A HIQA report into the child and family agency Tusla’s management of child abuse claims has called on the agency to create “formal career-path mechanisms” as a matter of urgency.

The report, which was requested by the children’s minister on foot of criticisms of Tusla’s handling of child abuse complaints against a Garda whistle blower, called on the agency to “seek the assistance of higher education and training establishments to create formal career-path mechanisms for students and graduates to support current and future workplace needs.”

It also sought the development of a “workforce strategy” and a review of the agency’s skills mix.

Despite some serious issues and shortcomings identified in the HIQA report, it cited the ”many examples of good practice by committed Tusla personnel in how they are managing allegations of child sexual abuse and retrospective abuse,” and said Tusla staff are “openly committed to child protection and welfare.”

The authority conceded that a number of managers “took on board the investigation’s findings” and “immediately addressed those risks identified.”

Tusla chief executive Fred McBride wrote to all staff on the eve of the report’s publication to outline how the agency would respond. He pointed out that the HIQA report contained no indication that any child was harmed as a result of the agency’s actions or inaction.

“While we haven’t achieved everything that’s needed just yet, we have made significant progress in the past four years including, for example, a 46% reduction in unallocated cases and the roll out of the National Childcare Information System,” he said.

McBride acknowledged the work of all agency staff. “Each of you contributes in one way or another to more positive outcomes for children and families adversely affected by child abuse or neglect,” he said.

Read more HERE.

A Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) meeting over community sector pay restoration has been set for next Monday (9th July). The talks will consider a HSE audit of section 39 organisations, which was established to assess pay restoration claims across the voluntary sector.
 
Under an agreement reached in February, management and unions are to assess how the audit findings can be addressed and implemented.

In the meantime, Fórsa has said it will ballot members in ‘section 39’ organisations if the WRC process doesn’t succeed.

Slow progress on pay restoration in section 39s had earlier prompted Fórsa to sanction ballots in agencies that were largely funded by the exchequer, and which were deemed capable of funding pay restoration.
 
The union lifted the immediate threat of industrial action after the Department of Health made a commitment that the HSE would bring forward a review of pay policy in section 39s. The review was an evidence-gathering exercise aimed at establishing which agencies cut pay during the crisis, and which have since begun to restore incomes.
 
The HSE review covers publicly-funded organisations with “sizable staffing.” It is also considering the financial implications of adjusting pay in each organisation, taking account of all sources of funding.
 
 

Fórsa has won significant progress on the number of superintendent posts in the civil registration service.

Under an agreement struck with the HSE, the service is set to retain eight superintendent posts, with one of the post holders gaining national lead responsibility.

There were concerns over how the service could match recently-established Community Health Organisation (CHO) structures after an external review recommended that the number be reduced from eight to four.

The union successfully made the case that eight posts should be retained in the new CHO structure.

Fórsa official Brian Gorman said it was a good development for the staff concerned and the services they provide to the public. “It also sends a positive message to other staff in the service as the HSE has recognised the need to more closely match CHO organisation,” he said.

Fórsa has said it will instruct HSE staff to cease cooperation with interim agreements for the implementation of community healthcare organisations (CHOs) before the end of July.

The warning came after a frustrating meeting with senior HSE officials over a health department decision not to proceed with network pilots until a Sláintecare implementation plan is launched at some unspecified future date.

The union action will include stopping cooperation with reporting and governance arrangements. Interim reporting relationships in the CHO structures currently govern local reports to the heads of four functions: mental health, primary care, social care, and health and wellbeing.

The union had deferred action until last week’s meeting. But its officials were stunned that no health department officials attended the discussion, which was meant to address Fórsa’s concerns.

The decision to withdraw cooperation from interim arrangements came in response to the absence of assurances that the CHO programme will be rolled out in advance of the full implementation of the ten-year Sláintecare reform programme.

Fórsa’s head of health Éamonn Donnelly accused the health department of side-stepping the real issues, and doing a major disservice to health service users, by pulling the proposed pilots. “The transition to Sláintecare will be much smoother if solid community healthcare structures are in place. These important reforms will be stymied unless the planned new structures are developed quickly,” he said.

SláinteCare is a ten-year plan for the introduction of quality healthcare, free at the point of need, which has been backed by all the main political parties.

