The Labour Court has proposed that Fórsa and local authority employers should resume discussions on a local authority job evaluation scheme for clerical and administrative staff. The Local Government divisional executive subsequently decided to re-enter talks and pursue an early Labour Court hearing at its monthly meeting, which took place earlier this week.

The Court had earlier asked the union to prepare a business case to support its proposals for a scheme.

The job evaluation scheme proposals are relevant to clerical admin grades III-VII. Head of division Peter Nolan said he is keen for further consultation with employers to resume quickly.

Legislation published by the Government has confirmed its intention to limit gender pay gap reporting requirements to organisations with more than 250 employees at first. But this threshold will fall to 50 – in line with union demands – after three years.

It means that just a third of employers will initially have to publish gender pay gap information when the legislation is first enacted. This will cover almost half a million people who work in firms with more than 250 staff, and the first deadline for firms to submit their pay gap data is expected to be December 2020 or January 2021.

A further 22% of the workforce will be covered once the threshold falls to 50 staff or more.

The legislation will also require reporting on differences in bonus pay, part-time pay and the pay of men and women on temporary contracts.

Fórsa has been at the forefront of the trade union campaign for legislation on gender pay gap reporting, which it says would encourage employers into tangible action to bridge the gap. But the union last year criticised the Government’s decision to delay the process by withdrawing support from a well-advance Bill in order to produce its own legislation.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and National Women's Council have called on the Government to compel all employers to publish the gender pay gap data within a year of the legislation coming into force.

Fórsa is awaiting an employer response to its proposals for the local authority common recruitment pool. The union had asked them to consider two recruitment and promotion models – those used in the civil service and education sectors – at a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearing in February.

Fórsa’s head of local government Peter Nolan said that the introduction of either model in the local government sector would represent an important victory. He said it would increase the number of internal competitions, providing a career path structure which has been missing in the sector in recent years.

“The civil service model provides for a proportion of promotions to be confined to the employee’s own department. This would be equivalent to having a proportion of posts confined to one’s own county or city council,” he said.

Fórsa has finalised library workforce plans with Fingal and Wicklow county councils after reaching agreement under a national deal on library services brokered by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) last June. The WRC agreement requires employers to match or beat 2012 staffing levels.

The union sought a higher staff complement in Fingal following the opening of a new library, and the introduction of additional services, since 2012. This was referred to the WRC, where it was agreed that seven additional posts should be put in place.

Over a dozen extra posts were sanctioned in Wicklow – again based on increased demand for services – following local negotiations, which started before the national library agreement was concluded.

Fórsa official Una Faulkner welcomed the outcome. “These staffing levels reflect the improved and expanded library services that members in the Municipal Employees and Local Government divisions are providing, and also hold out the prospect of better career opportunities for staff,” she said.

The launch of the Fórsa Disability Rights Network takes place this Saturday (6th April) at 11am at Fórsa's Nerney's Court office. The event will be opened by Finian McGrath, the Minister of State for Disability Issues.

Senior Fórsa official Andy Pike said the new network will provide a forum for members across the union to meet and discuss issues relevant to disability rights in the workplace.

“This national meeting is the second in a series of new equality networks to be established by the union’s equality committee over the coming months. The meeting will be of interest to Fórsa members living with a disability, members working to provide disability services, and activists with an interest in disability rights,” he said.

A full programme for the event, and details about how to register are available here.

Fórsa is hosting a screening of the film A Silent Transformation at 6pm tomorrow (Thursday 4th April) as part of the Fórsa Insights series. The documentary is about the transformative power of co-ops, and the impact they have had in communities across Ontario.

The screening, in Fórsa’s Nerney’s Court office in Dublin, will be followed by a panel discussion on the role co-ops can play in finding a solution to the housing crisis in Ireland.

Earlier on the same day, the union is hosting a seminar on climate change, and the impact that a move to a low carbon economy will have on workers in Ireland. The event, ‘A Green New Deal for Workers,’ takes place in Fórsa’s Nerney’s Court office, from 2pm to 5pm.

The event will address what a ‘green new deal’ could mean, and will explore a ‘just transition’ to a low carbon Ireland. Professor John Barry of Queens University, Belfast is the keynote speaker.

