Health service clerical, administrative and management staff are among the workers set to receive a 1% pay adjustment with effect from 1st February 2022.

It comes after the HSE sanctioned the payment, due under the ‘sectoral bargaining’ clause of the Building Momentum public service agreement negotiated by Fórsa and other unions.

Staff should soon see the award reflected in pay packets as local HR departments implement amended pay scales, which were circulated by the HSE at the end of last week.

Fórsa has been pressing for the implementation of the payment to grades that have opted for a straight 1% payment under the sectoral bargaining clause. The union’s national executive opted for a straight 1% payment for all clerical and admin staff after consulting with representatives of the grades.

The payment comes as Fórsa and other unions consider a revised public service pay package proposed by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) earlier this week. 

Fórsa has served notice of one-day strike actions in Galway community and voluntary sector agencies later this month. The action will take place in Western Care and Ability West on 22nd September, as part of the ICTU-led Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign.

Other coordinated strike action by SIPTU and INMO members will take place in Cork and Mayo on 21st and 22nd September.

The campaign aims to achieve improved terms and conditions of employment for social care professionals and other staff employed in agencies funded by the HSE, where staff are employed on lower pay and lesser conditions than equivalent grades in the HSE and other agencies.

The Fórsa Galway’s Health and Local Government Branch highlighted the problems facing the sector last Saturday (27th August) when members and supporters rallied behind the campaign to “Fund us fairly, pay us right.”

Research published last year by Fórsa shows that up to a third of staff in these agencies are leaving their jobs each year to seek better employment in similar work elsewhere.

Unions say urgent Government action is needed to address the funding of organisations in the sector, to make pay improvements for staff, stem the high rate of staff exits each year and fulfil recruitment targets for vital health services, including disability and homeless services.

Fórsa national secretary Ashley Connolly said the Government was failing to grasp the link between its chronic underfunding of the services we’re talking about and the failure to meet the HSE’s recruitment targets in disability services and elsewhere. “The outgoing head of the HSE has acknowledged they’re having problems meeting targets for disability services nationally, including unfilled roles in 18 organisations funded by the State. This has led to service delivery issues and growing waiting lists.

“The HSE leans heavily on the community and voluntary sector to deliver these services. These are the same organisations struggling to attract enough qualified and experienced staff in a very tight labour market. Why? Because they can get better paid work elsewhere.

“The high level of staff turnover drives up HR and related recruitment costs. The failure to fund the services adequately has led directly to shortfalls in services, growing waiting lists and an intolerable burden placed on nursing and other care staff in the sector,” she said.

Industrial action ballots in each of the employments, conducted over the past few weeks, produced strong support for industrial action, up to and including strike action. Notice of the action was served to employers on 31st August.

Fórsa, and other health unions are seeking an urgent meeting with the health department to address the failure to pay the pandemic special recognition payment to staff in section 39 agencies, the children’s agency Tusla and other areas.

The union says that, while department has confirmed that the scheme will cover these organisations, it has failed to provide the necessary clarity.

Fórsa has criticised the lack of clarity in the process for qualification for the payment as well as delays in awarding the recognition bonus to private nursing home staff, healthcare assistants and many others who worked on the frontline at the height of the pandemic.

In June, RTÉ reported just one-in-eight health service workers eligible for the €1,000 Covid-19 pandemic bonus had been paid the money. The Government announced the scheme in January.

The head of Fórsa’s Health and Welfare Division, Ashley Connolly, said it was unacceptable that health staff had to wait for so long to receive their payment.

“Our members stepped up and put themselves on the frontlines of risk at the most uncertain time for this country. Now when it is time to honour that effort, the delays and uncertainty around qualification are unnecessary and inexplainable. These people risked their own lives at a time when there was no vaccine and inadequate PPE, and to be excluded now from the recognition bonus is just unfair.”

“We are just asking the Government to live up to its promise and make the payment as a matter of priority,” she said.

The union said a timeline on the rollout of the payment and clarity on the process is urgently needed, to award some certainty to staff due to receive it and alleviate unnecessary worry.

Fórsa national secretary Linda Kelly has taken over responsibility for the defence of fitness to practise complaints against Fórsa members.

