David Higgins

I know an electrician. He’s a family friend and throughout the years he’s fixed many problems in our house and he’s been a nice guy. That hasn’t changed however now when I think of electricians I now think of greed. An 11% pay rise is something that would only have been seen at the height of the boom as inflation soared. Now when we are beginning to see deflation, over 10,000 electricians are threatening to go on strike this Monday.

It is unacceptable that any workers group demand a pay rise in a time when we need to reduce costs, including wages. Electricians want to up their hourly rate to €24! People working in supermarkets only earn half the money and I don’t believe any trade is worth twice that. Electricians are skilled workers however they are below the likes of electrical engineers and the amount of time it takes to become an electrician is much less. I’m guessing that you could probably become one within a year or two.

Electricians benefitted immensely during the boom with small and large scale projects to be found everywhere across the country. From Office buildings to bathrooms, plugs and lights were needed and the Electricians did those jobs professionally. Electricians have also benefitted from nixers during the Celtic Tiger with no amount of that money going into tax. Fitting dozens of down lighters into South Dublin kitchens was a popular job I’m told. They are of course very complex and for some reason you can’t get energy efficient bulbs for them!!!

If this ridiculous strike goes ahead then electricians will pull construction projects to a halt. Construction firms are already feeling the pinch of the recession and this won’t help them. Consumers would also be left out as repairs on houses cannot be made. This could leave many people in the dark!

The stance taken by their employers is equally startling. They’re seeking a 10% pay cut which I fell is also excessive. I think both sides need to meet somewhere in the middle. The TEEU union needs to stop being greedy and try instead to maintain pay at current levels for their workers and the employers need to bring their demands down to something around 5%.

It’s likely that this strike will go ahead however it will not generate any public support. I certainly won’t give it any backing and most people will be shocked when the demand of 11% reaches the headlines. After about a week the strike will be over and everything will be back to normal. Both sides will then agree on something a little more reasonable.

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