Fórsa is urging its members to support a national demonstration calling for an end to the housing and homeless crisis, which takes place in Dublin this Saturday (18th May).

The ‘Raise the Roof’ rally – the latest in a series of protests around the country – will call for a large-scale public house-building scheme. Its organisers are a coalition of trade unions, housing and homelessness organisations, and student bodies.

Other ‘Raise the Roof’ demands include rent controls, an end to forced evictions, more secure tenancies, and a legal right to housing.

Fórsa and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) are supporting the protest, and want members to sign ICTU’s housing petition.

Fórsa members should assemble at the union’s Nerney's Court office at 12.45pm on Saturday 18th May, before heading over to Parnell Square to join the rally at 1pm.

Fórsa has said the Citizens Assembly needs to be considered as a forum to develop meaningful local government reform. The proposal was made by Seán Reid, Chair of Fórsa’s Local Government and Local Services division.

Speaking at the union’s local government conference in Kilkenny last week, Seán said that local democratic reform remains one of the long-standing questions of Irish politics.

He told delegates that research commissioned by the union found that only 8% of Irish public spending occurs at local government level, compared to an EU average of over 23%.

“Even then, just three-quarters of the spend is fully under local authority control. We have far fewer local municipalities than similar-sized European countries and our councils have fewer functions,” he said.

Seán added that Ireland’s poor level of investment in local authority services had a negative impact on local jobs, service quality, value-for-money, and environmental protections.

“It also contributes to declining local election voter turnout. With little more than two weeks to go before polling day, this is sobering and dispiriting for those of us who’ve committed our careers to local democracy,” he said.

Seán said successive governments have shunned local democratic reform because too many prospective TDs still favour being seen as the local ‘fixer’ in order to secure re-election to the Dáil.

“This debases our national politics, and reduces every Dáil election campaign slogan to “They fixed the road!”, harking back to a cronyism that was supposed to have been shaken out of Irish politics with the abolition of the dual mandate almost two decades ago.

“In recent years we’ve seen seismic change in this country brought about by constitutional change, following the meticulous work of the Citizens Assembly. In that same vein, we should be ambitious in our aim to reclaim local democracy, and to consider the Citizens Assembly as an appropriate forum to make progress on local democratic reform,” he said.

Communities
Seán said people had very real concerns about the decline of rural communities.

“Sometimes they’re talking about post offices, pubs or Garda stations. Many of the changes we hear about are driven by commercial imperatives, but there’s no question that rural communities are changing.

“The population is becoming more urbanised. People are travelling further to work. All the while, local authorities continue to provide the services that respond specifically to the needs of the communities they serve.

Those services have lasting value because they are delivered by people who live and work in the community,” he said.

For more on last week’s conference in Kilkenny, visit https://www.forsa.ie/tag/flglsconf2019/

Fórsa has disputed Government estimates that restoring pre-crisis working time in the civil and public service could cost the Exchequer over €600 million a year. The union’s Senior General Secretary Designate Kevin Callinan said the figure was at least 50% higher than Government estimates when the additional time was introduced in 2013.

Speaking at Fórsa’s Local Government divisional conferences in Kilkenny last week, he added that advances in new technologies and work organisation could defray much of the cost of reduced working time in the local authorities and elsewhere.

Earlier, Kevin said discussion of the restoration of pre-crisis working hours should form part of mid-term review of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which governs pay and working conditions in local authorities.

He said a review was necessary to “bolster the agreement’s credibility by taking account of improved economic indicators and past income foregone.”

A number of branches submitted conference motions on the ‘Haddington Road hours.’ Similar motions were tabled for the union’s health, education and civil service conferences.

They relate to additional hours added to the working week of lower and middle-earning public servants under the 2013 Haddington Road agreement.

Kevin said this had resulted in a “two-tier problem” because the temporary pay cuts experienced at the same time by higher grades – whose working time did not increase – have been restored, while additional working time for lower and middle earners has not.

“A few years ago, when we were in the eye of the economic storm, I opposed similar conference motions. But I’d struggle to construct a convincing argument against them now, in light of our current economic performance and rapidly-developing technological possibilities,” said Kevin.

Under the Haddington Road agreement, higher earners – those on €65,000 a year or more – suffered a third, but temporary pay cut. By January 2018 this had been restored in full, as envisaged in the deal.

Those who earned less accepted increased working hours to avoid a third pay cut. But, unlike their higher-paid colleagues, these workers have seen no restoration to pre-crisis working time levels.

Kevin said: “These were torrid times for Ireland and, when the Government sought savings to fill an extra and unexpected €1 billion hole in the public finances, we agreed to talk and workers reluctantly voted to accept a third hit.

