FEATURES
New deal for SIPTU bus drivers and public

A 48-hour work stoppage by SIPTU drivers in Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, scheduled to begin on Friday (15th May), has been deferred following agreement between union representatives, management and Department of Transport officials.The agreement was reached at talks facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), which concluded in the early hours of Thursday, 14th May.


A 48-hour work stoppage by SIPTU drivers in Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, scheduled to begin on Friday (15th May), has been deferred following agreement between union representatives, management and Department of Transport officials.The agreement was reached at talks facilitated by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC), which concluded in the early hours of Thursday, 14th May.

The agreement deals effectively with the SIPTU six point agenda for decent work and the maintenance of good public transport services which formed the basis of the union’s engagement in the talks process.

The agreement includes;

An assurance that no current employee will be required to compulsorily transfer to a new contractor when 10% of bus routes are put out to private tender in 2016.
The introduction of a Registered Employment Agreement which will protect bus workers’ terms and conditions of employment.
An agreement by the National Transport Authority that the tendering process will be examined on the basis of the “most economically advantageous tender” and that labour costs will not be “the sole criteria”.
A statement by Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe to the LRC that it is not the “intention of the Oireachtas” to tender the remaining 90% of routes after 2019 when the current contracts come to an end.
Under the agreement, private operators will also have to comply with proposed legislation protecting public service provision  and the terms and conditions of transport workers or face sanctions, including possible loss of contract.  It was also agreed that public transport companies will not have to carry any legacy costs arising from the tendering of routes to private companies.
SIPTU Construction and Utilities Organiser, Owen Reidy, said: “We believe that if all sides honour their obligations and work collectively in a progressive way there will be no need for further industrial action.

“This agreement vindicates the SIPTU approach to this dispute. From the start we have been focused on the future of public transport.  We have always wanted to protect decent jobs in the sector and reach agreement on a number of policy issues.”

He added: “These issues have been dealt with in this agreement, which if implemented in good faith, provides a solid basis for the future of a public transport system that benefits both workers and the general public.

“We have always been of the view that the SIPTU six-point agenda had to form the basis of the future for public bus services and we believe this agreement ensures this is the case.”
NEWS
SIPTU President welcomes new legislation on collective bargaining
Draft legislation on collective bargaining, published by the Government on Friday, 8th May, has been welcomed by SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, as “an important and long awaited development”.

Draft legislation on collective bargaining, published by the Government on Friday, 8th May, has been welcomed by SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, as “an important and long awaited development”.

The legislation will improve the rights of workers seeking to negotiate collectively with employers through their unions to secure improvements in pay and conditions when an employer refuses to engage in collective bargaining.
 
The collective bargaining legislation will allow for the Labour Court to make a determination in a dispute which can then be enforced by way of a Circuit Court order.

The bill also reinstates the Registered Employment Agreement infrastructure which sets pay and conditions for workers in low paid sectors of the economy.
 
It also contains measures to prevent workers from being victimised through dismissal - specifically the right to seek injunctive relief prior to any attempted dismissal taking place.
March in support of Dunnes Stores workers
SIPTU members are to support a protest march in support of the Dunnes Stores workers' struggle for decent jobs on Saturday, 6th June.


SIPTU members are to support a protest march in support of the Dunnes Stores workers' struggle for decent jobs on Saturday, 6th June.

The protest march will begin in Merrion Square, Dublin 2, with workers and supporters assembling at 1.00 p.m. The march will conclude with a rally outside Dunnes Stores head office, Georges Street, Dublin 2.

SIPTU Organiser, Derek Casserly, said: “Management at Dunnes Stores confirmed the concession of the pay claim to staff on Tuesday, 12th May. While this 3% annual pay rise is important for staff the company has yet to accept that they require certainty regarding their working hours.

“A pay increase will improve hourly pay rates but as our members’ hours can be reduced by management and there is no guarantee they will see the benefit of this increase in their pay packets.”

