Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan has called on the Government to open negotiations on a new public service pay agreement by May at the latest. He also said that the size and timing of any agreed pay adjustments “will need to reflect the realities of the cost of living crisis, which is hurting workers regardless of what sector they work in.”

Speaking at the AGM of the union’s Kildare Health Branch in Naas earlier this week, Kevin said the current agreement, Building Momentum, had not kept pace with inflation, which was far higher than projected when the deal was negotiated in late 2020. This meant talks on a successor agreement “must prioritise the restoration and improvement of living standards in the context of high inflation.”

He called on the Government to take “decisive action” to protect living standards and ensure that the public service can compete in a tight labour market. “We need to act now to stabilise the current public service agreement, which is essential to certainty in public service delivery, industrial relations, and public finances,” he said.

Kevin told the meeting: “If you average inflation across the whole of 2021, the annual rate for the whole year was 2.4%. The value of Building Momentum pay improvements was 0.25% over the same period. The EU now expects Irish inflation to rise to 4.6% for the whole of 2022. The annualised value of the Building Momentum increases in the same year will not exceed 1.2%, even when sectoral bargaining is taken into account.”

He called on the Government and its officials to clear the decks for fresh negotiations by quickly finalising two outstanding elements of Building Momentum – its sectoral bargaining provisions and the restoration of austerity-era added working time, as recommended by an independent body chaired by top mediator Kieran Mulvey.

“When I spoke to the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Ministers Donohoe, McGrath and Ryan at the Labour Employer Economic Forum earlier this month, I said early confirmation that the Government will implement the independent body’s recommendations was essential to the credibility and stability of Building Momentum.

“We also need the Government to give an early confirmation that talks will begin in earnest no later than May 2022, to allow sufficient time to negotiate a package, consult with members, and ballot on the outcome in time for any necessary provisions to be included in the October Budget,” he said.

Kevin, who is currently also president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), noted that Ireland’s exchequer figures remain buoyant, and that the EU is forecasting economic growth of 5.5% this year. “Others are predicting an even stronger performance,” he said.

“There is no doubt that we face a challenge. But a failure to act risks turning that challenge into a serious problem for the public finances, for our public services, and for everyone who delivers or depends on them,” he said.

He added that the modest pay adjustments in Building Momentum, and the agreement’s unusually short two-year duration, reflected the economic and fiscal uncertainty in the period when the deal was finalised.

“Building Momentum was negotiated in late November and early December 2020. In the thick of the pandemic, well ahead of the arrival of vaccines. It was a time of huge uncertainty for us all, and it was an uncertain time for the public finances. As a result, it was very much a ‘holding’ agreement, and this was reflected in its unusually short two-year duration.

“Equally, the pay increases – of 1% in October 2021; 1% in October 2022; and 1% available under sectoral bargaining from February this year – were modest. This reflected the absence of any expectation of the high and sustained cost-of-living increases that workers across the economy are now struggling with.

“Government ministers have been encouraging employers to increase wages as their contribution to tackling the cost of living crisis. Many employers have already done so, if only to recruit and retain the staff they need to survive and thrive in the new post-Covid labour market reality.

“The State also has a responsibility as an employer. Prevarication will only invite challenges to the current public service agreement and store up bigger difficulties and uncertainties with regard to the public finances and industrial relations,” he said.

It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

Pay scales for Fórsa members working in the civil service have been updated on the union’s website. Pay increase by 1% on all points of pay scales with effect from 1^st February under the latest ‘sectoral bargaining’ instalment of the Building Momentum public service deal, negotiated by Fórsa.

Last month we reported that an independent body established under the agreement to make recommendations on the ‘Haddington Road hours’ has recommended that working time be restored to pre-austerity levels for virtually all public servants from 1^st July 2022. 

The 1% February payment comes from the agreement’s ‘sectoral bargaining fund.’ It gave individual groups, grades and categories of civil servants the choice of a straight 1% increase or the option to use the allocation to deal with outstanding claims.

Fórsa’s National Executive decided to opt for a straight 1% pay round after consultation across the with the five Fórsa divisions that include clerical and executive staff. The decision was also informed by a large-sample opinion survey of members in the grades, in which over 90% opted for the 1% option.