“Community services are the bedrock of these ambitious plans for fair, affordable, high-quality health services, and it’s perfectly possible to establish structures that can be smoothly adapted to SláinteCare if and when it’s implemented,” according to Éamonn Donnelly, the union’s head of health and welfare.

Talks on staffing and structural issues related to the roll-out of the CHOs got underway in January, but momentum has been lost. Nine new ‘community healthcare organisations’ (CHOs) have been established to manage and deliver the provision of primary and community care services across the country. The negotiations between Fórsa and the HSE have focussed on management and governance structures, qualifications and reporting relationships in the new bodies.

A Government decision to go back to the drawing board on legislation to compel employers to publish information on their gender pay gap means certain delays, and risks killing the initiative, Fórsa has said.

The union reacted angrily to confirmation that ministers are to draw up their own Bill, rather than amending an opposition Bill, which the Government has so far supported, and which is well advanced in the Oireachtas.

The Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2017 was accepted by the Government when it passed its second stage last October. If enacted, it would require medium and large companies to publish details of the difference in the average pay of their male and female staff.

But the Government now intends to introduce an alternative bill, reportedly because it has reservations about the role of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in administering pay gap reporting.

Responding to the development, Fórsa’s Head of Communications Bernard Harbor said reservations about the logistics of reporting, storing and presenting data could easily be addressed through amendments to the Labour bill, which is already well advanced.

“The Government has gone back to square one even though there is broad consensus on this issue across political parties, employers’ bodies, unions and civil society organisations. The move introduces needless delay, which means the legislation will probably not become law before a general election,” he said.

The administration’s move effectively shunts the issue back to the pre-legislation stage. Extensive consultation, which had produced a consensus on the issue, will now start again.

“We had the prospect of reaching the legislative summit by the end of this year. Now we are back in the foothills,” said Harbor.

The three unions that formed Fórsa were at the forefront of the campaign for legislation to compel organisations to publish details of their internal gender pay gap. Employer’s body Ibec was sceptical at first, but was persuaded to support the initiative.

All sides believe such a law could be a spur to action in tackling the gap between the average pay of men and women, which is stubbornly stuck at around 15%.

Just under half of young Fórsa members are struggling to pay their rent, an Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) survey has found. The survey into housing costs for union members under 35 also found that 45% of Fórsa members were either unhappy living at home or felt trapped in the rental market.

A further 17% said they were very unhappy in their current living arrangements, while 68% had little confidence in their future ability to buy a home.

Fórsa lead organiser Joe O’Connor said young Fórsa members’ experience of housing costs were disturbing, but not hugely surprising given the scale of the housing crisis.

“It is unsustainable that over one-third of young Fórsa workers are seeing more than 30% of their take-home pay swallowed by spiralling rent costs, with almost half feeling insecure in their housing arrangements,” he said.

“It’s well past time for decisive Government action to tackle these crippling costs and uncertain tenancies,” he added.

Joe said it was significant that 80% of Fórsa members said the Government’s failure to address the housing crisis would influence how they will vote in elections.

Read about the overall survey results HERE.
 

Legislation supporting affordable childcare passed through the Oireachtas last week, just as an Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) survey confirmed that most families struggle with childcare costs.

The Childcare Support Bill, which is expected to be enacted in the coming days, promises to give parents additional financial assistance. The Government says the new scheme will replace existing targeted childcare programmes with a “single, streamlined and more user-friendly scheme.”

According to the ICTU survey results which polled 1,000 trade union members, childcare is one of the top two out-of-pocket costs for 71% of working families with a pre-school child. While half (52%) of families with two or more children say it’s their biggest monthly expense.

Commenting on the newly announced legislation, Congress general secretary, Patricia King said:

“Removing this employment barrier for mothers who want to return to work will increase the skills level and size of the workforce. This is vital for sustaining spending on public services and payments, such as the old age pension, into the future”.

Minister for children and youth affairs, Katherine Zappone says the new scheme will improve outcomes for children, reduce poverty, facilitate labour activation and reduce the cost of childcare for families.

“It is a key priority of this government and will require sustained investment and momentum over the coming years to achieve the childcare system that families in Ireland both need and deserve” she said.

Currently the families of over 75,000 children are in receipt of financial support.

