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Congress asks human rights group to oversee anti-G8 protests
Trade unionists and community activists will march in Belfast on Saturday and next week in Enniskillen in response to the G8 Summit of international leaders in Fermanagh on Monday, 17th and Tuesday, 18th June.
The marches will demand that world leaders take action to halt the growing division between those profiting from the world economy and those in poverty.
Congress has asked the Belfast based human rights group, the Committee for the Administration of Justice (CAJ), to monitor the anti-G8 protests following reports that they will be the subject of an unprecedented security force operation.
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SIPTU campaigners to hold commemoration
A colourful commemoration at the statue of Jim Larkin in O’Connell Street is being planned by SIPTU’s Fair Deal for Cleaners Campaign for midday on Monday next, 17th June. The event is to celebrate International Justice for Cleaners Day and will involve singers from the 6th class of the Central Model School, Dublin 1, a spectacular visual display around the statue, speeches from SIPTU activists from the Cleaning sector and from Labour historian, Francis Devine. For the duration of the event a number of participants will also be distributing silk roses to members of the public.
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Youth workers stage “Forced to Fly” protest
Youth Workers and young people held a symbolic “Forced to Fly” protest outside the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Mespil Road, Dublin 4, on Tuesday (28th May) at 11.00 a.m. to highlight continued funding cuts to youth services.
At the “Forced to Fly” protest organised by SWAN Youth Services, airline tickets were presented to Department officials in a dramatic representation of young people preparing for their flight to unemployment, emigration, depression and addiction.
Left-Right: Jessica Johnson, Daniel Byrne, Owen Butler, Jade Delaney and Robert Sunner from SWAN Youth Services in Dublin 1 outside the Department of Children and Youth Affairs during the 'Forced to Fly' Protest on Tuesday, 28th May
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SIPTU calls for increased investment in childcare training
SIPTU has asked the Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, for increased government investment in training for childcare workers which is both classroom based and involves 'on the job' training.
SIPTU Vice-President, Patricia King, said that the delivery of quality childcare is dependant upon a highly skilled early childhood education and care workforce which enjoys decent pay and conditions of employment.
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SIPTU welcomes commitment to regulate Home Help services
SIPTU has welcomed a Government commitment to regulate the provision of Home Help services but has warned that, without increased funding, regulation cannot guarantee quality care for elderly people.
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Home Support workers protests cuts
Almost 100 people protested in Dundalk last week to highlight the devastating effects home helps cuts were having on workers and the elderly. Home Support Workers, some of their clients and their families gathered in the Square in Dundalk behind their union banner and marched to the HSE office.
Home Support workers, some of their clients and their families pictured in the Square in Dundalk before marching to the HSE office on Friday, 7th June.
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| Seamus Rodgers |
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Retired SIPTU Organiser honoured by RNLI
Seamus Rodgers, retired SIPTU Organiser and chairperson of the Rosses, Donegal, Branch of the RNLI for the past 8 years, received a bronze medal at the 2013 Annual RNLI Ireland Awards, in Trinity College on 8th June, in recognition of his contribution and support to saving lives at sea and by way of fund raising.
RNLI Area Manager Ireland, Emma Gibson, said; "Seamus has always been selfless with his time and effort in support of the RNLI. His leadership qualities ensure the Rosses Branch is run in an efficient way in order to fulfill its role in life-saving in the area," she said.
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High noon for Social Europe
The meeting in Dublin of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) in early June heard calls for a renewed focus on the creation of decent jobs and on coordinated efforts to tackle youth unemployment across the European Union.
ETUC leader, Bernadette Ségol, emphasised the need for movement towards a Social Europe which has been overtaken by initiatives to liberalise, deregulate and get workers to compete downwards on wages and working conditions.
She pointed to the empty rhetoric of EU leaders about going beyond austerity and stimulating new growth and jobs and said that these will not convince citizens as long as real policies keep concentrating on ‘structural reforms’ which weaken the social dimension of the economy.
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Impact of emigration unclear in latest Live Register figures
The latest Live Register figures indicate a continued decline in the numbers signing on but it is not clear what the main factor is driving this trend, according to SIPTU Economist, Marie Sherlock.
Live Register figures published on Thursday (6th June), show that, seasonally adjusted, 426,100 people signed on last month. This represented a decrease of 700 month on month, and 11,000 year on year.
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| Thorsten Schulten |
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The Troika and Multi-Employer Bargaining
How European pressure is destroying national collective bargaining systems
Collective agreements that extend beyond the immediate workplace or company level are rightly seen as one of the unique institutional features of the European social model. No other world region has any comparably well-developed system of multi-employer collective bargaining in which agreements cover not only entire industries but in some cases apply even nationally. The existence of collective agreements with such extensive coverage is one of the reasons why a clear majority of employees continue to be covered by collective bargaining in Europe. By contrast, in countries and regions in which the predominant level of bargaining is at the workplace or company, only a minority of employees have their employment conditions secured by collective agreement.
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ETUC calls for massive investment in a European jobs and recovery programme
by Bernard Harbor
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called for massive investment – of between €140 billion and €280 billion – in a European jobs and recovery programme.
Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday (5th June) ETUC General Secretary Bernadette Ségol said austerity policies had failed and investment of between 1-2% of EU-wide GDP was needed to create jobs and re-launch the European economy.
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