Workers at the council took part in a fourth one-day stoppage on Tuesday (3rd July) this week. Strike action scheduled for today (Thursday) has now been suspended.

Peter Nolan, head of Fórsa’s Local Government and Services division, said: “Based on the documents received from the WRC and the oversight group, we’re satisfied there’s a clear route to the full availability of flexi-leave for our members.”

The WRC document recommends that both parties agree that all staff at the council are allowed to generate flexitime/flexileave, and that council management would have to be satisfied that there is sufficient, productive work to enable the generation of flexitime/flexileave.

The document also recommends that Roscommon County Council will facilitate the taking of leave subject to ordinary business needs.

The union is to attend the WRC today to finalise the details.

A Government decision to go back to the drawing board on legislation to compel employers to publish information on their gender pay gap means certain delays, and risks killing the initiative, Fórsa has said.

The union reacted angrily to confirmation that ministers are to draw up their own Bill, rather than amending an opposition Bill, which the Government has so far supported, and which is well advanced in the Oireachtas.

The Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2017 was accepted by the Government when it passed its second stage last October. If enacted, it would require medium and large companies to publish details of the difference in the average pay of their male and female staff.

But the Government now intends to introduce an alternative bill, reportedly because it has reservations about the role of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in administering pay gap reporting.

Responding to the development, Fórsa’s Head of Communications Bernard Harbor said reservations about the logistics of reporting, storing and presenting data could easily be addressed through amendments to the Labour bill, which is already well advanced.

“The Government has gone back to square one even though there is broad consensus on this issue across political parties, employers’ bodies, unions and civil society organisations. The move introduces needless delay, which means the legislation will probably not become law before a general election,” he said.

The administration’s move effectively shunts the issue back to the pre-legislation stage. Extensive consultation, which had produced a consensus on the issue, will now start again.

“We had the prospect of reaching the legislative summit by the end of this year. Now we are back in the foothills,” said Harbor.

The three unions that formed Fórsa were at the forefront of the campaign for legislation to compel organisations to publish details of their internal gender pay gap. Employer’s body Ibec was sceptical at first, but was persuaded to support the initiative.

All sides believe such a law could be a spur to action in tackling the gap between the average pay of men and women, which is stubbornly stuck at around 15%.

Just under half of young Fórsa members are struggling to pay their rent, an Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) survey has found. The survey into housing costs for union members under 35 also found that 45% of Fórsa members were either unhappy living at home or felt trapped in the rental market.

A further 17% said they were very unhappy in their current living arrangements, while 68% had little confidence in their future ability to buy a home.

Fórsa lead organiser Joe O’Connor said young Fórsa members’ experience of housing costs were disturbing, but not hugely surprising given the scale of the housing crisis.

“It is unsustainable that over one-third of young Fórsa workers are seeing more than 30% of their take-home pay swallowed by spiralling rent costs, with almost half feeling insecure in their housing arrangements,” he said.

“It’s well past time for decisive Government action to tackle these crippling costs and uncertain tenancies,” he added.

Joe said it was significant that 80% of Fórsa members said the Government’s failure to address the housing crisis would influence how they will vote in elections.

Read about the overall survey results HERE.
 

Fórsa has called for consultation on possible transfers and other staffing issues that may flow from the proposed merger of Galway county and city councils, which was formally approved by the Cabinet last month.

The union’s local government chief, Peter Nolan, said Fórsa was not opposed the merger in principle, but said consultation was required. “It’s essential that negotiation with the union takes place in relation to the employment and working conditions of members,” he said. 

The merger plan follows similar amalgamations in Limerick and Waterford, but is believed to have been met with some local scepticism.

The change was recommended in an advisory group report chaired by Professor Eoin O’Sullivan. His report found that economic growth in Galway city matched a decline in economic growth in the county’s towns. Improvements in the city’s economy was essentially coming at the cost of growth in the towns, which prompted the group to recommend the merger of councils to address the issue.

The Government decided against merging the councils prior to the 2019 local elections, which means that the changes will not impact on local representation until 2024.        

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has intervened in Fórsa’s dispute with local government management over the use of psychometric testing without consultation with staff representatives.

