Pay, Slántecare, working time, housing, mental health, ‘section 39’ funding and the climate crisis are among the issues that Fórsa has raised with the main political parties contesting general election 2020. And the union has developed materials to help health workers quiz election candidates who knock on the door to plead for their votes.

Fórsa is not affiliated to any political party, and does not support any party or candidate in the election. But the union is actively working to influence the policy of the next government on the issues that matter most to its members.

Last week, Fórsa wrote to all the main political parties to outline the policies it wants to see implemented after the election on 8th February.

And the union’s “Public Service Champions’ Charter” sets out a range of questions on public service-wide issues that we’ve put to all the political parties. We intend to publish their responses online in the final week of the election campaign.

The union has also published a handy guide to issues that health workers can raise with canvassers. Parties are influenced by what they hear on the doorstep if enough people show they’re concerned about particular issues. 

We believe the policies of the next government can be shaped if Fórsa members use this material to send a strong and consistent message to party leaders. So, keep it by the hall door and be ready when the politicians come looking for your vote! 

Download our health service questions HERE.

Download our Public Service Champions’ Charter HERE.

More than a decade since the economic crash, public service pay and conditions are still being framed by an “emergency mind-set,” despite Ireland’s return to robust growth, exchequer finances and employment rates, according to Fórsa’s general secretary.

Kevin Callinan said the negotiations on a successor to the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA) – the three-year pay deal that expires in December – will be near the top of the incoming Government’s in-box after the February election.

And he called on politicians to seize the opportunity to move on from an entrenched “culture of crisis and restoration.” 

Kevin said the failure to move on from the crisis continues to feed instability in public service pay and provision. And he said the teachers’ strike, scheduled for next month, was just one example of unnecessary difficulties caused by the Government’s failure to give priority to addressing weaknesses in the PSSA.

“Last spring I called for talks to deal with the PSSA’s shortcomings. I said economic and exchequer improvements had outstripped everyone’s expectations when the deal was signed in 2017, and that we needed to engage in discussions to address issues in particular sectors in advance of post-PSSA talks.

“As I predicted, the Government’s failure to prioritise this has further destabilised the agreement. I believe the root of the problem lies in an outdated emergency mind-set. It’s time politicians of all parties showed some flexibility and moved on from the entrenched culture of crisis and restoration in public service pay policy,” he said.

In its general election materials, Fórsa has stressed the need for inflation-plus increases to reflect the fact that economic improvements have run ahead of agreed pay provisions over the last three years. It also calls on candidates to pledge to resolve remaining “two-tier” measures – including extra working hours – that were introduced during the economic crisis.

Kevin said that a decade after the crisis hit, the legislation that gave effect to the PSSA remained couched in the language of emergency. “Whatever its shape, it will be over 15 years since the emergency if the incoming Government runs its five-year course,” he said.

 “The spending power of public service wages is being eroded by the increasing cost-of-living, including in housing and child care, while private sector earnings are now rising at three times the rate of public service pay. We have been stressing to senior figures in all the main political parties that this issue must be addressed quickly and decisively once we have a new administration,” he said.

Almost 60 temporary clerical officers working in the children and family agency Tusla are being transferred onto permanent contracts as part of a stabilisation programme negotiated by Fórsa.

The offers are subject to a number of conditions, including being directly employed as a grade III clerical officer in Tusla. Staff also have to have demonstrated the required experience, skills and competencies for the job, and be currently occupying a vacant grade III permanent post. 

This success comes off the back of a union agreement which saw 450 agency staff moved onto fixed-term contracts last November. That deal covered about two-thirds of existing agency staff in Tusla, including social work, social care, family support and administrative grades.

The union has secured commitments that existing panels will not be affected.

Tusla has also committed to stricter controls on the future use of agency staff, which Fórsa official Chris Cully welcomed.

“The use of agency staff should be the exception rather than the rule. Underpinning job security is one of our key priorities so we’re glad that Tusla will now limit its precarious employment practices in future,” she said.