Health and social care professionals regulated by CORU can face fitness to practise complaints. They include physiotherapists, physical therapists, dietitians, social workers, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and podiatrists.

Fórsa members in these professions have access to a free advisory and representation service, including legal representation.

Linda said the complaints process was arduous and often lengthy.

The union is planning a learning event for Fórsa members later in 2022, and Linda advised members to keep an eye on future e-bulletins for details.

Members who receive a complaint from CORU should Sheena Clarke on 01-817-1512 or email sclarke@forsa.ie without delay. Read more about the fitness-to-practise process HERE. 

Hundreds of members and supporters gathered in Galway last Saturday (27th August) for Fórsa ’s Fund Us Fairly, Pay Us Right rally, which called for pay fairness for social care professionals who deliver disability, homeless and other care services in Galway's community and voluntary sector.

The family-friendly protest rally, which was addressed by Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) president and Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, was organised Fórsa’s Galway branch to highlight pay inequality, recruitment difficulties and growing waiting lists in the community and voluntary sector.

Thousands of care professionals are employed in organisations funded by the HSE and other state agencies to deliver specialist care services.

Galway-based social care worker Rachel featured in one of Fórsa’s video messages on social media. She explained: "My colleagues and I provide a valuable frontline service to a wide range of vulnerable people. We are campaigning for better funding for our services because we are struggling to recruit talented social care professionals, people who could add real and lasting value to the services we provide. We need proper funding, and that is the responsibility of the HSE and the Government."

Fórsa organiser Helen Cousins works with social care professionals in the sector in Galway. She explained that most of the funded organisations are struggling to recruit and retain care staff, as wages and conditions in the HSE, other state services and the private sector are more attractive to workers.

She said: “Disability and homeless services in Galway are under severe pressure because workers can’t get a fair deal because their employers don’t receive adequate funding from the state.

“We have lots of members in the same professional roles in different employments, delivering the same services, who are on different rates of pay. This is because those agencies funded by the HSE cannot deliver any pay improvements.

“As a result, staff are moving on to where they can earn a better wage. These are degree qualified professionals, who are constantly upskilling.

“The effect of all this, in disability services for example, where the HSE relies on community and voluntary organisations to deliver these services, is that they can’t attract professional talent because the funding provided is inadequate. This leads to growing waiting lists for services.

“We're aware that most of these community and voluntary organisations are advocating themselves for improved funding to enable them to improve pay and conditions for their staff.

"By funding these organisations properly, the community and voluntary sector can more successfully recruit the staff they need, boost services and improve the pay and conditions of existing staff, many of whom haven’t had any sort of pay improvement in years.”

Industrial action by Fórsa members in Western Care and Ability West will take place on Thursday 22nd September, in a series of coordinated strike actions with other unions, as part of the ICTU-led Valuing Care, Valuing Communities campaign.

Watch video and related content:

Rachel: “We are struggling to recruit talented social care professionals”

Brian: “The HSE doesn’t recognise us as employees"

Three voices: Áine, Síofra and David – talk about the challenges of delivering vital services as recruiting & retaining staff becomes more difficult.

See more video and photos at #FundUsFairly on Fórsa's social media.

See also news coverage on RTE’s Six One bulletin and on TG4 Nuacht, featuring members of Fórsa’s Galway Health and Local Government branch.

The HSE has teamed up with the Irish Hospice Foundation to launch a new campaign to support healthcare workers struggling with bereavement, grief and loss.

The new initiative sets out to support workers following the pandemic, which was a new and difficult experience for many including those exposed to more death, illness and distress than usual,

Developed in consultation with the HSE employee assistance programme (EAP) and healthcare workers, the resource covers coping with the death of a team member, personal bereavement and Covid-19 and grief. There is also a guide on how healthcare workers can support each other as they navigate grief.

A list of useful contact details and a dedicated online guide to increase knowledge about grief, bereavement and supports is also included in the resource.

• HSE staff can call the HSE Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) on 0818-327-327 to speak to someone who can help. This is a free and confidential service.
• The IHF Bereavement Support Line is open Monday to Friday, from 10.00am to 1.00pm and is available on 1800-80-70-77
• Information to increase knowledge about grief, bereavement and supports can be found HERE. 

