President Michael D Higgins will address the opening session of Fórsa’s first-ever national delegate conference, which takes place in Killarney in May. The conference will see hundreds of delegates, representing all the union’s branches, set policy and elect Fórsa officers for the first time.

This is one of three Fórsa delegate conferences set to take place in the April-May period.

The Services and Enterprises Division conference takes place in Galway on 12th-13th April. Up to 150 delegates are expected, representing workers in commercial and non-commercial semi-state organisations and private companies.

Next, some, 650 delegates will attend Fórsa’s Civil Service Division conference, which is set for Killarney on 19th and 20th April. Then the full national conference, with up to a thousand delegates, takes place on 16th-18th May.

The two divisional conferences are taking place this year on an exceptional basis. That’s because they are the divisions directly impacted by the recent amalgamation, and they need to elect new divisional executive committees. All six Fórsa divisions will hold conference events in 2019.

Separately Fórsa’s Education Division will host a conference in Dublin on 5th April. This is not a formal policy-setting conference, but the division holds an event during each year’s education ‘conference season’ to explore policy and service issues.

The Government must consider bringing Dublin’s privatised waste services back into public control if it’s serious about tackling fly-tipping, according to Fórsa. The union was responding to comments by Government minister Denis Naughten, who was defending his administration’s poor record on illegal dumping.

Writing in the Irish Times, a Fórsa spokesperson said IMPACT – one of the unions that merged to create the new union – had correctly warned that the 2012 privatisation of Dublin’s waste services would result in more fly-tipping in the city.

“Since then it has become progressively worse, while taxpayer-funded council staff frequently have to clean up rubbish that private waste collection companies leave behind,” he said.

A recent report by the London-based Public Services International Research Group gives examples of privatised waste and refuse services being brought back into public control in places like Paris, Munich and London, because of private operators’ high costs and service shortcomings.

An earlier study by the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute examined over 800 examples of re-municipalisation of waste, water and other public services across the globe between 2000 and 2017.

“These reports found that privatisation leads to more expensive and less efficient services, as well as poorer working conditions. Publically-operated waste management services – in Dublin and other Irish towns and cities – could be equally positive in terms of sustainability and environmental protection,” according to Fórsa.

Dublin City Council water and drainage crews, who have been working tirelessly to fix leaks and burst pipes on foot of last week’s weather emergency, say disruption to water services is coming under control.

Fórsa met with council management yesterday (Thursday) and stressed that, despite press reports that Irish Water were fixing leaks, almost all the work is being done by council crews.

The union impressed upon management that Dublin City Council workers have been working tirelessly, bringing all their expertise and experience to bear on the unprecedented weather event. The council acknowledged their efforts.

Fórsa official Tony Martin said: “Our members have been at the forefront in fixing the situation caused by the storm and the snow. Their efforts are resolving the situation as quickly as humanly possible. At a meeting yesterday in Marrowbone Lane, we underlined the need to acknowledge their efforts.”

Fórsa has demanded the reinstatement of tax relief on individual workers’ trade union subscriptions, which was worth €70 a year to union members when it was abolished in 2011.

Addressing the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight last week, the union said the current approach to tax relief discriminates against PAYE workers because farmers, accountants, solicitors and other relatively well-paid professionals can claim generous tax relief on subscriptions paid to professional associations and the Irish Farmers’ Association.

Fórsa lead organiser Joe O’Connor told committee members that employers also receive full tax relief on their contributions to business lobby organisations like Ibec and ISME.

Many countries – including Germany, Belgium, Holland, Norway, Australia and Canada – give tax relief of trade union subscriptions.

“Irish trade union members get less favourable tax treatment than workers in comparable European countries, and the Government’s continued refusal to reinstate the relief here is perpetuating unfair treatment of PAYE workers when compared to farmers, self-employed professionals and even corporations.

“Reintroducing the tax break would be an affordable enhancement of income restoration, and a symbolic statement that unions and their members play a valued role in our society and economy,” said O’Connor.

Tax relief on trade union subs was introduced in 2001 after a long campaign by IMPACT – one of the unions that amalgamated to form Fórsa earlier this year. Initially worth €100 a year at the standard rate of tax, it had increased to €350 by 2008. This was worth €70 a year to trade union members who claimed the relief. The exchequer saved €26 million a year after it was abolished in Budget 2011.

Representatives of Fórsa and Siptu members in Dublin fire brigade want an urgent meeting with the local government minister Eoghan Murphy to discuss the need for adequate training, resources and risk assessments to deal with the threat of high-rise fires.

The move came after fire crews brought last week’s high-rise fire at the Metro hotel in Ballymun under control with no serious injuries or loss of life.
 
Firefighters say the Ballymun fire starkly illustrated why their repeated demands for adequate resources, risk assessments and high-rise firefighting training required urgent action.
 
There has been no increase in the provision of high reach fire appliances since 1981.