Fórsa members in a small number of ‘section 39’ agencies are to be balloted for industrial action in the latest phase of the union’s campaign for pay justice in independent organisations that rely on State funding to deliver vital health and care services.

Once the ballots are completed, the union is due to discuss the next steps with other ICTU-affiliated unions in the sector.

So far, the campaign for pay justice has resulted in €1,000 payments for workers in 50 organisations. Fórsa is committed to completing the process of pay restoration for workers in the community and voluntary sector. 

Fórsa’s head of health Éamonn Donnelly has urged members to use the general election as an opportunity to push Irish healthcare reform up the political agenda.
 
He said the Sláintecare programme, which seeks to develop a single-tier system free at the point of need that provides quality healthcare, was not proceeding quickly enough, despite supposedly having cross-party support.

“When Sláintecare was launched in 2017, it was presented as a ten-year plan with unified cross-party support. However, we’re three years down the line and there’s been no real progress.
 
“The election is an opportunity for trade union members and other citizens to let every politician and their doorstep representatives know that they’ll only vote in the forthcoming general election for parties genuinely committed to delivering Sláintecare,” he said.
 
Although the initiative is universally supported on paper, Éamonn believes the reluctance to act stems from the need to totally reconstruct current practices.
 
“The traditional power bases of Irish healthcare provision, like consultants’ practices, the current GP model and private healthcare funding, will need to be completely transformed. But you just need to look at the number of patients on trolleys to see how badly we need a more holistic approach to healthcare provision,” he said.
 
Éamonn called for a developed model that combines health promotion, disease prevention and reduction, and primary care intervention. 

“This would allow hospitals to excel in the treatment of patients that require hospital treatment, free from the added stresses of overcrowding. It is paramount that we use this election as an opportunity to commit our politicians to finally implementing the healthcare system we deserve,” he said.

Tusla staff will have access to a job evaluation scheme from the end of this month. The Fórsa-negotiated deal, which comes into effect on 31st January , makes job evaluation available to clerical and administrative grades III to VI.

Fórsa official Chris Cully welcomed the development, saying it will bring a greater degree of fairness to the sector. “It’s only right that members are provided with the opportunity to get proper recognition for the degree of responsibility they have in their jobs,” she said.

Staff will be advised of the scheme via the Tusla Newscast, with further details available on the Tusla hub.

The HSE’s job evaluation scheme was reactivated in late 2016 on foot of a Fórsa campaign, which included a ballot for industrial action. It was extended to Tusla staff last year, coming into effect this month.

Job evaluation is an internationally-recognised method of independently and fairly assessing roles, and ensuring that they are graded to reflect the ‘size’ of the job – the skills, responsibilities, knowledge and educational attainment that a worker brings to their daily work.

Derry City and Strabane District Council has become the first Northern Ireland employment of its kind to adopt a menopause policy. Developed in conjunction with unions, the policy will provide education and support to employees, and sets out guidelines and supports for staff and managers to help manage menopausal symptoms at work.

Research carried out by TUC indicates that menopause is still a taboo subject, and the majority of women are unwilling to ask for support – or even discuss menopause-related health issues with their managers.

The council said its new policy aims to ensure that everyone understands what menopause is, can confidently have a conversation about the issue, and are clear on the new practices now in place.

Fórsa equality officer Geraldine O’Brien has welcomed the development. 

“Menopause is an equality and occupational health issue, and unions have a role to play in ensuring that correct procedures and supports are in place. I hope that the introduction of this policy will encourage other employments to have an open conversation about how they can better support employees transitioning through menopause,” she said.

For more information on menopause at work click HERE. 

Fórsa and other unions have slammed Government plans to further increase the state pension qualifying age to 67 next January and to 68 in 2028.

