Fórsa has negotiated a new benefit for its members, who now have access to a free health and medical information helpline. Staffed by qualified nurses, the service provides information on health and fitness, as well as non-diagnostic advice on medical matters.

Advice on allergies, the side effects of drugs, and improving your general fitness are also available as part of this service.

The lines are staffed from 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public and bank holidays. But if you call outside these times, you can leave a message and a qualified nurse will get back to you during the normal operating hours.

The new service is part of a suite of helplines – free to Fórsa members – including a legal advice line, a confidential counselling service, and a domestic assistance helpline.

You can get details of these here.

Health and medical information helpline: Phone 1890-254-164

Fórsa has ensured that the threat of outsourcing of services at the Rathmines women’s refuge is “off the table.” The organisation provides ten family spaces to women and their children who are experiencing domestic violence.

Fórsa went to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) because after the child and family agency Tusla breached the current public service agreement by failing to consult staff on a decision to outsource the management of the refuge to a separate agency. Talks last week led to a WRC process that ensures services will stay in-house.

The refuge closed in September 2017 for renovations and its 15 staff members were temporarily redeployed to other Tusla employments. But when the work was completed last September, Tusla took no steps to inform the staff of its plans to re-open the refuge.

Fórsa official Tony Martin explained: “We made several attempts to establish an opening date for the refuge and a clear schedule for these 15 highly experienced women to return to work there, which they were keen to do.

“Instead we were informed by Tusla of its decision to outsource the management of the refuge to a separate agency. In the absence of any consultation with staff we had no option but to refer this on the basis that it breaches the requirement for consultation contained in the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA),” he said.

Tony said the union’s aim is to ensure the 15 staff are returned to their posts at the refuge as soon as possible. He said the absence of the refuge since September 2017 has been described by Women’s Aid as a “key gap” in service provision for women experiencing domestic violence.

“These are a highly experienced group of staff who delivered a vital and very sensitive service. Their demands are very simple, they just want to return to work to continue delivering that service.

“Tusla has offered no explanation as to why it has looked to a separate agency to run the refuge. It has declined offers to engage and discuss the issue. We've made it clear that we’re available to discuss any outstanding issues once we can re-establish this group of staff to their posts.

We’re glad now to have achieved the first step of taking outsourcing off the table,” he said.

Tony explained that the process will be chaired by WRC reconciliation officer Damien Cannon, and the parties will meet again in just under four weeks’ time.

Fórsa has called on the Government to protect the incomes of public servants who reached the compulsory retirement age of 65 before the end of last year, but then stayed in work on a 12-month temporary arrangement because the state pension age had been changed from 65 to 66.

New legislation that allows civil and public servants to choose to work until age 70 has resolved the problem for staff approaching retirement now. But many were caught out before this measure became law last December.

In a submission to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), the union argues that these workers should be given the option to extend their 12-month retention arrangement up until age 70, and get increments due to them during this period.

When the new law was passed at the end of 2018, finance minister Paschal Donohoe said he would issue a report on public servants who were forced to retire between 6th December 2017 and the commencement of the Act, along with “potential remedies to assist this cohort of worker.”

Fórsa national secretary Billy Hannigan said the union’s recommendation was a practical response to the legal position we are now in. “It may not be the most ideal solution, but it is the most practical having regard to the fact that pension schemes are based on statute and that pension abatement rules are also governed by legislation,” he said.

The new law, which the Government introduced in response to union pressure, was necessary because many civil and public servants depend on the state pension for a substantial part of their retirement income.

Meanwhile, DPER has published a guide to the new legislation and its implications for civil and public servants. You can read it here.

Fórsa women activists from around the country took part in INSPIRE training at the end of last month. This was the third year the union ran the training, which aims to inspire and empower female activists.

The training included workshops on confidence-building, communications and campaigning, and an impressive panel of speakers – including former RTÉ political correspondent, Martina Fitzgerald and Claire Power, advisor to President Michael D. Higgins – shared their experiences of working in prominent positions.

That question-and-answer session was facilitated by experienced Fórsa activists Margaret Coughlan, who chairs ICTU’s women’s committee and also featured Fórsa president Ann McGee.

Martina Fitzgerald made the point that women are often described as being feisty, strident and emotional, while men who act in the same way are considered assertive and ambitious. Claire Power said women are often apologetic in their speech, prefacing a question or interjection with “I’m sorry, but…” or something similar.

She urged delegates to be confident in their contributions, saying they were just as valid as anyone else’s.

Ann spoke about how being born with spina bifida made her so much more resilient than she would have been without it. “In order to be successful, you must strive to turn a perceived negative into a positive and use that to your advantage,” she said.

Although Fórsa membership is comprised of 69% women, the majority of senior positions are held by men. Seminars like these aim to change the status quo and encourage more women to step up and run for elections to have their voices heard both within the union and beyond.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has called on the Irish Government to establish a ‘Brexit adjustment fund’ to protect vulnerable groups of workers and industries in the case of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. This followed Enterprise Ireland’s prediction that, if it happens, 25,000 workers would be directly affected by such a shock.

It also emerged in newspaper reports last weekend that the Government is pursuing measures first mooted by Fórsa at its 2017 Brexit seminar. These include EU supports for agriculture and the food sector, and a temporary relaxation of EU state aid rules.

