LES tender success for community sector
by Niall Shanahan
 
The joint union campaign by Fórsa and Siptu to protect local employment services (LES) and job clubs has been running since last year, as unions campaigned against the Government-imposed tendering process for LES and job clubs.
The joint union campaign by Fórsa and Siptu to protect local employment services (LES) and job clubs has been running since last year, as unions campaigned against the Government-imposed tendering process for LES and job clubs.

There was good news for Local Employment Services (LES) providers following the recently completed second round of a tendering process run by the Department of Social Protection. All 17 ‘lots’, or contracts, tendered were secured by existing LES providers, many of whom were competing against private companies in the tendering process.

 

Fórsa official Lynn Coffey welcome the outcome, though voiced concerns about job losses: “I am in no doubt, that the successful outcomes for the existing providers of these services were achieved through the interventions made by the unions to protect these services and as many jobs as possible. However, some of the new contractors have informed unions that there will be some job losses.”

 

“The tendering process effectively forced some of the contractors to downsize in some areas, while securing a contract had the effect of reducing the scale of potential job losses,” she said. She added that both unions continue to engage with the employers and the ILDN (Irish Local Development Network) in an effort to protect as many jobs as possible.

 

Lynn added that while existing providers of these services were successful in this tendering process, it remains a concern for unions that the department continues to hold fast in its decision to change the way these services are funded, and that changes imposed by the Department means that the Jobs Clubs will now cease operation and staff will be made redundant. She said the union would direct its efforts at securing decent redundancy terms for workers who have provided this vital service on a community not-for-profit basis for many years.

 

The joint union campaign by Fórsa and Siptu to protect local employment services (LES) and job clubs has been running since last year, as unions campaigned against the Government-imposed tendering process for LES and job clubs.

 

Unions had cautioned Government on the risk privatising LES, saying that job losses and a diminished employment service were likely if private companies took over the services.

 

Thanking members for their efforts in the campaign, Lynn asked them to stick with the campaign effort to secure better redundancy terms for job club colleagues.

 

She asked them to write to their local TDs using a template provided by the union. “The more individual members who send a copy of this letter to their local TD, the greater impact this campaign can achieve,” she said.

 

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