The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is hosting a celebration of the role trade unions played in the struggle for LGBT+ equality in Ireland. The event, which marks ‘Pride Month,’ will include a discussion of how unions can help achieve marriage equality in Northern Ireland.

A discussion panel will feature trade union activist Kieran Rose, who was among the pioneers of trade union LGBT+ activism in the Local Government and Public Service Union, which is now part of Fórsa.

The panel will be chaired by Séamus Dooley of Congress’ Executive Council and will also feature Clare Moore, who is Congress equality officer in Northern Ireland. Archive material will illustrate the conversation and recount the progress from decriminalisation to marriage equality and beyond.

The event takes place in Books Upstairs, which has long supported the LGBT+ movement. For years the shop was the only to stock gay literature, and it was a vital meeting and information point for the LGBT+ community in Ireland.

The discussion takes place from 6:00pm to 7:15pm this evening (Wednesday, 26th June). Book your place by contacting Natalie Fox.

Fórsa, SIPTU and Connect trade unions have welcomed the launch of the 2019 ‘Dublin Agreement’ by elected representatives on Dublin City Council.

The agreement was launched as a joint initiative by Dublin City councillors from Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Green Party and Social Democrats ahead of last week's meeting of the Council (Monday 17th June).

The agreement includes a range of commitments to implement the demands of the unions’ More Power To You campaign, which was launched in March this year.

The campaign sought substantially increased revenue and funding powers for local authorities, as well as greater autonomy for local government.

Fórsa campaigns director Joe O’Connor said the newly launched agreement marked a significant step toward achieving the goals of the campaign: “The agreement commits councillors to work towards publicly provided waste collection services. This is a very welcome and necessary step, and it makes sense to begin with a real commitment to improve services.

“We have a significant problem in Dublin with the illegal fly-tipping of waste. The provision of domestic waste collection in Dublin has become a chaotic and uneven service, and all of these problems stem from the decision to turn the service over to the private sector only a few years ago.

“Our campaign sought to reverse this service decline, to bring the service back into local authority control, and establish a regulator for household waste collection. These are measures that would improve the quality of life and environment for Dublin citizens,” he said.

The head of Fórsa’s Local Government and Local Services division, Peter Nolan, also praised the initiative, and welcomed the tabling of a number of motions to the Council calling for the re-municipalisation of waste services in Dublin.

Peter said: “We were very encouraged to see these motions tabled by three different political parties (Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and People Before Profit). The feedback we received during the local election campaign period, from both councillors and voters, suggested our message really resonated with Dubliners.

“Across Europe we’re starting to see a reversal of private sector outsourcing of public services, most notably in municipalities that had previously privatised water services. The universal experience was that privatised services only mean higher costs and a failure to deliver promised investment and improvement.

“We see the same problem here with domestic waste collection, with Dublin City Council and other Dublin local authorities forced to invest additional resources into cleaning up the residual mess caused by fly-tipping,” he said.

A long-awaited circular on a facility for the purchase and transfer of retirement benefits for members of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme has been released by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER).

The circular (15/2019) provides single scheme members with a facility to purchase additional amounts to top up their pensions, and transfer amounts from other Revenue-approved retirement schemes into the single scheme. The circular takes effect from 1st October 2019.

The facility is aimed at single service members whose career in the public service may be shortened due to joining mid-career, taking career breaks, other unpaid leave or who wish to transfer in pension benefits from outside employments.

The scheme is a career-average defined benefit pension scheme, meaning that each year you bank amounts towards your retirement lump sum and your retirement pension. Anyone who joined the public service on or after 1st January 2013 are members of the single scheme.

Supporting documentation relevant to the purchase and transfer scheme will be made available on the single scheme website closer to the scheme/circular’s date of effect.

The circular is available HERE.

Library workforce plans have been agreed in Longford and Offaly county councils, which were both awaiting departmental sanction as this bulletin went to press. The union continues to discuss some implementation issues with management in Longford, while certain health and safety issues and the introduction of family-friendly arrangements are to be discussed with Offaly management later this week.

Fórsa official Shane Lambert says the union has successfully managed some issues with My Open Library in Offaly, where staff were being asked to remain on site when libraries were in ‘staffless’ mode.