“By doing so we produced the savings that enabled the country to meet the harsh Troika bailout terms, and we avoided the imposition of another public service-wide pay cut under the hated FEMPI emergency legislation.

“It was the right thing to do at the time. But six years later we’re left with yet another two-tier public service problem, which leaves those on low and middle incomes – mainly women – losing out.”

Kevin said Fórsa wanted to restore and maintain full confidence in the Public service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which governs pay and working conditions for most public servants. “It’s time to shift our focus from the past and focus on the challenge of delivering real improvements in wages and purchasing power,” he said.

Read Kevin Callinan’s blog on working time HERE.

The biggest challenge arising from Government proposals to bring water services under a single authority will be ensuring the future of local government itself, according to the head of the Fórsa’s Local Government and Municipal Employees’ divisions.

Speaking at the union’s local government conference last week, Peter Nolan said this “big fight” would follow if the Government “takes away 25 to 30 per cent of local government’s funding stream,” which comes from water payments.

Peter had attended many meetings of members in the water sector, and said that 3,000 water workers considered themselves under threat from the Government proposals. But he said all 30,000 local authority workers were vulnerable from the impact on direct employment and local council finances.

He added that Fórsa and other water unions had agreed to go into talks about the transformation plans on the basis of assurances that “there would be no compulsory conscription of local authority workers to any single entity.”

Last month, Fόrsa invited branches in its Local Government and Municipal Employees’ divisions to make comments on plans to establish Irish Water as the sole water authority in Ireland.

In his opening speech to last week’s conference, Divisional Cathaoirleach Seán Reid said the union’s priority was to keep water in public ownership. A number of conference motions called for an early referendum to guarantee against privatisation.

The unions, which are in Workplace Relations Commission-assisted talks on the future of water services, have sought simultaneous movement on four strands:

• The future sustainability and revitalisation of local authority services

• A constitutional referendum on public ownership of water services

• The structure and governance of the proposed single water utility, and

• Employment and industrial relations issues that arise from the proposal.

“Our objectives are clear, and our resolve on these issues is strong. We have placed ourselves to defend and protect the public ownership of water services, and our members’ terms and conditions of employment,” said Seán.

He told delegates that the reversal of water privatisation was underway in a number of European municipalities, because privatised services had led to higher costs and poorer services.

“From Cherbourg to Stuttgart, Bordeaux to Budapest, and Rostock to Naples, and a host of other European municipalities, the privatisation of water has been successfully reversed, while the campaign to re-municipalise water services continues in Lyon and Toulouse in France and Sofia in Bulgaria,” he said.

With just one city or county council for every 148,507 people, Ireland has far fewer local municipalities than similar-sized European countries, while Irish local authorities perform fewer functions than municipalities across Europe.

Research published by Fórsa shows Irish councils have less autonomy from central government than their counterparts in 39 European countries.

The research paper, Democracy Works If You Let It by Dr Mary Murphy of Maynooth University, found that only 8% of Irish public spending occurs at local government level, This compares to an EU average of over 23%.

Furthermore, a quarter of the Irish spend is not fully under local authority control.

Dr Murphy made a presentation of the research at the union’s local government conference in Kilkenny last week.

The research paper shows that Irish local authorities perform fewer functions than municipalities across Europe, with their roles largely confined to physical infrastructure and environmental and recreational services.

Dr Murphy said this has a negative effect on local employment, service quality, value-for-money, environmental protection, and local jobs and economic development. It has also contributed to declining local election voter turnout.

“Local government can be an important source of economic development and local jobs, while local authorities across Europe are playing a leading role in transitioning to low-carbon renewable energy. We need to rebuild Irish local democracy and citizen participation to build strong local economies based on good jobs and decent incomes, and to address climate change.”

Fórsa's Head of Division Peter Nolan echoed the call by Cathaoirleach Seán Reid for the Citizens Assembly to have a role in the development of local democratic reform.

“Irish people take great pride in their counties and cities, yet this element of our democracy has been systematically eroded by centralisation, privatisation and austerity. They deserve structures and systems that deliver quality local services that match the best in Europe. This makes the Citizens Assembly an entirely appropriate forum in which to develop our thinking and direction on how to successfully build stronger and better local government,” he said.

Get more on last week’s conference HERE.

Delegates at last week’s local government conference in Kilkenny backed a number of motions on climate action and the housing and homelessness crisis.

Fórsa’s Dun Laoghaire Rathdown branch won backing for a motion on the need for public provision of housing. The branch highlighted the availability of state-owned land zoned for housing, and said no state-owned land should be transferred to private developers.

Proposing the motion, Róisín Cronin said no further local authority housing stock should be sold through tenant purchase schemes and advocated the potential for house building using a cooperative housing model.

