Also in this issue
 
Youth Committee events news
by Niall Shanahan

Forsa's Youth Committee has not one, but two events coming up.

Read more »
 
BLOG: When the man with a van is his very own man
by Bernard Harbor
We used to joke that my younger brother Kevin was from the Dutch side of the family. We were Harbors and he was a Van Driver. Geddit?
 
Anyway, he drove a van for a living and one day, much to our surprise, Kevin announced that he was now self-employed.
 
In our late-1980s working class circle, this seemingly entrepreneurial break from the world of employment was as unusual as it was unexpected.
 
Except it wasn’t what it seemed.
 
What had happened was this. One morning, Kevin’s boss told him he was now self-employed. He could rent the van and would do his deliveries as before. Only now he was a contractor, not an employee. And he’d have to sort out his own tax and insurance.
 
They privatised the buses around the same time. That’s another story but, like Kevin’s newfound small businessman status, back then it seemed as inexplicable as it was unsettling.
 
Sure enough, a short while later the ‘contracts’ from (though not the van repayments to) Kevin’s former boss thinned out. Then they disappeared. No redeployment. No holiday pay. No redundancy. No responsibilities.
 
Cool platforms
 
Almost three decades later, as the Ubers, Deliveroos, Amazons and others rushed to explain that they were ‘platforms’ not employers, I started to hear the term ‘gig economy.’ I came to realise that my unwitting little brother was among its pioneers but, no matter how cool it might sound now, I was right about that unsettling feeling.
 
Countless workers who would simply have been employees in previous eras now work as ‘contractors’ without the protections against sub-minimum wage and unfair dismissal – or benefits like paid holidays and sick leave – that the rest of us take for granted.
Read more »
What do you think?
Your Fórsa news bulletin is produced by the Fórsa Communications Unit, with input from across the union. We welcome your comments and suggestions for stories to cover.
Action on new entrants must be fast-tracked
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa has called on the Government to allocate funds in October’s Budget to begin shortening pay scales for ‘new entrants’ to non-commercial semi-state organisations next year. This would be earlier than originally envisaged in the current public sector pay deal, the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).

Read more »
LikeLike (1) | Facebook Twitter
Senior therapy advisor demanded
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa has told health department officials that the appointment of a senior advisor on health and social care is vital to the successful rollout of the ten-year Sláintecare programme for improved health services.

Read more »
LikeLike (1) | Facebook Twitter
Alarm at care staff injuries
by Hazel Gavigan
 

Fórsa has called for more support for care staff following reports that there were over 3,400 incidents where children in care or their carers were injured last year.

Read more »
LikeLike (3) | Facebook Twitter
Progress on leave standardisation
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa has sought an early meeting with the HSE after the health employer recently agreed to address variations in leave for hospital staff left behind in a recent standardisation exercise.

Read more »
LikeLike (2) | Facebook Twitter
Section 39 pay in WRC next month
by Bernard Harbor
 

Fórsa and other voluntary sector unions have given the HSE until the end of April to finish gathering data on pay restoration in section 39 organisations.

Read more »
LikeLike (1) | Facebook Twitter
14,000 carers to benefit from free GP care
by Niall Shanahan
 

The Department of Health is to draft legislation to allow 14,000 carers to benefit from free GP care. The legislation is to provide in law for eligibility for GP services without charge to be extended to all those in receipt of Carer’s Allowance or Carer’s Benefit.

Read more »
LikeLike (0) | Facebook Twitter
HSE wellbeing website launched
by Diarmaid Mac a Bhaird
 

A new website which promotes health and wellbeing and provides access to information and resources for healthcare workers, has been launched by the Health Service Executive (HSE)

Read more »
LikeLike (2) | Facebook Twitter
Fórsa audio bulletin episode 6
by Hazel Gavigan (audio editor)

A special episode focusing on Fórsa's first ever services and enterprises and civil service divisional conferences. Starting with the services and enterprises division on the 12th and 13th of April and then the civil service division on the 18th and 19th, we cover some of the main motions discussed over the four days. Presented by Hazel Gavigan and Diarmaid Mac A Bhaird.

Click here to listen
LikeLike (0) | Facebook Twitter