Water supply in Galway under threat from strikes

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – A citywide boil water notice and water outages are on the cards for Galway this June as local authority workers plan industrial action.

Water Services staff in Galway City Council and Galway County Council voted 100% and 98% respectively in favour of industrial and strike action.

The ballot of members by trade union SIPTU was held in the past fortnight and industrial action is due to start on Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 and 8.

Talks are ongoing nationally between SIPTU and LGMA (Local Government Management Agency), on behalf of 30 local authorities in the State, to try to reach agreement.

Sources locally confirmed if the strike proceeds, there would be widespread outages and disruption to the water supply to businesses and homes across Galway. A boil water notice would also be issued.

It’s understood emergency cover and supply to hospitals may be maintained but secondary schools could be impacted on the day the Leaving Cert starts.

City Hall and the Sandy Road depot will also be picketed, leading to disruption of other City Council services as co-workers opt not to cross the picket, including outdoor staff in Roads and Housing.

The dispute relates to the transfer of services from Councils to Uisce Éireann. SIPTU has argued that workers not transferring to Uisce Éireann should retain their current entitlements, including rostered overtime and allowances.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the May 19 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.