This week saw the formal establishment of the body charged with making recommendations to begin the process of addressing the additional working hours introduced for many civil and public servants under the 2013 Haddington Road agreement.

Public service clerical and administrative staff will receive a 1% pay increase on 1^st February 2022 after Fórsa’s National Executive opted for a straight 1% pay round under the sectoral bargaining clause of the Building Momentum agreement.

Fórsa has again added its weight to calls for a legal right for employees to request remote working. In a submission to an official State consultation on the matter, the union said that, while some roles were inappropriate for remote working, legislation should underpin the principles of fair access to remote working arrangements.

Fórsa has called on the Government to accept Citizens' Assembly recommendations on workplace and broader gender equality issues, which were recently published.

Water services, local democracy, job evaluation remote working, flexitime, and a union-led campaign for a four-day working week are set to be big issues at Fórsa’s biennial Local Government and Local Services conference, which takes place next Wednesday (12^th May).

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan has written to Irish MEPs to seek their support in getting life-saving Covid-19 vaccines to struggling countries in the developing world.

Fórsa joined organisations across the globe at the end of last month to commemorate International Workers’ Memorial Day, which remembers workers who have been killed, injured, or become ill through work-related accidents.