The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has developed an online tool that enables trade union members and others to send a direct message to your constituency TDs, urging them to support the Congress Charter for Housing Rights.

The Charter was developed, with input from Fórsa and other unions in response to the escalating housing crisis.

Congress general secretary Patricia King says a critical component of resolving the crisis “must be a major public housing building programme, as part of a wider strategy of transition to a European cost rental model and the creation of a secure and sustainable housing system for all.”

The Charter includes a number of principles which Congress is urging the Government to adopt and fully implement.

Send a message

The online tool allows you to send a message to TDs in your constituency urging them to back the Charter. The online tool also recognises that a number of party and non-party TDs have already pledged their support, enabling users to send a message of thanks.

To lend your voice to the Charter campaign, simply click here and you will be guided through the required steps.

The re-municipalisation of privatised refuse and waste services could reduce costs for households and businesses, while improving pay and working conditions for staff, according to a new study published by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU).

The head of Fórsa’s two local authority divisions, Peter Nolan, says there are lessons for Dublin as well as other areas in the report’s findings. He said: “The most significant takeaway from the report is that re-municipalisation can be done, both in Dublin and elsewhere. As the report demonstrates, the trend of waste management services returning to the public sector is becoming more common on the continent and offers numerous benefits.”

The study, Waste management in Europe: Good jobs in the circular economy, says there is no evidence to support the view that privatised waste management operations are better than publically-provided services. Conversely, the report suggests the opposite to be true.

Its author, Vera Weghmann of the London-based Public Services International Research Group, identifies European examples of ‘re-municipalisation,’ where privatised waste and refuse services have been brought back into public control because of high costs or service shortcomings. But she warns that the trend towards privatisation remains strong in other places.

Waste management services in Dublin were privatised in early 2012. Prior to this the city had been seen as a bastion because it was the last European capital with a fully municipalised public waste management service. Fórsa (then IMPACT) campaigned against the privatisation of services in the city. An IMPACT position paper from September 2011 criticised the move and warned of the likelihood of increased fly tipping in the city as being of particular concern.

Fly tipping in Dublin has become progressively worse in recent years particularly in areas of the north side of the city, and a Fórsa campaign on the issue is now underway. The campaign aims to solve issue of private waste collection companies refusing to collect “bagged and tagged” rubbish.  Calls for council waste crews to lift this waste have also increased drastically in recent months, despite the private waste collection companies being contracted to lift the waste.

The EPSU report also addresses the transition towards a circular economy. Its author, Vera Weghmann says a general move towards a ‘circular economy,’ which places a high value on the re-use and recycling of waste materials, is heralding change in the waste sector. The most notable change is the shift towards recycling and away from landfill.

As well as being more environmentally sustainable, it’s estimated that this trend will create a million new jobs by 2030, because recycling is more labour-intensive than the old method of disposal. The report suggests that further advancements to the circular economy have the potential to treble that figure to three million.

Peter Nolan, who represented Fórsa at a recent EPSU seminar that discussed the research findings, said: “A municipalised waste management service at the centre of refuse and waste services in Dublin, and geared towards a circular economy, is of much higher value to society than the current privatised model. That is in terms of sustainability and the environment, reducing costs and improving efficiency, ensuring the best possible conditions for workers and the best possible service for customers.” 

The report says the circular economy holds out the prospect of better pay and working conditions in the industry if it integrates informal workers into the public waste sector, where conditions are significantly better than in private companies. Although more research is needed, Weghmann says, initial reports point to poor conditions and low pay in the sector.

Members, activists and staff of Fórsa’s Local Government Division were shocked and saddened to hear of the sudden death of Dympna Reilly of the union’s Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown branch.

A long-time union activist, Dympna was one of the lead negotiators on Fórsa’s library negotiating group. She was also a member of the union’s Professional Librarians Vocational Group Committee.

Fórsa national secretary Peter Nolan said union and workplace colleagues in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown council and Cabinteely Library were devastated by the news.

“Dympna was a fine trade unionist and a true professional who made a huge contribution to the union’s campaign for safe, high-quality library services available to all. Her participation in Fórsa’s negotiating team, helped deliver positive outcomes for her immediate colleagues, and for library users and staff across the country,” he said.

Dympna was a renowned rounders player, who had been involved in the sport for over 30 years, and a minute’s silence was held before Cavan’s recent match against Clare in recognition of her contribution to the GAA.

A five-time All-Star winner, she coached children and adults in the sport.

Read an appreciation of Dympna from the Longford Leader HERE.

Fórsa has raised staffing issues linked to the extension of the Cork City Council boundary into areas now run by Cork County Council with management in both authorities. The union is strongly advocating for a joint management-union forum, involving both councils, to discuss this and related matters. 

In a briefing to county councillors last week, the Cork County Council chief executive said the timing of any boundary changes would depend on local government department sanction for extra county staff to oversee an unprecedented challenge for local government in Cork.

He said the department intends to have legislation in the Dáil before the summer recess. Then the Boundary Commission could start to redraw constituencies and municipal district areas. But he said the transfer would entail a lot of work in the county council, which would require extra resources and new staff for up to 18 months.

Fórsa official Hilary Kelleher said: “The matter has been raised at a number of meetings with both councils, but there is nothing to report as yet. The chief executives of each council continue to engage in discussions with the implementation oversight group on the details of the new boundary between Cork city and county.”

There is considerable opposition to the proposal among Cork County councillors. The plan would see over 80,000 people transferred from the county into Cork City Council’s jurisdiction.

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.

A new government-commissioned study has warned that Brexit will hit the Irish economy no matter what type of deal is signed between London and Brussels.

The study, by Copenhagen Economics, estimates the cost to the Irish economy of a ‘hard Brexit’ will be around €18 billion, much greater than the expected economic impact on any other EU country.

The Irish Government said the findings of the report would help the state prepare policy adjustments to mitigate the exposure of the Irish economy to the effects of Brexit.

The study is the second major report commissioned by the government on the potential effects of Brexit since 2015.

The report analyses 24 sectors of the economy, including agri-food, pharma, electrical machinery, wholesale and retail, and air transport. It says these five sectors account for approximately 90% of the total economic impact.

The cost of Brexit

Return to the cover page to take the latest Fórsa survey.

Operational staff in Dublin fire brigade are to be paid their normal allowances when they avail of bereavement leave, in an agreement backdated to 1st January 2018. Fórsa took up the issue when it emerged that allowances were not initially covered, even though they make up a significant part of income for the staff concerned.

The problem emerged when improved bereavement arrangements were recently put in place. Operational fire staff in the council are now able to take 168 hours of leave – a period of seven days and seven nights – if they suffer the death of a spouse, civil partner or child.

They can avail of one week’s leave on the death of other immediate relatives, as defined by the agreement, and one day’s leave on the death of a more distant relation.

Read the full details HERE.

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.