Donal Guerin of the Cork Health and Local Government branch also called on the union to seek a greater role for local authorities in the provision of public housing. He said local authorities' over-reliance on the private sector was feeding increased demand for housing and homelessness services.

Climate concern
Both the union’s Cork and Leitrim branches brought motions on the need to address climate change.

Donal Guerin told delegates: “Fórsa must be part of the solution.” He won the backing of delegates on a motion calling on the union to state its support for the national campaign to force the Government not to licence further exploitation of fossil fuels.

The motion from the Leitrim branch called for measures to reduce travel-related emissions from commuters, including measures allowing local government staff to work from their nearest office or from home.

The first meeting of Fórsa’s just transition network will take place in the union’s office in Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1, at 10.00am on Friday 24th May. The union will be supporting the latest ‘schools strike for climate,’ which takes place later that day.

Meanwhile, unions have called for a ‘just transition’ forum to alleviate job losses resulting in Bord Na Móna’s plans to move from peat production to carbon-free products, according to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

Its ‘Building a Just Transition’ conference, held in Tullamore at the end of last month, heard urgent calls for a forum for the midlands to identify measures and supports for workers and communities affected by Bord Na Móna’s restructuring.

The conference was chaired by Marie Sherlock and Fórsa’s Senior General Secretary Designate Kevin Callinan, who said that lessons needed to be learned from the situation facing workers in Bord Na Móna.

“These workers and their communities are being asked to make a huge sacrifice in response to the threat posed by climate change. The Government simply isn’t doing enough to support these workers by implementing policies to mitigate their sacrifices, despite committing to do so under the terms of the 2015 Paris agreement,” he said.

Unions in Ireland and abroad have strongly backed moves towards a carbon-free economy in response to the climate crisis. But they say workers and communities most affected by the transition should be protected as part of the process.

ICTU General Secretary Patrica King said that taking action on climate change was no longer an optional policy extra for the Government.

“Just transition is about seizing new opportunities and sharing the benefits of change, through creating better jobs, better social protection, more training opportunities and greater job security for all those affected by global warming and climate change policies,“ she said.

To participate in Fórsa’s just transition network, or to join the union delegation on 24th May, contact joconnor@forsa.ie.

Get more information on the ICTU conference HERE.

Fórsa and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions have welcomed a new Government initiative to combat sexual harassment and violence. The move comes after it was revealed that Ireland has the highest level of sexual harassment in Europe.

A survey revealed that nearly a third of women between the ages of 18 to 34 say they experienced some form of sexual harassment in the last 12 months.

On foot of this shocking statistic, Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan has launched a major national awareness campaign on sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The ‘no excuses’ media campaign, which features an ad to run for three years, aims to increase society's awareness of sexual harassment and sexual violence. It also intends to bring about a change in long-established behaviours and attitudes, and activate bystanders with the aim of decreasing and preventing this kind of violence.

Fórsa Equality Officer Geraldine O’Brien welcomed the campaign, and said such initiatives could help reduce sexual violence by creating an open discussion on the problem.

“The prominence of this campaign breaks down barriers by bringing sexual harassment into an open forum. The ad creates a greater understanding of sexual harassment and violence. It will make people more aware of potentially dangerous situations, and provide us with tools to diffuse them,” she said.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) also commended the initiative and called for improved protections for people experiencing sexual harassment.

ICTU General Secretary Patricia King said: “It’s time for complaints of sexual harassment to be elevated to the status of ‘protected disclosures’, ensuring stronger protection and reporting mechanisms for those submitting them.”

The ‘no excuses’ initiative is timely as negotiations will take place on a new International Labour Organization convention on violence and harassment in the workplace at the International Labour Conference next month.

Click here for more information on the campaign and here to watch the ad.

A petition calling for the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to back a new social contract has been launched by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).

The ILO is a United Nations body that brings together representatives of governments, trade union federations and employer bodies. The ITUC petition was launched ahead of its meeting to negotiate the ILO’s ‘centennial declaration,’ which takes place next month.

It calls for the ILO to pursue rights for workers, fairer wages, greater flexibility around working time and climate justice.

ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow said the petition was an opportunity to highlight the need to modernise the ILO to address the issues affecting workers in the 21st century.

“This is a once in a generation opportunity to set rules for the global economy to work for people. A strong outcome would set us on the path to a new social contract to give security to all working people,” she said.

You can find more information HERE.

Fórsa delegates expressed solidarity with the trans community at the union’s Local Government and Local Services Division Conference in Kilkenny last week.

The union’s Dun Laoghaire Rathdown branch won overwhelming support for a motion welcoming Fórsa’s support of last year’s first Trans Pride march in Dublin, and commended the progress made towards the recognition of transgender rights as human rights.

