Fórsa has been at the forefront of a campaign for a four-day working week, which will be launched in Dublin tomorrow (Thursday). The campaign will advocate for a transition to a shorter working week, with no reduction in pay, for workers in both the private and public sectors.

The coalition, which is the Irish leg of an international campaign, features participants from business, trade unions, environmental groups and women’s organisations.

The keynote speaker will be Andrew Barnes, founder of New Zealand company Perpetual Guardian, which won international acclaim when it introduced a four-day week for its 250 staff last year.

The chief executive officer of Galway firm ICE, which has also successfully introduced a four-day week, is also signed up to the campaign. Others involved in the launch include Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, Laura Bambrick of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and speakers from Friends of the Earth, the National Women’s Council, and Maynooth University.

The event will outline the economic, societal, democratic and environmental benefits that could arise from a reduction in working time, and will set out the campaign’s next steps.

Fórsa’s campaigns director Joe O’Connor said it’s time to put the issue of working time at the centre of the political agenda:

“We must remember that the weekend was considered an unaffordable luxury until around the middle of the twentieth century. With the huge economic growth in recent years due to advancements in technology, it’s only right that workers receive their fair share of the benefits,” he said.

The concept of a four-day week has already been met with large political interest in other countries. Earlier this week, the UK Labour party announced a commitment to transition to a 32-hour working week with no reduction in pay within the next ten years.

More than 3,000 incidents of physical or verbal assault on health staff have been reported so far this year.

The latest figures emerged following a freedom of information (FoI) request by a broadcast journalist. The figures show a decrease in the number of verbal assaults reported so far in 2019 (669) compared to last year’s figure of 1,343.

There was a five per cent increase in the number of physical or verbal assaults on staff in 2018. The number of physical assaults reported so far this year is 2,345. In 2018 the number of assaults reported was 4,843.

The figures show that almost 200 HSE staff have received payment under the Serious Physical Assault Scheme, because of serious physical assaults, since January 2018.

Responding to the figures, Éamonn Donnelly, head of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare division said, “As a union representing 30,000 health workers nationally, we’re concerned that the number of staff experiencing assault and injury at work is unacceptably high.

“It’s vital, however, that staff who can’t work because of injury as a result of a workplace assault have access to a scheme that responds to their specific needs.

“These are vital health service workers providing care and support in an environment that must remain as safe as possible.

“While figures for this year so far show some discernible reduction in the number of incidences overall, we must continue to develop and support measures to keep workers safe,” he said.

The HSE, which is the largest single employer in the state, says it's committed to providing a safe and health work environment and to supporting employees who became injured in the course of their work.

In its response to the FoI request the health body said, “The HSE has long been proactive in encouraging staff to report all incidents and this is enshrined in the Corporate Safety Statement, Violence and Aggression policy and Incident Management Framework and Guidance.”

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) was introduced by the State Claims Agency in 2015, requiring all incidences centrally.

Fórsa and health service employers met in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) this week in a conciliation aimed at resolving a dispute over job losses and staffing levels in Drogheda hospitals. The row has seen administrative staff and health and social care professionals (HSCPs) in Louth County hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes hospital undertaking limited industrial action since late August.

The staff are refusing to cover the work of vacant posts until management fills two posts from which temporary staff were recently removed, and lifts the threat of job losses currently hanging over another 12 temps.

Fórsa also wants agreement that the posts will be made permanent, and action to fill vacant health and social care professional posts, where staff shortages have soared by nearly 30% this year.

The union has also expressed concern at growing shortages of health and social care professionals at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital, which it says are undermining hospital capacity. HSCPs include pharmacy staff, dietitians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists, as well as cardiology and respiratory specialists.

It told the WRC that the recent expansion of beds at the hospital has exacerbated pharmacy staff shortages, which have jumped by 40% since April. Overall HSCP shortages at the Louth hospitals have increased by 27% since January.

Fórsa official Barry Cunningham said the continuing and growing staff shortages, and management’s failure to respond to them, were actively undermining hospital services for the entire region.

“We hope that the involvement of the WRC can move us beyond management’s ostrich strategy, where they have been sticking their heads in the sand and hoping this growing problem will go away. Staff and patients deserve to see the full benefits of the recent and welcome €30 million investment in the hospital, which has provided new wards and theatres, but not the staff required to deliver the full range of services. It’s just empty corridors and underused equipment,” he said.

Mr Cunningham added that the staffing crisis at the hospital has also been exacerbated by management’s decision to get rid of some agency staff providing clerical services. He said there remains a threat that more of these staff could be let go shortly.

The HSE has launched the pilot phase of a new scheme in the Western region aimed at preparing people in administrative grades V, VI and VII for career development.