SIPTU representatives are currently undertaking a series of meetings around the country with members in Dunnes Stores. At these meetings, members are being briefed on a Labour Court recommendation issued last week in relation to their claim for the implementation of secure contracts which guarantee their weekly earnings.

Zero-hour contracts
SIPTU Shop Steward and Care Worker Liz Cloherty discussed with Liberty Online the impact of zero-hour Contracts on worker and the workers they care for.



Health workers rally for pay restoration
Members of the SIPTU Health Division called on the Government to honour its commitment to restore their pay in line with national agreements at a rally on Thursday, 30th April, outside the Department of Health, Dublin 2.

Members of the SIPTU Health Division called on the Government to honour its commitment to restore their pay in line with national agreements at a rally on Thursday, 30th April, outside the Department of Health, Dublin 2.

At the rally, frontline health workers and support staff heard speeches stating that as workers had fulfilled their commitments under the Haddington Road Agreement it was now time for the Government to meet its obligation to restore their pay.

Addressing the rally, Roisin Quinn, a health care assistant and SIPTU activist, said: “SIPTU is in a battle to make our jobs more sustainable that will support the long term interests of the people we care about and care for.”

Concluding the rally, SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, called on the Government to live up to its commitments by initially restoring the earnings of lower paid workers.
Health Pay Conference
SIPTU Shop Steward and activist Catherine Krauss told delegates at a special SIPTU Health pay conference her story about organising to win and the power of the Union.



YES Equality video


Workers and students join forces to say YES to Equality at Liberty Hall on Friday, 8th May



Workers and students join forces to say YES to Equality at Liberty Hall on Friday, 8th May
BNM unions support decision by ESB to continue to use peat to fuel power stations

The Bord na Móna (BNM) Group of Unions has stated its support for an ESB decision to maintain a supply agreement with the company for peat to fuel its power stations in Shannonbridge, County Offaly, and Lough Ree, County Longford, after 2019.  


The Bord na Móna (BNM) Group of Unions has stated its support for an ESB decision to maintain a supply agreement with the company for peat to fuel its power stations in Shannonbridge, County Offaly, and Lough Ree, County Longford, after 2019.

Bord na Móna Group of Unions Secretary and SIPTU Organiser, John Regan, said: “While the ESB decision to extend the supply agreement with Bord na Móna beyond 2019 provides greater security for our members it does not soften their opposition to the pay cutting agenda being pushed by management.”

He added: “These changes, which the company is describing as a transformation, will only be successful if proper regard is given to ensuring agreements relating to workers’ terms and conditions of employment are fully respected. An alternative to reducing workers pay will also have to be found.” 

Representatives of the BNM Group of Unions are currently engaged in a talks process with management at the Labour Relations Commission concerning proposed changes at the company. 

Major investment in Bausch and Lomb plant in Waterford
A €75 million investment programme in the Bausch and Lomb production plant in Waterford has been supported by SIPTU members.

A €75 million investment programme in the Bausch and Lomb production plant in Waterford has been supported by SIPTU members.

The announcement in late April by the contact lens manufacturer’s parent company, Valeant, is expected to result in the creation of 125 new jobs when the construction of a new production facility is completed in 2016.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Alan O’Leary, said: “Last year a dark cloud hung over Waterford with the public threat to close the Bausch and Lomb plant with the potential loss of over 1,200 jobs. The agreement between SIPTU and management in July 2014 removed this threat.

“Since then the sacrifice, hard work and dedication of the workers in the plant, in adopting significant operational change, has created the environment for senior management of the company to consider the Waterford facility as a location for major new investment.”
SIPTU book launch - A City in Civil War: Dublin 1921-1924

SIPTU President, Jack O Connor (left), Sabina Higgins, wife of President, Michael D. Higgins and author Padraig Yeates read through A City in Civil War: Dublin 1921-1924 at the SIPTU book launch by Padraig Yeates in Liberty Hall, Dublin on Tuesday (12th May). (Photo: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)

This book completes a series on Dublin in the revolutionary decade by Padraig Yeates.

