Fórsa has welcomed last week’s announcement that the Government has accepted an independent body’s recommendation that public service employees’ working time should be restored to pre-austerity levels with effect from 1st July.

The restoration of the so-called ‘Haddington Road hours’ will benefit affected staff in non-commercial State agencies.

The independent body was established under the Building Momentum public service agreement to report on the issue. It made its recommendation in January 2022.

Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan said the recommendation – now set for implementation on 1st July – will remove a longstanding and debilitating drain on public service morale and productivity.

“The additional hours introduced under the 2013 Haddington Road agreement (HRA) fell hardest on women with caring responsibilities and have been increasingly counterproductive in terms of service delivery, morale and productivity,” he said.

Since its formation in 2018, Fórsa has worked tirelessly to put this issue on the agenda and get it resolved, often in the face of skepticism about the prospect of success.

“The independent body’s recommendation, which is now accepted by the Government, will remove a deep grievance among many, mostly lower-paid, workers,” said Callinan.

The additional working hours were imposed from 1st July 2013, when the standard working time of civil and public servants increased to 39 hours per week for those who previously worked between 37 and 39 hours, and to 37 hours for those who previously worked 35 hours or less. The hours of those working 39 hours or more were unchanged.

The recommendation will see a return to the pre-July 2013 hours, albeit with a minimum working week of 35 hours. This will unwind the final element of the HRA’s austerity measures.

The independent body said the additional hours had “undoubtedly contributed significantly to the national effort to recover from the global crisis of the last decade.

“These recommendations effectively conclude any further negotiations to restore pay and other conditions of employment, either imposed by a combination of FEMPI legislative enactments, or agreed through a difficult series of overarching public sector agreements addressing pay, pensions, working hours and public service modernisation requirements over the last decade,” it said.

Fórsa representatives met with Aer Lingus’ chief executive Lynn Embelton and other members of senior management on Tuesday (19th April).

Representatives from Siptu were also present at the meeting.

Both unions expressed various concerns on behalf of their members, and heard management’s views on several issues surrounding staff and broader flight schedules generally.

Fórsa official Ashley Connolly described the meeting as “very productive” and said she was hopeful that further engagement would follow soon. The union’s members in the company have been advised that updates will be issued in the near future following these engagements.

Meanwhile, Fórsa’s Aer Lingus Cabin Crew Branch had voted to accept a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) brokered deal that would restore pay and working hours to 100% from December 2021.

A ballot of members approved the deal by a margin of more than 82%. In a memo to members, Fórsa’s Cabin Crew branch committee said it believed the WRC proposal was the best possible outcome for all crew.

Public expenditure minister Michael McGrath has said he will raise the issue of public service pay and inflation with the Cabinet within the next fortnight, and that he then expects talks with unions to get underway.

Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday (21st April), Mr McGrath acknowledged the impact of inflation on public servants and other workers. He also indicated that he favoured a short agreement because of uncertainties in the global economy, but said the duration of any agreement was a matter for the negotiations.

His comments came after Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan and other union leaders met senior Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) officials last week after the ICTU Public Services Committee (PSC) triggered a review clause in the Building Momentum public service agreement.

Fórsa had proposed this, arguing that sustained high inflation was grounds for a review of the agreement’s pay terms.

The union said the assumptions underpinning the agreement needed to be revisited in view of soaring prices, which were not expected when Building Momentum was negotiated in December 2020 and subsequently accepted overwhelmingly in a Fórsa ballot.

Building Momentum also governs the pay and working conditions of most staff in non-commercial State bodies.

Separately, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions recently increased its targets for private sector pay negotiations in light of price hikes.

Last week’s meeting saw both sides set out general positions on the agreement’s pay terms in light of inflation and broader economic challenges.

DPER officials are now expected to report back to the minister.

Speaking to the Irish Independent after the meeting, Kevin said there was an urgent need for measures to be taken “in the form of additional pay increases” to stabilise the agreement.

“While the various Government measures go a little way to address the effect of the cost-of-living crisis, workers can’t be expected to bear the increased cost of living on their own. All employers who can afford it will have to assist with efforts to maintain living standards through the normal bargaining processes,” he said.

Fórsa has been warning for months that unexpectedly high inflation was not a short-term problem. Earlier this year the union called for immediate Government action to protect living standards and stabilise the public service agreement, which expires in December.

“When we negotiated Building Momentum, it wasn’t the intention of any of the parties – unions or Government – to see public service pay movement so out of step with prices. Modest increases were agreed on the understanding that prices would be relatively stable. There must be an adjustment in the pay terms,” he said.