The union deferred its industrial action – set to start last Monday (25th June) – after it received assurances that no form of psychometric or online testing would be used in recruitment or promotions while talks are underway.

Discussions with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), which represents local council employers, are expected to conclude by the end of this month.

Peter Nolan, Fórsa’s head of local government, said the development marked a distinct change from the previous lack of management engagement. “We sought and received assurances from the employers because we wanted tangible evidence that there would be proper engagement at the WRC,” he said.

Fórsa’s youth committee has been hard at work establishing its presence, since its launch in May. The Great Fórsa Quiz was the inaugural event and the committee has since been developing a number of social and workplace campaigns.

New entrants pay, the housing crisis and precarious working conditions are high on the agenda.

Three new officers were recently elected to the committee. I spoke to Osal Kelly (chairperson), Irene Tiernan (vice-chairperson) and Yvette Kelly (secretary to the committee) to find out more.

Osal Kelly is a clerical officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and became involved in youth and social issues during his time at university.

He’s conscious of the challenges younger members are facing. “My priority is to develop the Fórsa youth committee as a group equipped to campaign for pay equality for young public servants, and to end the scandal of precarious employment blighting younger workers,” he said.

Osal hopes that the youth committee will also help fortify the trade union movement. “I hope to strengthen the links with activists in other unions and show the continuing relevance of trade unions to young people.”

As secretary to the committee, Yvette Kelly works at the Department of Justice and Equality. She is focused on the issues of mental health and pay inequality. Yvette’s passion for workers’ rights stems from facing unemployment and precarious work during the economic crisis. She began to question the injustice and unfairness facing many.

“The systematic inequality and the class logic that deepens injustice faced by workers hit home with me,” she explained.

Yvette’s goal is to empower other activists, to lead and organise effectively, in order to build a stronger union. “I want to bring home the main message of trade unions to young people entering the work force that an injury to one is an injury to all,” she said.

Irene Tiernan works in the HSE and is PRO for the Sligo Health and Welfare branch. She has been active in the trade union movement for the last two years . Irene hopes that her position on the committee will encourage others to get involved and strengthen the union and views her activism as a form of giving back to the wider trade union community.

“I want to give back to Fórsa as it’s invested so much time in me. I feel that by giving my time and commitment that I'm returning on the union’s investment in me,” she said.

“I joined the youth committee to be a voice for other young workers, and also encourage others to get involved in the union. I want to show how important the union is for young workers and remind them that we are the future and we have power to make positive changes,” she said.

If you would like to get involved, please contact Joe O’Connor or Roisin McKane for more information.

European and UK trade union and business leaders have highlighted the need to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland in an unprecedented joint statement on Brexit.

Speaking ahead of last week’s European Council meeting, the directors of Business Europe and the British employers’ federation, the CBI, joined with the general secretaries of the European Trade Union Confederation and the TUC – Luca Visentini and Frances O’Grady – in a call for urgency in the Brexit negotiations.

“We are calling on the UK government and the EU to inject pace and urgency in the negotiations, bringing about measurable progress, in particular a backstop arrangement to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

“Decisions will be needed in June and October to finalise the withdrawal agreement and the transitional arrangement, and put economic interests and people’s jobs, rights and livelihoods first,” they said.

They cited a range of issues that needed urgent agreement, including “a mechanism for agreeing a mutually acceptable level playing field for workers’ rights.”

The four organisations, which together represent 45 million workers and 20 million employers across Europe, met for the first time in London on 15th June to discuss Brexit.

They said employers and unions had developed a consensus on the need to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, and on the rights of UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK.

“The cost of disagreement between the UK and the EU would be dire for firms, workers and the communities where they live. Amid uncertain times, we appeal to negotiators on both sides to put jobs and prosperity before politics when seeking solutions that will matter for generations to come,” they said.

Former members of Fórsa, or the three unions that amalgamated to create the new union, can maintain their union membership and enjoy a range of financial and other benefits including continued participation in union campaigns and events.