Fórsa spokesperson Bernard Harbor deplored the lack of comprehensive risk assessments, training, and resources for high-rise fires. “We are calling for an urgent meeting with the Minister to discuss what action must be taken to ensure the safety of both the public and firefighters,” he said.
 
SIPTU convenor, Shane McGill, said: “In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire in London last June, we participated in a task group established by the minister to examine fire safety in high-rise buildings. Sadly, the concerns we raised have been ignored.”

Fórsa officials and other union reps are to give evidence on the future delivery of water services at a hearing of the Oireachtas committee on housing, planning and local government.

A written submission from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has already been submitted. It reiterates union opposition to Irish Water’s plans for a single water authority, which would take over local authority operations. And it calls for an early date for a referendum on keeping water services in public ownership.

Separately, at the February meeting of Fórsa’s Local Government Council, Irish Water’s chief executive Jerry Grant supported the view that water services should stay in public hands. The council includes representatives of all Fórsa branches with members in its Local Government Division.

The union has sought assurances that neither the Government nor Irish Water will unilaterally change current arrangements, which are based on ‘service level agreements’ (SLAs) between Irish Water and local authorities. Fórsa will also oppose any plan to transfer staff out of local authorities without their agreement.
 
Last year, Irish Water outlined its intention to create a single water agency and employer by 2021, four years before the expiry of current service level agreements with local authorities. Fόrsa favours streamlining the existing SLA model instead.

Meanwhile, Fórsa has recommended a Workplace Relations Commission proposal dealing with the introduction of hand-held technology, which has put additional responsibilities on the staff concerned.

Representatives from across Fórsa met for the first time last week to explore the potential for new cross-divisional, grade specific bodies called ‘equivalent grade committees’ or ‘professional committees.

Under the rules of new union, the National Executive Committee can approve the establishment of committees to bring together representatives from the same or similar grades. The aim is to co-ordinate and focus debate on issues of common interest.

Two committees are initially being set up: one for clerical officers and grade IIIs, and the second for executive grades, including grades VI-VII in health, local government, education and non-commercial semi state organisations.

A clerical officer/grade III seminar took place recently, where representatives from the CO grade in the union’s Civil Service Division met with grade III colleagues from health, local government and education.

Two days later the civil service executive grades (EO, HEO and AO) met with reps of grades IV-VII from health, local authorities, education and the non-commercial semi-state sector.

Both sessions heard presentations on pay and conditions and the current industrial relations issues specific to each grade in each division. These were followed by workshops, which considered how to build common work programmes for the grades and how the new committees might be structured after Fórsa’s first national conference in May.

The committees are expected to be important vehicles that will bring common purpose to members in particular grades in different divisions of the union, while helping to integrate representatives of the three former unions into the new Fórsa organisation.

The groups are to meet again after the May conference to consider a draft written report drawn up by joint general secretary Eoin Ronayne prior to the report being presented to the incoming executive for discussion and action.

Households could face price increases of up to €1,360 a year as a result of a hard Brexit, an ESRI report has found. It estimates that cost increases for households could range between €892 and €1,360 a year, depending on post-Brexit trade arrangements between Ireland and the UK.

The ESRI looked at how different tariff and non-tariff costs would impact on family budgets. It found that an increase in non-tariff trade costs alone would cost families €892 a year. But increases in tariffs and other trade costs could push that as high as €1,360 or more.

The estimated price increases are the equivalent of between 2% and 3.1% in the consumer price index (CPI), our standard measure of inflation.

Some of the highest price increases would hit products like milk, cheese and eggs, with costs rising by as much as 40%. Cereals, bread, meat, sugar and tea are among other items that could increase by 20-30%.

And lowest earners would be hardest hit because low-income households spend relatively more on food and tend to buy more of the items subject to the biggest price increases.

The report also notes that significant attention has been payed to the potential ramifications of Brexit for Irish exporters, but not on the ramifications for prices on imported items. UK imports into Ireland made up 28% of total imports in 2016.

The report is available here and you can also find more information here  and here.

Fórsa deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan was part of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) delegation when Leo Varadkar chaired a meeting of the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) last month. Kevin, who is a vice president of ICTU, was accompanied by ICTU president Sheila Nunan, general secretary Patricia King, and assistant general secretary Owen Reidy.

Established in 216, the LEEF is a forum for dialogue between Government, unions and employers.

An Taoiseach was joined by ministers Paschal Donohoe and Heather Humphreys, and by minister of State Damien English as well as an array of senior officials. Employers were represented by Danny McCoy and Maeve McElwee from the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec), Tom Parlon of the Construction Industry Federation, and Ian Talbot of Chambers Ireland.

At the outset An Taoiseach indicated that the achievement of the Government’s objectives would benefit from consultation with unions and employers. Later in the meeting he referred to the fact that the country was entering a different phase and that certain senior officials would be asked to liaise with the social partners to see what structured dialogue might look like.

The meeting agenda consisted of an update on Brexit developments and a presentation by Paschal Donohoe on the Project Ireland 2040 plan. During the exchanges that followed the ICTU members pointed to the all-island nature of Congress and pressed the importance of measures to protect vulnerable workers and regions from the effects of a hard Brexit.

