All In For The Win On Construction Strike!

The Unite Union Ireland has served notice to the Mechanical Engineering and Building Services Contracting Association (MEBSCA) for the return of travel payments on the first hour of the working day. The mechanical engineering branch of Unite voted 90% for the return of the travel time pay which was cut over 14 years ago as a temporary measure.

To say that Unite was patient is an understatement, as of last July discussions with employers broke down and this was seen by the members of the union as the last straw.

It was reported that the 12% pay agreement agreed to this year by the employers included the issue of travel time, but Unite stated that this was not the case, travel time was and is a separate issue. It is important to note that MEBSCA see that dealing with just union puts them in a stronger position, so I believe that is why they are playing hardball.

Travel time, wet pay and subsistence pay have always been separate issues, just like Safe Pass which is free if you are union member, it is not directly related to your pay.

Travel time was cut in 2008 following the financial crash and the union and its members feel that they waited long for the restitution be returned in good faith.

The dispute will take the form of a one-day strike for the return of one hour or the first hour of travel compensation. It must be pointed out that many workers take more than one hour going to and from work and the travel pay in most cases does not cover the cost of their travel.

Travel pay is not a trivial matter, certainly not to the employers or Unite union members, being in receipt of compensation of the first hour of travel to your workplace officially recognises the fact that traveling to your workplace as soon as you step out your door, you are on company time.

This is important, because should something untoward happen, God forbid, on your way to work, your company bears responsibility for your wellbeing at that point of time and not just only when you are on site. And it is this responsibility that the employers are trying to get out off, not just the cost by stating that the cost of travel was included but not mentioned in the recent pay agreement.

The devil is in the detail, but a win on this issue would be important for the possibility of the return of other pay and condition issues facing construction workers in general and the rejuvenation of the image of all unions in the eyes of workers in the construction sector and other sectors, especially sectors that have a history of little or no union membership.

It is heartening to see a union understanding that the small issues are not so small, especially if they mean to better conditions overall for their union membership, and more importantly, activity leads to more members.

Unite does not exist in a bubble and nor do they want to, they are members of Congress which has sister construction unions such as Connect and other unions such as SIPTU that have construction branches in their membership.

It would seem from what I can see from various statements that the leadership of Congress and their construction branchs members are fully in support of Unite’s and their members action. But to date no other union with construction members has actively joined Unite in this travel time dispute. It appears Congress Construction branch’s reaction is nothing more than patting the Unite leadership on the head and slapping of backs of the workers in support and while saying well done they are not doing too much else, such as getting their own construction members on board and joining the fight.

It would be disingenuous to say that construction workers in other unions other than Unite do not want Travel Time compensation or they do not wish to fight for it. I would speculate that all construction workers in a union would be up for a fight for travel time and more besides, but the leadership of their unions sitting on the sidelines make it harder for Unite to gain a victory.

Should Unite win the issue, which I think they will, I becomes easier for the other unions to demand the same from the employers but without having done the hard work.

The reality of the above comment is a positive in several ways, because other union members watching Unite members go on dispute without them will, I believe, start pushing their leaderships to throw their lot in with Unite to secure the victory or at least push for the same for them.

All unions members with construction membership can sense they too are entitled to join the Unite construction workers, as it is the same sector, they should not only support Unite construction workers but pressure on their unions that this fight is their fight also and start the process, whatever that is, of getting all workers in the sector joining up to achieve a victory that will return better pay and conditions in construction.

This is not just an issue of Travel Time restoration.

Solidarity to all workers in dispute and remember it is up to you the members to pressure your leaders into action. The narrative should be “all in for the win”.