Feature Article
Celebrate the workers on May Day
by Niall Shanahan

Today is May Day, a global celebration of working people supported and promoted by the international trade union movement. The first Monday in May, a public holiday in honour of Irish working people, is one of our more recently established public holidays, the first was in 1994. The roots of May Day run much deeper. 


The 1904 Conference of the Second International, called on "all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the eight hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace."


The date was chosen to commemorate the Haymarket affair – the events that surrounded and followed a May 1886 union demonstration at Haymarket Square in Chicago.


At its national convention in Chicago, held in 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (which later became the American Federation of Labor), had proclaimed that "eight hours shall constitute a legal day's labor from and after May 1, 1886.”


Up to this point working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many workplaces.


On 1st May 1886, more than 300,000 workers from 13,000 businesses across the US walked off their jobs in the first May Day celebration in history. In Chicago, 40,000 went out on strike.


The demonstration at Haymarket Square began as a peaceful rally in support of the eight-hour work day. The previous day police had killed eight workers when they fired into the crowds at the McCormick Reaper Works.
On 4th May at Haymarket Square, a bomb was thrown into the police ranks. An estimated seven or eight civilians died, and up to 40 were wounded.


The trial of eight protesters that followed is widely regarded as a miscarriage of justice. Four of them were executed in 1887. The remaining organisers were pardoned six years later.


The May Day movement spread across the industrialised world and is now celebrated as an official workers' holiday in 66 countries across the globe.


For more on the history of May Day and the Haymarket Affair visit the Industrial Workers of The World website and see also The Bloody Story of How May Day Became a Holiday for Workers (Time Magazine, 1st May 2018)


Events in Dublin and Cork
The annual Dublin May Day rally takes place this evening at 6.45pm. Organised by Dublin Council of Trade Unions, demonstrators are asked to assemble in Parnell Square prior to a march to a public meeting at Liberty Hall.


The event will draw attention to the housing crisis, problems in the health service, climate change, inequality and discrimination against migrants.


In Cork, the winners of Ireland’s Got Talent will be on hand to help Cork celebrate International Workers’ day at an event next Monday (6th May). Mayfest is a free event organised by the Cork Council of Trade Unions and ONE Cork, will be held at City Hall between 11am and 4pm. 

Articles A
"It's not okay to disrespect and discriminate"
by Bernard Harbor
 

The continued unequal treatment of non-teaching school staff is effectively teaching children that it’s “okay to disrespect and discriminate,” according to the outgoing chair of Fórsa’s 12,000-strong Education Division.


The continued unequal treatment of non-teaching school staff is effectively teaching children that it’s “okay to disrespect and discriminate,” according to the outgoing chair of Fórsa’s 12,000-strong Education Division.


Speaking at the union’s 2019 Education Conference last week, Gina O’Brien expressed disappointment that education minister Joe McHugh was unable to attend the event, despite speaking at three teachers’ conferences in the same week.


She said this resonated with non-teaching school staff, who were “constantly undervalued and disrespected.”


Gina said a number of the union’s education branches had balloted for industrial action in the last 12 months, mostly because of unequal treatment of groups of education workers.


“The children and young people they serve learn through teaching, they learn by doing, and they also learn by example. And there are too many times, across our education communities, where the example they are given is that it’s okay to disrespect and discriminate. Is that the lesson that the ‘best education system in Europe’ is content to send to our children and young people?” she asked.


Fórsa outlined a range of examples of the two-tier treatment of education workers, including:
• The exclusion of most school secretaries and caretakers from standard pay scales, working conditions and occupational pensions.

• The denial of SNAs and other non-teaching staff a voice on school boards of management

• School completion staff denied access to a reasonable retirement income because they have no occupational pension scheme

• Staff in Education Centres, who provide continuous professional development for teachers and others, but whose pay and working conditions are determined by “unfair, inconsistent local contracts far removed from the standard pubic service terms”

• Non-teaching staff in higher education who witnessed measures to ring-fence senior academic posts for women, but whose employers stubbornly refused to implement a job evaluation scheme, “the single most effective mechanism for delivering equal pay,” until a ballot for industrial action took place.


“The stubborn reality is that too many politicians and managers in our education system still believe some are more equal than others, and must stay more equal than others. There is still stark inequality in the treatment of staff within a sector committed to delivering equality in our schools and other workplaces,” said Gina.


