The Irish Times reports that Ibec and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions "are set to clash again on the minimum wage" as representatives appear before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment today.

ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy is to tell the committee that the Government needs to bring detailed legislation to implement the EU’s minimum wage directive and "involve itself in ensuring the proportion of workers represented in collective bargaining grows to 80%."

Staying with that story, the Business Post reports that ICTU's advice to the government is that it "should penalise companies that deny their workers collective bargaining rights, and should not hand out public contracts to such firms," while the story is also picked up by RTÉ. 

The joint Fórsa and Unison conference event - The State of Healthcare on the Island of Ireland - continues in Dundalk today. Supported by the Shared Island Unit of the Department of the Taoiseach, the event brings health, trade union and political delegates together to discuss the challenges faced by professional health staff and the communities they support.

As delegates assemble in Dundalk, the Irish Times reports that the continuing recruitment freeze in the HSE risks increasing waiting times for patients, demoralising staff and providing poor value for public money. 

Meanwhile, Minister Anne Rabbitte responded to a series of parliamentary questions last week explaining that current industrial action by Fórsa members (in response to the moratorium on recruitment) has led to "delays remain in receiving answers to parliamentary questions and ministerial representations."

Elsewhere, the opening of Ballyshannon Community Hospital has been delayed as a result of an ongoing dispute between the INMO and the HSE.

The Irish Times has this piece on the anticipated changes to the labour market as a result of AI, technology, sustainability and shifting demographics. One bank categorises its staff as being tasked either with "sunrise" (emerging skillsets in increasing demand) roles or "sunset" (skillsets in declining demand) roles. It reports that a quarter of global chief executives that they expect the size of their workforces to drop by at least 5% this year, as generative AI tools are rolled out. 

Zen

Good news from Trinity College Dublin, as it is to give away more than 100 baby birch trees which were discovered growing on its usually manicured lawns during "no-mow" May last year.

Meanwhile, episode 2 of Beef on Netflix played out with this tune by the brilliant Tori Amos that I had all but forgotten about. 

Have a great day. 

Niall