The other titles are Lockout: Dublin 1913, A City in Wartime: Dublin 1914-1918 and A City in Turmoil: Dublin 1919-1921, which cover the impact of political, military and social upheaval on citizens and places them in a wider historical context. 


Workers Rights Centre

James Connolly Commemoration
 
Jack O'Connor, SIPTU President
Jack O'Connor, SIPTU President
Speech by SIPTU President, Jack O'Connor at the James Connolly Commemoration in Arbour Hill on Sunday, 10th May

We are assembled here to mark the 99th anniversary of the execution of James Connolly, leader of the Irish Citizen Army and acting General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union who, alone among the signatories to the 1916 Proclamation, approached the rebellion from an international socialist perspective.  

We are assembled here to mark the 99th anniversary of the execution of James Connolly, leader of the Irish Citizen Army and acting General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union who, alone among the signatories to the 1916 Proclamation, approached the rebellion from an international socialist perspective.

FULL ADDRESS HERE
SIPTU supports protest by former Ulster Bank workers

Former Ulster Bank workers have staged a series of protests at Ulster Bank Head Quarters, Georges Quay, Dublin 2 and other branches of the bank to highlight the non-implementation of a Labour Court recommendation in relation to their redundancy terms (Photo: Paddy Cole)


Former Ulster Bank workers have staged a series of protests at Ulster Bank Head Quarters, Georges Quay, Dublin 2 and other branches of the bank to highlight the non-implementation of a Labour Court recommendation in relation to their redundancy terms (Photo: Paddy Cole)
SIPTU West Cork District Council says ‘Yes’ to Equality

The union’s ‘Yes Equality’ campaign for marriage equality was endorsed by the SIPTU West Cork District Council at a meeting in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway, County Cork, on Tuesday, 21st April.


The union’s ‘Yes Equality’ campaign for marriage equality was endorsed by the SIPTU West Cork District Council at a meeting in the Parkway Hotel, Dunmanway, County Cork, on Tuesday, 21st April.

The meeting heard presentations on the reasons why the union is calling for a ‘Yes’ vote in the upcoming Civil Marriage Equality Referendum from SIPTU activists.

SIPTU West Cork District Council secretary, Eddie Mullins, said: “The ‘Yes Equality’ campaign has been a major success so far with SIPTU members clearly showing their support for the union’s principled position. What we need now is members, their families, friends and neighbours in West Cork to show their support for civil marriage and come out and vote ‘Yes’ on polling day.”

Workers call on UCC President to intervene in Tyndall National Institute dispute
Workers at the Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork (UCC), have called on the UCC President, Michael Murphy, to intervene in their dispute over pay inequality.


UCC Branch Secretary, Eoin Sheehan and SIPTU colleague picketing at Tyndall during April (Photo: IFUT)

Workers at the Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork (UCC), have called on the UCC President, Michael Murphy, to intervene in their dispute over pay inequality.

SIPTU Organiser, Bill Mulcahy, said: “This industrial action results from a failure of management to resolve a long running dispute relating to the pay inequality between many of these workers and their colleagues doing similar work elsewhere on the UCC campus. The difference in pay is on average around 20%.”

Workers in Tyndall have engaged in two work stoppages this month to highlight their situation.

Bill Mulcahy added: “In an escalation of the dispute workers intended to place pickets on the main UCC campus. However, the management of the university took a case to the High Court in an attempt to prevent this picketing and was granted an injunction.

"If the dispute is not resolved, it is now inevitable that the SIPTU members in Tyndall will seek the support of their 800 colleagues on the main UCC campus through a ballot for industrial action.”

Bob Crow 'Seat'

(L-R) Members of Unite, Yvonne Harvey and Carol O'Brien alongside SIPTU's Noirin Greene and  Mags O'Brien at the unveiling of a memorial seat to the late RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow at the annual Red Flag Festival Crossakiel, Co. Meath on Sunday, 3rd May.


