In this issue:
SIPTU calls on nurses and midwives to stand firm against NMBI fee demand
Focus on pay rises at Manufacturing conference
Organising for the Future
Privatisation biggest threat to public services
SIPTU calls on Government to defer water charges and hold a referendum on public ownership
SIPTU calls for compensation for beef plant workers for losses due to IFA blockades
Congress calls for restoration of wage-setting mechanisms in key sectors
SIPTU representatives to visit European Parliament to discuss LEADER alignment
Online print auction for the children of Gaza
SIPTU members to begin industrial action at Kerry Women’s Refuge
YesEquality Register to Vote Campaign launched
SIPTU calls for cancellation of planned cuts to anti-poverty programme in Dublin
Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards
Hospitality employers must enter JLC talks
The 80th Anniversary of the Republican Congress and its Relevance for Today
SIPTU welcomes beginning of the unwinding of FEMPI legislation
Larkin Lecture in Liberty Hall
Social Policy Conference 2014 - Tuesday 18th November
“Changing Landscapes: The Juridification of the Labour Court?”
Pay rises are top of the union’s agenda
Global Labour Column
TASC Annual Lecture
Achill Island International Brigade Commemorations
Raising expectations and raising hell - a discussion with US trade union activist and author, Jane McAlevy
Youth for Decent Work Awards 2015
Federica Mogherini urged to suspend EU-Israel Association Agreement by 309 human rights groups and unions
Young Workers Network
SIPTU Basic English Scheme
MDI Christmas Cards 2014
Fairshop
Supporting Quality campaign
Electric Ireland - now part of Supporting Quality
Larkin Credit Union
10% discount for SIPTU members from Taxback.com
Fair Hotel
Home Insurance from only €199*
Get up to 80% off* Car Insurance
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SIPTU calls on nurses and midwives to stand firm against NMBI fee demand
SIPTU have advised members to ignore a recent intimidatory statement, from the Nurses and Midwives Board of Ireland (NMBI), with regard to the current campaign of opposition to the 50% increase in retention fee being sought by that organisation.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Kevin Figgis, said: “SIPTU and the other nursing unions have reiterated their advice, to all members, in relation to the attempt by NMBI to impose a fee increase. That is to make no payment at this time in response to renewal notices as the matter has been raised under the Haddington Road Agreement with the Department of Health.
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Focus on pay rises at Manufacturing conference

The fight for pay rises and the use of social media for union organising was to the fore of discussions at the SIPTU Manufacturing Biennial Conference.

Talks by international guests, lively debate on motions and musical performances were all packed into the one-day conference on Friday, 7th November. The event was attended by 200 delegates representing over 40,000 workers across all manufacturing industry sectors including pharmaceuticals, electronics, chemicals and agribusiness.


SIPTU Manufacturing Division Organiser, Gerry McCormack addressing delegates at the Division's Biennial Conference

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Organising for the Future

Organising For The Future

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Privatisation biggest threat to public services

The battle against the privatisation of vital public services and utilities was central to debate at the two-day Biennial SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Conference on 5th-6th November.

Addressing over 200 delegates on the first day of the conference, SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, Gene Mealy, said: “The last time we met, it was against the background of the most severe economic crisis this country has ever faced. As we emerge from this crisis we have an opportunity to change people’s attitude to society and in particular to the delivery of good quality public services”.


SIPTU member Miriam Stewart from Galway Rural Development at the conference


SIPTU members Ruth Cleary, Mark McDonald and Barbara Kearns

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SIPTU calls on Government to defer water charges and hold a referendum on public ownership
SIPTU has called on the Government to defer the water charge payment due in Spring of 2015. SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, said that each family must be guaranteed a free and adequate supply of treated water to meet its normal domestic needs.

He said that the Government must find a way of providing for the new investment required to fund the provision of the treated water supply while retaining it in public control and ownership.
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SIPTU calls for compensation for beef plant workers for losses due to IFA blockades

SIPTU has called for workers in the beef industry to be compensated for the loss of earnings they have suffered as a result of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) blockade on beef processing plants.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Dunne, said: “Many beef plant workers have lost two days’ pay this week as a result of the IFA’s 48-hour blockade of beef plants. This is in addition to one day’s pay lost as a result of a pervious 24-hour IFA blockade.  

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Congress calls for restoration of wage-setting mechanisms in key sectors
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions on Tuesday (11th November), called for the restoration of wage-setting mechanisms in key sectors of the economy such as construction, in order to halt the race to the bottom in wages and standards and to restore some protection for workers’ livelihoods.
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SIPTU representatives to visit European Parliament to discuss LEADER alignment

SIPTU representatives will be among a delegation of Irish community activists visiting the European Parliament to discuss the adverse impact of the ‘alignment process’ on the LEADER rural development scheme on Tuesday, 18th November.


The delegation, which will include SIPTU Organisers Eddie Mullins and Trevor Quinn, as well as representatives of the INOU, ICTU and the Disability Federation of Ireland, has been invited to visit the Parliament by Sinn Féin MEP, Liadh O’ Riada.   

