Fórsa and SIPTU will form ICTU-led delegation at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Thursday, 2nd February, where a conciliation process will get underway on behalf of members in Community Employment (CE) and Local Employment (LE) services.
The referral to the WRC follows efforts to secure pay improvements through the multi-union Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign. The conciliation conference will address outstanding pay issues for staff funded by the Department of Social Protection who work in Community Employment (CE) schemes, the Rural Social Scheme, Tús and the Jobs Initiative Scheme.
The Department of Social Protection, as the principal funders of these schemes, has confirmed it will attend, and has said it will “work proactively with the Workplace Relations Commission and the employers concerned on a resolution of the ongoing pay issues.”
Fórsa officials Lynn Coffey and Tony Martin will represent Fórsa at the conciliation talks. Lynn said workers in the sector have endured a long period of uncertainty, following significant changes to local employment services last year: “We’ve seen job losses in the sector following changes to tendering process for schemes last year, and the majority of workers in the sector have seen no pay improvements at all in almost 15 years.
“Our hope is that the process that gets underway in February will mark the end of an exceptionally challenging time for local employment staff, and that we can secure badly needed pay improvements at a time of rising living costs,” she said.
Tony added: “We faced a lengthy fight on behalf of CE supervisors on the pension issue until the agreed gratuity payments kicked in last year. Equally, we’ve been fighting for some time for pay improvements in this sector, and the WRC talks are an important next step.
“Without their trade union membership, these are a cohort of workers providing vital services to their communities who would otherwise be completely overlooked. We’re looking forward to a constructive engagement with the Department of Social Protection and the employers. Equally, we are determined that a meaningful result, which puts real pay improvement into our members’ hands, will be the outcome of this process,” he said.
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