Speaking at the conference, Fórsa’s Senior General Secretary Designate Kevin Callinan paid tribute to Gina’s role in founding and building the union’s Education Division. “At every stage, before and since the division was founded in 2012, Gina was a constant companion and source of support. Our collective achievements – creating the division, our impressive membership growth, the advances we’ve made for members – are as much down to her commitment, work and dedication as to anyones in the union,” he said.

SNAs may seek new contract
by Bernard Harbor and Niall Shanahan
 

Fórsa will seek to renegotiate the SNAs’ contract “to establish parity with conditions of service for others in education and address long-standing problems” if a planned new model of service provision leads to increased responsibilities and work demands.


Fórsa will seek to renegotiate the SNAs’ contract “to establish parity with conditions of service for others in education and address long-standing problems” if a planned new model of service provision leads to increased responsibilities and work demands.


Fórsa’s Head of Education Andy Pike said the union would engage in consultation on the new ‘schools inclusion model,’ with a view to improving services to children with special needs while protecting SNAs’ working conditions.


This came after the education department belatedly agreed to consult with Fórsa.


The union believes the process may present another opportunity to address long-standing problems like the ’72 hours’ and June working.


The ‘schools inclusion model’ proposals are based on recommendations in a recent Council for Special Education (NCSE) review. Last month, education minister Joe McHugh announced his intention to pilot them in 75 schools in Kildare, Wicklow.


Fórsa has met members in the pilot schools, and intends to do so on a regular basis to find out what day-to-day changes are being proposed on a school-by-school basis. The union’s four SNA branches receive regular information on this process.


Speaking at Fórsa’s education conference last week, Andy Pike welcomed plans for a voluntary national training programme for SNAs, which would “take the first significant step towards professionalisng the role of the SNA within our schools sector.”


And he said plans to frontload allocations of SNAs to schools “could reduce the incidence of precarious employment experienced by many SNAs.” The union has frequently complained about the late announcement of annual SNA allocations to schools – which created uncertainty over service levels and job security – often late into the summer preceding the new school year.


But the union also expressed concerns that proposals to give SNA’s additional training to meet complex medical needs could undermine their role in educational support. “We need to ensure that the role remains primarily focussed on providing educational support,” said Mr Pike.


Fórsa has not accepted changes to SNA working conditions on foot of the proposals. But it did meet officials of the Department of Education and Science recently, and formed the impression that their proposals are yet to be fully formed.


Claire Keaveney of Fórsa’s North Dublin/North Leinster SNA Branch, told the conference that consultation on changes that affect working conditions is a requirement of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).

 

“As a union, we have fought to maintain the value and integrity of the SNA service since it was first introduced. We have worked closely with children with special education needs, their families, and their schools, to deliver a quality experience for every child who has accessed the service.


“That experience must be recognised and valued as these changes are piloted and rolled-out. And, I have to say, we were discouraged by the way the NCSE review of the SNA scheme was conducted and published without any serious engagement with Fórsa or with SNAs.


“That failure to engage with SNAs, with their collective professional experience and skills, represents a fundamental weakness in the review itself. We need to see a change of approach. Ignoring SNAs risks undermining the service we provide to vulnerable children and, indeed, to our working conditions, which already place us among the poor relations of the school community,” she said.

Unions may seek pay deal review
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa has raised the idea of a mid-term review of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which currently governs pay and working conditions for most public servants.


Fórsa has raised the idea of a mid-term review of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which currently governs pay and working conditions for most public servants. The union’s Senior General Secretary Designate, Kevin Callinan, said last week that such a review could help maintain confidence in the deal, which had been ‘stretched’ by the Government’s agreement to introduce a new nursing grade.

 

Speaking to the Irish Times over Easter, Kevin Callinan said a mid-term review was one of a number of ideas he and other union leaders have raised in informal talks with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.


“The PSSA was negotiated two years ago, and the country has seen economic growth and inflation on a level that was not anticipated at the time. The Government’s decision to agree to a valuable grade reform for one group of public servants has also led others to ask why their concerns can’t also be addressed within the scope of the deal.

 

“A mid-term review might be one way of dealing with these issues, while maintaining the credibility of the PSSA, which is due to deliver significant additional income improvements over the next 18 months,” he said.

 

The next pay increase under the PSSA is due in September. A further rise is set for September 2020. The agreement, which expires at the end of 2020, is worth a total of up to 7%.

 

The accord includes a clause that allows for a review if unforeseen developments undermine the assumptions that underpinned its negotiation. The union believes that this could include economic growth, which has outstripped the expectations that prevailed in the summer of 2017, when the deal was struck.

