SIPTU shop stewards are to meet on Tuesday to consider industrial action throughout the cash transportation industry. The move could affect the availability of money in banks and ATM machines around the State.
SIPTU's security branch secretary, Mr Kevin McMahon, said that its members in a number of companies in the cash-in-transit industry were seeking to ballot on industrial action in an attempt to have new security measures put in place throughout the sector.
Supplies of cash to ATM machines in a number of locations on the east coast have already been hit by a separate dispute at Brinks Allied, one of the main companies involved in making deliveries.
SIPTU is to ballot members at Brinks Allied later this week on industrial actions over what it maintained was a unilateral action by the company to introduce new security vehicles and procedures.
The Labour Relations Commission is to hold conciliation talks with all parties involved in the Brinks Allied dispute tomorrow.
If implemented, the proposed industrial action in the general cash transportation industry could have more widespread impact than has been seen in the Brinks dispute.
The industrial action could involve staff in cash transit companies refusing to make deliveries to what they consider to be "vulnerable areas".
According to SIPTU this could include virtually all of Dublin and a significant number of other areas around the State.
The union said that its members were increasingly concerned at the number of attacks on security staff making cash deliveries to ATM machines which it believes are now running at around one per week.
Mr McMahon said that on July 22nd SIPTU reached a consensus with all the employers in the industry that, in addition to the provision of more Army and Garda escorts, higher security and safety standards needed to be introduced as well as comprehensive training for security staff.
SIPTU is seeking the introduction of a new delivery system which would see cash placed in special cassettes prior to leaving the bank vaults. Security staff would have no access to the money once in transit and any unauthorised tampering with the devices would see the cash inside destroyed by a special dye.
Mr McMahon said that the introduction of "end to end cash transport and replenishment protection systems", known as fluiditi packages, would remove the incentive for robberies.
SIPTU has claimed that Brinks Allied broke ranks with the other cash transportation companies by seeking to introduce four new security vehicles from Holland and a new policy of requiring staff to immediately drive away from threatening incidents, leaving behind colleagues in the street if necessary.
"New technology is the best deterrent to the threat posed by criminals to the commercial viability of the industry and the livelihoods of our members,", Mr McMahon said.
"However, if there is no visible evidence of progress along the lines agreed at the July meeting, and if one of the largest companies in the country is seen to be adopting a very different, unilateral and confrontational approach, then SIPTU members will expect their union to protect them.
"In such circumstances the union will have to ballot for wider industrial action."
He said that a resolution of the Brinks dispute would open the door to tackling the real issues in the cash transportation sector.