The motion also highlighted difficulties and discrimination transgender people face in society and the workplace.

Conference backed the call on the union to pursue transgender rights through Fórsa’s equality committee and with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

After the motion passed, the branch tweeted its delight at the huge endorsement. “We're really happy that our motion recognising that #TransRightsAreHumanRights has been passed at #flglsconf2019,” it said.

This year’s Dublin Trans Pride march takes place on July 6th at 2pm from the Garden of Remembrance. The theme is break the binary and all trans, non-binary, intersex and cis people are invited to attend.

For more information on the march, see here.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has organised a briefing on tipping practices in the hospitality sector, and the union group ONE Galway’s campaign for legal changes on the issue.

The event is part of ICTU’s monthly ‘Friday Briefing’ series, which features informal talks on topical workplace issues.

The event will hear from ICTU’s Trades Council Network and One Program Co-ordinator Fiona Dunne, lecturer and academic Deirdre Curran, Senator Paul Gavan, and Siptu organiser and One Galway local co-ordinator Clem Shevlin.

ONE Galway’s tipping campaign is encouraging customers in hotels, restaurants and pubs to ask how their tips are distributed and what percentage workers receive.

ONE Galway is a Congress-backed program to strengthen trade union awareness, build links between unions and communities, and enhance union’s local engagement. A similar initiative is in place in Cork.

The Congress Briefing takes place at ICTU’s head office in 31-32 Parnell Square, Dublin 1, at 10:30am on Friday 24th May. If you wish to attend, please email eileen.sweeney@ictu.ie.

A redesigned Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) website has been launched, and is available at its existing address, www.workplacerelations.ie. The site provides information on workers’ rights under employment, equality and equal status legislation.

The redesign was developed with input from internal and external stakeholders through focus groups, testing, and surveys. The improved site features a better keyword search, filters and ‘tooltips’ to explain how best to filter searches.

WRC Director General Liam Kelly welcomed the launch of the new site. “After working throughout 2018 with our stakeholders to develop a website fit for the needs of all our customers, I am happy to see it come to life,” he said.

The WRC was established in 2015, and promotes good industrial relations and provides information for workers and employers.

Public service management should work with unions to ensure that the introduction of new technologies does not lead to job losses or poorer services, according to Fórsa. Speaking at the union’s Civil Service Division Conference in Kilkenny last week, senior official Derek Mullen vowed the union would not oppose the introduction of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). “But technological advancement should not be at the cost of services or jobs,” he said.

Derek pointed to the positive experience of the Revenue Commissioners, where new forms of work organisation – supported by retraining – had increased the tax take and improved audit and fraud control, rather than cutting jobs.

He told 400 conference delegates that Fórsa would not give blanket support to the replacement of people-provided services with AI. “We will support properly thought-out automation, controlled by workers and managers whose aim will be the continued enhancement and delivery of public services. Citizens don’t want to talk to machines,” he said.

In a submission presented to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform earlier this year, Fórsa argued for steps to ensure that new recruits are equipped to thrive in increasingly-automated work environments, and said older workers should get help to adapt.

The paper also argued against an expensive external consultant-led approach to technological development. “The diminution of in-house IT services over the last two decades has seen the growth of a hugely costly consultant-led approach to designing new systems. This must change,” it says.

The submission was written as part of the union’s response to civil service management proposals for procurement of new technologies, on foot of an automation pilot that’s been underway in a small number of departments over the last year.

Derek told delegates that Fórsa would continue to champion the delivery of world class public services. “The world of work will change, as will society, and we must ensure that this is achieved equitably, and that decent work is protected in all parts of the economy, including in the public service.

“We demand more involvement and negotiation on change initiatives. We won’t be found wanting, but we won’t accept poor planning and we categorically reject outsourcing as a solution. Just look at the costs to taxpayers of the failed JobPath scheme in social protection,” he said.

Fórsa is urging its members to exercise their democratic right to vote when polls open on Friday week (24th May) in local and European parliamentary elections.

The union is not affiliated to any political party or group, but it has tested candidates to establish their positions on a range of issues raised in Fórsa campaigns. These include ‘More Power to You,’ the initiative that seeks to rebuild local democracy and local authority services.

The union has also urged sitting elected representatives and candidates to support pension justice for community employment supervisors, and an end to the unfair two-tier pay system for school secretaries. 

Along with other trade unions, Fórsa has also sought candidates’ backing for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) Charter for Housing Rights.

 
ICTU has also asked European parliamentary hopefuls to sign up to a number of pledges. These cover action to protect Irish jobs and communities from the impact of Brexit, support for trade union rights, working conditions, health rights, and economic equality.