Update 5.30pm: A BT spokesperson said: “All three Emergency Call Handling Service centres will be open and operational tomorrow, and in addition, we are activating a fourth centre to give us flexibility.
“There are a number of operators from Conduit Global rostered to handle emergency calls in the Navan centre from 8am to 8pm tomorrow and they’re encouraged to come into work as normal.
“As part of our contingency plan, we have additional trained employees in place to handle calls to 999 and 112 efficiently and effectively.
“BT is disappointed that the union is going ahead with the industrial action in Conduit Global tomorrow, as we’ve seen the significant changes made in the company and the positive reaction from their employees.”
Earlier: 999 call workers are to strike tomorrow for a 12-hour-period.
Members of the Communications Workers’ Union are taking industrial action in pursuit of their claims against emergency call service operators British Telecom/Conduit.
The strike will take place from 8am to 8pm at the Navan 999 call answering centre.
The two other centres, located in Dublin and Ballyshannon are expected to operate as normal.
This is to ensure the strike does not impact on viral emergency call answering services and services to the public from front line responders.
Spokesperson for the CWU Steve Fitzpatrick said: “Unsurprisingly, the companies that brought us the toilet break policy seem to be incapable of comprehending demands for basic respect, a living wage and the freedom of workers to choose who should represent them.
“The level of public support for these workers and their issues has given them a huge boost in their pursuit of decency and respect. Our mandate allows us extend industrial action if BT/Conduit continue to ignore the claims before them. We are considering our options for further action in the face of BT/Conduit’s intransigence and refusal to engage.”
A statement released by Conduit Global said: “Conduit Global is very disappointed that despite the significant progress the company has made with ongoing employee engagement over the past few weeks, the union continues to plan strike action.
“Facts have been widely reported that rebut the union’s claims and these include that staff’s average pay are already above Living Wage; suspension and leave policy has been changed and the ‘time off the phones policy’ revoked and we have listened to staff to create a new on-call schedule.
“Elections of staff representatives took place last week and were welcomed by the staff. The union, whose membership in our company is unknown, does not seem to be up-to-date on the changes within our company and the positive feedback received from employees.”
