Fórsa is to meet education management in the Workplace Relations Commission today (Friday) to seek changes to parental leave arrangements for special needs assistants (SNAs). SNAs can only take parental leave in blocks of a week at present, but the union argues that this disproportionately affects low- and single-income households who can’t afford to lose a week’s pay. 

The union says SNAs should be able to take parental leave in blocks of one or more days if their school management agrees. This is in line with legal provisions on parental leave.

Fórsa official Shane Lambert said there were many examples of SNAs who want to take parental leave in blocks of less than a week. But, even if their employer agrees, they claim they are hamstrung by the provisions in the official circular.

The education department allowed SNA’s take parental leave in blocks of less than a week as an interim measure during the pandemic and the phased return to schools. But it says it intends to stop this in the forthcoming school year. 

“A further sting in the tale is that SNAs who can afford to take parental leave in blocks of a week can opt to return to work on a shorter working pattern. We are seeking changes to the existing circular to ensure our SNAs are treated fairly and with respect,” he said.

Delegates at Fórsa trade union’s conference in Killarney last week gave their unanimous backing to a motion calling for statutory paid leave for victims of domestic violence.

The union’s national secretary Ashley Connolly said the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed the need for society to deliver a better response to victims of domestic violence, and the urgent need for the political system to legislate for the right to statutory paid leave as part of a package of workplace measures to assist victims of domestic violence.

Proposing the motion on behalf of the union’s national executive, Ashley said these measures were necessary because women living with, or escaping from domestic abuse, are far more likely to have several urgent and important appointments to attend.

“These include medical visits, legal proceedings, counselling for themselves or their children, changing children’s schools. Most can’t do this outside working hours, either because the services aren’t available or, worse, because they need to hide this from their abusers.

“Victims end up having to take unpaid leave, use up annual leave, or even miss work and risk losing the very job that gets them out of an abusive situation, if only for a few hours each day,” she said.

She told delegates that lockdown phases during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic “brought the living nightmare of being locked up with your tormentor for weeks on end” for women, children and men experiencing domestic violence. Ashley drew on data from the advocacy group Safe Ireland, which found that nearly 3,500 women and 600 children contacted a domestic violence service for the first time during the opening six months of the pandemic: “This equates to 19 women and three children every day,” she said.

She said 249 women had died violently in Ireland between 1996 and 2022, one in four women in Ireland have been subjected to some form of abuse, while studies have found that 40% of victims said the abuse affected their ability to get to work, and almost 60% said they had to take time off work as a consequence the abuse.

The successful conference motion commits the union to actively campaign to legislate for an effective statutory entitlement to paid leave for victims of domestic violence, encourage the union’s networks to raise the issue of workplace supports for victims and survivors of domestic violence with employers in their sectors, and investigate the potential of extending the union’s existing counselling service to include a dedicated confidential service for victims of domestic abuse and gender-based violence.

The conference saw several motions on domestic and gender-based violence tabled by a number of union branches. Fórsa’s North Dublin/North Leinster special needs assistants branch said domestic violence leave would make a huge difference to those already in hardship but would be of minimal cost to employers.

SNA delegate Linda O' Sullivan spoke in support of required legislation, citing figures that suggested there had been almost 50,000 reports of abuse to An Garda Síochána last year.

"Domestic violence is indeed very much the shadow pandemic of this country, The real figure is certainly higher. As a union representative I repeatedly see members having to resort to using sick

leave. But they are not sick. They’re being abused. Domestic violence is a serious crime, and rates soared through the various lockdowns,” she said.

The union’s Kildare Health branch called on the union to investigate opportunities to collaborate with organisations working in communities to improve understanding of the root causes of gender-based violence, and encourage attitude and behavioural changes.

Anne Collins, from Fórsa’s Legal and Professional branch, told delegates that her colleagues in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had seen "a massive increase during the pandemic of files received concerning domestic violence and gender based violence," and said the office is now working on a strategic plan to improve the treatment and the experience of victims when they go to court, in conjunction with other bodies in the criminal justice system.

Ashley said there had been some progress in the provision of services and much-needed help and advice. “But the lack of legislation on paid leave for victims of domestic abuse and gender-based violence deepens the vulnerability and hardship that ruins individual lives, which can have an effect across several generations,” she said.

