There was guarded optimism last night that the threatened craft workers' strike in the health services and local authorities could be averted tomorrow. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions held two hours of discussions with the craft unions yesterday. Afterwards the ICTU's industrial officer, Mr Tom Wall, asked the Labour Court to meet both as soon as possible and begin procedures to resolve the dispute.
But it remains to be seen if the craft group of unions will defer strike action to allow Labour Court intervention. If they do, the court could hold an initial hearing as early as tomorrow, because of the dispute's seriousness.
A strike by maintenance craft workers would leave hospitals without cover from 5 p.m. tomorrow and they might have to close wards and turn away patients. Water and sewage services to the wider community would also be at risk.
The chief executive of the Health Service Employers' Association, Mr Gerard Barry, last night welcomed the court intervention. "I hope it can resolve the dispute in a peaceful way," he said.
But he said the health services had to assume a strike would take place tomorrow and obtaining agreement from the craft unions on emergency cover remained a priority.
The secretary of the craft group of unions, Mr Finbarr Maguire of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, said last night there were no plans for the group to meet before tomorrow. But he added: "We are always available for discussions, and if the machinery of the court is available we will attend."
He said the group would "want to hear what the court is saying before we defer industrial action".
Meanwhile, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, warned craft workers yesterday that they had no basis for taking strike action in defiance of Partnership 2000, before exhausting the proper negotiating procedures.
He said the public should be aware that it was "the craft unions who refused to abide by normal industrial relations procedures" when direct discussions on their claim failed to reach agreement.
The unions are seeking an increase of £27.69p a week.