 

Callinan first warned that the underlying assumptions of the PSSA needed to be reviewed at the prestigious annual Industrial Relations News conference last month.

 

He told the conference that a review could take account of lost spending power, recent and projected growth rates, and pay movements. And he said public service agreements should also allow for individual grade claims to respond to enhanced responsibilities, higher qualification requirements, additional skills, and increased productivity.

 

“The credibility of the PSSA is being stretched by two factors, which have taken root over the past decade and which now need to be addressed. One is the spending power of incomes after living costs are factored in. The other is the scope for the agreement to respond to profession-specific and grade-specific issues and ambitions,” he said.

Fórsa seeks expansion of job evaluation
by Bernard Harbor
 

Delegates at Fórsa’s Education Division conference called on the education department to quickly implement a job evaluation scheme recently won by the union, and to extend the agreement to other education staff.


Delegates at Fórsa’s Education Division conference called on the education department to quickly implement a job evaluation scheme recently won by the union, and to extend the agreement to other education staff.


Speaking at the conference, Siobhan O’Callaghan welcomed the agreement to implement a job evaluation scheme for clerical and admin staff in institutes of technology, technological universities and Mary Immaculate College.


“We balloted for industrial action, which brought our employers to the correct conclusion that we were determined to have them honour the commitment they gave in 2015, that they would introduce a job evaluation scheme,” she said.


Fórsa has since met education department officials to discuss the implementation of the scheme, and the union has set out detailed proposals on how it should be designed and managed. The scheme will cover library, clerical, administrative and support staff in higher education.


“Now we want to see the scheme implemented properly and quickly, and we want it extended to other parts of the education sector, particularly where there is a need to recognise the additional responsibilities foisted on our members during the public service moratorium,” said Siobhan.


Job evaluation is an internationally-recognised method of independently and fairly assessing roles, and ensuring that they are graded to reflect the ‘size’ of the job – the skills, responsibilities, knowledge and educational attainment that a worker brings to their daily work.

Pay justice demanded for school secretaries
by Niall Shanahan
 

Fórsa has called on the Minister for Education and Skills to put school secretaries, who are employed by school boards of management, on public service pay scales.


Fórsa has called on the Minister for Education and Skills to put school secretaries, who are employed by school boards of management, on public service pay scales. At its education conference last week, the union unanimously backed a motion demanding funding in the next Budget to facilitate this change in employment status.


Fórsa has mounted a campaign for pay justice for school secretaries, most of whom are very poorly paid and have irregular, short-term contracts that force them to sign on during the summer holidays.


This is because of an antiquated and discriminatory employment status, which was foisted upon school secretaries in 1978. It means that the few directly-employed by the education department have public service status, while the majority are employed by school management boards, which determine their pay and conditions.


School Secretary Kathleen O’Doherty told the conference: “Around 90% of our school secretaries are locked out of the regularised pay system. They have no holiday pay, no sick pay, no real job security, certainly no occupational pensions, and no access to public service salary scales. Most of them earn just above – or in some cases below – the legal minimum wage.


“It’s time this antiquated and discriminatory employment arrangement was scrapped, and replaced with a model that reflects the vast range of responsibilities and tasks school secretaries perform.”


In recent evidence to the Oireachtas Education committee, Fórsa’s Head of Education Andy Pike said school secretaries are uniquely disadvantaged in the education sector, and worked under conditions that fall far short of the standards set elsewhere.


“The best a school secretary can hope for – and that’s only about 10% of the total – is to be paid the same as public service clerical officers. Yet the routine work they carry out often far exceeds the responsibilities set out in the clerical officer job descriptions used by the Public Appointments Service,” he said.


School secretary duties include completing pay and pension returns for teachers, and undertaking many tasks necessary to ensure that teaching staff receive holiday pay, sick pay and other public service conditions of service.

Gender equality needed across sector
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa wants education employers to prepare for mandatory gender pay gap reporting and develop action plans to address inequality across the sector.


Fórsa wants education employers to prepare for mandatory gender pay gap reporting and develop action plans to address inequality across the sector. Delegates at the union’s recent education conference also backed calls to develop specific proposals to address gender inequality experienced by clerical, administrative and library staff in educational institutions.

 

Speaking at the conference, Gina O’Brien said the union had welcomed the launch of a new gender equality action plan for higher education institutions, which was published earlier this year. But she said there was disappointment that media coverage of the plan focused almost exclusively on senior academic grades.