Public expenditure minister Michael McGrath has said the Government is willing to go beyond the pay terms in the Building Momentum public service agreement. But added that this must be done in a “balanced” way.

Speaking after Fórsa’s national conference heard calls for extra pay increases on foot of the cost of living crisis, Mr McGrath said: “We are prepared to go beyond the pay terms within the current agreement but we need to balance that against the risk of doing any long-term harm to the economy, the public finances and the competitiveness of the Irish economy into the future."

This echoed the line of Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) negotiators when they met Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan and other senior union negotiators for exploratory talks over the las fortnight.

They confirmed that the current agreement’s pay terms would be discussed in substantive talks, and said the Government also wanted to achieve some certainty about next year’s public service pay bill before October’s Budget.

The Workplace Relations Commission, which helped broker the Building Momentum deal, is expected to get involved in formal discussions between DPER and the officers of the ICTU Public Services Committee (PSC) in the next week or so.

Delegates at last week’s Fórsa national conference backed a motion from the organisation’s elected executive, which put pay at the top of the union’s negotiating priorities. Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan told the conference he would pursue this with a “single-minded determination.”

Kevin said he didn’t underestimate the scale of the challenge in the talks, but added that there was now a solid basis for substantial negotiations as the employers’ side had acknowledged that the inflation assumptions underpinning Building Momentum have changed significantly.

“Workers, their families, and their communities are the victims of inflation, not the cause of inflation. I have made it clear that there needs to be an improvement in the agreement’s pay terms this year,” he said.

The education department yesterday (Thursday) confirmed that special leave with pay for staff in the Covid-19 very high-risk category will cease from 1^st July. This will also affect staff affected by long Covid.

From July, workers impacted by the change will have to take sick leave if they are unfit to attend work, and school employers will have to carry out a return to work assessment before staff return.

Fórsa has said that members affected by this change should contact the union for individual advice. The details of the change are set out in a new information note from the department. 

The ICTU Public Services Committee is to raise this issue with Government to make the case for the continuation of special leave provisions for people with recognised medical conditions who are affected by Covid.

The union says that, while this group of staff may be eligible to access extended sick leave through the critical illness protocol, it would be preferable to continue to provide special leave with pay, not least as some staff may have contracted Covid in the workplace.

Just 1% of employees have the protection of a menstrual health policy in their workplace, according to a survey published by Fórsa last week. The results were unveiled at the union’s national conference in Kerry, where delegates backed a motion calling on employers to do more to address stigma and other issues around menstrual health through “period- and menopause-friendly policies” in workplaces across the economy.

One-in-four survey respondents had been diagnosed with a specific condition – including premenstrual dysphoric disorder, endometriosis, or polycystic ovary syndrome – which resulted in medical symptoms including very heavy bleeding, migraines and nausea etc.

Over 70% had taken time off work because of their periods, while just four-in-ten of them felt able to tell their line manager the real reason for their absence.

More than 96% of the 1,800 survey respondents favoured the introduction of a menstrual-friendly policy in their workplace.

Fórsa says women would welcome measures like access to flexible work arrangements, improved training for supervisors and line managers, action to address deep-seated stigma, and practical improvements in toilet facilities, office fabrics, and temperature control for those who experience hot flushes or other menopausal symptoms.

The research also revealed that taboos around menstrual issues are preventing women from raising health problems associated with periods and menopause with their line managers. Some 65% said they did not tell their supervisor about the difficulties they experience at work, though over 70% felt comfortable discussing the issues with colleagues.

Women experiencing menopause symptoms said access to flexible working arrangements, including ad-hoc remote working, would help. The ability to control the temperature in their workplace also emerged as an issue.

The motion on menstrual health was proposed by Fórsa’s Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Branch, which has pioneered local employee surveys on the subject. Branch secretary Roisin Cronin said Fórsa’s national survey provided a rich insight into the difficulties and predicaments that women currently face because of menstruation and menopause.

“We began discussing how much easier it was to manage some of our symptoms at home, when faced with difficult periods, menstrual health conditions and the effects of menopause. Not having to worry about finding an individual clean toilet or a private place to wash a menstrual cup was just a massive relief for so many. If working from home during the pandemic made such a positive difference, it seemed obvious that the issue was not being properly addressed in the workplace,” she said.

