Plans to erect a mobile phone mast on a Government department site in Sligo could lead to industrial action, with possible implications for pensioners around the country.
The Civil and Public Service Union (CPSU) will this week decide if members at the pension services office get the go-ahead to hold a ballot on industrial action.
An estimated 80 per cent of the 500 staff based at the office on College Road, Sligo, are members of the CPSU. In recent weeks they have been campaigning against a decision by the Office of Public Works (OPW) to place the mast on their office.
At a meeting last week, staff unanimously voted to seek the sanction of the union's national executive committee to hold the ballot.
Mark Cawley, a local branch representative, said he expected the ballot would be held "as soon as possible" if the union approves.
"The Government does not seem to care about 500 workers in this office or about the 37 children in the nearby creche, but they do have to care about the welfare of pensioners."
Staff in the affected office are involved in processing applications for pensions.
The OPW, which is insisting the mast would meet the strictest international guidelines, said yesterday it expected the mast would be installed within weeks.
Sligo County Council has called on Minister of State Tom Parlon to reverse the decision to put the mast on the building, and the workers' concerns were raised in the Dáil last week by Fine Gael TD John Perry.