 

“We fully agree that there should be more women in senior academic positions, to reflect the gender balance in our universities and colleges and, indeed, throughout our education service, and our society. But, once again, Fórsa found itself a lone voice in stressing that gender-based discrimination happens to women in all grades and occupations in the education sector,” she said.

 

Gina said women working in clerical, administrative, library, and support roles in higher education were equally deserving of gender equality.

 

“Fórsa is committed to continue to work to ensure that no women are left behind as the gender equality plan is implemented, and that includes those in the lowest-paid grades. Gender equality measures should include senior academic posts, but it should not be confined to them,” she said.

Fórsa seeks school completion talks
by Niall Shanahan and Bernard Harbor
 

Staff in Ireland’s School Completion Programme (SCP) are seeking urgent talks with the Department of Children to resolve outstanding issues on funding, pay and pensions.


Staff in Ireland’s School Completion Programme (SCP) are seeking urgent talks with the Department of Children to resolve outstanding issues on funding, pay and pensions. The SCP’s 248 full-time workers give direct support to over 36,000 young people at risk of poor school attendance and participation.


The union wants improvements in the programme’s budget, which was cut by almost 25% - from €33 million a year to less than €25 million a year - in 2010. Its staff, most of whom are employed by voluntary organisations with local boards of management, also want to be given public service status for pay and conditions, and a long-overdue start to restoration of income lost during the crisis.


Speaking at Fórsa’s Education division conference last week, the union’s Vice President Michael Smyth said SCP staff had been holding the service together despite years of erosion.


“We continue to provide vital services to vulnerable children and communities, but we’re not considered to be public servants. Our budget has not recovered in any way from the massive cuts imposed in 2010. Our members who’ve experienced pay cuts due to reduced funding have even seen a start to post-crisis income restoration.


“But the demands on the service are still there. Young people are still dropping out of school, and our service is continuing to provide a valuable route back into education,” he said.


Fórsa says new measures are required to underpin governance and give national leadership to the service. The union said SCP employees should also be given the same employment status as other public servants.


The union has been seeking a firm statutory basis for the programme with a national management structure and adequate funding for services, pay and access to a pension scheme.

Fórsa education first for women
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa’s Education Division last week became the first in the union to have a divisional executive committee made up by exclusively by women.


Fórsa’s Education Division last week became the first in the union to have a divisional executive committee made up by exclusively by women.


All branches in the division are entitled to nominate representatives for the roles of divisional Cathaoirleach and Leas Cathaoirleach, along with divisional executive members. Delegates to the divisional conference then select from the list of nominations.


The executive is then charged with implementing the policies adopted at the conference, and leading the division over the subsequent two years.


Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike – who also carries responsibility for the union’s equality brief – said it was a fitting development.


“Fórsa’s membership is predominantly female, overwhelmingly so in the education sector. While it’s fantastic to see that reflected in the education divisional executive, Fórsa must and will continue its work to encourage women to participate at all levels across the union, including these important national committees,” he said.

Employers group slammed on parental leave
by Hazel Gavigan and Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa has expressed disappointment at Ibec’s negative reaction to proposals to expand paid and unpaid parental leave.


Fórsa has expressed disappointment at Ibec’s negative reaction to proposals to expand paid and unpaid parental leave. Last week, the employer’s body claimed measures to improve work-life balance would place a “heavy burden” on business.


The recently-published Parental Leave and Benefit Bill 2019 is expected to lead to the implementation of two weeks’ paid parental leave from February this year. This will increase to seven weeks’ leave for each parent by 2021.


The developments stem from a recent EU directive on work-life balance, which obliges governments to increase access to paid parental leave for both parents.

 

Although Ibec supports Ireland’s EU membership, which requires us to implement European legislation in matters like this, its Director of Employer Relations Maeve McElwee said the long-overdue measures to help working parents would be “extremely costly for many small and medium size enterprises.”


This is despite the fact that the taxpayer will cover the cost of the new measures by paying the basic parental leave payment.


Fórsa official Geraldine O’Brien condemned Ibec’s reaction, saying the new law was a modest but important step towards increasing in women's participation in the labour market.


“This welcome help for working parents, which is rooted in EU law, is exactly the sort of thing that can make Europe more relevant to our daily lives. These measures will facilitate greater sharing of care responsibilities, and reduce the pressure on working parents to choose between their family lives and professional career,” she said.


