Day telephonists protest at lack of pay parity with night colleagues and threaten further industrial action.
Some 1,200 day telephonists, mostly women, but some men too, stage a walk-out at all Dublin telephone exchanges.
Almost 1,000 of them march from the General Post Office (GPO) in the city centre to the Labour Court. As a result of their protest, it is not possible to make calls requiring the assistance of an operator in the Dublin exchanges.
The recruitment of men has taken the argument from one of sex equality to one of pay parity with the night operators.
At the Labour Court four of the women hand in a letter of protest concerning a pay claim for parity with night telephonists. Their night colleagues get a 25 per cent night allowance on top of a higher basic pay.
One telephonist is taking part in the march because,
We feel like we are faceless people.
A second is sorry that a walk out is necessary but feels,
We have no choice, our wages are very bad at the moment.
Another woman explains the day telephonists have been looking for equal pay for almost a decade. On a number of occasions they approached the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and have gone through industrial relations procedures.
We haven't got a proper determination on our claim.
The letter handed into the Labour Court also issues an ultimatum.
If their claim for equality wasn’t processed by December the 19th further industrial action would be taken.
The industrial action to be taken is unclear but is expected to include an additional 3,500 telephonists across the country.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 7 December 1978. The reporter is Derek Davis.
