Dublin's Lord Mayor and a majority of city councillors stood and applauded striking workers from the Greyhound Recycling and Recovery company, at the council's monthly meeting tonight.
Many of the workers who had earlier protested outside City Hall were also in the public gallery to hear councillors suspend standing orders and describe the strike as “a lock out” reminiscent of the 1913 Dublin workers’ strike.
Lord Mayor Christy Burke welcomed the workers to the meetingand noted they had been told by the company in June that their wages were to be cut by 35 per cent.
He also called on acting Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan “to pull back” from “heavy-handed tactics” involved in policing the pickets and not “persecute the workers and their supporters”.
Chief executive
Cllr Pat Dunne of the People Before Profit Alliance said he wanted the debate to reaffirm the council's support for the workers earlier articulated in July. He also said the meeting should condemn Michael Buckley, chief executive of Greyhound, for allegedly referring to some workers as criminals.
Cllr Tina McVeigh of the People Before Profit Alliance alleged six of the company’s vehicles had been impounded under health and safety regulations, in the last week, while Michael O’Brien of the Anti-Austerity Alliance said the company was running an “effective scabbing operation”.
Daithí Doolan of Sinn Féin said the dispute would not end until the workers had their pay and conditions restored and could walk back to work “with their heads held high”.
‘Draconian’
Cllr Ciaran Cuffe of the Green Party said there was no doubt the 35 per cent cut was "draconian".
He said the dispute was a direct result of the “right-wing policies of the Progressive Democrats over two decades” and this had resulted in a “race to the bottom” for workers pay and conditions.
He said there was a danger local authorities would not be left in control of any essential services. City manager Owen Keegan said he had noted the debate and would provide a detailed reply this week.
