The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) has agreed to give permanent contracts to a number of temporary staff working on its public service card project. The breakthrough came after Fórsa won a number of cases on behalf of temporary clerical officers it believed should be on permanent contracts, or ‘contracts of indefinite duration.’

The union now wants to hear from those temporary clerical officers who want to have their employment status clarified. It has invited all temporary clerical officers to join Fórsa so that it can look into their cases.

Since 2012, up to 200 temporary clerical officers have been hired by the department to administer and process the Government’s public service card project. Fórsa has been working to ensure they receive the correct holidays and increments.

The union also sought permanent contracts in over 30 separate cases, many of which were successful. Fórsa officials have also met DEASP management to discuss the cases, which the union referred to third party adjudication.

Fórsa has finally agreed the introduction of vehicle monitoring in Revenue enforcement vehicles after establishing clear conditions for the operation of the system. The conditions include daily reports from the system to highlight any issues to drivers.

The union also made it clear that the technology should solely be used to assist drivers, with health and safety as the priority. Fórsa has advised members to ensure they comply with all health and safety standards, including speed limits and mobile phone use.

National management has agreed to the union’s demand for an early review of the system, which will not be used as a disciplinary tool by local managers.

Fórsa has also agreed to open up Dublin Port co-enforcement posts to interdepartmental competition for the first time. This is a once-off measure, confined to that location and grade, which has arisen because of a shortage of internal revenue candidates. The union has told management this problem suggests a review the €6,000 enforcement allowance is needed to resolve the shortage of candidates.

Meanwhile, discussions on executive officer appointments are continuing with a view to ensuring that agreed sequences of direct recruitment apply, including in locations like Nenagh. Discussions on the PAYE modernisation project, scheduled to take place last week, were deferred by the inclement weather.

The union has also met members in Sarsfield House to address concerns over an air quality report in part of the building. Fórsa has agreed to seek an independent review of the report and is following up on individual cases where health has suffered.

The union recently met management in the national shared services office (NSSO) in Killarney to discuss concerns about the refurbishment of the New Road offices. The union said it believed too many staff are being located in the offices, and that this contravenes health and safety regulations.

Management has since confirmed that the space available is just about within the regulations. But they have responded positively to Fórsa’s request to reconsider the office configuration to ensure sufficient space and comfort for all staff.

Management has also confirmed that a fire cert for the office has been received.

On wider NSSO issues, the union is to meet members in HR shared services this week to allay concerns about the Peoplepoint survey being conducted by Fórsa across the civil service. We will reassure members there that their interests are a priority in our overall discussions with senior management.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has met social protection minister Regina Doherty to urge her to strengthen proposed legislation on zero hour contracts and related employment arrangements.

Proposed laws currently going through the Oireachtas would ban zero hour contracts in most circumstances. ICTU wants them banned in all situations.

Unions have also called for a minimum three-hour payment when staff are called in to work, stronger redress when employers flout the law, and other measures to restrict unacceptable working time practices.

ICTU officials have also met opposition spokespeople on the issue. The bill is currently at committee stage, which means it can be amended.

Read the ICTU briefing here.

The British Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on Theresa May to face down hardliners to protect the Good Friday Agreement. Its general secretary Frances O’Grady said the draft EU Brexit withdrawal agreement, published last week, would deliver the Prime Minister’s promise of no hard border in the island of Ireland

The EU draft is based on commitments made in negotiations between the UK and EU27 last December.

“She must face down the hardliners in her party and put all options for a final deal back on the negotiating table. That’s the best way to protect jobs, rights at work and the Good Friday Agreement,” according to O’Grady.

Writing in the Guardian, the TUC leader said trade unionists know peace on the island is precious and fragile. “Over many years, the TUC worked with friends in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to help achieve it. Throughout the troubles, trade unions tried to build bridges between working people from different communities. And at the Good Friday Agreement referendum, unions came out in support of the deal and encouraged members to vote yes,” she said.

She said unions supported the peace treaty as the best way of promoting jobs and a stable economy, and “because working people in Northern Ireland are entitled to peace, prosperity and civil rights.”

Meanwhile ICTU’s Belfast-based assistant general secretary Owen Reidy called on the British government to listen to the voices of the trade unions and industry. “It is time the UK Government, in the interest of all people across the UK, started to negotiate in a logical and reasoned fashion. The ideal solution is that the EU and the UK negotiate a deal which avoids a hardening of the border on the island of Ireland,” he said.