Parking free-for-all in Dublin?

10/03/2014

The clampers, who are members of Siptu, are due to ballot on industrial action today. They are being balloted on whether they should strike over a 2.5% pay increase from their employers, Dublin Street Parking Services (DSPS), which the union said has been outstanding since 2011.

The company argued it could not pay the increase because service levels required by Dublin City Council were not being met. (The Council had set the company a target to clamp 60,000 vehicles a year.)

Last December, the Labour Court recommended acceptance of proposals aimed at resolving the pay claim. Under these proposals the company offered to pay staff a bonus of €2,000 each if the 60,000 target was reached this year. If overall targets are not met, only individual clampers who manage to clamp 2,800 vehicles in a year will be rewarded.

The target of 60,000 vehicles per year was presented to the clampers last week. In a letter to staff at Dublin Street Parking Services, the Council essentially said that workers would get their €2,000 bonus if 60,000 cars are clamped this year.

The target for towing is 1,467 removals. Staff would also be able to finish early if they clamp or tow a certain number of vehicles.