The research found that over 70% of those who worked at home during the pandemic found that remote working improved their experience of menstruation. Better access to measures to alleviate issues with menstruation and menopause was cited as the main reason, while avoiding commuting when experiencing cramps, nausea and hot flushes was also positive.

Other factors included not having to worry about leakages and staining, as well as having easy access to suitable places to change pads and tampons or wash a menstrual cup.

Fórsa’s equality officer, Ashley Connolly, said the issue was vital to the wellbeing and productivity of workers.

“Remote working and other flexible work arrangements are key to a healthier, happier and more productive working life for many, many women. And it has broader consequences for the way sick leave is consumed by thousands of women across the country. This conversation needs to start, and we need to deliver results for women quickly,” she said.

A new study has ranked Ireland among the worst European countries when it comes to paid maternity leave.

The study by global employment platform Boundless compared the monetary compensation for new mothers across the EU, and found that Ireland offered only 42 weeks of maternity leave with €245 paid weekly for the first 26 weeks, ranking among the lowest group of EU countries. And that’s only if they have enough PSRI contributions.

Bulgaira topped the list of best paid maternity leave, offering new mothers a minimum of 58.6 weeks off, and a payment of 90% of their full salary during leave. Norway, which covers 80-100% of new mothers' salaries for 49 weeks, also ranked highly.

Dee Coakley, CEO and co-founder of Boundless said that the table “clearly showed the disparities across Europe” for maternity leave and the need for Ireland to increase its basic rates. She also urged employers to match EU standards.

Currently, working mothers in Ireland are granted 26 weeks maternity leave no matter how long they have been with the company or how many hours a week they work. On top of that, they can receive an extra 16 weeks of unpaid leave when their paid maternity leave ends.

Entitlement for paid leave depends on if the worker has contributed enough to PRSI, as employers are not obliged to pay. But employers can choose to offer paid maternity leave to their employees, or to top up the benefit.

Schools “dipping” funds to pay bills

Niall Shanahan

As the effects of inflation continues to bite into wages with higher energy, retail and services costs, Fórsa’s school secretaries have drawn attention to the added pressure on schools to meet their energy bills, and how some are cutting school secretary working hours in order to do so.

Speaking to the Irish Times at last week’s Fórsa conference in Killarney, branch chair Luisa Carty said schools have been making ends meet by cutting working hours to free up cash, and drawing funds from the grants from which most school secretaries and caretakers are paid. Luisa said these funds are being “dipped into” by schools to meet increasing costs.

Fórsa’s head of Education Andy Pike said Luisa had drawn attention to a practice which a new deal for school secretaries, agreed in March this year, is designed to stamp out: “This is precisely why the union vigorously pursued a campaign for a better deal for school secretaries.

“The current inflationary pressures, in this context, serve to illustrate the vulnerability of school secretaries under this antiquated model of employment and funding.

“Fórsa will actively pursue any schools currently engaged in this practice of cutting school secretary and caretaker hours in order to access funds to pay additional energy costs. It is not appropriate for schools’ boards of management to effectively have school secretaries and caretakers subsidise their energy bills,” he said.

In March this year school secretaries voted overwhelmingly to accept an historic new package of pay and working conditions, which places them all on public service salary rates after a decades-long campaign for pay equity.

The deal, negotiated by Fórsa, significantly improves incomes and paid leave arrangements for low-paid secretaries, and will see all school secretaries transfer to a new pay-scale aligned with the public service clerical officer scale. Prior to this, most of them were employed directly by schools, with most earning no more than the minimum wage.

Andy added: “The new centralised pay system and regularisation of pay terms cannot come soon enough, and school secretaries can look forward to a more stable pay regime when the new school term starts in September.”

Fórsa’s president has criticised the Government’s approach to giving workers the right to request remote or blended working. Speaking at the union’s national conference in Killarney last week, Michael Smyth said legislation drafted in January effectively gave employers a ‘right to refuse’ remote work, rather than giving workers a right to request it.

Mr Smyth said the long list of ‘reasons to refuse’ in the draft law revealed a Government “prepared to pander to every employer sensitivity and stereotype, no matter how baseless, falling back on old and outmoded ways of thinking about the relationship between employers and workers.”