Parents of children aged 6-36 months are currently entitled to a non-means tested childcare subsidy of €20 per week, which amounts to €1,040 a year. Some families are also eligible for a €145 means-tested subsidy if the child is under six months. You can click here to see if you qualify.

A campaign by Fórsa has led to improved protections for people using the services of dietitians and speech and language therapists.

On foot of representations by the union and professional associations, the health department has tightened the rules governing the use of these professional titles.

Under previous rules, only qualified and registered professionals could call themselves dietitians or speech and language therapists. This has now been extended to those calling themselves dieticians – spelt with a ‘c’ rather than a ‘t’ – and speech therapists, rather than speech and language therapists.

Fórsa welcomed the change, now in place, which will strengthen protections for service users. The union’s deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan tweeted that it was a “significant development” for Fórsa members working in the professions.

Workers at the council took part in a fourth one-day stoppage on Tuesday (3rd July) this week. Strike action scheduled for today (Thursday) has now been suspended.

Peter Nolan, head of Fórsa’s Local Government and Services division, said: “Based on the documents received from the WRC and the oversight group, we’re satisfied there’s a clear route to the full availability of flexi-leave for our members.”

The WRC document recommends that both parties agree that all staff at the council are allowed to generate flexitime/flexileave, and that council management would have to be satisfied that there is sufficient, productive work to enable the generation of flexitime/flexileave.

The document also recommends that Roscommon County Council will facilitate the taking of leave subject to ordinary business needs.

The union is to attend the WRC today to finalise the details.

Fórsa’s youth committee has been hard at work establishing its presence, since its launch in May. The Great Fórsa Quiz was the inaugural event and the committee has since been developing a number of social and workplace campaigns.

New entrants pay, the housing crisis and precarious working conditions are high on the agenda.

Three new officers were recently elected to the committee. I spoke to Osal Kelly (chairperson), Irene Tiernan (vice-chairperson) and Yvette Kelly (secretary to the committee) to find out more.

Osal Kelly is a clerical officer at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and became involved in youth and social issues during his time at university.

He’s conscious of the challenges younger members are facing. “My priority is to develop the Fórsa youth committee as a group equipped to campaign for pay equality for young public servants, and to end the scandal of precarious employment blighting younger workers,” he said.

Osal hopes that the youth committee will also help fortify the trade union movement. “I hope to strengthen the links with activists in other unions and show the continuing relevance of trade unions to young people.”

As secretary to the committee, Yvette Kelly works at the Department of Justice and Equality. She is focused on the issues of mental health and pay inequality. Yvette’s passion for workers’ rights stems from facing unemployment and precarious work during the economic crisis. She began to question the injustice and unfairness facing many.

“The systematic inequality and the class logic that deepens injustice faced by workers hit home with me,” she explained.

Yvette’s goal is to empower other activists, to lead and organise effectively, in order to build a stronger union. “I want to bring home the main message of trade unions to young people entering the work force that an injury to one is an injury to all,” she said.

Irene Tiernan works in the HSE and is PRO for the Sligo Health and Welfare branch. She has been active in the trade union movement for the last two years . Irene hopes that her position on the committee will encourage others to get involved and strengthen the union and views her activism as a form of giving back to the wider trade union community.

“I want to give back to Fórsa as it’s invested so much time in me. I feel that by giving my time and commitment that I'm returning on the union’s investment in me,” she said.

“I joined the youth committee to be a voice for other young workers, and also encourage others to get involved in the union. I want to show how important the union is for young workers and remind them that we are the future and we have power to make positive changes,” she said.

If you would like to get involved, please contact Joe O’Connor or Roisin McKane for more information.

A HSE circular on the treatment of leave and attendance during February’s ‘storm Emma’ finally issued last month. As reported in the Fórsa bulletin in May, the circular confirms that HSE and voluntary hospital staff who were unable to get to work because of the storm will not have to use annual leave for the days lost.

Fórsa and other unions also negotiated time-off-in-lieu for those who did attend, and recognition for those who worked additional hours. The measures, agreed between unions and the HSE, will also apply in ‘section 38’ voluntary hospitals.

The circular confirms a day’s paid emergency leave for each of three days (28th February to 2nd March) for those who could not attend work. Those who attended on these days will get one days’ time-off-in-lieu (TOIL) for each day they were at work.