Building Momentum also includes two general round increases, each worth 1% or €500 a year, whichever is the greater. One was paid on 1^st October 2021, and the other is due on 1^st October 2022.

The revised pay scales can be found here. 

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) will next week submit written evidence to an Oireachtas committee charged with scrutinising planned new laws that the Government claims would give all workers a right to request remote working arrangements. The draft legislation attracted huge criticism from Fórsa and other unions, as well as labour law experts and others, when it was published at the end of last month.

Fórsa has said the current text of the legislation was effectively a “right for employers to refuse remote working.” This is because of the bill’s extensive get-out clauses for employers, together with extremely weak appeals mechanisms.

ICTU has convened a working group involving Fórsa and a small number of other unions to work for amendments to the legislation after Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, whose department published the bill, said he would consult with unions and employers organisations on possible changes.

ICTU has been invited to make written and oral submissions to the Oireachtas committee charged with undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny. Fórsa is inputting into the written submission, which will go the committee early next week. A date for the oral hearing was awaited as this bulletin was finalised.

It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

Meanwhile, talks aimed at agreeing a framework for remote working in the civil and public service have resumed.

It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

Fórsa members can now avail of a will-writing service, at no additional cost, by contacting our service provider HERE. 

ARAG, who provide the union’s legal advice, domestic assistance and counselling helplines, has created an online portal where members can create their will. Members can access the portal and download their exclusive voucher code HERE.

An estimated 70% of Irish people don’t have a will, and over 45% have started preparations but haven’t got any further. It is important to have a will so that when you die, your money, property and possessions will be shared out according to your wishes.

The service is designed for all. Whether you’re single, married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting. With just a few clicks, your will can be printed and signed and working for you.

Get more information HERE. 

Fórsa members can continue to avail of free counselling, legal advice and domestic assistance by contacting the union’s helplines, which now have new phone numbers. Qualified personnel are on hand to support Fórsa members 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the following lines:

• Legal help in bodily injury cases: 0818-776644
• Legal advice: 0818-776644
• Confidential counselling: 1800-776655
• Domestic assistance: 0818-776644

Fórsa members can also avail of a health information service, staffed by qualified nurses, on health and fitness and non-diagnostic advice on medical matters. Advice on allergies, the side effects of drugs and how to improve general fitness are also available as part of this service.

The health and medical information line can be reached on 0818 254164, and is available 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public and bank holidays.

If you call outside these times, a message will be taken and a return call arranged within the operating hours. More information can be found HERE.

Fórsa is today (Friday) meeting public expenditure and reform minister Michael McGrath to discuss the possibility of targeted four-day week working pilots in areas of the public service from early 2023.

The Government has already committed €150,000 in research funding to explore the economic, social and environmental implications of the four-day working week in response to the union’s campaign.

The second phase of the pilot programme, which is part of an international initiative coordinated by 4-Day Week Global.

This week, Wales and Belgium became the latest counties to move on the issue of reduced working time.

New Belgian legislation gives staff the right to work a four-day week without loss of salary, though this involves working the same number of hours over a shorter working week.

The Four Day Week Ireland programme is piloting genuine working time reduction, where workers get the same pay for reduced hours, but with the same output.

Meanwhile, a new report by the Autonomy think tank in Wales has called on the Government to trial a four-day week in the public sector. It found that 57% of people in Wales support or strongly support the idea of a four-day week pilot scheme. 

Fórsa will launch a major report on ‘The Irish State Post-Pandemic’ at 11.00am next Thursday (24^th February), and members are able to follow the event via a live-stream which will be posted on our Twitter page. Finance spokespeople from all parties represented in Dáil Éireann have been invited to the launch of the paper, which had been produced by TASC, Ireland’s think tank for action on social change.

It’s an analysis of the political and economic space for enhancing the role of a visionary State focused on improving public services and addressing Ireland’s societal needs through social mobility, the reduction of inequality, and the deep integration of climate action into economic development.

The report examines the political and economic constraints to expanding the Irish state and uses case studies to explore public policy can fulfil human and social needs. It makes recommendations about how the state can address challenges in care, renewable energy and higher education.