He accused the Government of “simply looked to return to old and outmoded ways of thinking,” instead of “looking forward and harvesting the benefits we now know remote working can deliver.” He described the Government’s efforts as “a spectacular own goal after two years of a revolutionary real-world experience.”

Michael also said that blended working would help Ireland deliver on climate action.

“Why would we mindlessly return to clogging the roads between commuter towns and cities with thousands of private cars, needlessly burning hundreds of thousands of litres of fossil fuel and releasing thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere so that people can perform work could just as easily be done at home,” he asked.

The union’s communications chief, Bernard Harbor, said Fórsa was campaigning with other unions to strengthen the proposed legislation. “Of course, we accept that some work functions could not be performed on a remote basis. But the legislation should not allow employers to refuse flexible work arrangements on spurious grounds.

“We expect the Government – as an employer and as a legislator – to support the consistent application of guidelines for identifying functions that can be performed remotely, and for facilitating staff requests for home-working arrangements unless there is a genuine reason to refuse,” he said.

The conference passed a motion calling for extended remote work, with fair and transparent procedures for application and strong support and protections for those who work remotely.

The head of Fórsa’s civil service division, Derek Mullen, said the recent achievement of a civil service framework agreement on blended work was an important piece of work.

“While the framework does not guarantee blended work arrangements for all who apply, workers will be able to have the decision reviewed if they are turned down, with a view to resolving the issues that led to the refusal to facilitate remote work,” he said.

Separately, new research from the European Commission has credited the shift to remote working with a record number of women participating in the Irish labour force. It found that the female participation rate jumped from 67% to 72% over the course of the pandemic. This is well above the EU average.

Fórsa has negotiated a further strengthening of the special needs assistants’ (SNAs) supplementary assignment panel for the forthcoming academic year. This builds on gains achieved over the past two years. 

The panel determines how schools allocate additional of SNA posts and hours. 

In the first instance, the hours must be offered to existing part-time staff on the basis of seniority. They can be advertised if there is no take-up from existing part-time staff, and schools must interview candidates with PF1 forms (panel rights) first and on separate days to other candidates.

Fórsa has maintained the ability to raise or highlight alleged breaches of the circular without revealing the name of the individual concerned. Complaints are submitted are considered by the union, the education department and the appropriate management body.

The wording and layout of the procedure has been strengthened to reinforce the intent of the circular, which is to provide those with PF1 forms the greatest opportunity of being re-employed by another school, having had their original post deemed redundant.

The correspondence informing employers of the circular will also remind them when it’s inappropriate to use fixed-term or specific purpose contracts. It also confirms that the appropriate contract is the 2005 contract agreed centrally with the department.

The union has been working tirelessly over the past year to ensure members understand the provisions in place for members and the obligations that an employer has when out of work SNAs are applying for positions.  We sent a comprehensive document to members on this issue last year and will be amending same and reissuing to members in the coming weeks.

Fórsa official Shane Lambert believes the revised arrangements will have a positive effect on the hiring process.

“The biggest change from the circular happening in the next year will be the push to only accept contracts that have been agreed nationally with the union. This should prevent individuals signing incorrect contracts which deviate from those that are nationally agreed and as such are incorrect.  This has been an issue for the union in recent years and is a difficult one to resolve once a contract has been signed.

“For too long SNAs have been treated with little respect and this has been evident in the hiring process. Ensuring the contracts that have been agreed nationally are the only ones used will mean new staff have the right contract with the correct terms and conditions,” 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.

The absence of agreement between unions, Government and employer representatives on practical measures to expand the range of free and affordable public services is undermining the national response to Ireland’s cost of living crisis, according to Fórsa.

Speaking at the union’s national conference in Killarney last week, the union’s general secretary Kevin Callinan said Ireland called for intensified dialogue to improve Ireland’s ‘social wage,’ or state spending on welfare supports and public services.

"Workers in countries across the continent are paying more for heating, fuel and food. But in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and most other rich EU nations, workers don’t have to fret about the cost of childcare, an unavoidable visit to the GP or A&E, eldercare fees, or even the rent – because these things are free or affordable through a public service-delivered social wage,” he said.