Kevin added that unions also wanted to avoid a ‘wage-price spiral’ where pay increases start to fuel inflation. “But we must strike the right balance. We can’t end up destroying consumer confidence and affecting jobs and exchequer returns unintentionally,” he said.

In earlier statements, Minister McGrath hinted that he was open to early negotiations on an extension to the agreement in light of economic uncertainty fuelled by the war in Ukraine.

Fórsa members in the community and voluntary sector will join Siptu and INMO members in a national day of protest on Tuesday 3rd May in response to what the unions describe as the “neglect and underfunding” of community sector services.

The ‘Valuing Care Valuing Community’ protest will mark the commencement of a national campaign, which will include industrial action aimed at ending the State’s neglect of the community and voluntary sector.

Fórsa assistant general secretary Catherine Keogh said the Government’s failure to adequately fund the sector was having a severe impact on the retention of staff, which in turn was having a devastating effect on essential public services to some of the most vulnerable and marginalised citizens and communities. “Fórsa published a report last September which identified very high annual staff exit rates by health and social care professionals from agencies funded by the HSE. The rate of departure is up to 33% annually, and this has led, inevitably, to a decline in the quality of service delivery.

“The only realistic solution is to rebuild and refinance the voluntary and community sector with a more sustainable and appropriate funding model,” she said.

Unions have said the denial of funding for improvements in pay and conditions of employment is unacceptable and have been further critical of moves to privatise and commercialise some services, including local employment services (LES) and job clubs.

Unions have warned that privatisation of these services are likely to have profound negative consequences for society and the citizens and communities that rely on them. This week it was revealed that a US firm that has been criticised for its handling of social welfare schemes in America met with the Department of Social Protection weeks before a tender for local area employment services was announced.

Fórsa assistant general secretary Lynn Coffey said the entry of predatory US firms into the sector was a cause of deep concern.

“These are companies whose only objective is the generation of profit. The outsourcing of LES or jobs clubs to such firms can only lead to a decline in the quality of service delivery as they pursue profits at the expense of community-led services.

The three unions are coordinating the campaign with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), which has called on the Government to engage with unions and establish a process that ensures that representatives of community sector workers can engage in collective bargaining process to achieve real and deliverable outcomes.

Fórsa has said its members employed in local employment services (LES) and job clubs are losing confidence in the Department of Social Protection’s ability to manage the services following a further change in the contracts for their provision.

The union’s assistant general secretary Lynn Coffey said the department had extended the contracts of existing providers until August, without consultation.

“This is yet another example of deadlines concerning the operation of these services being unilaterally changed by the department. This reactive, last-minute approach is incredibly unfair to our members, many of whom will lose their jobs as a result of the planned tendering process for the provision of these services,” she said.

LES and job clubs staff are represented by Fórsa and Siptu, who have campaigned against a Government-imposed tendering process that favours for-profit providers over the current community-focussed, not-for-profit service.

The unions say that privatisation, job losses and a diminished employment service are likely as a result of the process.

Lynn said members need to be able to plan for their futures. “They need definitive timelines. At the very least there should be an extension of these contracts until the end of the year. This would allow time for a proper stakeholder process to be established and to agree a way forward for the provision of these vital social services,” she said.

She added: “We have called for a minimum extension of the current contracts until the end of the year in light of the Ukrainian refugee crisis. To continue with the marketisation of these critical services as we enter a very unpredictable economic period goes against all logic.

“The approach of privatising these services has no political support apart from a handful of hard-line ideologues within government. It’s clearly not in the interest of the most vulnerable within our society to have these services cease at this time.

“What the minister should be doing is seeking to implement the nine recommendations from the Report on the Examination of Employment Services in November 2021 published by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Community and Rural Development and the Islands.”

ICTU president and Fórsa general secretary Kevin Callinan will join representatives of the Government, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and employers’ bodies’ to mark ‘workers’ memorial day’ on 28th April.

The annual commemorative event, which takes place at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin 1 from 8.45am, remembers those killed or injured in workplace accidents.
 
Kevin will be joined by HSA chief Sharon McGuinness and minister Damien English to lay a wreath on behalf of the state to remember the workers we have lost.
 
Last year, 38 people lost their lives in workplace related accidents and almost 500 were killed in work-related incidents over the last decade. Many thousands were severely injured.
 
This year’s memorial will also recognise the many workers whose lives were claimed by Covid-19 over the last two years.
 
