Working hours Bill angers staff at Group 4

AROUND 200 Dublin based employees of the Group 4 security firm have applied to be transferred from SIPTU because of their unhappiness with the new Bill on working hours.

SIPTU represented the employees during the consultation process which the Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald, carried out before drafting the Bill.

The employees, members of SIPTU's number 15 branch, have applied for a transfer to the Marine Port and General Workers' Union. The matter has been referred to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, as is normal in such matters. Both unions are affiliated to ICTU. Group 4 employs about 500 people around the State.

The Organisation of Working Time Bill will prohibit employees from working more than 48 hours a week, averaged out over periods of four, six or 12 months, depending on the firm. Representatives of security firms have said their employees are worried about having their working week, and therefore their incomes, reduced as a result of the Bill.

Mr Tommy Walsh, assistant national executive officer with SIPTU, said his union, along with employers, met the Minister to discuss the impact of the working time legislation on the security industry.

Mr Walsh said that the Minister subsequently decided not to include an opt out clause in the legislation. Such a clause would allow employees volunteer to work outside the legislation.

If the employees changed unions four times over, it would not make the Minister include the opt out clause, he said.

Mr Walsh said his union was pressing for greater regulation of the security industry, including the introduction of a licensing system.