The HSE’s national director of integrated operations, Dr Stephanie O’Keefe, is playing a key role in the rollout of the initiative. She said that healthcare workers care for others, and looking after themselves, especially after losing someone close to them is the self-care that many forget.

“Covid-19 took away end of life moments from patients and families, with healthcare workers sometimes becoming the only human connection during this time. Be gentle on yourself, acknowledge your feelings and reach out for support if you need to,” she said.

Fórsa has called for an urgent Government commitment to a referendum on the right to housing, with a firm date for voting, in its latest submission on the issue.

The union, in alliance with ICTU and the Home for Good coalition, has submitted the statement to the official public consultation on a referendum on housing in Ireland.

Fórsa said it believes that a referendum on housing must lead to a referendum on the right to housing in the constitution.

“Many of our members not only work in the housing and homelessness sectors but are experiencing the emotional and economic strain of housing exclusion, homelessness, and living in inadequate, unsafe, insecure or overcrowded accommodation,” it says.

“Fórsa understands the importance of a home as the fundamental social and economic infrastructure of our society,” it added.

With 61,880 people on the public housing wait lists, 10,325 in official homelessness, and 166,000 vacant homes throughout the country, the report calls out the severe lack of progressive housing policy which empowers local authorities to produce affordable housing.

“A constitutional right to housing will open pathways for policy makers to assist Local Authorities in the development of more affordable homes that the people of Ireland desperately need,” it says.

The union’s campaigns’ director, Kevin Donoghue, said a key factor outlined in the submission was empowering the local authorities, which hold key responsibilities in managing public lands, to pursue ambitious housing policy.

“This is important to secure the production of high levels of public housing. Affordable housing is crucial to ending the housing crisis, and the union has maintained that throughout its submission. A right to housing will shift the responsibilities for housing and homelessness from the market, which has no obligation to provide affordable housing, to the State.

“This is a multigenerational emergency that will continue to sow irreparable damage on our society unless the constitution is balanced so that all levels of government are empowered to do more,” he said.

“The severity of the housing crisis demands that a referendum on the right to housing occurs swiftly,” added Kevin.

The union says the constitution in its current form is “deeply unbalanced,” leaving too many facing housing insecurity to depend on legislation that has no structure for legal support.

Read the full submission HERE.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has called on the Government to increase the national minimum wage from €10.50 to €12 per hour in this month’s budget.

ICTU’s private sector committee said that this hourly increase would provide a significant boost to workers’ living standards and enhance the sales revenue of businesses reliant upon their purchasing power.

It added that anything less would result in low-paid workers suffering substantial real cuts in their living standards.

Earlier this year, the Government announced proposals to start introducing a living wage for all employees from 2023. It said the living wage, which would be significantly higher than the current legal minimum, would replace the national minimum wage over four years.

The living wage, calculated by a technical group made up of trade unions, economists, charities, and social justice campaigners, is the net wage needed to cover all the costs of living. It is currently set at €12.90 an hour, compared to a €10.50 minimum wage.

In its pre-budget submission, ICTU said an increase in the national minimum wage would correspond with the plans to introduce the living wage within the proposed timeline.

“An increase to €12 per hour would also help ensure that the Government reaches its target of increasing the minimum wage to the living wage within a reasonable time frame,” it said.

Congress also emphasised the benefit of increasing the minimum wage during a time of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis. “One of the most effective anti-inflation tools the Government can employ in the upcoming budget is to increase the incomes of those in the lowest-paid jobs in the economy,” it said.

Read ICTU’s Laura Bambrick piece on why the minimum wage must change for workers under 20.

Workers on lower incomes face a higher rate of inflation than the average according to a recent report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). It estimates that June inflation of 9.1% went as high as 10.3% for lower income households, and as low as 8.2% for higher earners period.

This is because spending on essentials makes up a larger part of lower earners’ outgoings. So inflationary hikes on those products hit them hardest.

The CSO estimates that lower earners spend a larger share of their income on essentials like food and fuel, and the rise in the prices of these products has a much worse effect on their incomes.

The massive hikes in food and energy bills, are further pinching the disposable incomes available with lower earners.

