The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) wants to hear your views on the cost of childcare. And Congress is also asking workers aged under 35 to complete its short survey about housing.

Speaking about the launch of the surveys, ICTU president Patricia King called for people to share their experiences. “Too many workers are struggling to make ends meet at a time when the economy and labour market continue to improve. The rise in childcare and housing costs have been dramatic in recent years,” she said.

The surveys will be used to gather information on these two crucial issues and guide Congress policy and lobbying. The surveys will also help demonstrate the negative effects that excessive living costs are having on workers.

Congress also believes the surveys will highlight the rising cost of housing for young workers and childcare costs for working parents, which is not evenly spread across the country.

A recent ESRI report into childcare found that rising costs throughout Ireland could discourage people from continuing to work unless more affordable childcare could be made available.

Fórsa has also been campaigning on the housing crisis and rising rental costs through the homeless and housing coalition, which held a demonstration in Dublin in early April  The union continues to lobby Government on these issues.

Government plans to increase the State pension age to 68 will place Ireland’s retirement age among the highest in the world, according to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

The pension age, which was raised from 65 to 66 in 2014, is set to increase to 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028.

ICTU social policy officer Laura Bambrick criticised the plans as the Government launched a public consultation on State pension reform. “While increases in the pension age are taking place in many countries, Ireland is currently on course to have the highest pension age in the OECD,” she said.

ICTU has called on the Government to abandon the plan. Its general secretary Patricia King said the Government’s pension blueprint took no account of people “who cannot work between retirement and qualifying for the State pension.”

Unions also criticised Government plans to change the way pension entitlements are assessed, saying it meant a worker would need 40 years’ social insurance contributions to qualify for a full State pension.

“A 40-year target fails to take into account the impact of legacy issues still evident in the contribution records of workers nearing pension age,” said Bambrick.

Fórsa is working with other unions on a joint submission to the official consultation. Last month, the union’s national conference backed calls for mandatory employment-based pension provision for all workers not currently covered by occupational pension schemes.

A Government paper called A Roadmap for Pensions Reform 2018-2023 envisages the introduction of auto-enrolment – or compulsory pension contributions for all – from 2020. But Fórsa has criticised opt-out rules contained in the paper.

The union’s national secretary Billy Hannigan said Ireland was one of only two OECD countries with no mandatory earnings-related pillar to complement the State pension. He said employers should contribute twice the amount asked of workers.

Fórsa official Andy Pike says there are signs that civil service management is willing to show some flexibility on salary progression in jobs where they are having trouble attracting staff.

He spoke to the Bulletin after a recent Public Appointments Service advert for Met Éireann staff said three additional increments could become available to meteorologists who had good language skills and were able to “discharge the highest duties” of the grade. An assessment of this would be made after three years’ service, according to the advert.

Andy said this could enable suitably qualified meteorologists to reach the top of their pay scale in just seven years.

Fórsa had previously said that relatively low starting salaries for certain grades have made recruitment a problem in many parts of the civil service. The union has called for management to be given the flexibility to pay staff above the usual entry rates, where necessary, in order to attract suitably qualified staff.

State bodies are also struggling to recruit cleaners, solicitors, radio officers, agricultural officers, valuers, Oireachtas researchers, translation staff, SENOs, and others.

The creation of Fórsa provides an opportunity to build on the work undertaken by the former CPSU, IMPACT and PSEU in the area of equality.

The new union represents a diverse workforce across many sectors within the public service, the semi-state sector, and elsewhere. Over 75% of our members are women with a keen interest in issues like closing the gender pay gap and improving the provision of flexible and family-friendly employment policies.

Fórsa members are working hard on disability rights, where our branches assist members with disabilities to maximise employment opportunities. Many members are also employed to provide services to disabled clients.

Fórsa plays a significant role within ICTU, where our representatives contribute to the work of Congress on women’s rights, disability rights, race equality, and other areas. 

The union’s national executive will shortly establish the first Fórsa Equality and Diversity Committee, and staff are now working towards developing a comprehensive equality strategy with the new committee.

We are drawing on the previous work of the former unions to set out the Fórsa equality perspectives on a range of issues. Key to this approach will be involving activists at branch and executive level in this work. This can be done by establishing networks to draw on experience of working and campaigning on specific issues, and to develop new approaches to delivering on equality issues for members in the workplace.

Early priorities will include a policy, based on international best practice, aimed at closing the gender pay gap, measures to ensure that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is implemented correctly, sharing best practice on family-friendly employment policies, and the provision of regular advice on equality issues for branches and staff.

Fórsa expects all employers to adhere to employment equality legislation and we will continue to challenge them when they fall short. As an organisation we must also ensure that we apply the same legislation correctly, and that we continue promote equality for our staff and members within our own structures. Meeting this requirement will also form part of the new equality strategy.

The most effective way for a trade union to seek to progress equality of opportunity is to mainstream the issue, to make it central to everything we do including training, policies, procedures and collective agreements.

Whatever we do, we have to make sure that our actions are consistent with best practice and that we advance these crucial issues for the benefit of all our members.

Andy Pike is a Fórsa national secretary working in the civil service, who also holds joint responsibility for equality issues in the union.

