Exploratory talks between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), Aer Lingus and Congress unions to try to find a solution to the pension crisis at the company have ended without agreement. Talks between Congress unions and Aer Lingus on the pensions issue broke down on Thursday (27th February) and with the DAA on the previous day.

“Congress also reiterated its commitment to engage in all meaningful talks and discussions, in order to achieve a fair and just resolution of the dispute.”

Earlier this month, SIPTU members at DAA, Shannon Airport Authority and Aer Lingus voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action, including all out strike, to bring about an acceptable resolution of the dispute on the pension issue.

SIPTU representatives have demanded an immediate meeting with the Board of Management of G&K (Gurranbraher and Knocknaheeney) Community Training Centre on the north side of Cork city, following its shock decision to close the facility without prior notice.

On their arrival at work on Tuesday, 25th February, staff were called to a meeting at 10.00 a.m. to be informed that the Training Centre was to close with immediate effect. The Board of Management of the Training Centre read a statement to staff informing them of its decision to close the Centre immediately.

Following a meeting of members on Wednesday, 26th February, SIPTU, which represents staff employed in Administration and Instructor grades at the Centre, has requested an urgent meeting with the Board of Management.

Staff received no prior notification on the decision to close nor were they consulted in any way on the decision and, as a consequence, all of the options in relation to the retention of the service could not be explored. Following the announcement of the closure, trainees were transferred to another location and staff, some of whom have almost 30 years service, were asked to leave the building immediately.

“This was particularly abhorrent given that staff had given long and dedicated service to the community over many years. The treatment of the staff was unacceptable and appalling,” SIPTU Sector Organiser, Eddie Mullins said.

The G&K Centre Centre, which delivered FETAC training to early school leavers and young people from the local communities has been in operation since 1982 and is governed by a Voluntary Board of Management. It was funded through FÁS and the Department of Social Protection and has a core staff of seven.

The SIPTU LGBTQ members’ network marked LGBT History Month with discussions and a screening of the film ‘Did Anyone Notice Us? Gay Visibility in the Irish Media 1973-1993’ in Liberty Hall on Wednesday, 26th February.

A public debate on media representations of the LBGT community followed the screening in the Liberty Hall Theatre at 6.00 p.m.

A packed theatre heard NUJ Irish Secretary, Seamus Dooley, Gay rights activist and drag queen performer, Rory O’Neill, Director of the Women’s Studies Centre, UCD School of Social Justice, Dr. Katherine O’Donnell and Irish Times journalist, Una Mullally discuss recent controversies concerning the treatment of LGBT issues.
 
SIPTU LGBTQ members’ network activist, Rachel Mathews McKay, who chaired the debate, said:  “The debate’s theme was been provoked by the recent controversy surrounding Rory O’Neill and the exposure of homophobic sentiment in the media.
 
“The lively discussion focused on the need to encourage LGBT people to play a greater role in public discourse on issues that directly affect our lives and become more involved union activity.”
 
SIPTU Campaigns and Equality Organiser, Ethel Buckley, said: “According to the largest survey ever undertaken of gay people in Ireland conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Federation, the number one concern of LGBT people was discrimination in the workplace.”
  
She added: “SIPTU regularly represents the interests of LGBT people, and increasingly transgender workers, in the workplace. We have an established track record in fighting discrimination in all its forms.”
 

A decision by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to subject the Local Community Development Programme (LCDP) to competitive tendering from 2015 was condemned as “shameful” by SIPTU.

The LCDP delivers job training, education and help in finding work to those most at risk of social exclusion. It has been successfully delivered by not-for-profit organisations for over 20 years.

SIPTU Community Sector Organiser, Darragh O’Connor, said: “I fail to see how pitching community organisations and volunteers in competition against each other will help disadvantaged communities. Competitive tendering will only serve to drive down standards and mask cuts to community services. It’s a shameful and unnecessary decision”.

Since 2008, the funding for LCDP has been cut by over 35% with workers facing multiple pay cuts, lay-offs, short time and redundancies.

SIPTU activist, Donie O’Leary, who works as a community worker with the Cork City Partnership, said: “Workers are frustrated and angry. We don’t know what the full implications of privatisation are going to be for us or even if we will have a job next year. The Department of Environment is refusing to engage with us in any meaningful way.”

SIPTU has called on the Department to attend an upcoming conciliation meeting at the Labour Relations Commission where concerns raised by workers in the community sector will be addressed.

SIPTU members at the Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork (UCC) have entered into a binding arbitration process aimed at securing a solution to a dispute of over pay inequality.

This followed a vote on Tuesday, (25th February) where the move was supported by an overwhelming majority of 88% to 12%.

Management at the Institute and workers representatives have entered negotiations on the outstanding issues at the Labour Court. Following these negotiations, the Labour Court will issue a binding resolution to the parties.