Earlier this week, it was reported that eurozone inflation also hit another record high this month at 9.1%

Read the CSO’s Inflation by Household report HERE. 

Fórsa’s elected national executive met yesterday (Thursday) and voted overwhelmingly to recommend the public service pay package proposed by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) earlier this week. The union also decided to suspend earlier plans for an industrial action ballot to allow members to vote on the pay package.

The ballot on the package will commence next week, with voting concluding in early October. In the meantime, the union has produced this ‘frequently asked questions’ document, which includes a facility for members to ask questions. 

The pay proposals would see increases of 3% with effect from 2nd February 2022, 2% from 1st March 2023 and 1.5% or €750 (whichever is the greater) from 1st October 2023.

This is in addition to 1% or €500, whichever is greater, which due at the beginning of October 2022 under the existing Building Momentum agreement.

The minimum payment of €750 a year from next October means the package would be worth 8% to a worker earning €25,000 a year and 7% to a person on €37,500 a year.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan, who led the union side in the talks, said the deal was the best that could currently be achieved through negotiations.

“The Fórsa executive considered the details of the package and had a constructive debate, which strongly acknowledged the financial realities facing working people across the economy – as well as their fears for the future.

“While neither side achieved all it sought in the negotiations, this package is a significant improvement on the pay terms of the current public service agreement, Building Momentum, and it is worth more to those who need it most.

“Over the past weeks, Minister McGrath and his Government colleagues have repeatedly promised to supplement pay measures with other cost-of-living supports including in the forthcoming Budget. Workers will now expect delivery on that promise. A Government failure to deliver will certainly impact the vote,” he said.

Other unions are also consulting their members on the package in advance of a collective decision on whether to accept or reject the package. This will take place at a meeting of the ICTU Public Services Committee (PSC) on Friday 7th October.

The pay talks resumed on Monday (29th August) after a ten-week hiatus during which the Government said it was reflecting on its position. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath said his revised offer was final, although union negotiators held out for an improved sum for lower paid public servants.

The total 2022-2023 increases due under the WRC-proposed package would be:

2nd February 2022          3%

1st October 2022             1% or €500 a year (whichever is the greater). Note, this was agreed under                                             the original Building Momentum agreement

1st March 2023                2%

1st October 2023             1.5% or €750 (whichever is the greater).

Read our FAQ document HERE.

Fórsa is holding a series of meetings for Fórsa members working in children’s disability network services throughout September.

They take place at 3.00pm on 13th September, 11.00am on 14th September (managers only0 and 1.00pm on 19th September. Additional meetings will be arranged if required.

The events will be hosted online via Zoom. To receive a link to attend, you will need to register via this link.

Registration is required to ensure that only Fórsa members can access the meeting.

The organisers say they are keen to create a safe space for members to express their concerns and ideas about the service to the lead officials involved in discussions with the HSE and other employers.

The issues arising in the provision of children’s disability services are varied, complex and long-standing and Fórsa’s national health team is keen to bring together members working in the service to help formulating the growing list of issues into a comprehensive industrial relations

and campaigning agenda.

Fórsa’s Dublin North Health and Welfare Branch will host a family fun day at Malahide cricket club from 2pm on Sunday 18th September.

The branch promises all the fun of the fair including a safari train, puppet show, DJ, toddler zone, crazy golf, foosball, popcorn, candy floss, ice cream and a charcoal barbeque.

It’s all free to members of the branch, and the venue is easily accessible Dart and Dublin Bus routes.

Numbers are limited, so you should email dnhse@forsa.ie if you want to attend.

An event defining the relationship between Irish Travellers and the State in the century up to 2022 is being held in National University of Ireland Galway on 16th and 17th September.

It will focus on trade union perspectives.

The conference is a full two-day event with sessions on language, culture and heritage; law and justice, human rights, accessing accommodation, education and other important issues.

Fórsa official Lisa Connell will speak on the issue of trade union perspectives on Traveller rights in the workplace. She made a presentation to an Oireachtas committee on issues affecting the Traveller community, where she and ICTU official David Joyce highlighted the enormous scale of unemployment among the Traveller community. Just 10,653 Travellers – or 80% of the total in the labour force – are unemployed.