The union has a retired members’ vocational group, which deals solely with the issues that affect former members. Continued union membership – at an affordable cost – gives retired members a voice on issues that affect them and their families. This is vital at a time when incomes and services are under pressure and the number of older people in Ireland is growing all the time.

Fórsa’s retired members’ vocational group campaigns to protect and enhance retired workers’ income and security, and advocates for better services for older people.

Retired colleagues continue to be members of the union branch they retired from, so they can keep contact with friends after retirement. Many branches and retired members’ groups organise social events.

How do I Join

The union subscription is either €8 per month (payable by bank standing order) or 0.4% of your pension (deducted at source, where employers provide this facility).  Regardless of the method of payment, the fee does not exceed €96.00 euro per year.

Financial benefits for retired members include:

€5,000 personal accident insurance
€5,000 critical illness or death benefit
€5,000 death of a spouse/qualifying partner
Evacuation or repatriation expenses of up to €250,000 for members who die or are seriously ill abroad
Free legal help in bodily injury cases
Free 24/7 legal advice helpline
Free 24/7 confidential counselling helpline
Free 24/7 domestic assistance helpline.

Retired members can also opt-in to Fórsa-facilitated financial benefits on car insurance, home insurance and travel insurance.  Retired members can also avail of our group discount scheme for online shopping.

Contact rnolan@forsa.ie for more information.

Last week’s news that €220,000 of state funding is to be re-allocated to Scouting Ireland came as a relief to staff, though the organisation’s troubles are not yet over, according to Fórsa official Dessie Robinson.

The money represents three months’ worth of public support, which will see the organisation through to October, when the resignation of all board members is expected to take effect.

Scouting Ireland agreed last week to introduce the recommendations of an expert report undertaken by Jillian van Turnhout, a former head of the Children’s Rights Alliance, who recommended that the entire board should resign.

Earlier this year staff feared that their jobs, and the services they support, were in jeopardy when minister for children Katherine Zappone withheld funding on foot of a scandal over the body’s handling of a rape allegation.

In April, Dessie wrote to the minister seeking assurances that her decision to withhold state funding wouldn’t undermine services or prevent the payment of salaries.

Dessie said staff in the organisation agreed that Scouting Ireland should follow best practice regarding governance issues, particularly with regard to child protection, “However, they also have serious concerns that the sudden withdrawal of funding could impact negatively on the services they provide on behalf of their employer,” he said.

Dessie said outstanding issues of pay and staff protections remain a concern. He said the union had a commitment on discussions around these issues from Scouting Ireland's chief executive.

Scouting Ireland received over €875,000 from the Department last year. Minister Zappone is due to make a decision on fully restoring funding following a progress report in September.

Fórsa’s Municipal Employees’ division is to resist the further roll-out of solar powered litter bins – referred to as ‘belly bins’ – until concerns over staffing and health and safety issues are addressed.

Union official Tony Martin has written to management to outline the Muno’s position, and is currently awaiting a response.

Tony and Muno President Thomas Murtagh met Dublin City Council’s senior waste management officials to outline staff concerns last month.

Belly bins have been in operation for several years and a pilot scheme was agreed in 2016. The council plans to install a further 100 bins.

“We impressed upon management that no further roll-out should take place pending investigation and resolution of the issues raised,” said Tony.

The Living Wage Technical Group has increased the rate of the Living Wage by 20c to €11.70 an hour.

In its latest report the group said the increase has been driven by changes in the cost of living and changes in the taxation system. It said the current housing crisis, and associated increases in rent levels, continues to be the main driver of the wage rate increasing for 2018. 

The Living Wage is an evidence based wage, centred on the concept that work should provide individuals with an adequate income to afford a socially acceptable standard of living.

The Living Wage, which now stands at €2.35 an hour more than the current minimum wage (€9.55), is derived from budgetary standards research, focusing on needs not wants.

It is constructed on the basis of a single adult household working 39 hours a week, and sees an income disparity of €91.65 on average per week, when comparing against the current minimum wage.

The technical group and its research is supported by the Nevin Economic Research Institute, SIPTU, Social Justice Ireland, TASC, Unite union and the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.

Click here for more information on The Living Wage 2018.