SIPTU members at the Kerry Women’s Refuge at Killeen Road have voted in favour of industrial action.
The decision comes after a dispute over rosters at the centre, which provides services to women and children who are victims of domestic violence.
According to SIPTU, management informed employees recently that the 12am-9am shift at the facility was to end.
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The Union said this would result in safety issues for women at the centre and their workload would be reduced by up to 50%.
SIPTU say staff met with management, ADAPT Kerry Ltd, on October 1 to try to resolve the dispute but said the talks were unsuccessful because of management’s lack of meaningful engagement.
SIPTU say management immediately confirmed its intention to continue with the implementation of its proposal without agreement.
Annamarie Foley, ADAPT’s General Manager, said that the company refutes SIPTU’s claims it has failed to engage with the Union.
She said the company had attempted to engage constructively with SIPTU regarding its proposals.
The decision to reduce out-of-hours support care at the refuge was partially influenced by funding cuts but also by the board’s desire to increase its community-based responses to women and children according to Ms Foley.
She added that APADT is “acutely cognisant of its responsibilities for the safety and welfare of clients using our services and would like to assure women that systems are currently being put in place to address this and that changes in staffing rosters will only take place when these systems are fully tested and commissioned”.
She said said that the board is available for further discussions with SIPTU on the issue.
SIPTU said that management has not fully disclosed the details of how it intends to provide security and support for service users after they implement the reduced rosters for the out-of-hours service.