Earlier last week, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) published new research on the high cost of living in Ireland. It found that Ireland was the second most expensive country in the European Union before the recent surge in inflation.

“In 2020, when the inflation rate was below zero the price of everyday goods and services was more than a third higher than the EU average. Housing costs, including utility and energy bills, were higher than anywhere else in the union – a massive 78% above average.

“Public transport was 37% more expensive. Average childcare fees for a working couple with two pre-school children were eating up a fifth of their joint income,” it found.

Moving a motion from the union’s National Executive, which placed the “restoration and improvement of living standards above all other issues in the current round of pay bargaining in the public service and elsewhere,” Kevin Callinan said Fórsa would pursue this with a “single-minded determination.”

He said he didn’t underestimate the scale of the challenge in the run-up to imminent public service pay talks. But he added that there was now a solid basis for substantial negotiations as the employers’ side had acknowledged that the inflation assumptions underpinning Building Momentum have changed significantly.

“Workers, their families, and their communities are the victims of inflation, not the cause of inflation. I have made it clear that there needs to be an improvement in the agreement’s pay terms this year,” he said.

“Part of the reason is the relatively low rate of employer PRSI. But it's also because of long-term failure to properly resource public services. There is now a chance to commence the process of transformational change. But we need to start the job with urgency and rigour, and achieve early and tangible results, because Ireland’s low social wage is feeding directly into today’s cost of living crisis.

“If this opportunity is spurned or squandered then the blame for declining living standards will rest squarely on the shoulders of this Government,” he said.

Fórsa has called for a fundamental review and reform of working time and working patterns across the economy. Delegates at the union’s conference in Killarney last week passed a motion from the union’s national executive, which called for reduced working time and more remote working and other flexible arrangements.

The union also wants work-time flexibility for workers approaching retirement, in light of increased life expectancy and other demographic trends.

National secretary Éamonn Donnelly said modern society required a different approach to the way we work.

“Reduced working time can be an important mechanism for maintaining employment as new technologies replace or change traditional jobs. It would share the benefits of improved productivity that flow from automation and other technological developments, while also helping to address challenges like the climate crisis, increasing caring demands, and demographic shifts including longer life expectancy,” he said.

Éamonn said the pandemic had demonstrated the benefits of a better work-life balance which many workers experienced for the first time in their lives due to the enforced remote working experience.

“People were spending more time with their families. They were able to move away from high-rent pressure zones. Commuting times reduced significantly, contributing to a better environment. We cannot lose these positive changes moving forward and must prioritise them in any review of working practices moving forward,” he said.

Fórsa has been campaigning for four-day working week pilot programmes in all sectors. The union has led the Irish strand of an international campaign that argues that reduced working time can maintain or even increase productivity while improving work-life balance, rural-urban balance and improved environmental outcomes.

The union’s national executive also committed to continuing to campaign for more of public holidays. Ireland has fewer than most relatively-rich European countries.

Fórsa is to step up its campaign for expanded State service provision and a “best-of-class” social wage including free health care at the point of delivery, access to free or affordable childcare and early years’ education, social housing worthy of the name, enhanced local services and accessible high-quality education.

Delegates to the union’s national conference last week endorsed the union’s report on the post-pandemic Irish state, which was published in February. 

The report also called for the development of a long-term economic and industrial strategy that reduces Ireland’s dependence on foreign direct investment by developing parallel indigenous enterprise.

Moving the motion, Fórsa national secretary Katie Morgan said the State’s response to the pandemic had demonstrated what can be achieved when prioritising financial, organisational and human resources for the common good.

“Workers, communities, and public services stepped up to extraordinary challenges in 2020 and 2021. We worked together collectively to provide equal and easy access to essential goods and services. And we continue to step up.

“Now the State must step up further for its citizens to build upon the positive actions taken because of the pandemic. To move forwards, not backwards, when it comes to the expansion of the role of the State in public service delivery, innovation, economic management, and climate action,” she said.

She echoed the post-pandemic report’s findings by calling for a progressive State, which provided decent public services worthy of a wealthy European nation.

“This should be funded by an expansion of employer PRSI contributions, increased tax on wealth, and a phasing out of subsidies for environmentally damaging fossil fuels, accompanied by a trebling of R&D spending on renewables,” she said.

