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Laboratory attendants in the country’s six regional veterinary laboratories (RVLs) are willing to take strike action if issues regarding their pay and duties are not clarified by the Department of Agriculture.
In a letter seen by the Irish Farmers Journal dated 13 September the trade union Fórsa informed lab attendants talks between the Department and Fórsa “have broken down.”
The letter continues that if the Department seeks to fill any lab attendant vacancies without formal agreement, “... we will immediately serve formal notice of the commencement of official industrial action”.
It is understood the issue has been ongoing for almost three years, with lab attendants becoming increasingly frustrated by the lack of clarity from the Department.
Fórsa national secretary Andy Pike said the issue was over the pay and duties for a new specialist grade laboratory attendant position, which current laboratory attendants would have to reapply to in order to gain a salary boost.
“Work stoppages are a very real possibility. These workers are vital to providing services to RVLs. They start at a very low salary of €22,000 and are seeking a pay increase of 2% and clarity around allowances for driving or duties such as opening or closing RVLs,” Pike said.
“They have taken on extra work in areas such as assisting vets with post-mortems and grown into a role that needs to be updated to recognise that workload. It affects roughly 13 laboratory attendants across the country, plus three to four vacancies – mainly in Cork – which can’t be filled until the Department provides clarity on the situation.”
The matter regarding laboratory attendants has been referred to the oversight body, in the hope that the issue will be resolved.
RVLs are also waiting on Department clarification after a report last year suggested some RVLs should be closed.
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