Cork City firefighters stage industrial action over continued closure of Ballincollig fire station
“This is not about money,” a Siptu union rep told T+D. “It’s not about getting extra wages or more time off or anything like that for ourselves. It’s actually about protecting the people we serve.”
Cork city firefighters took industrial action this morning, Thursday April 20, in relation to a dispute over the provision of fire services in Ballincollig.
This morning’s industrial action amounted to a demonstration outside Anglesea Street headquarters to highlight how stretched the fire service is according to Billy Crowley, a firefighter with Cork City Fire Brigade and also a Shop Steward with Siptu.
“There isn’t a picket on the station for the day,” Mr Crowley told Tripe + Drisheen.
“Essentially, Ballincollig fire station has been closed since November of 2021 and it needs to reopen now,” Mr Crowley said, explaining the reason they took action.
The dispute is centred around the withdrawal of fire services from Ballincollig, which is currently also served by Anglesea Street fire station due to understaffing. Ballincollig, with a population of 20,000, fell under the management of the County Council until the city boundary extension in 2019.
According to Mr Crowley, with the enlargement of the city after 2019, the fire service is currently stretched “too thinly,” adding that the City Council’s efforts to recruit “retained” firefighters and increase staffing is “proving impossible.”
“You can only stretch something so far before it breaks,” he said.
Just over a year ago, strike action was averted when Cork City Council and the fire service in Cork agreed to talks in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to resolve the dispute.
However, no solution has been found and Ballincollig fire station remains closed.
“This is not about money,” Mr Crowley said. “It’s not about getting extra wages or more time off or anything like that for ourselves. It’s actually about protecting the people we serve.”
He added that for the firefighters, taking industrial action was a major decision to take.
In a press release, Cork City Council said that they would like “to reassure the public that industrial action commenced by SIPTU members of Cork City Fire Brigade this morning will not impact Cork City Fire Brigade emergency service delivery,” adding that it was “disappointed that union members have chosen to mount an industrial action when the Council had already made itself available for discussions.”
It continued, “Cork City Council is committed to engaging in meaningful and focused discussions with all parties involved and to using the established industrial relations machinery of the State to agree a path forward to resolve matters.”
Mr Crowley said Siptu members want meaningful proposals from the City Council on “how they will open the Ballincollig fire station now.”