Fórsa general secretary and Kevin Callinan and TASC director Dr Shana Cohen will introduce the report.

The union says that the Covid experience demonstrated what can be achieved when the state mobilises financial, organisational and human resources for the common good, when people work together collectively, and when citizens have equal and easy access to essential goods and services.

‘The Irish State Post-Pandemic’ forms part of its campaign to embed these principles into our economic, social and business models in order to build a more secure, more equal, and more united country as we exit the pandemic.

It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

Workers who wish to join Fórsa can to do so using a new ‘join online’ function on the union’s website.

Going live with the new system follows several months of research, preparation and testing aimed at making it easier than ever to join the union. It also goes live as the union continues to process a large number of new membership applications, as interest in joining the union has surged since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis.

Fórsa’s general secretary Kevin Callinan commented: “The current crisis has created the necessity to be able to carry out our business in different ways. Work on this project had commenced before the Covid-19 crisis took hold, and its completion marks a vital step as we tackle the challenges of living in changed times.

“We can see that more people want to join a union in response to what’s happening in the wider economy. It’s vital that they can take those initial steps quickly and easily, and making the membership application process more accessible is part of that process.

“This is a crucial new venture to enable Fórsa to substantially increase our membership - and to strengthen the union’s hand - at a critical time in the union’s development,” he said.

The online facility is a streamlined and simplified membership application process, and will be the quickest and easiest way to join the union. All incoming applications will continue to be subject to check-off and approval by Fórsa branches and the national executive committee, while the new online system is designed to ease the administrative burden on branches.

You can join Fórsa online at https://join.forsa.ie/

Fórsa has welcomed an Amnesty International report which condemns Israeli apartheid and calls for international action to end the oppression of the Palestinian people.

The comprehensive report, ‘Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,’ sets out how seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to apartheid under international law.

Amnesty has called on the EU, USA Britain and other states to “recognise that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid and other international crimes.”

The human right group says the international community should “use all political and diplomatic tools to ensure Israeli authorities implement the recommendations outlined in this report and review any cooperation and activities with Israel to ensure that these do not contribute to maintaining the system of apartheid.”

Fórsa official and member of Trade Union Friends of Palestine Richy Carrothers welcomed the findings. “Israeli authorities must be held accountable for the crime of apartheid against Palestinians,” he said.

He echoed the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) call for international sanctions on Israel including an arms embargo. ICTU has called for the International Criminal Court to investigate Israeli apartheid, and says the United Nations should re-establish its Special Committee against Apartheid.

The substantial report, compiled over a period of four years by the London-based rights group, means that Amnesty has joined the ranks of Human Rights Watch and the Israeli rights group B’Tselem who have also accused Israel of apartheid in the last year.

“The report marks progress in addressing the root causes of the decades-long, systematic denial of Palestinian rights,” said Richy.

Read the Amnesty International report HERE.

A new ‘Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner’ is to be established on foot of a proposed strengthening of legal protections for workplace whistleblowers, published this week.

The new Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Bill, which will transpose of an EU whistleblowing directive into Irish law, will also widen the scope of those who are entitled to protection. As well as workers, who are already covered by Irish legislation, the new proposals will extend the definition to include volunteers, job applicants and others.

It will require many employers to establish formal channels and procedures for their workers to report concerns about wrongdoing. Private sector organisations with more than 50 employees will now be obliged to establish formal channels and procedures for employees to make protected disclosures.

Ireland is one of only ten EU member states that currently have legislation in place to help protect whistleblowers. This principal legislation in Ireland is the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, which will be amended to reflect the new Bill.

The Government looks set to scrap the requirement for masks to be worn in schools, public offices and on public transport. But mask-wearing will remain compulsory in in healthcare settings. The recommendation was made by NPHET which, according to reports, will soon be stood down in its present form.

Prior to the announcement, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions had called for the mask requirement to remain in place for a little longer.

Fórsa had also said that the mask requirement for most school students should have remained in place for the rest of the term because of the stubborn prevalence of Covid infections.

The union’s head of education, Andy Pike, said: “In respect of SNAs it is essential that they continue to use appropriate masks as so many of them continue to work with unvaccinated students.”