The union is also close to agreement on libraries workforce planning in Laois, which Shane expects will deliver opportunities as new posts are created over the next two years. Separately, the union was holding a general meeting of members in the county council to discuss difficulties over flexitime and time-off-in-lieu policy as this report went to press.

Meanwhile, a review of municipal districts is underway in Westmeath, where the union has told management that no significant change should take place in advance of consultation and engagement with the union. This is required under various national agreements.

The battle for decent work “is a defining battle of our times,” according to Michael D Higgins. Speaking at the five-yearly congress of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), which took place in Dublin earlier this month, the Irish President applauded the role of trade unions in upholding the “hard-won rights of workers across Europe as we continue to face the challenges and obstacles to a fairer society.”

Delegates from unions representing eight million public servants across the continent were wowed by a wide-ranging speech that covered gender equality, workers’ rights, climate change and the civilising role of public services.

President Higgins said the abuse of digitalisation was helping to undermine hard-won workers’ rights as staff were required to register as self-employed, which he likened to nineteenth century working practices.

“Online workers often are not covered by employment law or collective agreements and seldom have access to social security, paid leave or paid training. The co-ordination and direction of employees by an algorithm owned by a company should never be allowed to divest the employer of their responsibility any less than a bogus self-employment does,” he said.

President Higgins criticised the displacement of secure jobs with precarious work in large parts of the European economy. “Workers are too often expected to demonstrate what is called flexibility, by which is meant a willingness and ability to readily respond to changing circumstances and expectations without adequate information or recompense.

“This flexibility is often not matched, however, with any security of tenure or appropriate income by employers, with the vista of zero-hour contracts now appearing ever-more prevalent,” he said.

He outlined a vision of Europe with excellent public services at its core. “Good jobs in the public sector mean quality services for citizens. Your members appreciate only too well that the services they deliver are not a cost to society, but an investment in our communities. This message must be taken to the heart of Europe,” he said.

The President lauded the trade union movement for its “powerful, proud tradition” on which the civil rights, anti-apartheid and equal rights movements could look to for support.

Climate change is the biggest challenge facing public services, which will be at the centre of the national and international response to global warming in the coming years, according to Fórsa.

Speaking at an international congress of European trade unionists in Dublin earlier this month, Fórsa Senior General Secretary Designate Kevin Callinan said the private sector alone could not successfully confront “the single most catastrophic threat facing humanity.”

“The public service must be at the centre of the national and international response to climate change. Of course there is an important role for private enterprise and innovation. And, as communities and individuals, we must adapt the way we eat, the way we shop, the ways we travel, how we use energy and water, the homes we live in, and the way we throw away our rubbish.

“But only the public sector – at a national and international level – has the resources, the scale of organisation, the infrastructure and the legislative and regulatory heft to meet this challenge head on in the fast-declining time available,” he said.

Kevin was speaking at the opening of the tenth Congress of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) at Dublin’s RDS. Over 550 representatives of European trade unions, with a combined membership of over eight million, were meeting in Dublin at the five-yearly conference of Europe’s largest trade union federation.

A week after Green parties recorded huge gains in many countries’ European Parliamentary elections – and in Ireland’s local elections – Kevin said that unions would become irrelevant to young people and others if they failed to prioritise climate change action.

“The industrial, technological, societal and political challenges of today have already weakened many long-established institutions, and rendered some irrelevant. Others, including trade unions, will go the same way if they fail to offer a strong and effective antidote to the challenges that workers, their families, and their communities face today. Trade unions will quickly lose any relevance they have for young people if we fail to put ourselves at the front of the fight for climate justice.

“Unions must go beyond the protection of the people we directly represent, to embrace and lead the imaginative policies and difficult actions needed to confront the single most catastrophic threat facing humanity. This is the primary challenge we face as trade unionists and as public servants. But it is also an opportunity to put collective action at the centre of our societies, along with public services and the people who deliver them,” he said.

Kevin said the spirit of recent “inspirational” Global Climate Strikes – led and run by school children and college students – could also be harnessed to address the low-paid, casual and insecure employment that young people experience when they enter the modern workforce.

“In recent weeks we have had a planet-wide lesson in effective, organised collective action, in the form of the Global Climate Strikes. These same inspirational young people are experiencing, or facing into, low-paid, casual and insecure employment, which is incapable of meeting the rising costs of coming of age.