(L-R) Members of Unite, Yvonne Harvey and Carol O'Brien alongside SIPTU's Noirin Greene and  Mags O'Brien at the unveiling of a memorial seat to the late RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow at the annual Red Flag Festival Crossakiel, Co. Meath on Sunday, 3rd May.
8th Annual George Brown Commemoration Weekend

Yes to Equality

Summer School on the Arts and Human Rights 2015

Sinn Féin and Labour candidates for Carlow Kilkenny By Election on 22nd May


Kathleen Funchion
is the Sinn Féin candidate. She is 33 years old and has two young sons. Kathleen was elected to Kilkenny Borough Council in 2009. Kathleen is a workers rights advocate with SIPTU. READ MORE.













Willie Quinn is the Labour Party candidate. He has been a county councillor since 2007. He is married with two grown up children. From Borris, County Carlow, Willie has been active in his local GAA club and the community games. READ MORE.




Kathleen Funchion
is the Sinn Féin candidate. She is 33 years old and has two young sons. Kathleen was elected to Kilkenny Borough Council in 2009. Kathleen is a workers rights advocate with SIPTU. READ MORE.













Willie Quinn is the Labour Party candidate. He has been a county councillor since 2007. He is married with two grown up children. From Borris, County Carlow, Willie has been active in his local GAA club and the community games. READ MORE.


LIBERTY VIEW
Bus deal protects workers and users
 
LibertyHall
The public support shown for striking Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann drivers over the May Bank holiday provided the basis for the agreement that was delivered after marathon talks at the Labour Relations Commission on Thursday (14th May).

The support illustrated the growing awareness among the public of the threat privatisation presents to the provision of high quality services and the common good.

At the centre of the dispute are plans by the National Transport Authority (NTA) to put out to tender 10% of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann routes. The intent was to proceed with this tendering process without agreement with the workers’ unions. The manner in which the NTA had sought to conduct the tendering process would have undermined conditions of employment throughout the sector as well and spark a race to the bottom in service provision.

The public support shown for striking Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann drivers over the May Bank holiday provided the basis for the agreement that was delivered after marathon talks at the Labour Relations Commission on Thursday (14th May).

The support illustrated the growing awareness among the public of the threat privatisation presents to the provision of high quality services and the common good.

At the centre of the dispute are plans by the National Transport Authority (NTA) to put out to tender 10% of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann routes. The intent was to proceed with this tendering process without agreement with the workers’ unions. The manner in which the NTA had sought to conduct the tendering process would have undermined conditions of employment throughout the sector as well and spark a race to the bottom in service provision.

Despite pressure the Fine Gael dominated Government will not change its policy of tendering out 10% of bus routes, an approach that the unions cannot legally seek to change through industrial action.

Prior to embarking on strike action, SIPTU outlined a six point agenda, which would protect workers terms of employment and safeguard against a further privatisation of services when contracts for routes are due for renewal in 2019. This six point agenda  is central to the agreement between unions, management and the Department of Transport.

However, both workers and the public will have to remain vigilant if further privatisation, and the race to the bottom which this would begin, is to be prevented.
ECONOMY
Global Labour Column
 
Alexis Stenfors
Alexis Stenfors

In this week’s article, Alexis Stenfors focuses on the dynamics of the ‘Swedish model’ in 2015. Stenfors argues that today we are slowly witnessing the deconstruction of the old ‘Swedish model’ and a new element appears “to have cemented the belief that Sweden truly has changed: the rise of the Sweden Democrats.”   


In this week’s article, Alexis Stenfors focuses on the dynamics of the ‘Swedish model’ in 2015. Stenfors argues that today we are slowly witnessing the deconstruction of the old ‘Swedish model’ and a new element appears “to have cemented the belief that Sweden truly has changed: the rise of the Sweden Democrats.” 

Stenfors goes on to show that the deconstruction of the Swedish model “coincides almost perfectly with the deregulation process that was put in motion during the 1980s, and the infamous banking crisis that followed soon thereafter.” Thus, what Sweden is witnessing is the “launch of a remarkably rapid and widespread financialisation process in Sweden.”Alexis Stenfors is currently Senior Lecturer in Economics and Finance at the University of Portsmouth".