The proposed paternity leave payment will be the prevailing maternity and paternity leave rate, which is currently €245 a week. Along with existing measures, the change would increase to 42 weeks the amount of paid leave available to new parents during the first year of a child’s life.

 

The Irish legislation anticipates the recently agreed EU Work Life Balance Directive, which requires EU member states to provide a minimum of ten days’ paternity leave – plus five days' unpaid carers’ leave a year – within the next three years.

 

The directive also allows for a minimum of four months’ paid and unpaid parental leave per parent, of which two months would be non-transferable between parents.

 

The Irish Government intends to set parental leave at two weeks late this year, before increasing it to seven weeks on a phased basis over the next three years.

 

Resources needed to address unpaid wages
by Diarmaid Mac a Bhaird
 

Inspections carried out by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) discovered and recouped over €3 million in unpaid wages in Ireland last year, according to the WRC’s annual report.


Inspections carried out by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) discovered and recouped over €3 million in unpaid wages in Ireland last year, according to the WRC’s annual report. But the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said the modest increase in the number of workplaces inspected last year – and the large increase in unpaid wages discovered – demonstrates the need for more resources for the body’s inspection and enforcement service.

 

ICTU general secretary Patrica King said: “The €3.1 million in unpaid wages recovered by inspectors last year represents just the tip of the iceberg.”

 

The WRC report also said that 45% of employers inspected were in breach of employment legislation. Sectors where the greatest numbers of breaches included retail, transport and hospitality.

 

There was a 20% increase in the number of inspections carried out by the WRC in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Also in this issue
Lyra McKee remembered in peace pledge
by Hazel Gavigan
 

Delegates at Fórsa’s Education Conference stood in solidarity with the late Lyra McKee last Wednesday. The journalist was shot dead while working at the scene of a riot in the Creggan area of Derry earlier this month.


The union’s President Ann McGee invited conference to send condolences to the family and friends of Ms McKee by standing in a moments’ silence the day of the 29 year-old’s funeral.


“We join with Lyra’s loved ones and the National Union of Journalists in calling for peace and respect across this island, and across a world that has witnessed so many atrocities in recent times,” she said.


Earlier, ICTU General Secretary Patricia King also paid tribute to Lyra: “We stand with her NUJ colleagues and her loved ones at this time, as we do so with any workers threatened or assaulted by these masked delinquents who sully the noble term 'dissident',” she said.


Colleagues from across the globe paid homage to Ms McKee on social media using the hashtag #WeStandWithLyra.

Fórsa backs NERI head’s new book
by Diarmaid Mac a Bhaird
 

A new book by Tom Healy of the trade union-backed think tank the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI), was launched last month. An Ireland Worth Working For proposes an alternative economic model to tackle challenges such as technology, demographics and the environment.

 

The publication addresses a range of challenges in an Irish, EU and global context, while also considering the future of work and wages, public services and new enterprises over the next 100 years. Healy says it aspires to build on the democratic programme announced by the first Dáil in January 1919.

 

The book also features a foreword from President Michael D Higgins, who praised the book’s “important contribution to a necessary debate on our shared island.”

 

An Ireland Worth Working For: Towards A New Democratic Programme, by Tom Healy is available in bookshops now.

Homelessness protest for 18th May
by Bernard Harbor
 

The national housing and homelessness campaign ‘Raise the Roof’ is staging a national demonstration in Dublin on Saturday 18th May. The coalition, which includes trade unions, student bodies and housing and homelessness organisations, is calling for local authority-led investment in public housing.


Raise the Roof also wants secure tenure, rent controls, an end to forced evictions, and a legal right to housing.


Fórsa, which is supporting the protest, is also urging members to sign the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s housing petition.


Fórsa members should assemble at the union’s Dublin office (Nerney's Court, Dublin 1) at 12.30pm on 18th May, before joining the rally at 1pm.

Limerick lets it rise
by Bernard Harbor
 

 

 


Fórsa President Ann McGee helped launch a new book about the Limerick Soviet last weekend. The publication of Let Us Rise was the centrepiece of the city’s commemoration of the events, which has been spearheaded by local Fórsa official Mike McNamara.

 

The 1919 strike, by more than 15,000 workers in the city, made international headlines. After a permit system was introduced by the British military authorities, the workers took over all aspects of the running of the city, produced their own daily paper, policed the city, controlled all food and fuel supplies and even printed its own currency. It became known internationally as the Limerick Soviet.