The important occasion also collectively recommits to making workplaces safer. By working together and promoting the practice of safety and health in workplaces throughout Ireland, we can achieve a significant drop in these dreadful numbers.
 
Fórsa members and others are being encouraged to use the hashtag #WorkersMemorialDay and #IWMD22 to show their your support for the bereaved on social media.
 
Workers representing a variety of sectors will also lay flowers in memory of those who have been killed, injured or made ill at work.

Global figures show that a worker dies at least once every ten seconds. Even more are left with life-altering injuries and illnesses because their employer did not protect them. 

Workers’ memorial day presents an important opportunity to remember and to consolidate everyone’s focus around a single day with the single message that workplace deaths are preventable.

Get more information and event details HERE.

A civil service arbitration baord has ruled on a disagreement between Fórsa and management on how the accrual of flexitime for those with blended work arrangements should be piloted.

Management argued that departments and offices should be able to choose from four different ways to pilot flexitime arrangements, including one option where no flexitime accrual was allowed and another where accrual was limited to one day of flexi-leave rather than the standard 1.5 days.

But the arbitration board ruled that departments and offices should be able to opt for one of only two approaches. One will pilot flexitime accrual for all employees in eligible grades, irrespective of work location. The other will pilot accrual only when staff are working in the office.

Since the outset of the pandemic, civil servants have been unable to accrue flexitime while working remotely. But Fórsa and other unions argued that flexitime accrual should now be available to staff with remote work arrangements under a new blended work framework launched earlier this month.

Under the new framework, agreed between Fórsa and the Department of Public Expenditure and reform (DPER), all civil servants will have the right to apply for remote or blended working. If refused, they will be able to appeal.

The arbitration board, which issued its report earlier this week, said a management proposal that some departments could pilot on the basis that staff with blended work arrangements should have no flexitime accrual “would not offer any additional insights…given that it is the current situation.”

It said there was no value in a pilot that permitted only one day of flexi accrual as this “has been well rehearsed in recent years.”

The board noted that both management and unions favoured “the restoration of as comprehensive an approach to flexitime as possible.”

It added that flexi accrual pilots should operate in all applicable work locations over the coming months, and be concluded by 31st December 2022.

Read the agreed civil service blended work framework HERE. 

New legislation that will give parents and other carers five days of unpaid leave for their caring responsibilities was signed off by Cabinet earlier this week. The work-life balance bill will extend leave to workers who need to take time off to provide personal care or support to a relative.

The bill also extends to the right to request flexible or constricted work hours, for those with caring responsibilities. 

Minister for children Roderic O’Gorman introduced the bill, which will implement a European Union directive aimed at improving work-life balance.

It also extends the current right to paid breastfeeding breaks from six months to two years, and extends existing maternity leave rights to transgender people who give birth.

Fórsa has previously expressed concern at the alarmingly low rates of take-up of these forms of leave, which is mainly due to the fact that it’s unpaid.

But the union welcomed the proposed law as one of many measures needed to achieve a better work and home life balance for Irish parents, guardians and carers.

It is also understood that paid leave for domestic violence victims will be included as an amendment to the bill, though the details of this are still to be worked out.

Meanwhile, unions have criticised the Government’s recently-published proposed legislation on the right to request remote work in Ireland, saying it was heavily stacked in the favour of the employer and branded it the ‘right to refuse’ remote work in its current form.

Remote working has been shown to improve workers’ quality of life, make them happier and more productive. It also reduces commuting time and pollution.

An EU work-life balance directive, which came into force in 2019, is due to be fully transposed into Irish law by August 2022.

Measures under the umbrella directive include the introduction of paternity leave, ensuring that two out of the four months of parental leave are non-transferable between parents, extending the right to request flexible working arrangements to carers and working parents of children up to eight years old, and the introduction of carers’ leave.

Inspired by a recent survey undertaken by the union's Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Branch, Fórsa is now looking to hear from its members on how their menstrual health impacts on their working lives. Your answers will help inform the union's policies and work in this area.

Participation in the survey is completely anonymous, and your personal details will not be shared with anyone else. Fill out our survey HERE. 

The recent announcement that the civil service is to develop a menstrual health policy is more evidence of an overdue acceptance that women’s reproductive health can have a major impact on their working lives.

Research shows that almost 14% of women have missed work because of their period, with 3.5% reporting period related absenteeism month on month.

Issues around women’s experiences of menopause are also gaining more attention, with people becoming more aware of how this can affect women’s presence in the workplace.

The Dún Laoghaire Rathdown branch’s recent survey received a very engaging response from people who took the time to share their experiences.

