If you’re interested in applying for an exciting and challenging post in trade union organising or industrial relations, you should check out the five posts currently being advertised by Fórsa.

The union is looking to fill organising posts in campaigns, strategic organising, and training and development, as well as two industrial relations officer posts – one in Dublin and one in the West.

The deadline for applications is 1st March. Read more HERE.

Hundreds of community employment (CE) supervisors and assistant supervisors represented by Fórsa and Siptu took part on a one-day strike yesterday (Monday). They were joined by retired CE supervisors at a series of protest rallies at the Department of Finance in Dublin and at INTREO offices in Letterkenny, Galway, Cork, Athlone and Waterford.

Fórsa official Brendan O’Hanlon said the action followed a 10-year dispute over pensions. “The 1,250 staff concerned have no access to any occupational pension scheme, despite a 2008 Labour Court recommendation in their favour,” he said.

The chair of Fórsa’s CE Supervisors' branch, Ian Thomas, said the strike was literally the action of last resort. “We withdrew our labour with some reluctance, but we really have been left with no choice. Our appeals to successive administrations have fallen on deaf ears. This is the only option we have left,” he said.

More than 250 CE supervisors have retired with no occupational pension since 2008, when the Labour Court recommended that they should have occupational pension provision funded by the state. Between 30 and 40 currently retire each year.

Ian, who is supervisor of the Carrigaline Community Employment scheme in Cork, has worked as a CE supervisor for 24 years. “The pension issue has been an objective for us throughout that time. I was in the Labour Court in 2008 when our case was heard, and the recommendation made then was a really positive result.

“We are approaching the 11th anniversary of that outcome, and the current Government is the third administration since the recommendation was made. Nobody has lifted a finger to implement the Labour Court recommendation, and as a group of workers we are frustrated and angry that this has been allowed to idle for so long,” he said.

The strike and protests were widely covered on national and regional media. Paddy Quinn, a retired CE supervisor and former senior vice president of Fórsa, spoke to the Irish Times alongside branch committee member Gillian Byrne and Fórsa official Brendan O’Hanlon about the dispute. You can watch that video HERE. 

A video report of the rally in Cork is available HERE.

View Fórsa’s campaign video HERE.

Fórsa is studying the detail of last week’s Labour Court recommendation regarding the nurses' dispute, and will also want to see the outcome of further talks on a proposed new nurses’ contract before fully assessing any implications for any grades in non-commercial semi-state agencies.

The Labour Court has given the parties three weeks to negotiate a new nurses’ contract. The details may be significant in terms of the total value of the outcome, while the nature of the productivity strings attached to the package will also be relevant if they are substantial.

If agreement is reached in the contract talks, the nursing unions plan to ballot on the outcome.

This means it will be the end of March, at the earliest, before any implications for the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which governs pay and related matters in non-commercial semi-state organisations, can be fully assessed.

Fórsa was the first union out of the blocks when it issued a holding statement on the evening the Labour Court issued its recommendation (Monday 11th February).

The Fórsa executive will be updated on developments at its scheduled gathering at the end of this month, and a Consultative Council meeting – which involves representatives from all the union’s branches – has been called for mid-March.

While ministers have expressed the view that the nurses’ Labour Court recommendation is in line with the PSSA, senior Fórsa officials have been assured that there will be continued engagement with the union and the ICTU Public Services Committee, which brings together the unions that are parties to the agreement.

Unions have told the Government that other grades will expect similar opportunities to have their pay reviewed during the lifetime of the PSSA, which isn’t due to expire until the end of next year.

Clerical and administrative staff are among the groups hardest hit by the cost of housing, which has risen much faster than incomes, according to a new report from the union-backed Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI).

Affordability in the housing market of the Republic of Ireland for different groups of workers, compares pay to the costs of buying and renting a house.

The report says the Irish housing market is “dysfunctional” and that significant sectors of the population find it difficult to afford accommodation, particularly around Dublin.

Clerical, sales and service staff is one of two groups of workers identified by the study as having particular difficulties. This is because they experienced significantly lower wage gains, compared to rent increases, between 2010 and 2018.

The NERI report also says that a housing affordability crisis is continuing unabated despite a rising level of new dwelling completions.

Fórsa has been campaigning for affordable housing and an end to homelessness. Along with other unions participating in the ICTU ‘raise the roof’ campaign, it has called for a major public house building scheme, and other measures to tackle the crisis.
 
Read the report HERE.

Two-thirds of Irish adults believe free childcare should be available to all, according to an annual study conducted by Early Childhood Ireland. And the same number say the pay of highly-trained childcare staff should reflect their qualifications.

Responding to the survey results, Fórsa organiser Katie Morgan said salaries in the early years’ sector remained among the lowest in the Irish workforce, and that the Government was falling short on its commitment to establishing a graduate-led workforce.

“While we appreciate the need for a highly-skilled workforce, and understand the benefits it would bring, we need a clear commitment from Government that it will fund improvements in pay and working conditions in early childhood to reflect these qualifications,” she said.