Fórsa’s campaigning summer school is set to return as an in-person event on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th June. The two-day event will feature training workshops and discussions on the union’s main campaigns. This will be the first in person summer school since the onset of the pandemic.

Fórsa’s campaigning director Kevin Donoghue said the school is an important date in the union’s campaigning calendar. He encouraged all members to get involved.

“This event is open to all Fórsa members especially anyone who’s involved in campaigns or has an interest in developing campaign experience. You don’t need previous experience to attend this event,” he said.

Delegates attending the summer school are also invited to a social event, which will take place on the Friday evening (17th June). You can find more information HERE. Spaces for the summer school are limited, so anyone who wants to take part should contact Kevin Donoghue HERE and express their interest early.

Fórsa has a new team of officers, who were elected by the union’s branches at last week’s national conference. They will hold the positions for the next two years.

Michael Smyth of the union’s School Completion Programme branch was re-elected president, while Julie Flood of the Dublin City branch became the union’s new honorary treasurer.

Martin Walsh of the Louth Health and Local Government branch was re-elected as senior vice-president, and the remaining vice-president positions were filled by Betty Tyrrell-Collard of the Dublin Central CS Clerical branch and Helen Sheridan of the Irish Aviation Authority branch.

Under Fórsa rules, each of the union’s divisions must all be represented on the five-person officer group, with the Local Government division and Municipal Employees’ division counting as one constituency for this purpose.

Fórsa’s youth network held a fringe event at the union’s national conference last week. It was the first in-person youth event since the onset of the pandemic.

The session was arranged to allow for an open discussion with delegates on increasing youth engagement at branch level, educating younger and future workers, and developing an organising strategy to recruit young workers.

The re-established group met with over 30 young members, and a robust and energetic conversation followed.

Cliadhna Dinneen and Kathryn Collins of the union’s Cork Health and Local Government branch explored the already established strong youth structure in place in their branch, and looked how this could be developed further across divisions.

Fórsa official Michael Kerrigan said that the future of the movement lies in the hands of young workers.

“For this union to continue to grow we must educate, empower and campaign for both younger workers and future workers. We are particularly thankful to members of Young Fórsa Cork who shared their experience of established youth structures at a branch level and how this has resulted in increased youth involvement with the branch executive committee,” he said.

The network will soon arrange a number consultation meetings with members nationwide, with a view to developing an organising strategy to recruit and empower younger members.

For more information, or to get involved, contact the network HERE.

Michael Smyth, who was re-elected as Fórsa’s president at last week’s biennial delegate conference, looked to the future as he addressed delegates in his opening speech to conference.

He told delegates that the sudden and sustained pressure inflation had placed on workers’ incomes required the trade union movement to respond “quickly and decisively.”

Acknowledging the difficulties of the last two years, and the extraordinary response of Fórsa members to the challenges of the pandemic, Michael reflected on how the union has become “more vital and much stronger” as it enters its fifth year, and about how the recent Fórsa review and the union’s strategic plan will underpin the union’s growing strength.

Michael said the recent breakthrough on the restoration of pre-Haddington Road working hours in public services illustrated the collective strength the union’s members now employ.

“Greater than the sum of our constituent founder unions, we have built an organisation determined to keep improving,” he said.

He said the union’s strategic plan was all about putting members first and committing Fórsa to building a better and stronger union that delivers for members.

Michael focused on the issues of blended and remote working throughout most of his address to delegates, emphasising the imperative for the Government to “get it right” on legislation for remote working as part of its response to the climate emergency.

“Why would we mindlessly return to clogging the roads between commuter towns and Irish cities with thousands upon thousands of private cars?

“Why would we needlessly burn hundreds of thousands of litres of fossil fuel and release thousands of tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere - just so that someone can perform work that they could - just as easily - have done at home or in a remote working hub close to home?

“Equally, why would people be obligated to spend a huge portion of each working day in that state of suspended animation that commuting forces upon them? Those hours of pointless commuting accumulate into days, weeks, months and years.

“Our recent experience has taught us all that this precious time can be better spent, making for a happier, healthier and a genuinely more productive workforce,” he said.