Of those who responded, one in five said that they had been diagnosed with a specific condition such as premenstrual dysphoric disorder, endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome. This is representative of broader society where one in ten people who menstruate are thought to have endometriosis, with up to 25% suffering menstrual issues

One aspect Fórsa was interested in exploring was the impact of remote working when it came to menstruation and menopause. Almost four-fifths of those participating in the survey said that remote working had improved their experience of menstruation, with almost one-in-nine agreeing that not having to travel to work when tired, or experiencing cramps, was a positive.

When it came to people’s experience of menopause, over 80% of respondents felt that access to flexible arrangements including remote working on ad hoc basis as required would help. Better training for managers and staff was also considered important by 81% of those participating in the survey.

The branch had also asked if people thought their workplace should have a workplace period-friendly policy, with measures including better toilet facilities, wipe-down darker fabrics and flexible working. Nearly all of those who expressed an opinion said hey wanted to see a policy introduced, and Fórsa wanted to see whether this opinion was reflected within its wider membership.

Fórsa aims to lift the taboo around this issue in the workplace, and you can help by filling out our survey HERE.

The Financial Services Union (FSU) also conducted a recent survey on the issue of menopause in the workplace. Almost 98% of its respondents said they had no form of menopause related policy in the workplace and would welcome one. It also found only 15% felt comfortable talking about menopause in work.

Half the workforce should not have to feel uncomfortable discussing their menstrual health and tiptoeing around the subject at their place of work.

Help improve the way we view menstrual health at work by telling us about your experience.

You can help Ireland secure the last few signatures needed to reach a European Commission threshold in a campaign to urge the EU to allow the production of approved Covid-19 vaccines to competent and safe pharmaceutical facilities around the world.

The NoProfitOnPandemic petition is a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), which means the Commission is obliged to respond if enough signatures are collected. Its organisers say allowing developing countries to produced approved vaccines locally would make them freely available and accessible to all.

It wants action to ensure that intellectual property rights, including patents, do not hamper the accessibility or availability of any future Covid-19 vaccine or treatment. And it highlights the EU’s role in this, saying European legislation on data and market exclusivity should not be deployed to limit the rollout of licenses to produce vaccines across the globe.

TRIPS is an acronym for ‘trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights’. The TRIPS waiver would address vaccine inequity by temporarily waiving intellectual property rights to vaccines, and by encouraging pharmaceutical companies to share their know-how, allowing the manufacture of vaccines to be scaled up to meet global demand.

Half the world’s population remains unable to secure a vaccine against coronavirus and with the prospect for a new variant presenting or, with time, our own defences against this threat to humankind weakening, could bring us all back to the worst of times that so many now think behind us.

The threat remains real and we must not give up on those who need our help most. Whole populations, especially in the Southern Hemisphere, remain at great risk. 

Sign this European citizens’ initiative, and ensure that the European Commission does everything in its power to make anti-pandemic vaccines and treatments a global public good, freely accessible to everyone.

A private company shouldn’t have the power to decide who has access to treatments or vaccines and at what price. Patents provide one single company with the monopoly control over essential pharmaceutical products. This limits their availability and increases their cost to those who need them.

Please help ensure that Ireland plays it’s part in putting the case for a TRIPS Waiver to the European Commission.

The union’s general secretary Kevin Callinan also recently wrote to Ireland’s 11 MEPs urging them to support measures to give developing countries rapid access to Covid-19 vaccines. Kevin asked them to put pressure on the European Commission to support a waiver of intellectual property rights, which currently restrict the local manufacture of life-saving vaccines across the globe.

Fórsa says the EU’s refusal to back a TRIPS waiver – which was originally proposed by the governments of South Africa and India and is now supported by over 100 nations – puts millions of lives at risk in the developing world, while hindering efforts to control the spread of the virus everywhere, including Ireland and Europe.

Fórsa has been active in the international People’s Vaccine Campaign over the last two years. The campaign says pharmaceutical company control of vaccine-related intellectual property could leave countries in the global south waiting until 2023 for widespread vaccination.

Fórsa is to host a series of lunchtime webinars taking a closer look at each of the sections of its recently launched report on the Irish state post-pandemic.

The report provided 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.

Throughout the series we will be looking at the political and economic space for this much needed change as well as examining what the state might look like post pandemic. The series will also look at opportunities for a post pandemic Northern Ireland.

You can sign up to attend the webinars HERE. 

You can read up on the report here.

Specific details around each of the events is due to follow soon in the next issues.