SIPTU Organiser, Bill Mulcahy, said: “Our members believe the binding resolution process will allow for a fair and equitable settlement to this dispute which will reflect their professional standing. Since the start of this dispute all our members have requested is that their work is valued to the same extent as their colleagues in other sectors of UCC.”

SIPTU represents over 70 workers at the research facility including researchers, engineers, administration, technical and IT staff.  The workers undertook two one-day work stoppages earlier this year. A further one-day work stoppage scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 26th February, with pickets to be placed on UCC main campus, was suspended.

SIPTU representatives working in the National Ambulance Service and Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service attended a Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children hearing into ambulance response times on Tuesday, 25th February.

The hearing discussed the resourcing of ambulance services in Ireland and those in other jurisdictions to which it is compared.

SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bell, called for wide ranging review into the operation of the ambulance service and its performance which would include input from the Health Information and Quality Authority.

Glen Ellis, an advanced paramedic with Dublin Fire Brigade, told the Committee, “We face, on a weekly basis, delays of three and four hours outside hospital emergency departments waiting to hand over patients. There can be delays of 10, 14, and even 16 hours because our nursing colleagues in the hospitals are struggling to get beds, which has a knock-on effect on our vehicles being able to leave and attend to life-threatening situations.”

SIPTU made a donation of books and DVDs of the union’s history to the London Irish Centre in Camden Town Library initiative on Wednesday, 26th February. The Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and Gaeltacht is co-ordinating the collection of items for the Library initiative.

Presenting the books to Aaron McAllorum of the House of the Oireachtas staff, SIPTU General Secretary Joe O’Flynn, said: “the union is delighted to support the Library initiative. It is important that Irish people at home and abroad connect with their long and proud history of involvement in the international trade union movement.”

SIPTU has welcomed commitments from the management of Tallaght Hospital, Co. Dublin, to increase staffing levels in order to ensure patient safety at the facility.

SIPTU members and management in Shannon Aerospace, Co. Clare, met on Tuesday (25^th February) at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to begin talks concerning a dispute involving the company’s pension scheme.

SIPTU Organiser, Tony Carroll said: “A schedule of talks has been agreed between union representatives and management. All issues concerning the pension scheme at the company will be discussed during this talks process which is scheduled to conclude in four to six weeks time.”

In early February, SIPTU members at Shannon Aerospace voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action to protect their pension entitlements. However, all industrial action has been suspended while the talks process is ongoing.    

Over 1.9 million people were employed in Ireland in the fourth quarter of 2013 according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. Unemployment now stands at 12.1%.

Both these figures indicate that the trend of falling numbers of unemployed and increasing numbers in work has been maintained throughout 2013.

These figures would seem to mark a welcome sea change in the unemployment crisis. However, caution is necessary not least due to the continuing flow of emigrants.

Longer tem unemployment remains a massive and, as yet, intractable problem. Over 155,500 people have been out of work for over a year. Action must been taken to re-integrate this group into the workforce so they to can play a full role in society.

There must also be concern over the standard of jobs being created.

The latest CSO figures show a sharp increase in the numbers catergorised as self-employed. This figure may cover a wide range of workers, many in insecure employment and without the protections they need.

The trade union movement is clear that not only is it concerned with seeing people in work but also that their employment is both financially and psychologically rewarding. In the coming months, SIPTU will be refocusing on ensuring that these aims are advanced. 

27th - 29th  March @ 7.30pm in the Main Space of Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin 8

Tickets are on sale at a special discounted rate of €10. Places are limited. If you would like to book for your group, call box office on 01 6770014 and quote the code : One Sandwich to avail of this discount.

"Mum is so determined to keep up appearances that when Dad leaves her ‘to find himself’, she hires an actor to replace him. It’s a perfect solution to an embarrassing situation, as long as she uses her imagination to find the extra cash. Mum’s the word. Luckily, the daughter’s far too busy planning the happiest day of her life to notice, but the son smells so many rats he’s a loose cannon who must be kept behind closed doors. Keeping the cat in the bag and the skeletons in the cupboard whilst avoiding the elephant in the room tips them over the edge and all of a sudden they are all at sea. And that’s when they collide with a Spanish conquistador from the 16th century."

For more information click here.

Benefit for Dublin Simon Community

Service Users of RADE take a direct role in supporting the Dublin Simon Community and mark the end of the centenary celebrations of the 1913 Lock Out with a final farewell performance, in Liberty Hall Theatre, of their acclaimed play “A Hundred Years Ago” on Tuesday 4^th March at 7.30pm

“A Hundred Years Ago” explores the dramatic events that evolved through the autumn of 1913 when ordinary workers took a stand with Jim Larkin against the employers of Dublin city and the subsistent wages that held them in slavery.

The play is delivered with bawdy humor that includes both jaunty and haunting ballad songs.