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Online print auction for the children of Gaza
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SIPTU members to begin industrial action at Kerry Women’s Refuge
SIPTU members in the Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, will begin industrial action on Tuesday, 18th November, in a dispute concerning a unilateral change to workers' shift patterns.The decision to commence industrial action at the facility follows a management decision to impose changes to workers’ shift patterns, without agreement, on Monday (3rd November). This move will result in an up to 50% reduction in work for out of hours support staff and severe consequential effects for other workers in the service.
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YesEquality Register to Vote Campaign launched
A joint campaign called YesEquality has been launched by GLEN, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Marriage Equality encouraging people to register so that they can vote in next year’s referendum on marriage equality. The campaign is being run in collaboration with the ICTU, USI and LGBT organisations across the country.  It’s the first step in a co-ordinated campaign for a Yes vote and  is aimed at encouraging young people, in particular, to seize the opportunity to help shape a new and fairer society.
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SIPTU calls for cancellation of planned cuts to anti-poverty programme in Dublin
SIPTU has called on the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to abandon a proposal to cut Dublin’s main anti-poverty programme by more than €740,000 in 2015.

The cut is proposed for the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) in Dublin which delivers assistance to people through community organisations across the city.
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Bord Gáis Irish Book Awards

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Hospitality employers must enter JLC talks
Government ministers have supported a SIPTU demand that restaurant and hotel owners join the new Joint Labour Council (JLC) process established to agree conditions for workers in the sector.

In the lead up to last month’s Budget announcement, SIPTU called on the Government to remove the hospitality sector’s special VAT rate of 9% if employers continued to refuse to engage in the JLC process.
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The 80th Anniversary of the Republican Congress and its Relevance for Today
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SIPTU welcomes beginning of the unwinding of FEMPI legislation
SIPTU has welcomed the Government’s decision to delete a section of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009 which gave public service employers the ability to cut workers’ core pay and adjust working hours without agreement.

SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said: “The cabinet decision on Wednesday (29th October) to accept the request by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin to delete this key clause in the FEMPI legislation is welcomed by SIPTU members.
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Larkin Lecture in Liberty Hall
Dr. Emmet O'Connor gives a lecture on James Larkin - How international was Larkinism? How British was Larkin?

Larkin Lecture in Liberty Hall

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Social Policy Conference 2014 - Tuesday 18th November
Social Justice Ireland's annual Social Policy Conference 'Planning and Delivering a Fairer Future - Values, Democracy and Social Provision' will take place on Tuesday 18th November in Croke Park Conference Centre. A range of speakers from Ireland and abroad will address questions regarding planning for and delivering a fairer future.
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“Changing Landscapes: The Juridification of the Labour Court?”
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LIBERTY VIEW
 
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Pay rises are top of the union’s agenda

Pay rises for workers’ are top of the agenda for SIPTU members in the private and public sector. After years of economic crisis during which workers have borne the brunt of others failures the time has come for the rebalancing of earnings in favour of the real wealth producers.

The issue of pay was prominent at the two recent biennial SIPTU Divisional Conferences. At the Manufacturing Division Conference delegates heard that the Division's pay strategy had seen rises of on average 2% per annum delivered for over 50,000 workers.

At the Public Administration and Community Division conference delegates heard that their endurance during the economic crisis must now be recognised by the return of pay they had lost. Such ‘pay restoration’ was now a key issue and will be raised in discussions with Government in the coming months.

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ECONOMY
Global Labour Column

In this week’s GLC,Pierre Habbard gives an analysis of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) which was prepared by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In a meeting held in November 2013 in St Petersburg, BEPS was then endorsed by the G20. Habbard argues that “The international cooperation on tax evasion has been on the G20 agenda since 2009 but tax avoidance is a fairly new topic for the G20. Unlike tax evasion – which is illegal – tax avoidance is in the grey area of compliance.”   

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TASC Annual Lecture
The TASC Annual Lecture is a major event in TASC’s calendar. In the past we have had international speakers such as economist James Galbraith, and closer to home Kathleen Lynch and Peter McVerry, each of whom has shone a light on a particular aspect of economic inequality.

Building on Thomas Piketty's keynote address to the TASC Annual Conference in June, this year's TASC Annual Lecture will be delivered by Brian Nolan, a distinguished academic and Ireland's foremost expert on income inequality and its societal impacts.
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Achill Island International Brigade Commemorations

You are invited to attend a Commemoration Event for:

Pat Burke 1897 - 1987


volunteer in the International Brigades from Achill, who fought in the Spanish Civil War to defend the Spanish Republic against Fascism

 1.00 p.m., Sunday, 16th November, 2014
Slievemore Graveyard, Keel, Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland.

Exhibition and refreshments afterwards at Gielty’s bar, Dooagh, Achill.

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Raising expectations and raising hell - a discussion with US trade union activist and author, Jane McAlevy

Join Siobhán ODonoghue of the Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland in a discussion with Jane McAlevey about her book, Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell). In her book, McAlevey describes her experiences in the labour movement organising bold, large scale campaigns in ‘Right to Work Nevada’ and elsewhere in the U.S., rebuilding the labour movement into a winning movement.   

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Youth for Decent Work Awards 2015
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Federica Mogherini urged to suspend EU-Israel Association Agreement by 309 human rights groups and unions
More than 350 human rights groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe - including 16 from Ireland - have called for the EU to hold Israel accountable for its massacre of Gaza earlier this year by suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the main treaty between the EU and Israel. (See the full list of signatories by clicking here)
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Young Workers Network
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SIPTU Basic English Scheme

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MDI Christmas Cards 2014
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Fairshop
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Supporting Quality campaign
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Electric Ireland - now part of Supporting Quality
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Larkin Credit Union

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10% discount for SIPTU members from Taxback.com
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Fair Hotel
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Home Insurance from only €199*
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Get up to 80% off* Car Insurance
Read more »
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