Those who went to work before their shift started, after being requested to do by management, will receive modest payments, as will those who stayed on site to help after their shifts ended.

The circular also covers those who worked above their rostered hours or were required by their management to book accommodation.

Fórsa’s intervention last February led to an early commitment from health minister Simon Harris that staff would not lose annual leave if they were forced to miss work because of the snow.

The union will be seeking to apply the same measures in ‘section 39’ agencies, although agreement will have to be sought in each individual organisation.

Read the circular HERE.

European and UK trade union and business leaders have highlighted the need to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland in an unprecedented joint statement on Brexit.

Speaking ahead of last week’s European Council meeting, the directors of Business Europe and the British employers’ federation, the CBI, joined with the general secretaries of the European Trade Union Confederation and the TUC – Luca Visentini and Frances O’Grady – in a call for urgency in the Brexit negotiations.

“We are calling on the UK government and the EU to inject pace and urgency in the negotiations, bringing about measurable progress, in particular a backstop arrangement to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

“Decisions will be needed in June and October to finalise the withdrawal agreement and the transitional arrangement, and put economic interests and people’s jobs, rights and livelihoods first,” they said.

They cited a range of issues that needed urgent agreement, including “a mechanism for agreeing a mutually acceptable level playing field for workers’ rights.”

The four organisations, which together represent 45 million workers and 20 million employers across Europe, met for the first time in London on 15th June to discuss Brexit.

They said employers and unions had developed a consensus on the need to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, and on the rights of UK citizens in the EU and EU citizens in the UK.

“The cost of disagreement between the UK and the EU would be dire for firms, workers and the communities where they live. Amid uncertain times, we appeal to negotiators on both sides to put jobs and prosperity before politics when seeking solutions that will matter for generations to come,” they said.

Former members of Fórsa, or the three unions that amalgamated to create the new union, can maintain their union membership and enjoy a range of financial and other benefits including continued participation in union campaigns and events.

The union has a retired members’ vocational group, which deals solely with the issues that affect former members. Continued union membership – at an affordable cost – gives retired members a voice on issues that affect them and their families. This is vital at a time when incomes and services are under pressure and the number of older people in Ireland is growing all the time.

Fórsa’s retired members’ vocational group campaigns to protect and enhance retired workers’ income and security, and advocates for better services for older people.

Retired colleagues continue to be members of the union branch they retired from, so they can keep contact with friends after retirement. Many branches and retired members’ groups organise social events.

How do I Join

The union subscription is either €8 per month (payable by bank standing order) or 0.4% of your pension (deducted at source, where employers provide this facility).  Regardless of the method of payment, the fee does not exceed €96.00 euro per year.

Financial benefits for retired members include:

€5,000 personal accident insurance
€5,000 critical illness or death benefit
€5,000 death of a spouse/qualifying partner
Evacuation or repatriation expenses of up to €250,000 for members who die or are seriously ill abroad
Free legal help in bodily injury cases
Free 24/7 legal advice helpline
Free 24/7 confidential counselling helpline
Free 24/7 domestic assistance helpline.

Retired members can also opt-in to Fórsa-facilitated financial benefits on car insurance, home insurance and travel insurance.  Retired members can also avail of our group discount scheme for online shopping.

Contact rnolan@forsa.ie for more information.

The Living Wage Technical Group has increased the rate of the Living Wage by 20c to €11.70 an hour.

In its latest report the group said the increase has been driven by changes in the cost of living and changes in the taxation system. It said the current housing crisis, and associated increases in rent levels, continues to be the main driver of the wage rate increasing for 2018. 

The Living Wage is an evidence based wage, centred on the concept that work should provide individuals with an adequate income to afford a socially acceptable standard of living.

The Living Wage, which now stands at €2.35 an hour more than the current minimum wage (€9.55), is derived from budgetary standards research, focusing on needs not wants.

It is constructed on the basis of a single adult household working 39 hours a week, and sees an income disparity of €91.65 on average per week, when comparing against the current minimum wage.

The technical group and its research is supported by the Nevin Economic Research Institute, SIPTU, Social Justice Ireland, TASC, Unite union and the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.

Click here for more information on The Living Wage 2018.