Speaking at the book launch, Ann said the soviet demonstrated the power of union organisation, and the ingenuity of working people working together. “From food distribution through power supply, a citizens’ police force and even a newspaper, it showed what working people can achieve when we’re united. And the creation of its own currency was a bold challenge to the bankers, which perhaps we might have revisited on this island a few years ago,” she said.

 

Ann congratulated the Limerick Writers’ Centre, which brought the project to fruition. She also acknowledged Mike McNamara. He’s also President of Limerick Trades Council, which has been is behind this month’s commemorations.

 

“It’s fitting that they are taking this initiative at a time when Fórsa, Siptu and other unions – along with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions – are working to breathe new life into the trades’ councils – and to put trade unions at the centre of communities across Ireland. The Limerick Soviet is an inspiration in that important work,” she said.

Fall in industrial action
by Niall Shanahan
 

Last year had the lowest number of days lost to industrial action since 2012 according to new Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) figures. The WRC’s latest annual report reveals that just over 4,000 days were lost to industrial disputes in 2018. Just over 1,100 workers were involved.


These statistics include four days of strike action by Fórsa members at Roscommon County Council and five days at Ryanair last summer.


The number of days lost to industrial action in 2018 was over 90% lower than in the previous year when just over 50,000 days were lost through strikes.


While the WRC report describes 2018 as a relatively peaceful year, it said it received over 1,000 requests for conciliation. This is a 13% increase on 2017.


The WRC Annual Report 2018 is available HERE.

On the road with More Power To You
by Niall Shanahan
 

A series of public meetings to promote Fórsa’s More Power To You campaign got underway in Cork this week. The initiative aims to reclaim the role of local authorities and local democracy.


The campaign, which brings together trade unions representing over 30,000 local council workers, is also calling for legislative changes to facilitate directly-elected mayors and restore and expand town councils, which were abolished in 2014.


Fórsa Campaigns Director Joe O’Connor said the campaign was seeking commitments from political parties and candidates in the May local elections.


“We’re looking for commitments on a range of badly-needed local government reforms covering waste, water, housing, and energy services, to retain and properly resource these services and give greater autonomy to local government,” he said.


The campaign’s reform objectives include:
• Legislative changes to facilitate directly-elected mayors
• The return and expansion of the town council system, which was abolished in 2014
• Increased revenue and funding powers, with parallel systems of accountability and transparency, to move the percentage of local authority-managed public spending towards the European average
• An immediate end to the outsourcing of council housing maintenance and a medium-term shift to a new local authority-led public housing model
• Stronger regulation of the waste sector to ensure that every household has access to an affordable waste disposal service, as a precursor to the reintroduction of improved public provision
• A constitutional referendum on the right to water, which should ensure that water and waste water services remain in public ownership and control
• Investment in local authority environmental and sustainable energy infrastructure and staff, to facilitate the maximum use of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) ‘Better Energy’ programme.

The meetings continue tomorrow (Thursday 2nd May) in Sligo, and in the coming weeks as follows:
• Tuesday 7th May – Kilkenny
• Monday 13th May – Galway
• Wednesday 15th May – Dublin
• Thursday 16th May – Mullingar


Support and follow the campaign on Twitter at #MorePowerToYou

Mick’s miles for Sligo Simon
by Niall Shanahan
 

Fórsa activist Michael Scully will be donning his cycling gear once again to push out the hard miles as he prepares himself for a 180km solo cycle to the Services and Enterprises divisional conference in Sligo on 22nd May.


Michael will be raising funds for the Sligo Simon Community, and will be supported by Fórsa colleagues Paddy Quinn and Pat Fallon.


Michael is a veteran cyclist and this is the second time he’s powered solo to conference to raise funds for the Simon Community. “The route will take me through Tullamore, Athlone, Roscommon, Boyle and then into Sligo. I’ll be doing the cycle solo but if people want to join me along the route they’re most welcome. We’re raising money for a great cause,” he said.


If your branch would like to support Michael by making a donation, a collection of branch donations will take place at the two divisional conferences in Sligo.

What in the World returns
by Diarmaid Mac a Bhaird
 

RTÉ TV is set to air the twelfth series of the hard-hitting documentary series ‘What in the World’ later this month. The show, which aims to raise awareness about global economic inequality and human rights violations, receives some funding from Fórsa’s developing world fund.

 

The new series of the show features episodes set in Somalia, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq. They will be aired on RTÉ One on successive Tuesdays, from next week (7th May).

 

Fórsa’s developing world fund, which is made up of 3% of all membership subscriptions, supports a range of solidarity and education projects in the developing world.