As the plans emerged strongly as an election issue, ICTU general secretary Patricia King rejected as “wholly unacceptable” Government claims that a reversal of the policy – which would leave Ireland with the highest state pension qualifying age in the EU – was unaffordable.

“The pension issue was raised by ICTU as a matter of grave concern as far back as 2011, when the change was first proposed, and consistently thereafter with various government ministers and the Taoiseach. It has been included in successive Congress pre-Budget submissions,” she said.

She accused the Government of implementing measures – including reducing contribution rates for the self-employed – that would deplete the social insurance fund, which pays for old-age pensions.

Meanwhile, Siptu economist Michael Taft said the €217 million cost of reversing the pension age increase could be financed from the existing social insurance fund, which is currently running a surplus of €1.4 billion a year.

“The reality is that, in the short term, there would be no need to increase taxation, cut spending or borrow to finance the cancellation of the pension age increase,” he said.

The deadline for members’ submissions to the Fórsa ‘Strategic Organisational Review Team’ (SORT) exercise, is the end of January. Last month, the SORT emailed members to invite them to inform the development of a strategic plan, which will inform the union’s direction over the next five years.

This is a unique opportunity to have your say on what you believe the union’s priorities should be, to put forward your ideas, and to raise any issues which you believe should be considered in the development of our strategic plan.

You can register with the SORT consultation platform at this link and you’ll then be able to make a submission under one or all of our simple themes: priorities, ideas and issues.

While a number of the ‘address’ fields are mandatory under ‘additional information,’ we do not require this data so you may enter your work address or a Fórsa office address.

All member submissions are private and confidential, and will only be visible to members of the SORT.

Get registered, make your submission, and have your say!

Fórsa is seeking applications for its annual INSPIRE training programme, which helps equip female activists with the skills and confidence they need to take on leadership positions in the union.

The programme, now in its fifth year, was developed in response to the relatively low level of women in senior decision-making positions in a union where the majority of members are female.

You can read more about the course HERE.

The training takes place in the union’s Dublin office on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th February. Applications must be made through your local Fórsa branch, which you should contact if you’re interested.

Completed application forms should be sent to training@forsa.ie no later than Friday 31st January 2020.

The ninth edition of Fórsa magazine is now available and circulating in your workplace. In our Winter-Spring 2020 edition Bernard Harbor looks at the political timing, and internal moving parts, of a new public service pay deal to succeed the current PSSA, which expires at the end of the year.

We look at the union's support for health professionals regulated by CORU, equality for workers from the Travelling Community, the trend for unpaid work trials, the right to disconnect and the inclusion of social class in Ireland's equality legislation.

We also meet a group of activists from our Dublin Hospitals branch, find out more about the education system in Palestine, and there's helpful information on changes to the management of your taxation details at Revenue, in addition to a mix of culture, food, Raymond Connolly's sideways look at music and opinion from writer Aingeala Flannery.

Pick up a copy in your workplace or download a PDF copy HERE.

The annual Fórsa quiz, organised by Fórsa’s youth network, has raised over €7,000 in aid of Trans Equality Network Ireland (TENI).

The quiz, which took place last December was well attended and supported by branches, while raffle prizes were donated by our service providers, all contributing to the significant funds raised.

TENI is a non-profit, member led organisation supporting the trans community in Ireland. Seeking to improve and advance the rights and equality of trans people and their families, TENI is dedicated to ending transphobia, and continues to work for social, political and legal recognition of trans people in Ireland.

Funds raised from the quiz will help TENI in their advocacy, education and support work.

More information on TENI and the work they do can be found HERE.

Most Fórsa branches have now received their 2020 wall planners and desk calendars, for distribution to members.

If you have not yet received desk calendars or wall planners, or if you require additional stock, please contact Róisín McKane with the details (name, branch, address for delivery and quantity) and material will be issued as soon as possible. 

Welcome to 2020, when it took just three days for the chief executives of FTSE 100 firms to earn more than ordinary UK workers will in the whole of the year, according to a new report from the High Pay Centre. 