The scheme was developed to improve the level of applications for promotional posts, and aims to create an individual personal development plan (PDP) for each participant. The PDP identifies individual strengths and areas for development, and will result in a plan for career progression.

Fórsa official Pádraig Mulligan sits on the steering group for the pilot scheme. He explained that the union’s participation in the scheme was to ensure that members could benefit directly through improved career development opportunities.

“One of the consequences of the long moratorium on recruitment in the HSE is that there is currently a low number of applicants when a post is advertised within these grades.

“Part of the reason for this is that potential applicants haven’t had the opportunity to audit their own skills and haven’t gone through a job application or interview process for a very long time.

“This pilot scheme aims to address that. A completed PDP is based on individual skills and development needs that will provide members with opportunities for their professional and personal development.

“Fórsa is involved in order to ensure this, and it adds value to union membership by creating a pathway to career progression for our members.

“Succession planning by the HSE is key to ensuring that their own staff are provided with the training and opportunities to compete with external candidates. An important part of this will be release for coaching and placement in order to gain relevant experience in other areas of the service,” he said.

Members who are interested in taking part in the scheme are advised to discuss the programme with their manager and fill out an application form.

Application forms are available by contacting the HSE Programme Lead Dermot Cunningham at this address.

The deadline for completed application forms is 10th October 2019, and more information is available HERE.

An estimated four million people took part in the largest ever worldwide mobilisation for action on the climate crisis last Friday. The Irish organisers of the global climate strike said tens of thousands attended campaign events in more than 50 Irish cities and towns. These included large demonstrations in Dublin and Cork.

Fórsa supported the organisers of the Irish protests, which were spearheaded by the students behind recent school strikes for climate action. Friday’s demonstrations were part of an international campaign of strikes and actions planned to coincide with an emergency United Nations climate summit, which is taking place in New York this week.

The union encouraged its members to support the protests, and worked with the organisers to promote the events and win media attention for them.

Meanwhile, Irish trade unions joined with environmental groups to call on the Government to establish a National Just Transition Taskforce to oversee and manage Ireland’s move to a low carbon economy.

The Just Transition Alliance (JTA), a group comprised of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Fórsa, Friends of the Earth, Siptu, and the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, says the taskforce is needed to help secure the livelihoods of workers, and the future of their communities, in the shift to a low-carbon economy.

Last Friday’s global climate strike followed a series of school strikes, staged on Fridays in Ireland and across the planet, which were initially inspired by 15-year-old Swedish student Greta Thurnberg’s solo strike in August 2018.

The Irish actions were led by a network of climate activists including Fridays for Future Ireland, Schools Climate Action Network and SchoolStrikes4 Climate Ireland. The global call for adults to join the day of action was supported by over 50 organisations in Ireland including, grassroots groups, development organisations, environmental organisations and faith-based groups, as well as trade unions.

Patricia King, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), said unions were proud to support the students who have pushed climate action to the top of the political agenda here and abroad.

“Young people are demanding that their governments recognise the urgency and severity of the climate crisis and take appropriate action. Congress and its affiliated unions salute them for the leadership they have shown on this issue, and we stand with them to send an unequivocal message that climate action is needed now. We will continue to work for a just and lasting global transition to environmental sustainability, built on social dialogue,” she said.

Matt Staunton became Fórsa’s new deputy general secretary when his appointment was ratified by the union's National Executive Committee (NEC) last month. The appointment followed a competition.

The post became vacant when Kevin Callinan became Fórsa’s general secretary in July. Matt will now join fellow deputy general secretary Eoin Ronayne.

A former activist in the Revenue Commissioners, Matt has served as a trade union organiser, official and national secretary. He has experience in the health sector, the civil service, education and local authorities. He headed up the Services and Enterprises Division from 2010 to 2015.

As IMPACT and subsequently Fórsa's general manager, he updated and modernised all the union’s buildings and spearheaded the creation of Fórsa including organising its inaugural biennial conference in Tralee in 2018.

Matt told the bulletin: “My immediate concern is to grow and strengthen Fórsa so that we can follow through on the amalgamation and deliver a union that looks after its members and their families from cradle to grave, and that all members are proud to be part of."

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the Trade Union Congress – the British equivalent of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions – will be among the speakers at Fórsa’s first global solidarity conference, which takes place in Dublin on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th November.

The Friday evening will see Frances talk about Brexit developments here and in the UK. She will be joined by ICTU’s assistant general secretary Owen Reidy and UK Labour MP Tony Lloyd, who is the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland.

On Saturday, the event will feature international campaigners from Justice for Colombia and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. And there will be a session on climate change, featuring one of the Irish students involved in last week’s global climate strike.

