DOCK WORKERS TO RESUME PICKETS

DOCK WORKERS TO RESUME PICKETS

“LABOUR RELATIONS MECHANISMS HAVE FAILED THESE WORKERS “

Workers at Marine Terminals LTD (MTL) will resume pickets on the company from Monday 22nd February .

The decision was taken after the failure of the Irish states industrial relations mechanism to bring about a resolution. With the company blatently refusing to meaningfully engage with the Labour relations commission (LRC) , and ignoring the arbitrators recommendation, we now find that the state institutions have no teeth. The Irish state has failed these workers. They were left with no other option but to resume a strike which should be long ended.

It is worth noting that the workers have been out of their place of employment for 230 days. The strike originally lasted for 111 days, and “ended ” on 20th October. Since that day, not one person has returned to work. More days have now been lost in industrial relations procedures, and in been given the run-around than in strike action!

The Dublin Port Workers Support Group has pledged it’s full support to the strlkers. Members of the support group will today meet to discuss the appropriate tactics we will adopt and agree a timetable for these actions.

The support group was set up by the local communities of East Wall, Ringsend and Irishtown , and launched a campaign involving residents, trade unionists and which had cross party political backing. The support group co-ordinated a number of marches to the MTL terminal , and also targetted companies linked to MTL and Peel Ports. Those targetted included Deutsche Bank , Celtic Football club and the Dunnes stores chain. All options for renewed actions will be considered.

For full background and latest news on the strike, please see the official strike web site.