A 12-strong team of eight cyclists and four volunteers wants Fórsa members and branches to get behind them as they compete in the Race Around Ireland cycling event in memory of crewman Ciarán Smith of Rescue 116.

Winchman Smith was one of four crew members who tragically died when coastguard helicopter Rescue 116 was lost off the west coast in March 2017.

The cycling team is raising money for LauraLynn children’s hospice, and is calling on Fórsa members and branches to donate to the cause in memory of Winchman Smith.

Ciarán Murphy, a Fórsa representative in CHC Helicopters and one of the riders preparing for the cycle, said Smith had previously cycled to raise money for the charity.

“The team is made up of family, friends and colleagues of Ciarán’s, and we hope to raise money for a charity close to his heart,” he said.

Fórsa has also committed to support the team’s efforts. The four late crew members of Rescue 116 were Fórsa members, as are some of the cyclists preparing to take part in the event.

The 10th Race Around Ireland starts on Sunday 26th August, and the non-stop cycling event covers some 2,200km.

Fórsa branches and members who want to support the team can make donations to the following account:

IBAN: IE96AIBK93103926343062
BIC: AIBKIE2D.

Fórsa’s national executive has adopted new data protection policies to ensure that the union is compliant with the EU Data Protection Directive (GDPR), which came into effect on 25th May.

GDPR will have a profound impact how on the union handles personal data in its head office, regional offices, and in the voluntary branch structure.

Head office is in the process of implementing a comprehensive data protection project, which will involve the appointment of a senior administrative officer as data protection officer later this month. Data protection champions are also being appointed, with a least one based in each full-time office location.

Over 20 staff members from all the union’s offices attended an initial training programme last month.

All Fórsa offices are being sent practical advice to ensure GDPR compliance. The union will also advise every branch in relation to the processing and storage of data, the handling of data access requests, and procedures for dealing with any breach of data protection.

All these matters are governed by the new GDPR legislation, which introduces hefty fines for failure to comply.

The union has invested in a management tool to log all GDPR issues, and is intent on building a comprehensive list of the measures we’re adopting so that we can demonstrate that we are making ourselves GDPR compliant.

It’s important that all sections of the union engage with the roll-out of these measures to ensure that we adopt a common and comprehensive GDPR plan across the organisation.

Fórsa member Cathriona McElhinney was the lucky winner of a two-night stay at the Delphi resort in Connemara, in a competition run by the union’s group discounts scheme.

The resort is located in the heart of the breathtaking Delphi valley, near Leenane. The 300-acre facility specialises in relaxation and outdoor adventure.

The Fórsa group scheme gives members the chance to receive discounts from hundreds of brands and retailers, including asos.com, Debenhams, Argos and the Abbey Theatre.

Discounts are available online and in-store in a wide range of categories, including travel, consumer tech, motoring, entertainment, eating out, fashion, health and grocery shopping.

The scheme has been negotiated by the union in conjunction with JLT Insurance Brokers Ireland.

To avail of the group discount scheme, simply register HERE.

Find out more about the Delphi resort HERE.

The Labour-Employer Economic Forum (LEEF), a trade union-employer-Government social dialogue forum established in 2016, is to be expanded to deal with four pressing issues: housing, pensions, childcare and employment rights. Separate parallel sessions on these issues are to commence shortly.

Fórsa deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan represents the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on the LEEF, which is the main forum for social dialogue in the post-partnership era.

Last month, Fórsa’s national conference passed a motion seeking an extension of the social dialogue process to encompass public policy issues that affect workers and business, but which cannot be resolved at workplace level.

Senior general secretary Shay Cody praised the LEEF, but said it must be developed to create a platform where issues that affect workers outside their immediate workplace can be discussed. “A place where we can engage with the whole of government – not just individual ministers or departments – on important topics that impact on livelihoods and living standards,” he said.

Employers’ body Ibec agrees on the need for a richer social dialogue, while the recent Gothenburg summit of EU leaders also highlighted the value of developing the process.

Fórsa has sought an urgent meeting with Garda management to discuss its commitment to recruit staff and build IT capacity in the service as a prelude to reducing reliance on outside contractors.

Union official Shane Lambert wrote to the force’s head of civilian human resources after senior Garda representatives made a commitment to rebuild its in-house IT know-how at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week.

They were there to discuss concerns about the management of a €26.5 million IT contract with global firm Accenture.

Last year an internal Garda audit report raised concerns about multi-million euro prepayments for IT services, and a lack of verified invoiced hours.

Shane said it had received similar commitments to ‘in-sourcing’ in the past, and was now determined to see action.

“We have raised this continuously over the last three years, and we’ve highlighted concerns to the Garda Inspectorate, the Policing Authority, local management, and the previous commissioner. More IT staff have left in the last two years as a result of management inaction,” he said.

The union has sought a meeting to clarify how the commitments made to the PAC will be met, and to discuss a long-term staffing strategy for Garda IT.

“Extremely capable and competent staff have been lost as a result of limited career progression and inadequate career structures, limiting the ability to manage significant ICT projects in-house. Now we want immediate action to reverse this damaging trend,” said Shane. 

Fórsa has always maintained that a direct service delivery model, staffed by civilians, is the most prudent and cost-effective way of maintaining high service standards with low security risks and robust cost-controls.