THE Minister of State for Labour Affairs, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald, has asked the Labour Relations Commission to intervene in the South Dublin County Council refuse dispute.
As a result of the dispute there have been no refuse collections in the council's area since February 7th and in some parts of Templeogue, Tallaght, Walkinstown, Greenhills, Clondalkin and Newcastle there have been no collections for several weeks.
Ms Fitzgerald said last night she discussed the situation with the chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Mr Kieran Mulvey, and he had agreed to call in both sides for conciliation. They are expected to meet on Monday.
"I hope that an early solution to the dispute can be found through using the regular disputes machinery of the State," Ms Fitzgerald said.
The dispute is over the restructuring of refuse collection routes in preparation for the introduction of a "wheelie bin" system. Both sides reached agreement before Christmas but the dispute flared up again over rival interpretations of the agreement.
Attempts to reopen negotiations have foundered because of the inability of both sides to agree on an independent facilitator to convene talks.
Yesterday, the council put advertisements in the newspapers accusing the unions of refusing to respond to invitations to talks. But a SIPTU branch secretary, Mr John Glennon, said the union had responded and called on management to stop wasting ratepayers money on propaganda.
The LRC would probably have preferred to avoid entering the dispute until both sides had shown a greater inclination to engage in serious negotiation. But with 66,000 households now affected by the dispute and growing fears for public health most residents will welcome the Minister's initiative.