Last week Irish trade union representatives met political leaders in London to stress the need to uphold the Good Friday agreement, avoid a ‘hard’ Brexit, and prevent the reintroduction of customs infrastructure on the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

Owen Reidy of ICTU’s Northern Ireland office met the Northern Ireland secretary, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the leaders of the Liberal Democrat and Scottish Nationalist parties.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Reidy said a hard border would be hugely damaging to workers across the island of Ireland. “In the absence of an alternative, ICTU, reluctantly backed Teresa May’s draft withdrawal agreement. We did so on the basis that this proposal, while clearly inferior to the status quo, would do less harm than a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

“It now remains to be seen if the UK political establishment has the capacity and indeed the wit to get its act together and avoid what the majority of politicians, and those of us who represent real people in representative organisations, want. That is an agreement between the UK and EU if there has to be a Brexit at all,” he said.

Earlier, ICTU general secretary Patricia King responded to the UK parliament’s rejection of the draft withdrawal agreement last week, saying it made a “no-deal crash-out Brexit” more likely.

“This is unacceptable, given the damage it will do to Northern Ireland and the consequential collateral damage to the Republic of Ireland. It is incumbent on the British political establishment to develop a consensus that is also acceptable to the EU, to protect the interests of citizens and workers across these islands. The coherence and sense of purpose of the EU 27 contrasts significantly with the chaos in Westminster. Workers across the island must not pay the price of this ham fisted Brexit,” she said.

She said trade unions and other representative bodies should be invited to play a central role in a ‘Brexit Stakeholders Forum’ under strand 3 of the Good Friday Agreement, to address the impact of Brexit in Northern Ireland.

Irish workplaces need to become more accommodating for the increasing number of workers aged over 65, according to a new study. The Dublin City University report, Living longer, learning longer – working longer? Implications for new workforce dynamics, also says greater flexibility in employment terms are needed to retain older workers.

The report highlights the rising age-profile of the workforce due to the increased mandatory pension age in the public service to 70, and planned increases to the state pension age.

It says offices and workplaces may need to be redesigned to accommodate an ageing workforce. It recommends introducing physical changes like magnifying glasses to reduce eye-strain and height set tables and chairs, as well physio developed stretching exercises.

The report adds that changes can lead to an increase in productivity, and lower levels of absenteeism in workforces with a higher age-profile.

Read the report here (via The Irish Times).

Fórsa representatives were amongst those in attendance at the Raise the Roof housing conference in Dublin last Wednesday (30th January). The event focused on Ireland’s ever-increasing rate of homelessness, particularly the number of families and children currently without a home.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ general secretary, Patricia King addressed the crowd of about 200 campaigners, union representatives, politicians, community groups, students, housing agencies and members of the public. She recalled the launch of the Congress Charter for Housing Rights this time last year and noted that since then the homelessness figures have increased to practically 10,000 people.

“Twelve months on, there are 1,728 families homeless with 3,811 children in those families,” she said, noting that one additional family becomes homeless every eight hours.

The charter, supported by many unions including Fórsa, outlines five key principles that offer short, medium and long-term solutions to the housing crisis. The first step is to declare a national housing emergency and commence the building of a major public housing programme.

Fórsa lead organiser, Joe O’Connor said trade unions involved in the campaign will be ramping up the political pressure in the coming months. “This conference is just the beginning of a range of planned campaign actions for 2019, including a set of regional rallies alongside the tabling of council motions, starting in Cork on 11th March,” he said.

A cross-party motion was passed in the Dáil last October, with the support of all opposition parties including Fianna Fáil. The motion commits to a set of measures which would bring effect to the Congress Charter for Housing Rights, including introducing a legal or constitutional right to housing.

O’Connor emphasised that Fórsa’s goal is to ensure political delivery on this parliamentary commitment, while working under the Raise the Roof umbrella.

The age limit for eligibility for Fórsa’s critical illness, accident benefit, and death benefit has been increased from 65 to 70 under a revised benefits package – which now also includes a free health helpline.

Eligible Fórsa members are entitled to a range of financial benefits including €5,000 personal accident or illness benefit, or €5,000 critical illness or death benefit*. Spouses of members are also covered for death benefit.

The union also provides a range of free helplines, including a legal advice helpline (1850-77-66-44) and a confidential counselling helpline (1850-77-66-55).

You can see the full range of helplines and financial services here.

* Terms and conditions apply.

State action to tackle bogus self-employment is “insufficient everywhere,” including at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), according to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) general secretary, Patricia King.

She was speaking as representatives from ICTU and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) gave evidence to the joint Oireachtas committee on employment affairs and social protection recently.

Ms King said bogus self-employment was costing the exchequer, with €240 million worth of PRSI and tax receipts lost in the construction sector alone.

The committee also heard that talks between RTÉ and the NUJ on the status of over 100 contractors working at the national broadcaster were “tortuous,” in the words of NUJ general secretary Séamus Dooley. The NUJ met RTÉ on the issue again last Friday.

The term ‘bogus self-employment’ refers to situations where workers who should be classified as employees are marked as self-employed. By classifying these workers as self-employed, employers can avoid having to pay PRSI and sick pay.