our members don’t engage in this action lightly. No one wants to be on strike. It’s a very difficult place to be. And remember, our people who are on strike today live in those areas where the notices are going out. So this impacts upon their family, their communities. So it’s not something they want to do. ”
Mr Fitzgerald said that in situations such as emergencies his members would leave the picket line to make sure any essential work was done. The situation was not tenable. The union was available and was ready to sit down for talks.