Click here to read the full article.

Public spending should be prioritised over tax cuts

By Jack O'Connor

Our public infrastructure has been severely damaged by six years of one-sided austerity. Approximately €30 billion has been taken out of the State budget in the effort to cut the gap between revenue and spending. This was implemented on the basis that for every euro by which tax was increased, public spending was cut by two.


Our public infrastructure has been severely damaged by six years of one-sided austerity. Approximately €30 billion has been taken out of the State budget in the effort to cut the gap between revenue and spending. This was implemented on the basis that for every euro by which tax was increased, public spending was cut by two.

At a very minimum, that ratio must now be reversed as resources become available, in a growing economy, over the next number of years. It is now critically important that we embark on a major investment programme to rebuild our public health, education and local authority services. Simultaneously, the State’s current capacity to borrow at near negative rates offers a unique opportunity to accelerate the public housing programme. Also the one-third of resources that would be allocated to tax alleviation should be concentrated exclusively to the advantage of those on low to middle incomes.
 
There is absolutely no justification for using scarce public resources for the purpose of gifting the wealthy and those on higher incomes who could and should have contributed more to the fiscal adjustment. There is still room to raise revenue through a wealth tax and other levies on capital as well as on higher incomes.

All of this should now be used to alleviate the burden on struggling low to middle income families, thus enhancing their living standards and affording them some capacity to spend in a manner that will re-enforce the momentum and sustainability of the economic recovery.

News2
Roger Casement's legacy

A debate on the role of solidarity, 100 years after his Putumayo (Colombia) report

On Tuesday 28th April a public meeting organised by the Dublin-based solidarity with Colombia initiative ‘Grupo Raices (Grúpa Fréamhacha)’ was held in the Pearse Centre on the legacy of Roger Casement and the internationalist dimension of his work in South America. Better known for his denunciation of the atrocities committed in Congo by the Belgian administration, Casement also spent time in the Amazon, in the Putumayo region, shared between Peru, Colombia and Brazil, where he denounced the slavery and appalling mistreatment of the native population by the rubber barons.  


On Tuesday 28th April a public meeting organised by the Dublin-based solidarity with Colombia initiative ‘Grupo Raices (Grúpa Fréamhacha)’ was held in the Pearse Centre on the legacy of Roger Casement and the internationalist dimension of his work in South America. Better known for his denunciation of the atrocities committed in Congo by the Belgian administration, Casement also spent time in the Amazon, in the Putumayo region, shared between Peru, Colombia and Brazil, where he denounced the slavery and appalling mistreatment of the native population by the rubber barons. At the time, rubber was a booming industry, needed for the pneumatic wheels which originated in the factories of Dunlop in Dublin. His report showed the role of British capitalists who were stockholders of the rubber barons and who participated handsomely in the profits of this ethnocide, which saw countless indigenous people perish and their culture gradually disappearing under the advancement of ‘civilisation’. 

The main speakers were Angus Mitchell and Andrés Sacanambuy. Angus Mitchell, historian and activist, as well as author of a recent biography of Roger Casement (part of the 16 Lives series, published by O’Brien Press, 2013) and editor of ‘The Amazon Journal of Roger Casement’ (Lilliput Press, 1997) and ‘Sir Roger Casement’s Heart of Darkness: the 1911 Documents’ (Irish Manuscripts Commission, 2003), introduced the topic by explaining the work of Casement, the nature of his reports and the political tensions involved in his denunciation. He explained how this universalist approach was part of a global struggle that he felt was expressed in the right of the Irish for self-determination, linking with a firm humanist ethics his commitment to global justice with his support for national liberation in Ireland. 

Andrés Sacanambuy, community leader and representative of Putumayo region branch of the main agricultural workers union in Colombia (Fensuagro, affiliated to the national union CUT), who has been in Ireland for two weeks on a tour to coordinate solidarity activities in Leitrim, Sligo and Dublin, spoke of the situation in Putumayo a hundred years later of Casement’s report. He talked about how one extractive industry led to the next, about how violence is not only physical, but also cultural against the indigenous and peasant-farmers’ communities, and how today it is in the name of oil that mass displacement and unspeakable atrocities take place. He also mentioned that Casement’s work has been tried to erase from local memory and that it is a duty of the social movements in Colombia to honour his memory in the centenary of his execution next year.