Fórsa says most staff in the sector are already highly-qualified. But services are hit by high staff turnover because remuneration does not match the level of qualifications demanded.

“We need increased investment to professionalise the grade. We welcome these survey results as they demonstrate strong public support for improved terms and conditions in the sector,” Katie said.

The research also found high support for better regulation of the sector, with 87% saying all private childminders should have basic first aid skills, be Garda vetted, and be subject to higher regulatory standards.

Early Childhood Ireland director of policy and advocacy Frances Byrne echoed Katie’s sentiments. “The survey results represent a vital mandate for Government to continue to robustly invest in and deliver further supports for the sector and families,” she said.

Read more HERE.

The Fórsa Services and Enterprises Division, which brings together members in semi-state organisations, private companies and parts of the community sector, has established a sub-group to look at its structure following the amalgamation that created the new union just over a year ago.

The group is set to carry out a survey and audit of all branches in the division to establish membership numbers and union density – the proportion of eligible staff in specific employments who are union members.
 
The exercise will also seek information on branch recruitment practices, contact information, and the number of active branch representatives.

Branches, which can expect to receive the survey along with explanatory information, are being encouraged to complete and return the survey promptly. The divisional executive intends to present a progress report at its May divisional conference in Sligo.
 
Meanwhile, the divisional executive has also set up a ‘Divisional Council’ to improve communications between branches and the elected executive. Its first meeting took place last week. Divisional councils are long-established in the union’s other divisions.

Discussions on the implications of brexit for Ireland north and south took place in Dublin last week as Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) general secretary Patricia King met Keir Starmer, the British shadow secretary of state for exiting the EU.

In the hour-long meeting, Ms King highlighted the importance of the Good Friday Agreement to maintaining peace, and the “devastating effect” a hard brexit would have on the economies on the island. She also raised the significant opposition to a hard border in the union, business and farming communities.

The meeting follows similar talks held between Irish trade union representatives and UK political leaders in London recently.

ICTU also called on the Irish Government to establish a ‘brexit adjustment fund’ to protect vulnerable groups of workers and industries in the case of a ‘no-deal’ brexit.

Mr Starmer was joined at the meeting in Dublin by shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland Tony Lloyd.

You can read more on this story HERE.

Trade unions celebrated Valentine’s Day last week by highlighting deficits in the transparency of tips policies in the restaurant and hospitality sectors. Members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) One Galway group, which fosters cooperation between unions in the city, handed out leaflets urging customers to help ensure their tips actually go to the staff who serve them.

ICTU says one in three workers in the hospitality sector don’t get the tips customers leave, and that workers have no say in how tips are shared out. It has campaigned for legislation to improve transparency in the distribution of tips.

The National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill, which is expected to come before the Seanad this week, would give workers a legal right to their tips and require all restaurants to display a policy on how their tips are distributed.

The proposed legislation also aims to incentivise the introduction of fairer and more transparent systems for distributing tips in restaurants, pubs and hotels.

Last week’s ‘my tip my reward’ event took place on Quay Street in Galway. It coincided with a meeting between One Galway representatives and Senators Paul Gavin and Ged Nash, who are sponsoring the legislation.

Unions say tips are not a substitute for improved pay and conditions in a sector where workers are among the lowest paid, but that fairer distribution of tips could help them make ends meet.

You can find more information on the Bill HERE.

Fórsa and other unions representing workers in Irish Water and the wider Ervia group have sought a meeting with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). They want to assess the potential impact of the Government’s proposals to create a single water utility encompassing all water services, including those currently provided by local authorities, by 2021.

The move comes as Fórsa’s local authority divisions have agreed to enter WRC-assisted talks about the future of water services, including the Government’s proposal.

Along with other unions representing local government water workers, Fórsa agreed to enter the process on the understanding 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.

Fórsa also wants to talk to ICTU about issues identified in these four strands from the perspective of workers in Irish Water and the wider Ervia group, and to set out issues of concern to Ervia staff. If necessary, they may also seek the assistance of the WRC. 

Copper-fastening public ownership of water services remains a ‘red line’ for Fórsa and other unions in the sector.

Fórsa intends to seek an official commitment that the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Welfare will refrain from outsourcing job activation programmes to private companies in future. The move follows this month’s welcome Dáil vote to end the referrals to the discredited JobPath scheme.

Now the union wants assurances that the department will use community-based organisations like job clubs and the local employment service – along with department staff – instead of expensive and ineffective commercial suppliers.

The JobPath fiasco has seen two private companies receive almost €150 million between them since 2014. Yet only 9% of jobseekers who went through the scheme were still in employment after a year.

The JobPath companies received payments when jobseekers first presented, more cash when they were placed in a job, plus a bonus if a jobseeker gained sustained employment for a full year.