Quoting commentator Sarah O’Connor, Michael added: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebalance the economy by allowing good jobs to spill out of pressure-cooker cities. The pandemic has made a new world of work possible. Let’s not go back to a past which wasn’t working anyway.”

Michael said every member of the union could take pride in the response to the pandemic crisis of members from all six divisions of Fórsa: “You spared no efforts in transforming how services are delivered in truly extraordinary circumstances, demonstrating innovation, flexibility and the true dynamism of Irish public services.

“This includes those delivered by our members in the community and voluntary sector, where the struggle for proper collective bargaining mechanisms, and a more sustainable funding model, continues.”

Read Michael’s full speech HERE.

Fórsa has joined unions around the world in offering condolences to the family and friends of respected Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli forces whilst reporting on raids in Jenin two weeks ago.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) reported earlier in the month that Abu Akleh was hit by a bullet whilst wearing a press vest. Another journalist working with her at the time stated gunfire was opened without instruction to stop filming.

A respected journalist at Al Jazeera for over two decades, Shireen’s killing has been described as another example in the systematic abuse of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces.

Attacks against Palestinian journalists in Israel have been condemned by unions around the world who have called on authorities to act swiftly and hold those responsible to account.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet described the killing as an “appalling act of violence.”

“This shocking incident must be seen in the context of Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists working in Palestine and its failure to properly investigate killings of media workers.

"The IFJ, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) submitted the formal complaint to the International Criminal Court last month. Sadly, a new name must now be added to that file,” she said.

Fórsa supports the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement to end Israel’s illegal occupation and oppression of Palestine.

Low-income households have been most severely affected by the cost-of-living crisis according to a new report from TASC, Ireland’s think tank for social change. Its latest inequality report says the rising cost of living is felt most by those least able to protect themselves.

The State we are in: Inequality in Ireland 2022 found that Income inequality had fallen in Ireland during the pandemic because of income supports and other Government interventions. But post-pandemic inflation, made worse by the consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, could reverse this trend.

The report also highlighted the impact of Ireland’s dependency on energy imports. It said the Government should investigate how Ireland’s energy producers have fared during the crisis “and potentially compel energy companies to contribute to the cost-of-living crisis.”

The authors suggest that measures like Italy’s 25% tax on the excess profits of energy companies, which is being used to fund temporary reductions in energy prices, should be explored here.

“An advantage of this measure over price regulation is its precision. It targets excess profits, and the proceeds can deployed as policymakers choose. An alternative measure could be to temporarily regulate energy prices. This could be done by increasing prices according to energy usage, as is done in the case of water.

“While energy use does not perfectly correlate with income, higher-income households tend to consume more energy. Aside from being progressive, the advantage of such an approach over broad subsidies to energy use is that it penalises high energy consumption,” it says.

TASC says Government measures introduced so should have been better targeted.

“Subsidies to enable the consumption of fossil fuels are also problematic given Ireland’s poor performance on emissions. It is therefore important that cost of living measures are accompanied by climate action policies,” it said.

The report also says sector-by-sector collective bargaining, which exists in most rich European countries, offers the best route to reducing wage inequality, and hence income inequality.

Meanwhile, Fórsa last week criticised the absence of agreement between unions, Government and employer representatives on practical measures to expand the range of free and affordable public services is undermining the national response to Ireland’s cost of living crisis.

Speaking at the union’s national conference last week, Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan called for intensified dialogue to improve Ireland’s ‘social wage,’ or state spending on welfare supports and public services. He also called for the national minimum wage to be increased to the rate of the higher living wage.

Read the TASC report HERE.

Fórsa added its voice to calls for a safer and more inclusive workplace on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on 17th May. The union recommitted its efforts to building a better workplace for all, and called for the urgent ratification of International Labour Organisaion (ILO) convention C190 on violence and harassment in the world of work to protect LGBTI workers.

The convention was adopted in 2019 after years of hard work by global trade union federations. But it has only been ratified by 14 countries so far.

The convention establishes the right to work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment. It’s the first international law to do so.

C190 is complemented by Recommendation 206 (R206), which gives more detailed guidance on how the Convention should be implemented at the national level.

