Jim Mitchell
Question:20 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Labour if he will make a statement on the present industrial dispute in his Department; and the steps he has taken to resolve same.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Industrial Dispute.
Toddy O'Sullivan
Question:59 Mr. T. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Labour if he will give details of the background to the dispute in his office which led to a situation where members of his staff were unable to deal with public queries; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 59 together.
The present industrial dispute in my Department has arisen out of disagreement between my Department and the Civil and Public Service Union over the union's demands for the filling of a substantial number of posts in my Department.
The Department have met with union officials on a number of occasions and have made a number of offers to the union in order to resolve the dispute. These offers have been rejected by the union.
Subject to overall staffing policy and within current public expenditure constraints, I am continuing my efforts towards resolving the dispute. The Deputies will appreciate that it would be inappropriate to go into further details or to comment further at this time, as mettings are still taking place.
The industrial action undertaken by CPSU members comprised a ban on telephone contacts with the public and nonperformance of certain duties normally undertaken by these staff. The difficulties created related mainly to telephone inquiries, delays in postal communications and issue of payments, I regret the inconvenience to the public caused by this industrial dispute.
Can the Minister tell us how long this dispute has been going on?
This is the sixth week of the dispute.
Would the Minister not agree that the inability of the Department of Labour to resolve their own disputes makes a pretty bad headline? Now that the dispute has gone on for six weeks, will the Minister accept that the time has come for outside arbitration?
The CPSU are involved in a dispute with several Government Departments, and have been for several months, on the issue of seeking further promotions for their members. There has been considerable negotiation between senior officials of my Department and members of the union. That is the way the CPSU members wish to deal with the dispute. They are pursuing the issue at Department level and wish to keep it that way.
The time available for dealing with Priority Questions is exhausted.
If the dispute is not resolved quickly, will the Minister have any objection to referring the matter to arbitration?
If it is not resolved quickly I will have to resolve it myself but I am trying not to do that as the unions do not wish me to do so.
Do I take it that the Minister is balking at the idea of arbitration in relation to a dispute in his own Department?
No, I am following the line that the trade unions in the Civil Service have traditionally followed. They like to deal with the management of Government Departments. The Deputy would be accusing me of interfering if I broke with that tradition.