Major layoffs of building workers in Dublin are expected later today, following the breakdown of informal contacts between employers and striking scaffolders.
There is now a danger that other building workers laid off as a result of the scaffolders' dispute will begin to lodge claims for similar increases.
The Construction Industry Federation has refused to engage in any negotiations on pay with SIPTU or the Dublin Scaffolders' Society while the 12-day-old unofficial strike continues. However, it is understood that a proposal did emerge from informal contacts earlier this week under which the scaffolders would have received a 50p an hour increase, plus a lump sum of £300 if they returned to normal working.
This would have allowed formal negotiations to take place on the scaffolders' claim. They are seeking increases ranging from £3 to £12 an hour.
Scaffolders canvassed on the offer over the past few days rejected it unanimously, according to the chairman of the Scaffolders' Society, Mr Andrew McGuinness. In an escalation of the dispute yesterday, the society mounted mass pickets on sites at Dublin's dockland developments.
Mr McGuinness said that pickets were being strengthened on sites following the failure of the latest initiative. He denied claims by the Construction Industry Federation that people trying to pass pickets were being intimidated. "We wouldn't condone intimidation, verbal or otherwise," he said. SIPTU branch secretary Mr Eric Fleming said that his scaffolding section committee had also rejected the proposed return to work terms. He said the dispute was "causing untold hardship to scaffolders, and what would now appear to be thousands of other building workers. "The prospect for an all-out strike in the industry is growing nearer and nearer by the day. I am calling on the CIF, on the employers, to make a realistic offer to try and get this matter settled before that happens."
A CIF spokesman said last night: "The outrageous demands made cannot be met and will not be met. The CIF has never had a difficulty about discussing grievances over pay or otherwise, but it cannot do so outside agreed procedures." He said the confederation would not negotiate until the scaffolders ended their unofficial action.
Building work in Cork and Limerick has also been seriously disrupted by the dispute. A meeting of the Construction Joint Industrial Council is due on Monday, but the prospects of this being able to make an effective intervention remain slim.