Dust down your lycra and dig out your helmets. It’s time to sign up for the Fórsa conference cycle again, and help raise much-needed funds for charity.

Conference delegates and their supporters will cycle some or all of the route between Limerick and the Fórsa national conference in Killarney next month.

Departing at 8.30am from the South Court Hotel in Limerick on the morning of 18th May, the peloton will arrive in Killarney in time for registration. A van has been arranged to transport bikes from Dublin to Limerick, and back to Dublin again if needed.

The initiative which has been running since 2008 has raised over €230,000 to date.

Organised by Fórsa’s head of health Éamonn Donnelly and head of local government Dessie Robinson, he cycle raises much needed funds for small charities based in communities throughout the country.

Reassuringly, you don’t need to be a professional to take part. “There is still plenty of time to register for the cycle – you can do a little or a lot – just take part, you will enjoy the craic on the way to Killarney,” explained Dessie.

Dessie says it’s a fun event. “It’s about having a great time while raising money for smaller local charities that don’t have large budgets to back the important work they do. In the past we’ve helped organisations supporting mental health, suicide prevention, and cancer support,” he said.

Éamonn appealed for branches to get behind members representing them, and help them to raise money and prepare for the event itself. “We fully understand that there have been huge demands on branches to contribute to charities this year, but we would ask you to make a donation, however small it may be and remember, if your branch makes a donation, they can nominate a local or a national charity,” he said.

For more information, or to get involved, contact Linda Casey.

The annual Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) May Day march and rally sets off from Dublin’s Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Square at 1.30pm on Sunday 1st May. There will be a march to a public meeting outside Liberty Hall.

The rally will call for peace and condemn the ongoing attack on Ukraine. It will also call for an improved public health service model and demand an end to the housing crisis. Music and a social event will take place in Liberty Hall after the rally.

May Day is seen by millions of people across the world as a day to celebrate workers’ solidarity.

In 1889, an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1st as a day in support of workers in memory of the lives lost at Haymarket.

Workers have since won the eight-hour workday amongst numerous other protections, but over 130 years later, many still fight for basic dignities.

Speaking on May Day last year, President Michael D Higgins reflected on the achievements of those at Haymarket and others who came before us.

“The benefits and rights that workers and families enjoy today have been won through the energy and dedication of union leaders, representatives and activist members who have negotiated, lobbied and taken action, often at personal cost, to ensure fairer and better workplaces and societies.”

However, with a word of warning, he implored the Irish people not to be complacent. “Lest we be tempted to rest on the laurels of these achievements. We must remember that workers’ rights are never a given, are always under threat, and continue to be undermined and eroded,” President Higgins said.

Fórsa member Jean O’Donoghue is the winner of the KennCo travel insurance competition for a €150 One4All voucher.

KennCo offers Fórsa members single trip and multi-trip insurance for individuals, couples and families. Low-cost annual multi-trip travel insurance for Fórsa members starts from just €59, which includes cover for you, your partner and dependent children. Single trip insurance pricing starts at €12.86.*

Thank you to all the Fórsa members who purchased Travel Insurance with us since October 1st. We look forward to providing more of you with Travel Insurance over the coming months.

KennCo travel insurance features

• Worldwide and European cover available
• 365-day medical assistance
• Lost baggage
• Public liability
• Missed departure
• Medical and emergency expenses
• Cancellation and curtailment
• Personal accident
• Winter sports included in all annual policies and available on single trip policies.
• Winter sports equipment, hire of replacement ski equipment, ski pack, piste closure, travel delay due to avalanche

Cover in relation to Covid-19*

Travel Insurance Policies taken out on or after 01/9/2021:

• Medical and repatriation costs in the event you fall ill with Covid-19 whilst overseas
• Cancellation if you test positive for Covid-19 within 14 days of the departure date of your trip

*Provided prior to your trip commencing the DFA have not issued advice to avoid non-essential travel or advised do not travel to your destination or any country/area you are travelling through. There is no cover under any other section for claims relating to Covid-19. Terms and Conditions and excesses will apply.

Get a travel; insurance quote HERE.

*Dependent children of 17 years and under can travel independently for up to and including 21 days. Between 18-22 years they can still be covered under the family policy provided they are still in full time education and travelling with either parent. Annual cover applies to individuals from 18-70 years of age. Single trip cover applies to individuals up to and including 79 years of age. You must be living with your partner for at least 6 months. Terms and conditions apply.

For more travel insurance information check our website.

Competition Terms and Conditions are on our website.

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.