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Luas dispute is likened to 1913 Lockout by SIPTU president

The dispute between Luas staff and management has been compared to the 1913 Lockout by SIPTU. The...
Newstalk
Newstalk

13.21 25 Mar 2016


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Luas dispute is likened to 191...

Luas dispute is likened to 1913 Lockout by SIPTU president

Newstalk
Newstalk

13.21 25 Mar 2016


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The dispute between Luas staff and management has been compared to the 1913 Lockout by SIPTU.

The Dublin Lockout  remains the largest industrial conflict in Irish history, and saw some 20,000 workers involved in strikes and lockouts.

The dispute continued until early 1914.

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SIPTU president Jack O'Connor has said: "It's rather ironic...that we are commemorating the memory of James Connolly and the members of the Irish Citizen Army - which was forged in the teeth of the Lockout - who went out and risked and gave their lives", he told the Pat Kenny Show here on Newstalk.

"One of the things they gave their lives for was the right to engage in collective bargaining and the right to withdraw labour".

There will be no trams in Dublin on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, after staff overwhelmingly rejected a pay deal offering rises of almost 19%.

The strike will coincide with 1916 Rising centenary celebrations in the city centre this weekend.

Staff are also due to walk off the job again next month for another two 48-hour stoppages.

The acting Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe has called on SIPTU to "fully engage in this matter" and reinstate services for the centenary weekend.

"My point is that it's not open to me anyway - and even if it was - it would not be appropriate for me to betray people in the heat of battle - and James Connolly would not have done that, and the people who went out and gave their lives in the Irish Citizen Army would not have done that", Mr O'Connor added.


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