Tickets €10/€5(unwaged) from 0818 205 205 or www.ctb.ie/myticket or contact Síne 01 4548733.

RADE engage drug users with the arts and therapeutic supports and provide a platform for their artistic expression.

Síne Lynch

Programme Coordinator

www.rade.ie

“A Hundred Years Ago”, RADE’s acclaimed play will have a final farewell performance, in Liberty Hall Theatre, on Tuesday 4th March at 7.30pm in aid of Dublin Simon Community – tickets €10/€5(unwaged) from 0818 205 205 or www.ctb.ie/myticket

On the occasion of the birthday of Seán O'Casey, marking the 50th anniversary of his death, a lively and dramatic tribute led by his daughter Shivaun O'Casey.

The programme combines a colourful selection of O'Casey's songs, music and writings with many of his characteristic 'blasts and benedictions'. These illustrations of his life and times are seen through the loving eyes of his wife, Eileen. With Peter Sheridan and Eimear Simms and music from Noel O'Grady, Liam O'Connor, Noel Pocock, Sally Corr, Jimmy Kelly and Pat Goode. The production is arranged and directed by Des Geraghty on behalf of the Clé Club.

Tickets €15, now available from the Liberty Hall Box Office, Tel: 0818 205205 or online at www.ctb.ie

For information, Tel: 087 9494949

Email: cleclub@gmail.com

“During these preparation stages, I wasn’t sure what to expect and had a million questions, all of which had been answered in the course of the pre-departure meetings with Kevin, our volunteer coordinator and the other volunteers, all in a fun, friendly and very informative manner that had put us all at ease. Having covered everything from an overview of Ugandan culture, values, staple diet and basic vocabulary to the essential items for building and teaching in schools, our expectations, hopes and fears and everything in between, we were all set and rearing to go.”

 “Once we had safely arrived in Uganda, our group of volunteers readily rolled up the sleeves, eager to get stuck into the work we had planned for during orientation. Our Ugandan coordinators did not disappoint. After staff-volunteer orientation and taking in some local sights (like our short road trip to the Equator!), we were put to good use by helping out with building a perimeter wall around the health centre, teaching secondary school kids first aid basics and primary age children – English literacy across a number of schools. We also went on home visits with outreach workers to observe primary care in its essence – provision of health sustaining medicines and health check-ups to HIV positive adults and children; and witness incredible resilience and hard work paying off for those on the sustained livelihoods programmes who are benefiting from small start-up loans to create business opportunities to feed their families and gradually build a better life for themselves. And as for their enthusiasm for life, gratitude for such opportunities, soaring confidence in their ability and belief in themselves – that is something I will remember with great admiration.”

“Of course, among such incredible high moments they were also very tough ones, like the acute realisation of the gulf in the standard between our lives; seeing first-hand how different our worlds’ every day struggles are. These times also have an effect on you. But being there, knowing that you are a small part of a much bigger change for the better in the people’s lives, part of years of tireless work by all volunteers from the moment when Nurture Africa was but a twinkle in its founders’ eyes, makes the whole experience worthwhile, unforgettable and invaluable not only for every single volunteer but all the others benefiting from his/her time and skills.”

“Two weeks flew, and in a blink of an eye it was time to go home. It felt like a short time to us but we knew we had achieved a lot in our two weeks in Uganda and in turn felt great satisfaction in knowing we gave it all in that time, be it in teaching, building, and learning about the incredible body of work done by Nurture Africa and seeing the tangible and immense difference it is making every day in people’s lives. That is near to impossible to quantify or describe and do it justice.”

 “All in all, it’s been an incredible journey and I can’t wait to do it all over again. And I dare you, a first time volunteer, not to feel the same after your two weeks in Uganda!”

2-3 week placements are available in July, August and October.

For more information on volunteering please go to www.nurtureafrica.ie or call Kevin @ 01-5424177

A Research Prize funded by the Foundation for Fiscal Studies was launched in 2013 and is now in its second year. Its purpose is to recognise outstanding original work from new contributors in the area of Irish fiscal policy.

The FFS was established in 1985 as an independent non-profit-making body whose primary objective is to promote the study and discussion of matters relating to fiscal policy. Their aim is to assist in the process of debate and decision-making on future fiscal policies and we are awarding this prize specifically to promote research relating to fiscal, economic and social policy and how they interact to support each other.

The Miriam Hederman O'Brien prize will be awarded, in association with the Irish Times, to a paper which is of direct relevance to the circumstances of the Irish economy and the role of fiscal policy therein. People who have not previously been published in this or related areas are particularly encouraged to enter for the prize. The winning researcher will be awarded a prize of €3,000 together with a commemorative Gold Medal.

The closing date for submission of abstracts is MARCH 31, 2014 and the closing date for submission of final research papers is MAY 30, 2014. Further information is available on the FFS website at www.fiscal.ie