The Building and Allied Trades Union wants basic pay of £1,000 a week for members. The union, which represents bricklayers and carpenters, has served claims on several of the largest contractors in the Republic and members have engaged in a wave of local strikes. Projects affected include the Luas system and Croke Park.
The Construction Industry Federation said yesterday the demand for £1,000 a week was outrageous. It would increase basic rates from £9.72p an hour to over £25. The unofficial strike action put everybody's future at risk in the industry and jeopardised the £41 billion National Development Plan.
The union's general secretary, Mr Paddy O'Shaughnessy, said it prided itself on having the best-paid workers in the industry. Many members were already earning up to £20 an hour and giving very high productivity in return.
He added that industrial action this week at P.J. Hegarty, one of the major companies affected, was not about pay but the failure of the company to pay pension contributions for employees since last April. On behalf of Hegartys, the CIF said funds had been paid into the federation's pension scheme, but due to an administrative error it had not been allocated to the individual workers. A letter confirming contributions were now in order had been sent to BATU.