“And they live and work under the shadow of automation, with its capacity to make their precarious position even less certain. We need to adapt our organisations, and our priorities, in ways that convince them that trade unions – also rooted in organised, participative, collective democracy and action – are available and open to them in a changing world of work,” he said.

In the week that US President Donald Trump visited Ireland, Kevin also pledged unions would combat populism and authoritarianism.

“Young workers also expect [trade unions] to use our strength and ingenuity in the face of a dangerous tide of racism, intolerance and authoritarianism; to confront the dishonest populists that have exploited inequality, poverty and insecurity in so many of our counties in recent times; and to insist that our national, European and international institutions adopt the interventions necessary to address the root-causes of discontent, and abandon the entrenched neo-liberal mind-set that feeds it,” he said.

The standard domestic subsistence ‘day rates’ paid to civil servants who are out of the office on business are to increase by 10% from Monday (1st July). Now that the changes are officially sanctioned in the civil service, they will be rolled out to health, local authorities, education and other parts of the public sector.

The ‘five hour rate’ is to increase from €14.01 to €15.41, while the ‘ten-hour rate’ goes up from €33.61 to €36.97.

The changes come on foot of a regular union-management review of the rates, which takes account of inflation in cafes, restaurants, takeaways and fast food outlets, plus – for the overnight rate only – accommodation costs.

No increase is sanctioned if the relevant consumer price index-measured increases come in below 5%. This means there is no increase in the overnight rates because inflation in accommodation costs – which make up the lion’s share of the calculation – were relatively low.

The civil service circular that gives effect to the increases was published this week. The measures will be applied across the public service in due course.

Read the civil service circular HERE.

No country in the world will achieve its gender equality commitments before an agreed target date of 2030. That’s according to a new global index which examined efforts to end gender inequality in 129 countries by measuring progress using 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Countries were marked from zero to 100, with 100 meaning equality has been achieved.

According to the index, countries with an overall score of 90 or more are making excellent progress. However, no country succeeded in achieving a score above 90. Denmark is faring best, but is still slightly short at 89.3.

Ireland is placed ninth, with a score of 85.4. This is set to change in the next iteration of figures as that number was calculated before the 2018 repeal of the abortion ban.

The average overall score was 65.7, which is considered a poor result.

Countries that rank in the top ten – including Finland, Sweden, Norway and Slovenia – tend to have reasonably strong public services and social safety nets. Only 21 countries achieved marks of 80 or above.

Earlier this year, Fórsa became part of an alliance of over 60 civil society organisations working to ensure that Ireland keeps to its commitment to achieve SDGs at home and abroad.

The SDGs are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.

Stronger Together is the official podcast of Fórsa’s Sligo Health and Local Government branch and went live on the Anchor podcasting platform at the end of May.

The podcast is presented by Sligo branch members Irene Tiernan and Rodrigo Frade, and the first episode looks back on the previous week’s Health & Welfare divisional conference which took place in Sligo.

The podcast also features a report from the Local Government and Local Services divisional conference which took place in Kilkenny in early May.

Irene says the branch plans to use the podcast to provide quick and practical answers to members’ questions and to broadcast local branch news.

“We’re also hoping to feature members and officials as guests on the podcast. We think it’ll provide a new and very innovative way to enhance our branch communications, to get people involved in the conversation and boost the visibility of the work of our branch,” she said.

Rodrigo said the branch had been planning the podcast for some time. “We are always open to finding new ways to communicate with our members.

“In recent years we developed an informal and very effective meet-and-greet style of union meeting that we call the ‘huddle’. It proved to be a very successful means to recruit members and helping people to understand what the union does on behalf of members.

“The podcast has a similar objective, embracing the technology that allows us to reach beyond the workplace,” he said.

The latest episode was recorded live at the Art Deco theatre in Ballymote and features an interview with Pat Fallon about the benefits of being in a trade union. You can stream or download it now from Apple podcasts, Spotify and Anchor.

A bill aimed at safeguarding employees’ tips completed its second stage in Dáil Éireann this week. But the National Minimum Wage (Protection of Employee Tips) Bill, which has already completed all stages in the Seanad, will be blocked by the Government.

The Bill has been strongly supported by the ONE Galway movement, made up of Fórsa and other unions, student unions and community groups. The movement has campaigned for laws to protect tips intended for staff, and to stop the exploitation and precarious nature of work in the hospitality sector.

