A dispute over travel expenses has led to a full-day strike by plumbers, fitters, welders, and apprentices.
The workers, represented by the Unite trade union, are protesting cuts to the ‘travel time’ allowance, which compensates for the first hour of travel to job sites.
Pickets have been set up at major construction locations in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Kildare.
Pickets were organized to start from midnight (Thursday) and will run until 11:59 pm tonight (Friday).
Key sites affected by the strike include the Diageo site in Dublin, the ESB site in Grange Park, Dublin, the Intel site in Leixlip, Kildare, and the Eli Lilly and Analog Devices sites in Limerick and Cork.
All of these are large-scale construction projects where the Mechanical Engineering and Building Services Contractors’ Association (MEBSCA) is carrying out work.
The Unite trade union, organized the action following a vote by its members last month.
The union claims that the cuts to ‘travel time’ are an unacceptable financial burden on its members, particularly those who often work long distances from home.