The event will also feature interactive workshops around the development of a climate information campaign for Fórsa members, the creation of a sustainability strategy for the union, and establishing a just transition committee within Fórsa.

Fórsa Insights is a series of talks and cultural events open to Fórsa members, ICTU affiliates and NGOs. The aim is to explore a range of issues including human rights, climate change, migration, homelessness and the experience of campaigning for workers rights across the globe.

There’s still time to RSVP to Joe O’Connor for either or both events. For capacity reasons, places are limited to two spaces per branch.

A general meeting of Fórsa’s local authority technicians has welcomed progress on restructuring and regrading claims in a number of local authorities. Last week’s meeting also reviewed draft terms of reference for a review of the role of technicians in local councils.

The meeting heard reports from individual restructurings of technician grades in Dublin City council and other local authorities. It also elected the following officers to the union’s Technicians’ Vocational Group: John Melvin, Chairperson (Dublin City Council Branch); Dermot Nugent, Secretary (Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Branch); Milo Lowry, Treasurer (Longford Branch).

The chair of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has asked Irish Water and local authority employers to set out their rationale for the establishment of a single entity in water services in advance of a further meeting with unions next week. The WRC is facilitating the talks about the future of water services.

Fórsa has insisted that the engagement must yield “simultaneous movement” on four strands:

• The future sustainability and revitalisation of local authority services
• A constitutional referendum on public ownership of water services
• The structure and governance of the proposed single water utility, and
• Employment and industrial relations issues that arise from the proposal.

In a related development, the union’s Municipal Employees’ Division has demanded the regularisation of water staff in Dublin City Council. Head of division Peter Nolan said the council had breached a collective agreement, and that this would result in a dispute if it wasn’t quickly resolved.

Applications are now open for the 2019 Fórsa Gaeltacht grant scheme, which will make 80 grants of €150 each available to assist children of Fórsa members attending residential Irish language courses in Gaeltacht areas this summer. A further 40 grants of €70 are available to assist children to attend day-only Irish language courses held outside Gaeltacht areas.

Children of Fórsa members, who are aged between 11 years and 18 years of age on 1st July 2019, are eligible to apply for the grant scheme. You can download the application form here. 

Please download the form to a folder on your device prior to filling it out. If you cannot use the fillable form online then please print the form, complete it in black pen and return it to: General Services Committee, Gaeltacht Scheme, Fórsa, Nerney's Court, Dublin 1, D01 R2C5. It should arrive before 5.30pm on Monday 29th April 2019.

All queries and applications should be sent to gaeltacht@forsa.ie.

Unions have strongly criticised finance minister Paschal Donohoe for refusing to help public servants recently forced to retire at age 65, but who were retained in work on diminished pay and pension arrangements. The decision was communicated to unions last month.

The limited interim arrangements had been put in place following the Government’s 2014 decision to raise the state pension age from 65 to 66. This meant that civil and public servants who depend on the state pension for a large part of their retirement income faced a huge gap in the first year of retirement.

Many took up the temporary fix of being re-hired until they were eligible for the State pension. But those who exercised this option were placed on the first point of the non-pensionable pay scale, and were not able to make further pension contributions.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions had urged Donohoe to give the staff concerned the option of extending their 12-month retention arrangement up until age 70, and to get increments due to them during this period.

Late last year, the Government bowed to union pressure and legislated to give civil and public servants the option to remain in employment up to age 70 if they chose.

The legislation also required the finance minister to outline potential remedies, within three months, for public servants who had been forced to retire between 6th December 2017 and the commencement of the new law. But the minister has opted to do nothing for them.

“As a result we have a cohort of people who wished to extend their working life, but cannot do so simply by virtue of the date of their 65th birthday,” said Fórsa official Billy Hannigan.

Public servants recruited after 1st April 2004, but before January 2013, were not covered by the new legislation because they already either have no compulsory retirement age or the ability to retire up to age 70.

Fórsa has become part of an alliance of over 60 civil society organisations working to ensure that Ireland keeps to its commitment to achieve sustainable development goals at home and abroad.

