'We're stuck in the middle of this union dispute' - Unite accused of holding 'Ireland Inc' to ransom with crane driver strike

Decisions by firms to move to Ireland post-Brexit may be impacted by the ongoing crane driver strike, according to the Director General of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).

Crane drivers belonging to the Unite trade union resumed picketing on Thursday across a numbers of sites nationwide in a dispute over pay.

The majority of some 180 union members have not turned up for work today and it is estimated that there are over 100 sites that are impacted as a result.

Pickets are being housed in four key sites across the Dublin area, including perhaps Ireland's largest site at Capital Dock.

"Ireland Inc. is effectively being held to ransom by Unite membership drive, critical projects are being held up,"  CIF's Tom Parlon said on the RTE Today with Sean O'Rourke programme.

"The Capital Dock site is going to be the site for JP Morgan. That's a post Brexit decision and clearly it's going to impact on other post Brexit decisions in terms of our ability to provide a site for very important industries to relocate here."

Read more: 'Crane flu' brings major Dublin building sites to a halt as row over pay worsens

Tom Fitzgerald, Unite regional officer for Construction also spoke on the show, explaining that the union had suspended their action for week after engaging with the Workplace Relations Commision and CIF, to give the opportunity to find a resolution.

He maintained that there had been no serious engagement from employers at the WRC.

"We believe that the CIF are looking to elongate the process. They think that the longer these things go on that our resolve will be undermined. That's not the case," he said.

"The reality is that the recommendation has been heralded as a pay increase but the devil is in the detail. While the rates have been increased, the recommendation lays the basis for cuts in pay...what it doesn't provide for is travel time."

The industrial action has been further complicated by an inter union row. Last week ICTU upheld a complaint by SIPTU that Unite had breached ICTU rules in recruiting the crane operators and had failed to consult with SIPTU about that recruitment.

Mr Fitzgerald said the recruitment of new members by Unite was not about being disruptive - and said his members would appeal this decision.