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.