     
This issue was also highlighted by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) in its annual report scrutinizing executives’ pay in Ireland. It revealed an unjustifiable gap between the top executives and average workers’ earnings in a study of 26 companies.   

 
It found that while the pay of average full-time workers rose by 2.6% in 2018, CEO remuneration increased by between 9% in Permanent TSB to a massive 99% in Smurfit Kappa.      

Meanwhile, cement company CRH maintained its astounding CEO-to-worker pay ratio of 212-to-1. In other words, it would take an average CRH worker 212 years to earn what their top executive took home in one. 

The report found that basic pay forms just 37% of the executives’ total earnings, with the lion’s share coming from bonuses, benefit-in-kind and share options.

The report points out that, as publicly-listed companies are the only ones obliged to disclose remuneration information, lucrative executive pay packages in private companies remain a mystery.  

ICTU has been pushing for the adoption of an EU shareholders rights directive to improve transparency by introducing mandatory reporting of directors’ pay as a ratio of the average pay of their full-time employees.

Congress social policy officer Laura Bambrick pushed for the speedy implementation of this directive. “The new EU shareholder rights directive, which was due to have become Irish law by June last year, is a good first step in pay transparency and tackling wage inequality,” she said. 

The European Commission says Ireland has the highest market income inequality (pre-distribution income before tax and social welfare) in the EU.

Read The Truth About CEO Pay In Ireland here.

Tusla staff are now entitled to 20 days’ bereavement leave on the death of a spouse, partner or child. The previous allowance was just five days.

Employees can also get five days of paid leave if a close relative dies.

The Fórsa-negotiated change, which came into effect on 1st January this year, brings Tusla in line with the HSE standards negotiated last year. 

It has been agreed that the scheme will be backdated to October 2019 which means if any worker lost out between then and now, that time can be claimed back as compassionate leave.

Fórsa official Chris Cully welcomed the development. “It’s only fair that people suffering extreme loss are given equal time to deal with it. The experience of grieving for your husband, wife, daughter, or son isn’t something that can be quantified based on what sector you work in,” she said. 

Last June Fórsa won a Labour Court ruling that brought the HSE in line with civil service arrangements. Tusla staff can now benefit from the same provisions. 

For full details of the new agreement, see HERE. 

The ceiling for Fórsa subscriptions was raised from €380 to €387.60 with effect from 1st January 2020. This applies to those members paying the general membership rate of 0.8% of gross pay, which has an annual ceiling of €48,450. This ceiling ensures a limit to the amount that members are asked to pay in annual subscription to the union.

In accordance with the union’s rules, Fórsa’s elected National Executive Committee (NEC) decided to make the change to take account of the pay adjustment under the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA) of 2% due to civil and public servants in 2020.

The union’s two other subscription rates are unaffected by the change. These are the legacy rate paid by those who were members of the former PSEU on 31st December 2017 and the 1% rate for new and existing CO related grades in the civil service who have access to the former CPSU benefit scheme which was carried over into Fórsa.
 
Benefits
On top of negotiated pay increases and protection when things go wrong at work, union members can benefit from an improved range of membership entitlements introduced when Fórsa was formed.

These include €5,000 in personal accident cover or €5,000 critical illness cover or death benefit, which also is also available to spouses of Fórsa members.

Alternatively, €5,000 in illness benefit is available to members who are out of work for more than 12 months. And Fórsa also covers evacuation or repatriation expenses up to the value of €250,000 for members who become seriously ill or injured, or who die, while abroad.

That’s on top of a range of financial benefits, negotiated with external providers, which can mean big savings on financial products like car, home and travel insurance, pension benefits, salary protection and life cover.

Fórsa members can also avail of free counselling, legal advice and support helplines, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. And they can opt into our group scheme, which gives them access to huge savings on a wide range of everyday items and services including restaurants, retailers, hairdressers and coffee shops.

Get full details about membership benefits here.