The legislation, which was initiated by Sinn Féin senators, would ban employers from withholding tips and other gratuities intended for staff. The proposed law would also require premises to clearly display the establishment’s tipping distribution policy.

But employment minister Regina Doherty said the Government disagreed with the specifics of the bill, and said she wold bring forward another. A similar approach led to significant delays in legislating on gender pay gap reporting last year.

ONE Galway dismissed the Government’s approach as being “in line with the demands from the Restaurant Association of Ireland (RAI) who want to retain access to tips, which they estimate make up approximately 10% of their revenue.”

The Government has said it will use the controversial ‘money message mechanism’ to block the legislation.

A flyer explaining public service pregnancy related sick leave (PRSL) has been produced by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in response to a request from Fórsa for further clarity on the issue.

It explains that where ordinary sick leave rules apply, workers have access to 183 days of paid leave in a rolling 4-year period. This is broken down to 92 days at full pay, and 91 days at half pay. However, on certified PRSL employees will never receive less than half pay.

If PRSL is exhausted, ‘extended’ PRSL would then be granted at half pay. This is not counted on sick leave record.

In circumstances where someone qualifies for Critical Illness Protocol (CIP), they would be entitled to paid sick leave of 365 days (183 days at full pay and 182 days at half pay) in a rolling 4-year period.

After maternity leave if all ordinary sick leave is exhausted and the CIP threshold is met, access to the equivalent number of days taken on PRSL subject to the 4-year sick leave threshold is granted. This does not include the ‘extended’ period of certified PRSL at half pay as this is not counted on your sick leave record. Once maternity leave has ended, any further sick leave will not be recorded as PRSL.

To find out more about access to PRSL, please refer to the relevant circular/administrative arrangements for your sector and/or contact your HR Unit/Manager/Department who will advise on what’s available.

Fórsa will be marching under the banner of Dublin City Council LGBT+ Network at the Dublin Pride parade this Saturday (29th June). The annual event has evolved from ten people protesting homophobic legislation in 1974, to over 60,000 people celebrating diversity and inclusion last year.

The union will also be supporting Dublin’s second annual Trans Pride Parade, which takes place on Saturday week (6th July).

Both events begin at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 12 noon, with the Fórsa contingent meeting in the union’s Nerney’s Court office at 11.30am.

A large Fórsa presence is expected at both parades, which are just two in a series of events of LGBT+ solidarity and celebration taking place across the country. These include Limerick Pride (July 5th–14th), Cork Pride (July 27th–August 4th), Galway Pride (August 12th–18th), and the inaugural pride parade in Carlow on Sunday 21st July.

See more about Dublin Pride HERE.

See more about Trans Pride HERE.

Fórsa’s campaigns director Joe O’Connor is undertaking a 30-kilometre sponsored walk to raise funds for Pieta House this month, in an event that aims to raise mental health awareness.

Joe is walking in memory of his best friend Fergal’s late fiancée, Ann-Marie, who lost her life to suicide in January 2018. He will accompany Fergal’s friends and family from Ann-Marie’s final resting place in Eadestown to Djouce Mountain in Wicklow, where she got engaged.

The walk will commemorate Ann-Marie’s 32nd birthday and will raise vital funds for Pieta House, which has supported Fergal through this traumatic time.

Joe has paid tribute to Fergal’s determination in this difficult time. “Less than 18 months after such a tragic and life-shattering event, Fergal’s courage and bravery to have the strength to organise this event has been an inspiration,” he said.

More than €12,000 has been raised so far. If you want to support the initiative, you can donate online or contact Joe directly to sign his sponsorship card.

A permanent forum for social dialogue, which includes the power-sharing government, trade unions, employers and other representatives, is needed in Northern Ireland, according to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

This was one of a number of actions demanded by ICTU’s Northern Ireland Committee as it sought the immediate restoration of a devolved assembly at Stormont.

ICTU’s Northern Ireland Committee is the largest cross-community civil society body in Northern Ireland, and represents all trade unions with members in the North.

The Committee also called for action on compensation for historical abuse victims, improvements in public sector pay and reform of welfare benefits.

A statement from the Committee affirmed its commitment to the restoration of devolution to Northern Ireland “within the framework of equality and rights set out in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements,” it said.

See related HERE.