In a recent study, the British campaigning organisation Stonewall reported that one-in-five LGBT+ workers in the UK had been the target of negative conduct or treatment from co-workers and that one in eight transgender workers had been physically attacked by colleagues or customers. Another study by the Williams Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles Law School found that 46% of LGBT workers experienced unfair treatment at work and 34% had left a job because of poor treatment by their boss.

In a statement, the global union federation Public Services International (PSI), said the Covid crisis had exacerbated homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. The UN’s independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity further concluded “that Covid-19 had a disproportionate impact on LGBT persons and, with few exceptions, the response to the pandemic reproduces and exacerbates the patterns of social exclusion and violence.”

On 17 May 1990, the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its classification of diseases and related health problems, a milestone in the long struggle for LGBT+ rights. Since then, the day has been marked as the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

The final instalment of Fórsa’s ‘Irish State post-pandemic’ webinar series takes place next Thursday, 2nd June from 12.30-13.30. It will focus on a post-pandemic Northern Ireland. 

The event will examine the political and economic challenges in Northern Ireland, and discuss they can be overcome.

Speakers include ICTU assistant general secretary Owen Reidy, who has responsibility for Northern Ireland, Unison regional secretary Patricia McKeown, and Alison Millar who chairs ICTU’s Northern Ireland Committee.

The webinar series was born from a Fórsa-commissioned report produced by TASC on the Irish State post pandemic. The report provides 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.

You can register for the event HERE.

More information on the TASC report “The Irish State post-pandemic” can be found HERE.  

Delegates at Fórsa’s national conference unanimously backed a motion that called on the union to maintain its practical humanitarian support for the people of Ukraine. The conference also pledged to continue working with Irish and international organisations to resist attacks on democracies and to support a just and peaceful resolution in Ukraine.

The union’s recent Ukraine appeal raised €500,000 for humanitarian aid.

Moving the emergency motion, Fórsa’s head of education Andy Pike said the war would have profound and long-lasting effects on its victims.

“There are no excuses for Russia’s invasion. There are no excuses for the war crimes. There are no excuses for the senseless loss of life, and there must be no hiding place on earth for those responsible,” he said.

He said it was up to the Ukrainian people to decide what their future should be. “Whatever they decide they must have our support. They have stood up against impossible odds and made such sacrifices to defend their country and they been clear that they want to live in a free, independent Ukraine that is safe from Russian aggression,” he said.

Andy also said the Irish welcome extended to Ukrainian refugees should be the model for the State’s approach to all asylum-seekers.

“We have seen how our society can welcome Ukrainian refugees, so there can be no excuses for not applying the same standards of solidarity, compassion and humanity to all other refugees fleeing war and persecution. They should be welcome here regardless of their race, their ethnicity, or their religion. We must now apply the same compassion and the humanity to all who need it,” he said.

Fórsa members have been asked to support a petition calling for the release of over a dozen Belarusian trade unionists arrested by the KGB last month for speaking out against Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and standing up for workers’ rights. You can sign the petition HERE. 

The arrests and detainment of union leaders has been condemned by Amnesty International, the International Labour Organisation and unions across the globe.

The detained trade union activists include almost all of Belarus’s independent union leaders. Among them were President of Congress of Democratic Trade Unions (BKDP) Alexandr Yarashuk, vice-president Siarhei Antusevich, and the head of the Free Belarusian Trade Union Mikalaj Sharakh.

For decades the independent trade union movement in Belarus has taken a strong stand against the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenko.

Despite a severe political crackdown, the BKDP has openly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demanded the withdrawal of the Russian troops from the territory of Belarus.

Fórsa members have also been asked to share the petition links with colleagues, friends and family. Watch this SHORT VIDEO.

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’s climbers are scaling Kilimanjaro later this year to raise some much needed funds for the Irish Hospice Foundation.

As part of their fundraising efforts, the team, comprised of activists and staff, are hosting an online raffle. Prizes include holiday stays and gift vouchers, and tickets can be bought HERE. 

The Irish Hospice Foundation is the only national organisation dedicated to dying, death and bereavement in Ireland. All funds raised in the raffle will go towards delivery of a range of work programmes and services, including night nurses, hospice home care for children and bereavement support groups.

The Kilimanjaro climbers are also planning future fundraising initiatives for this very worthy cause.

Click HERE to buy tickets and find more information on the raffle.