Fórsa official Paul McSweeney said outsourcing job activation was poor value for money. “JobPath has been an unmitigated failure in placing long-term unemployed in meaningful and sustained jobs. We will now be demanding the in-souring of this work with adequate resources to ensure that it’s done well in future,” he said.

The unions that amalgamated to create Fórsa just over a year ago opposed the outsourcing of job activation. The former CPSU and PSEU took the matter to arbitration, but were unsuccessful.

Legislation to extend unpaid parental leave from 18 to 26 weeks and increase the child’s qualifying age from eight to 12 years has again been backed by the Government after it appeared to have withdrawn support. Earlier, Fórsa wrote to leader of the Seanad, Senator Jerry Buttimer, urging him to use his influence to ensure the legislation’s swift progression. 

Although the union welcomed this new development, reports that the proposal will be implemented over a two-year period instead of immediately are seen as disappointing.

It was previously feared that Government would no longer support the Bill, and there have been significant delays in bringing it forward.

If signed into law the Parental Leave (Amendment) Bill would ultimately improve the work-life balance of Irish parents. Now that it’s passed all stages in the Dáil, the Bill is now set to be examined in detail by an Oireachtas committee.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has released a policy-summarising factsheet on bogus self-employment as part of its continuing campaigning on the issue. The factsheet addresses the negative impact of deliberate misclassification of employees on workers, the state and society.

Bogus self-employment involves employers deliberately misclassifying workers as self-employed subcontractors to pay less, dodge their social insurance and pension contributions requirements, dodge benefits like sick leave, and avoid meeting basic employment law protections.

The factsheet also recommends actions to address the issue. It says workers should only be classified as self-employed if they meet agreed criteria and recommends making principal contractors liable for 10.95% employer PRSI payments for all sub-contractors.

Backdating all unpaid PRSI from employers who misclassified workers, using the WRC and the Labour Court as watchdogs, and strengthening Revenue’s powers to intervene on PSRI non-compliance are among ICTU’s other suggested actions.  

ICTU is also calling for legislation setting clear definitions for the terms ‘worker’ and ‘employee’ in order to clarify legal standing for those engaging in precarious work.

The factsheet is available to view HERE.

Fórsa’s Margaret Coughlan was among representatives of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) who recently took part in a meeting of the National Strategy for Women and Girls committee, chaired by Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality David Stanton.

Margaret chairs ICTU’s women’s committee.

The National Strategy for Women and Girls report 2017-2020 provided a framework for action to address obstacles to women’s equality and to advance women’s leadership in a variety of areas. Implementation of the plan is monitored and run by the committee, which is comprised of a number of stakeholders including ICTU.

The strategy focused on the needs of working women by proposing increased investment in childcare, action to tackle the gender pay gap, and improvements to the conditions of women in precarious employment.

It also promoted improved access to education, training and employment opportunities for women in difficult circumstances, such as lone parents.

The report is available here.

An evening surrounding the theme of women in media and politics will be hosted by Women On Air in Dublin on 6th March – two days before international women’s day. Former RTÉ political correspondent Martina Fitzgerald, who also wrote the 2018 bestselling book Madam Politician, will give her personal insight into the industry.

Martina recently sat on a panel at a Fórsa event which focused on encouraging more women (#MoreWomen) to run for election. This ties in with the theme for this year’s International Women’s day, #BalanceforBetter.

Proceeds from the event will help fund Women On Air, a voluntary network of women and men who want to see and hear more women on the airwaves. The group runs seminars, events and informal training workshops to help give women the skills and confidence to go on radio and television.

The event, which starts at 7.00pm and ends at 9.00pm, takes place on 6th March in the Radisson Blu, Royal Hotel, Dublin 8. Tickets cost €8 and can be purchased HERE.

Management in the civil and public service should work with unions to ensure that the introduction of new technologies does not lead to job losses or poorer services. In a paper presented to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform last week, Fórsa argues for steps to ensure that new recruits are equipped to thrive in increasingly-automated work environments, and that older workers should get help to adapt.

Fórsa’s head of civil service Derek Mullen, who penned the paper, said the union would not oppose the introduction of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). “But technological advancement should not be at the cost of services or jobs,” he said.

He pointed to the experience of Revenue where new forms of work organisation, supported by retraining, had increased the tax-take and improved audit and fraud control rather than cutting jobs.

Derek said Fórsa would not give blanket support to the replacement of people-provided services with AI. “We will support properly thought-out automation, controlled by workers whose aim will be the continued enhancement and delivery of public services. Citizens do not want to talk to machines,” he said.

And he said new technologies would flourish best if staff had more autonomy over their working time.

The paper also argues against an expensive external consultant-led approach to technological development. “The diminution of in-house IT services over the last two decades has seen the growth of a hugely costly consultant-led approach to designing new systems. This must change,” it says.

The submission was written as part of the union’s response to civil service management proposals for procurement of new technologies, on foot of an automation pilot that’s been underway in a small number of civil service departments over the last year.

Read the position paper HERE.