Electricians Rescue Bid To Retain Jobs

April 23, 2009 - PRLog -- The rescue plan involves electricians giving – ONE FREE HOUR OF WORK PER DAY - this will help their employers to remain competitive and in business during these extremely difficult times.

This means that electricians are only charging their employers for 34 hours per week, as they are wilfully working the other 5 hours free, in a bid to support their employers to reduce their labour costs and therefore retain their jobs in the industry.

These electricians have clearly identified the seriousness of the situation and diagnosed a creative interim solution, to the unsustainable labour costs as laid out in law by the electrical REA.
This drastic measure is due to the fact that neither government nor unions have seen fit to do anything to sustain jobs in this sector. Unions continue to call for wage increases, and nonsensical anti-employment, anti-competitive regulation. They have failed to listen to the needs of the industry and the clear distress calls from companys in survival mode. Now these these ‘patriotic’ electricians have taken matters into their own hands and have been brave enough to fight for their right to work.

The Electrical Contracting Industry is bound by its own Registered Employment Agreement (REA). This agreement does not have an ‘inability to pay’ clause therefore it does not recognise excessive labour costs. Furthermore, it does not have any mechanism within it to introduce, or implement any reduction on the hourly rate, on the contrary, it only allows for wage increases.

This agreement binds the 5,257 Irish registered electrical contractors to all its terms in relation to pay and conditions for electricians / apprentice electricians working in that industry / sector.  Any Irish registered electrical contractor breaching this agreement or the terms within this agreement will see the contractor being brought before the Labour court and face fines penalties and interest. Failure to pay these will result in the contractor being criminalised in the local District courts, as this is the law.

NECI is of the opinion the Electrical Registered Employment Agreement should be cancelled. Notwithstanding the fact that it may have served the industry well in the past, there has been substantial change in the industry / economy and in the way in which electrical contractors conduct business today.  It is most undesirable to retain registration of this agreement, as it is detrimental to both employment and competiveness, within the industry.

We have seen increasing pressure being forced upon the industry from the economic downturn, the slowdown in the construction industry and increasing competition from out of state contracting firms, which are not bound by any Registered Employment Agreement. The industry is under massive pressure with increasing numbers of electrical contracting firms being forced to breach the law (REA), to remain viable and competitive to secure and maintain employment for employees within the sector.

NECI, Ireland’s largest trade association for electrical contractors, commend those electricians for their loyalty and commitment to their employers and their trade, for adopting this approach, in clearly what can only be called, "the worst economic time in the electrical contracting industry".

This interim approach may just prevent a large number of electrical contractors going out of business and highly trained electricians leaving the country or joining the dole queues.

http://www.neci.ie