As fire fighters up their industrial action, Carlow councillors have pledged their support.
Half of the country’s stations closed at midnight last night (Monday) as part of escalating rolling strikes.
KCLR news understands that three stations will close across Kilkenny each day – beginning last night with Kilkenny city, Graignamanagh and Urlingford which remain closed until midnight tonight (Tuesday).
Meanwhile, in Carlow it is believed Carlow town and Hacketstown are also closed today as part of the industrial action.
However, at last evening’s meeting of the local authority, Councillors Brian O’Donoghue, Adrienne Wallace, John Cassin and Will Paton tabled a motion calling for improvements in pay, conditions and decent work/life balance.
Cllr Paton says that what’s particularly challenging is that even though there are 49 fire fighter positions in the four stations of Carlow, only 36 or so are filled:
“For instance, in Tullow, we’re supposed to have 13 firefighters, including a station officer.
Today, we’ve only got seven men, and that means the firefighters in Tullow literally have
to respond to every single call, and the idea of getting time off or being off-pager simply doesn’t happen.”