Coalition 2030 promotes the global development agenda for the entire world up to 2030 through a set of 17 sustainable development goals.

Niall McGuirk, Cathaoirleach of Fórsa’s Civil Service Division, put forward a motion backing the coalition at the union’s national executive last month. Writing in the latest edition of Fórsa magazine, he said the union would advocate for the implementation of these goals.

“It's not just about words, it's about actions too, small actions from each and every one of us that will help. Consider the type of world we can aspire to. A world free from poverty is goal number one. Zero hunger is goal number two, while good health and wellbeing comes next,” he writes

Niall said a ‘Just Transition’ paper that ICTU is currently developing – and which seeks to secure workers' jobs and livelihoods while economies shift to low-carbon production – is linked to goals covering decent work, sustainable cities and communities and climate action.

ICTU Development Officer David Joyce also welcomed Fórsa’s decision to join the coalition. “Congress has been working to ensure that trade unions are aware of the goals and use them in their work. We’re delighted to welcome Fórsa as a new member of Coalition 2030, and as part of this global movement to ensure that Governments live up to their commitments,” he said.

Read more about on trade unions and Coalition 2030 here.

A series of events to mark the centenary of the Limerick Soviet kicks off on Friday (5th April) as the city marks 100 years since the 1919 strike, which was precipitated by the death of trade union and republican activist Robert ‘Bobby’ Byrne. The centenary programme runs until 28th April with a wide range of events.

The strike, which made international headlines, was against a permit system introduced by the British military authorities. The workers took over all aspects of the running of the city, produced their own daily paper, policed the city, controlled all food and fuel supplies and even printed its own currency.

Fórsa official and President of the Limerick Council of Trade Unions, Mike McNamara, will host a bus tour of the sites of the Limerick Soviet with Liam Cahill on Sunday 14th April.

Mike said he was delighted with the commitment of so many people to celebrate the Limerick Soviet. "It’s a very impressive programme and I’m sure the public will enjoy the many opportunities to become more familiar with this aspect of our city's history. I applaud the voluntary and community spirit of so many involved in providing Limerick with such an impressive festival of events,” he said.

Mike has written a history of the events around the Limerick Soviet which appears in the latest edition of Fórsa magazine, which is out next week.

Find out more at limericksoviet100.ie.

Fórsa is supporting ONE Galway’s rally on behalf of the Raise the Roof housing and homelessness campaign, which takes place in Eyre Square at 1pm on Monday 8th April.

The event will show support for a housing motion from Mayor Neil McNelis, which will be debated in Council chambers later that day. It calls for significant investment in public housing, action on evictions, rent certainty and the creation of a legal right to housing. These are all policies that Fórsa supports.

Homelessness growing faster in Galway than in any other Irish city. This growing crisis has seen over 10,000 people – workers and their family members – on the council housing list for the first time. But still the Government clings to its catastrophically-failing policy of private provision.

It’s time for a new approach, which is why Fórsa has teamed-up with homelessness organisations and other unions to demand public provision. It’s the best and quickest route to safe, secure and affordable housing for all.

That’s why the union is asking you to devote one hour of your time, at lunchtime on 8th April, to stand in solidarity with workers, their families and all those affected by Galway’s housing and homelessness crisis.

You really can make a significant contribution to this campaign, and show real solidarity amongst the people of Galway.

Two-thirds of Irish people believe housing should be made more affordable, even if it requires increased taxes, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The data was published as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions urged workers to sign its petition, which calls for a legal right to housing.

The OECD’s cross-national ‘Risks That Matter’ survey found that 41% of Irish people felt more affordable housing was necessary for them to feel more economically secure. It also revealed that Irish people were concerned about the cost of health care and their financial stability in old age.

Fórsa has been campaigning for action on the housing crisis, particularly through the ‘Raise the Roof’ campaign, which is calling for a local authority house-building programme, greater security for tenants, and a constitutional right to housing. The union is urging members in the Galway area to join a lunchtime protest next Monday (8th April).

The OECD survey asked 22,000 people in 21 countries about risks relating to social and economic issues, and how they felt their governments were doing addressing those risks.

A factsheet on Ireland’s ‘Risk that Matter’ survey findings is available here.