There will also be a social event on Friday evening.

Registration details will issue soon. In the meantime, you can register your interest by contacting hgavigan@forsa.ie.

Frances O’Grady will also be speaking at a conference about ‘Labour and Northern Ireland,’ which takes place on Saturday 5th October at the Mac, Exchange Street West, Belfast. The event, which will feature a panel of distinguished labour historians, is being organised by ICTU, the Belfast Trades Council, Ulster University and the Messines Fellowship.

The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) ‘Housing For All’ campaign, which aims to make affordable housing available for everyone in the EU, and has been backed by Fórsa, had its Irish launch in Dublin last week.

The ECI is an EU process, designed to enable citizens to call for and compel the European Commission to initiate a legislative proposal on issues like the ‘Housing For All’ initiative.

‘Housing For All’ calls for easier access to affordable, public and social housing, releasing public investment in affordable, public and social housing from the Maastricht criteria and improved access to EU funding for public and not-for-profit housing developers.

Speaking at the launch, Fórsa’s campaigns director Joe O’Connor said “the initiative aims to create better legal and financial conditions at an EU level to facilitate member states investing in public, social and affordable housing.”

ECI Citizens' Committee spokesperson Karin Zauner said housing is a human right, not a commodity. “Housing markets throughout the EU need to be regulated as they are in Vienna,” she said.

Rachael Scicluna of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) SOS Malta said the housing discussion needs to be about inclusivity. “We live in a paradox, where people are homeless in thriving economies.”

Enhanced regulation of short-term rentals and statistics on local housing needs in Europe are among the initiatives other demands, to deliver improved access to affordable and social housing throughout the EU.

The ECI process requires one million EU nationals, who must be nationals of a quarter of EU member States, to sign a petition and thereby empower the ECI to lobby the European Commission on that petition.

The Irish campaign behind the Housing For All is being led by Fórsa and the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO). Chair of the trade union backed ‘Raise the Roof’ housing campaign group Sheila Nunan and teacher and INTO activist TJ Clare were among the event's other speakers.

Betty Tyrrell Collard of Fórsa’s Dublin Central Branch has been elected to represent Ireland’s 16 local trades councils on the executive of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Betty, who has been active in the trade union movement for almost 45 years, also sits on the union’s civil service division and national executive councils. She represents Fórsa on the Dublin Council of Trade Unions, of which she is president for the 2018-2020 term.

Betty said it was an honour to have been elected to the ICTU executive. “It comes at a crucial time, not only for trades councils but for the movement generally. We need to rejuvenate the movement, and we need to go out and speak to workers in our local communities.

“We need to be seen in our communities and one way in which we can generate much needed support and awareness is through the local trades council network. Having a seat on the executive means that I can ensure that the councils have a voice at that table. I will work closely with the affiliates to grow the movement and make it fit for purpose into the twenty-first century.”

Fórsa reached the quarter-final of this year’s eagerly anticipated ‘Soccer Palooza’ in aid of World Suicide Prevention Day, 2019.

The union fielded two teams at the event, organised by mental health advocacy group Suicide or Survive, which saw 32 mixed six-a-side teams across a range of organisations battle it out on the astro-turf to generate awareness, and establish World Suicide Day as an official day in Ireland.

The tournament also generated some much needed funds, with over €15,000 raised for the cause. This will be used to break down the stigma associated with suicide and mental health issues, while also providing access to quality recovery services to those affected.

Reflecting on the event Fórsa staff member Diarmaid Mac a Bhaird said the contest was fantastic fun, and for a very worthwhile cause.

“Despite the skinned knees, it was a great day. Suicide or Survive organised something which marked World Suicide Day perfectly.”

For more information on Suicide or Survive click HERE.

The centenary of the Irish farm labour strike will be marked by an afternoon of talks hosted by Kildare Council of Unions and SIPTU Meath District Council.

Events will take place from noon on Saturday 5th October 2019 at Athy Public Library, and will focus on the labour movement’s role in the struggle for independence.

Discussions will be interspersed with cultural activities including poetry readings and music.

For more information on the day’s offerings click HERE.

Fórsa has submitted new returns to the lobbying register, as it is required to do under the Regulation of Lobbying Act.

The union reported that it had engaged in lobbying on four issues during the second period of 2019: The remunicipalisation of Dublin City Council (DCC) waste services, legislation on tipping, the school secretaries campaign, and the union’s ‘More Power to You’ campaign for strengthened local authority powers and services.

For more details about the legislation and the register visit lobbying.ie. You can also see the Fórsa trade union profile page on lobbying.ie.