The Irish Congress of Trade Unions announced on Wednesday (21st January), that SIPTU Vice President, Patricia King, is to succeed outgoing General Secretary David Begg, when he steps down in March.

Patricia will be the first woman General Secretary in the 121-year history of Congress.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Amnesty International will hold a joint protest outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy on Fitzwilliam Square East, in Dublin this evening (Thursday, 22nd January) at 6.00 p.m. to highlight the inhumane and degrading treatment of blogger Raif Badawi.

The number of children living in consistent poverty – meaning they are living both at risk of poverty and experiencing deprivation – doubled from 6% to just under 12% between 2008 and 2013, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The figures revealed in the CSO 2013 Survey on Income and Living Conditions and published on Wednesday (21st January) mean that 135,000 children – or one in eight – are experiencing material deprivation on a daily basis in Ireland.

SIPTU has called on the Government to immediately end the effective veto over the progressing of Joint Labour Committees (JLCs) which employers groups are using to consign tens of thousands of workers to poverty.

SIPTU Services Division Organiser, John King, said: “For nearly 12 months workers have had to endure the Restaurants Association of Ireland and Irish Hotels Federation subverting Government policy and refusing to engage in the JLC process. This process merely seeks to set fair wages and conditions for mostly low paid workers in order to ensure that their work pays enough for them to support themselves and their families.

The Central Bank should not proceed with plans requiring homebuyers to have a 20% deposit in place before being approved for a home loan, according to SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor.

The Central Bank is expected to decide next week whether or not to proceed with the controversial plans to change the loan-to-value (LTV) ratios which banks apply for home loans and to require lenders to impose an income threshold of 3.5 times earnings when considering mortgage applications.

Despite Government Ministers signaling support for renewed talks between the social partners, no discussions have taken place according to incoming Congress General Secretary Designate, Patricia King.

At a press conference to announce her appointment as Congress General Secretary on Wednesday (21st January), King said: “I have not been party to any discussion with anybody on the Government side and as yet I have not come across anyone that has.”

Home Helps want to play their part in solving the hospital overcrowding crisis by being allowed work more hours caring for vulnerable clients.

Protesting outside the Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, on Thursday (15th January), Frances Whelan, a Home Help and SIPTU activist, said: "People are stuck on trolleys and we know we can help. There are many people in hospital beds who with the correct support can return home and be cared for by the Home Help service.


Pictured (l-r): Home Helps, Margaret Foran, Catherine Lyndon and Frances Whelan protest outside Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, Dublin on Thursday (15th January).

SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, has called on the HSE to immediately release a capacity review of the National Ambulance Service that was commissioned last year following concerns raised by workers that the service is inadequately resourced.

He said: “The capacity review into the National Ambulance Service must be released immediately and discussed at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health as a matter of priority.

Members of the Bord na Móna Group of Unions have called on the highly profitable company to implement a proposed pay rise of 3.5% and end its attacks on their terms and conditions of employment.

The call for the implementation of the long outstanding pay rise emerged from general meetings of workers in Tullamore, county Offaly, on the 6th, 7th and 8th of January.

An Extraordinary General Meeting of the SIPTU academic section at NUI Galway unanimously backed a motion on 8th January, calling for an external equality audit, of all aspects of the university, by an independent expert or experts.

The resolution states that the university must take action to eliminate all facets of structural discrimination within the institution.  It requires that SIPTU be involved in agreeing the external expert(s) in order to guarantee their independence.

The Government must stop cuts to the funding of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and oppose EU deregulation plans for safety regulation in order to halt a rise in work related deaths, according to SIPTU. 

Unions have welcomed a call from the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, on the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) to enter into talks aimed at resolving a dispute arising from the Board’s attempt to increase its fee by 50%.

Unions have instructed their members to pay the existing fee of €100 in 2015 rather than the €150 demanded by NMBI. In a letter to the NMBI the Minister requests that talks are commenced in order to ensure that no nurse or midwife is removed from the register due to the dispute.

The Government has been urged to take action to end upward only rent reviews which are negatively impacting on workers' wages and employment in the hospitality and catering sector.

SIPTU Services Division Organiser, John King, said: “The hospitality and catering sector is experiencing unprecedented growth. This growth is being partly fueled by tourist numbers and spending, with 2014 seeing these return to levels only experienced prior to the recession.

By Seán Carabini

Recently, the government announced that it would conduct a review of the Artists Tax Exemption. Nothing, apparently, is off the table – including its abolition. In the media, it is often portrayed as a tax break for the wealthy or for those who have written memoirs about their times in public life. But to abolish the Artists Tax Exemption would be a mistake.  

South Dublin County Council (SDCC) will maintain Community Employment and Job Initiative Scheme payments on a weekly basis.

SIPTU Organiser, Karen Smollen, said: “SDCC advised supervisors and participants in these schemes that it would be moving from weekly to fortnightly payments. Following representations by SIPTU Community Sector organisers it has been agreed that those involved in the Community Employment and Job Initiative Schemes will continue to be paid weekly.

Irish NUJ Secretary, Séamus Dooley, was in Paris on 11th January to commemorate the workers murdered in the Charlie Hebdo attack four days earlier.

As we returned to Place de la République before the magnificent rally the young taxi driver, looking at our array of curious flags and banners, smiled and asked "Are you here for Charlie?".


NUJ General Secretary, Michelle Stanistreet, and NUJ Secretary (Ireland), Seamus Dooley, outside the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on 11th January.

The appointment of the union’s Vice-President, Patricia King, as general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is both timely and welcome. It comes at a moment of great challenge for the Irish trade union movement when her negotiating skills and experience will be hugely important in any future discussions with the Government and private employers.

She has been central to the negotiation, during years of deep crisis, of the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements which brought pain to tens of thousands of workers in the public service but protected jobs and conditions of employment.  

Annual Mass for Deceased SIPTU Members

Sunday, 15th February at 11.00am

Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Sean McDermott Street, Dublin 1

in honour of Matt Talbot’s 90th Anniversary

Followed by light refreshments in the Lourdes Day Centre