José Antonio Gutiérrez (Pepe), from Grupo Raíces and member of SIPTU, closed up the debate with some reflections on the role of solidarity as a moral imperative rooted in the very conditions of this globalised system, but also, on the necessity to recover history for the people, a history with a forward-looking approach, a history that serves as compass for the creation of a more humane society.

SIPTU has been very active in support and solidarity to the trade union movement in Colombia. The main union organisation CUT, and the agrarian workers union Fensuagro, have actively opposed the perpetuation of this kind of unsustainable and reckless type of global development fuelled by nothing else but greed. The Irish workers will remain committed to supporting them in this uphill struggle.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
New leisure facilities across Belfast

Dear Editor,

Belfast City Council is poised to invest £105 million in new leisure facilities across Belfast including a new £20 million facility in Andersonstown and a new £10 million facility in Twinbrook.  


Dear Editor,

Belfast City Council is poised to invest £105 million in new leisure facilities across Belfast including a new £20 million facility in Andersonstown and a new £10 million facility in Twinbrook.

At full council on 1st May, Sinn Féin was the only party to vote against the proposal to establish a 'not for profit' trust to manage these facilities in the future. We believe that such a trust will dilute our ability to ensure that the interests of the people who use these facilities are placed at the centre of decision making. In our view the interests of citizens must always come before any other consideration.

All the other parties, including the SDLP and the DUP voted in favour of the trust model. We believe this was a mistake and along with SIPTU, the other trade unions and our staff, we are calling on them to reverse this decision.

We believe in providing first class public services and we believe that democratically elected councillors should decide on policy and pricing, on investment and jobs, not a quango, even a not for profit one. We can and should be held accountable for the decisions we make. We should not be handing that responsibility to an unelected body that is not accountable in the same way.

As candidates canvas for the local election in Belfast, they should be asked where they stand in relation to the future of council leisure services across Belfast? We know where we stand, we stand for top class leisure facilities managed in the interest of the people who use them and our comrades who work in them.

Is Mise,

Cllr Jim Mc Veigh
Sinn Féin

Dunnes Stores

Dear Editor,


Dunnes Stores management should be aware that customers (and I am one of them) who are in the store on a daily basis, are extremely unhappy with the attitude of Dunnes Stores’ head office management, particularly in not recognising trade unions and in refusing any discussions with their work force.


Dear Editor,

Dunnes Stores management should be aware that customers (and I am one of them) who are in the store on a daily basis, are extremely unhappy with the attitude of Dunnes Stores’ head office management, particularly in not recognising trade unions and in refusing any discussions with their work force.

The proof that customers are unhappy should be evident from the day of the strike in April when there was literally no trade at all in their stores.

Having spoken to some of the workers on the day of the strike, I observed some staff went into work.  If they were non-union, then they should join the union, because remembering what Jim Larkin said during the Dublin Lockout – ‘United we stand, divided we fall. Those who went to work on the day of the strike might think they have become favourites with management, but they will learn a sorry lesson as time goes by.

I have no doubt that I speak for numerous customers of Dunnes Stores, but I am calling on the management to come to their senses and get around the table with their staff and start discussions, as recommended by the Labour Court. No-one should be contracted only 15 hours in the week, if more hours are available.

A Labour Court recommendation commits the management to nothing other than to sit down and talk with their workers and work out a solution.

If the company fails to come to an agreement in discussions with workers, then both the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court are available to them.  The Labour Court would not make recommendations that would be damaging to the company.

It is a great credit to those organisations and businesses who supported the striking workers by providing teas / coffees, sandwiches, etc., and it shows there is plenty of support in the town of Dungarvan.

Donal Tobin
(Retired SIPTU Official)
Dungarvan, County Waterford

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