“At the Oireachtas hearing I made the point that the public sector is the area where best practice exists in respect to employment standards and where decent pay, pay transparency but robust policies have all been negotiated through collective bargaining.

“There is a need for the union movement to play a key role in addressing the systematic inequalities that exist which prohibit travellers from being able to access decent employment opportunities let alone decent pay,” she said.

Lisa said it was unacceptable that any group in Irish society see such an enormous unemployment rate amongst its population.

“The unions play a key role in ensuring that this inequality is a key aspect of our equality agenda. Fórsa have sought engagement with DPER in respect to engaging with them directly in respect to ensuring that employment opportunities are opened up across the public and civil service which would start to address some of the unacceptable standards in respect to accessing decent work in line with conference motions on this,” she said.

The conference will also emphasise the need for cultural training in large employments to ensure that Travellers they are not subjected to discrimination or inequality.

Read the event programme HERE.

Fórsa is asking its branches and members to sign up for a solidarity event, which takes place in the union’s Dublin office on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th November.

The seminar will discuss a range of international trade union and human rights issues including international trade union rights, the rise of the far-right in Ireland, refugee justice, and much more.

It will also be an opportunity to hear about Forsa’s global solidarity work, particularly in Colombia, Palestine and Ukraine.

Specific details of the event are due to follow soon in the next bulletin issue.

If you wish to attend or are interested in the event, please contact internationalsolidarity@forsa.ie for more information.

Due to the pressure on hotel rooms in Dublin we have held several rooms in a nearby hotel. These will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

So, if you require accommodation on the Friday night please email the above email address as early as possible.

Fórsa has written to the newly-elected Colombian government to express support for its political programme and emphasise the union’s continued commitment to supporting implementation of the 2016 peace agreement.

In a letter addressed to President Gustavo Petro and Vice-President Francia Márquez, a group of British and Irish unions representing over 6.5 million workers, welcomed policies which contained “the potential for change that could see significant steps away from the violence and deep-rooted inequality that has affected Colombia for so long.”

The Justice for Colombia union coalition congratulated Colombian president Gustavo Petro and vice-president Francia Márquez on their hard-won victory. Their Historic Pact coalition brought together a broad front of progressive parties, and received strong backing from young people, women, ethnic minorities, trade unions and the pro-peace movement.

Justice for Colombia also welcomed the new Government’s commitments on labour rights, human rights and peace. The country’s first progressive administration has pledged to invest in society, to protect human rights and the environment, and to support the 2016 peace agreement.

The Historic Pact Government entered office on 7th August and will govern until 2026.

For two decades, Justice for Colombia has taken international delegations of trade unionists and parliamentarians to witness the reality in Colombia and to build international support for those working towards peace and social justice in the country.

Read the full letter here. 

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has published a guide for parents whose children are starting primary school for the first time. The free resource, linked below, includes information on transitioning from home to school, preparing children for learning and primary school life, the primary curriculum, and special education.

It also includes sections on managing your first day and a typical school day, and contains guidance on attendance, uniforms, books, healthy eating, interculturalism, homework and much more.

Prepared by teachers for parents with pupils entering primary education for the first time, it is also available in Ukrainian and Russian translation to help parents of the large number of Ukrainian pupils now enrolling in primary and special schools.

The guides are available here:

English

Irish

Ukrainian 

Russian 

Fórsa has welcomed improved whistleblower legislation, which extends exiting protections to include people who report breaches of European Union law.

The Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act provides for a comprehensive overhaul of the statutory framework for the protection of whistleblowers in Ireland and for the transposition of an EU directive on protections for people who report breaches of EU law.

The new bill amends the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and provides for a significant expansion of its personal scope to further include protections for volunteers, shareholders, board members and job applicants for the first time.

It also requires that private sector organisations with 50 or more employees will be required to establish formal channels and procedures for their employees to make protected disclosures, as is currently the case in the public sector. This will be monitored and enforced by the Workplace Relations Commission.

With enactment of the legislation, the new Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner will be established and will commence operations later this year.

The union said the passage of this law was a “significant step” towards improved protections for whistleblowers in Ireland and would encourage more people to come forward and expose wrongful activities in their organisations.