Kevin took the opportunity to raise the failure to include ICTU representation on the governing bodies of the proposed technological universities. And he linked the vision for our country post-Brexit to the debate on the future of Europe, arguing that mature social dialogue was just one element of a fair society that also needed to include collective bargaining rights, an effective social protection safety net and quality public services.

At the conclusion it was agreed that the next LEEF meeting would deal with the issue of pensions in addition to the standing agenda item of Brexit.

Speaking after the meeting Kevin said: “There appears to be a change of heart on the part of the Government in relation to social dialogue. It is too early to say if this is genuine or whether it will be possible to develop a useful engagement. For the process to be worthwhile it will have to show that it has the capacity to advance issues like affordable housing, SláinteCare, childcare provision and costs, occupational pension coverage and employment rights. We are a long way from that yet.”

In the margins of the meeting, Paschal Donohoe confirmed that he would accept an invitation to address and debate with the ICTU Executive Council. That meeting took place last Wednesday (21st March) in the Fórsa offices at Nerney’s Court.

Fórsa welcomed the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities. The convention was ratified by the Dáil on 7th March. 
 
The UN convention protects equal treatment for all people with disabilities with respect to human rights and fundamental freedoms. The convention was adopted by the UN in 2006. Ireland is the last of the 27 European Union states to ratify the convention.
 
Fórsa’s head of division for Civil Service, Andy Pike, said: “The convention makes absolutely clear that persons with disabilities are citizens with the right to fully participate in all aspects of society.
 
“This is particularly relevant to the employment of people with disabilities. The latest CSO figures show that 6.5% of the Irish workforce identify as having a disability. The real figure is likely to be higher as a result of under-reporting,” he said.
 
Implementation
 
Mr Pike added, “Now that the convention has been ratified, we will press the Government to implement the convention in order to maximise the support and representation available to workers with disabilities.”

Fórsa is calling on the Government to introduce the following measures:

• Provide meaningful employment opportunities for people with disabilities to enter the workforce
• Establish new specific employment supports, such as job coaches and mentors, to assist people with disabilities to find jobs and remain in the workforce
• Ensure that employers abide by their obligations to facilitate the employment of people with disabilities, and their obligation to make reasonable adjustments to the working conditions of an employee with a disability
• Examine ways to maximise the potential for people with disabilities to be adequately represented in senior posts across the public service.

Substantive aspects of employment law need to be reviewed to protect workers in the so-called ‘gig economy,’ but reform of social welfare and taxation policy is a bigger issue. So said Jeremias Prassl of Magdalen College, Oxford, who spoke at the prestigious Industrial Relations News conference on 8th March.

Confronted with zero-hour arrangements, bogus ‘self-employment,’ and other new forms of work organisation, Professor Prassl said unions had to address the limits of laws on unfair dismissal, minimum wages, and qualifying periods for job protection.

But he said tax was a bigger issue because the so-called gig economy was luring people away from standard employment relationships by offering them a “no income tax” proposition.

Stephen Holst of legal firm McCann Fitzgerald agreed, saying that at least €60 million was lost to the exchequer through the false classification of work as self-employment. This is because self-employment allows companies to avoid paying employers’ PRSI, while workers could avoid tax.

He said such arrangements could initially be attractive to workers, but were less so when they needed PRSI-related benefits like maternity leave, pensions and social security. He said tax and PRSI reforms “could be the biggest driver of change, even though it seems quite boring.”

Prassl said there was evidence that the ‘gig economy’ was causing huge tax losses in other jurisdictions too. And he said moving workers out of the PAYE system meant they carried all the burden of tax compliance.

He said it was possible to address the problem because all the data about who works, who for, and for how much, existed on the platforms – like Uber and Deliveroo – that typify the ‘gig economy.’

Prassl said unions should tackle these aspects of the changing economy while embracing technology and innovation. He said we should avoid “falling into a crazy Luddite trap” because, over the centuries, technology had never destroyed the net amount of work, but had made it “better, safer, and more fun.”

He said unions faced a practical challenge to develop services that gig workers want. But reaching and communicating with them was doable because they are among the most IT and social media literate.

He said even some employers in the sector now saw the value of basic standards and workers’ representation.

In the last news bulletin we asked your opinion about a new report which said Brexit will hit the Irish economy more than any other country in Europe, with a ‘hard Brexit’ costing the country about €18bn.

The message to the UK government from those who took the survey was very clear, with 65% saying Theresa May’s government needs to swallow its pride and find a way out of Brexit.

The possibility that Brexit will cost even more than estimated in the report by Copenhagen Economics was highlighted by 20% of respondents.

Those that thought the €18bn was an overstatement, and that there’s still time for the EU to negotiate a less harmful deal, accounted for 15% of responses.

Last week the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published research that said Brexit could cost Irish households up to €1,400 a year on average as prices rise, with lower income families faring the worst.

#Brexitshambles

See also: Brexit to cost you €1,360 a year