Cork city firefighters vote for industrial action
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Firefighters in Cork city have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike.
It follows a ballot of members of the city council fire and rescue service over the last three days arising out of an ongoing and protracted industrial relations dispute between Siptu and Cork City Council management over “manning levels” in the fire service following the 2019 city boundary extension.
There was a 90% turnout in the ballot of the 130 or so firefighters who were eligible to vote.
They voted 96% in favour of industrial action, up to but not including strike action, and 80% in favour of industrial action, up to and including strike action.
City management will now be formally informed of the result before the trade union outlines the exact form of industrial action.
“We will do everything possible to avoid a situation where the emergency service provided to the people of Cork is affected,” a spokesman said.
The industrial action is expected to initially focus on a work-to-rule that would affect administrative duties and processes. But the dispute could escalate progressively unless a resolution to the dispute is found.
The trade union says the dispute is linked to what it has described as the “unilateral withdrawal” of the "fourth car" — a fire tender — from Ballincollig fire station which was formerly under the administrative control of Cork County Council and staffed by a part-time retained brigade until 2019.
Following the city boundary extension, the Ballincollig station came under the control of Cork City Council, which operates a full-time brigade.
The council launched a recruitment drive for full-time positions within the city fire service in 2020 and five members of Ballincollig’s retained and part-time crew were successful applicants.
But that was not enough to provide a full-time brigade in the town and it led to firefighters being drawn from the fire service’s Anglesea St headquarters and the Ballyvolane substation to provide cover in Ballincollig.
The station was also used during the pandemic to facilitate social distancing of on-watch fire crews, but a decision was taken before Christmas to cease that arrangement.
It has triggered concerns that fire cover in Ballincollig, and in the vastly extended city, particularly in its new western flanks, has been eroded.
The city council insists that fire cover remains in place for the entire city.
However, two incidents on Thursday exposed how stretched the service has become.
Two fire tenders from separate county towns had to be called in to provide back-up to city crews during two emergency incidents in the city within hours of each other.
A city crew dealing with a fire-logged school incident in the Ballincollig area was supported by a crew from Macroom.
While in the city, a crew responding to a river rescue was supported by a crew from Carrigaline.
A city-based firefighter spent 10-minutes holding onto a person who had entered the water while waiting for the support to arrive.
Siptu has previously said that notwithstanding previous engagements under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission, including a formal request from it for the "fourth car in Ballincollig" trade dispute to be referred to the Labour Court, the city council, as the employer, has declined to attend the Labour Court.
In a statement last week, the council said it was “engaged proactively” in discussions with Siptu and it claimed that significant progress had been made in a number of areas.
“The council is available at all times to meet to discuss any outstanding matters thereby negating any basis for the undertaking of any form of industrial action,” it said in a statement.
A spokesman for the firefighters said they have tabled two solutions that could avoid industrial action — an interim proposal that would see the city council reinstate the fourth car until staffing levels are increased, or for the council to indicate its willingness to attend the Labour Court.