asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if, in view of the widespread economic and social disruption and the serious loss of earnings of the staffs involved in the Post Office dispute, he would make a statement to the House on the issues involved with particular reference to the efforts of the Government to resolve this dispute.
Private Notice Question. - Post Office Dispute.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if in view of the disastrous consequences of the present postal and telecommunications disruption, he will make a statement on the matter.
asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs what action he proposes to take to resolve the present postal dispute.
, (Dublin South-Central): With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take these three Private Notice Questions together.
I want to say first that I find it most regrettable indeed that industry and the public should have to face the damaging consequences of a strike in an essential public service. The action is being taken in support of claims for pay increases ranging from 31 per cent to 51 per cent which were being negotiated under the scheme of conciliation and arbitration to which the union concerned is a party and was taken at a time when conciliation discussion had not concluded. It was open to the union at any time if they were dissatisfied with progress in the negotiations or with the Department's response to their claims to refer the claims to independent arbitration. The union by taking industrial action are contravening these procedures which have been agreed with all the unions in the civil service for dealing with claims of this kind and are also in breach of the Employer-Trade Union National Agreement, 1978.
The claims are for increases over and above the basic increases provided for in the national agreement and are proper to be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. The basis stated for the claims is that the pay rates of the grades concerned have fallen behind the rates payable in comparable outside employments and do not adequately reflect the duties and responsibilities of the grades.
The Department have no wish to underpay their staff and have in fact made substantial offers on the claims but, equally, they must be satisfied on the evidence adduced that pay increases granted are properly supported. To proceed otherwise would impose unjustified costs on post office users who have to pay for the services and would also be a recipe for general inflation. However, the essential point is that the Department are quite prepared to continue negotiations under agreed procedures at conciliation or, if the union wishes that the issue should be assessed by the independent arbitrator, to accept that assessment. It is difficult to understand why, if the union are convinced that theirs rather than the Department's assessment of the claims is the right one, they should not agree to refer the issue to independent and impartial arbitration.
The Government cannot condone a breach of the provisions in the national agreement which bind both parties to the maintenance of industrial peace and to the observance of the agreed conciliation and arbitration machinery.
The Government and the Minister are most anxious that the pay claims should be settled on an equitable basis but a settlement must be one which is fair to both the staff and the users of the Department's services and also consistent with the Department's position as a supplier of public services to the community. It has to be one which will ensure the continued use of orderly means of resolving pay claims in the civil service. A settlement on any other basis would have the most serious consequences and would clearly not be in the interests of the public or, indeed, of the staff.
I have appealed to the union and the staff to cease their action and pursue their claims in accordance with the procedures which they have agreed should be used for resolving issues of this kind and which are still available to them.
May I thank the Minister of State for his reply.
A question please, Deputy.
Would he consider inviting the POWU to meet his officials to continue direct negotiations towards a resumption of work and settlement terms? Direct discussions on the claim could be reopened to prevent any further escalation of ill-feeling or frustration.
(Dublin South-Central): I would like to assure the Deputy and the House that the Minister, the Department and I are willing at all times to continue discussions under agreed procedures; we never broke off negotiations and we would ask the union to follow that course.
The Minister of State will agree that there is an onus on him and his Minister to take some new initiatives to get talks going. Are any new initiatives contemplated?
(Dublin South-Central): The Minister has already stated that if the unions concerned agree to go to arbitration he will accept the findings of the arbitrator.
Would the Minister agree that only resumed negotiations will get a resumption of work? Would he agree that it will take months to catch up on the backlog of work which has accrued as a result of these few days' strike? Would he also agree that any eventual settlement of this dispute will include productivity and relativity elements? The relativity element measures the disparity which has occurred in the wage rates of the postal services compared to other rates in industry. This is a major grievance——
This is a debate.
This is the kernel of the dispute.
We cannot have speeches on Private Notice Questions.
It is well known that arbitration cannot settle a productivity question.
I cannot permit discussion and argument at this stage.
Would the Minister consider the resumption of negotiations on these two separate aspects?
(Dublin South-Central): The question of relativity has been taken into consideration over the past three or four months. It was on that basis that the increases were granted. I have no doubt that, if the unions come back to start their discussions and put forward claims for increased productivity, discussions will be resumed immediately.
The Minister accepts that arbitration is not the way to deal with the productivity question. So far as I know the Department's offer to accept arbitration will not advance settlement of this dispute. May I say, through the Chair, that I consider it singularly inappropriate that the Minister with overall responsibility for this matter should be out of the country, because no work abroad could be more important than the settling of this dispute.
(Interruptions.)
He should be at his desk today. This is his responsibility and it is not the function of the Minister of State to act as mudguard for his Minister.
(Interruptions.)
In view of the fact that there was no notice given in the newspapers regarding the serving of adequate strike notice by the union involved are the union and the strikers not in breach of tort under the Trade Disputes Act, 1906?
(Dublin South-Central): The Department were in consultation. We never broke off negotiations with the union. We referred the matter to the Employer/Labour Conference to adjudicate on it. Their decision was that it was in breach of the national wage agreement.
May I bring up a constituency problem?
The Deputy may ask a question.
I want the Minister to appreciate that in County Donegal, where all the exchanges are manual and there is no automatic exchange, the entire county is closed down. What is the Minister doing about it? Industry is at a halt and people in one village cannot communicate with those in another. People cannot communicate with their doctors.
We could have a similar question from all Deputies.
I want to protest in the strongest possible way that almost the entire Republic of Ireland has automatic exchanges while Donegal does not have one. The Chair is well aware of this. The entire county has no telephone services at the moment. Will the Minister continue to wash his hands of the responsibility of settling this strike? Does he intend treating Donegal as Outer Mongolia?
(Interruptions.)
Order please.
(Dublin South-Central): Every Deputy knows that there is an agreed procedure in my Department, as indeed there is in the public service, which is the proper procedure to settle a dispute like this.
The Minister has no interest in the people of Donegal. The only interest he has in them is their beaches in summer time.
Order.
I want to protest that the people of Donegal are without telecommunication services.
The Deputy has done that. He is completely out of order.
(Interruptions.)
In view of the fact that the postal and telecommunication disruption constitutes what de facto is a grave national crisis, with very serious economic and social consequences, and in view of the fact that the Minister of State has indicated that neither he, his Minister or his Department are prepared to take any initiative, surely in the final analysis the buck stops there and surely the Taoiseach and the Government should now do something to bring both sides together and try to resolve this disastrous dispute?
We are getting on with the Order of Business now. I ask the Taoiseach to give us the Order of Business.
The entire county of Donegal is closed down and the only thing I can get is sneering remarks from the Government benches.
(Interruptions.)