SIPTU demands additional pay for frontline emergency workers\u00a0
SIPTU is renewing its call for a binding national protocol to govern how local authority and state agency workers are deployed, protected and paid during extreme weather events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The union says Storm Chandra has again exposed gaps in how frontline emergency workers are treated during severe weather.<\/p>\n
It is demanding additional pay for emergency\u2011related duties, including extended hours, callouts, standby, redeployment and high\u2011risk tasks.<\/p>\n
SIPTU public administration and community divisional organiser, Brendan O\u2019Brien, said: \u201cOur members in Local Authorities and State Agencies are out there dealing with flooding, fallen trees, travel disruption, and damage to infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They are keeping roads clear, restoring services, and protecting communities. This is emergency work, carried out under very difficult conditions, and it must be recognised and fairly compensated.<\/p>\n
\u201cSIPTU\u2019s local authority sector members are already campaigning for a comprehensive review of their terms and conditions. This broader campaign seeks recognition of the wide range of additional duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills now required of members across local authorities and state agencies, beyond what historic terms and conditions reflect.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe nature of Local Authority work has changed dramatically over time. Members now take on a far broader range of duties, higher levels of responsibility and qualification, and complex tasks that go well beyond what their terms and conditions cover.\u201d<\/p>\n
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SIPTU local authority sector organiser, Con Casey, said: \u201cWe are calling for a clear, sector-wide protocol that guarantees fair pay for extreme weather work and removes the current reliance on ad hoc local arrangements.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We are also calling on the Government to formally recognise local authorities as the central coordinators of the State\u2019s response to extreme weather, with responsibility for cross-departmental cooperation, resource sharing, and the deployment of skilled public sector personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n
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He added: \u201cWorkers deserve certainty and respect. They must know in advance how pay, health and safety protections, rest periods, and recovery time apply when they are asked to respond to emergencies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SIPTU demands additional pay for frontline emergency workers\u00a0SIPTU is renewing its call for a binding national protocol to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25666,61,60,1191,43,767],"class_list":{"0":"post-267357","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-deirdre-barry","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-met-eireann","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}