In this issue
Are you a social care worker?
Talks set to get going
Workers demand pay restoration equity
More lip service on gender equality
Under-funded councils face complex world
Templemore: IMPACT backs civilian roles
Under-funded councils face complex world
by Bernard Harbor
 

Ireland’s local authorities need more funds and staff to rebuild services reeling from crisis-era cuts, and to deal with the fallout of international events and trends, according to the Cathaoirleach of the union’s Local Government Division. Speaking to delegates at the union’s Local Government and Local Services conference in his native Donegal, Sean Reid said the sector has suffered deeper cuts than any other part of the public service, including a 28% reduction in staffing since 2008.

Sean said local councils were struggling to deal with the local impact of challenges like Brexit, trade fluctuations, refugees and automation. “In many ways, the only things still local about local government are the people we serve, and the communities we live in. Our border and rural authorities are bracing themselves for the potentially catastrophic impact of Brexit on jobs, livelihoods, workers’ rights and – in this part of the world – even their daily commute.

“Our communities are subject to the vagaries of international trade: On one side, privatisation-encouraging multinational deals like CETA, TTIP and TiSA. On the other, Trumponomics, which threatens to sap our local economies of job-rich and technology-rich multinational employers. We are welcoming refugees from war-torn Syria, at least we will be when the Government gets its finger out and fulfils the modest commitments it has made.

“And local authorities and their staff are rising to all these challenges, just as we are navigating the dangers and opportunities of that other global phenomenon, automation,” he said.

Sean also urged delegates to show solidarity with staff in Irish Water and local authority water services. “They did not conceive or implement the ongoing fiasco we’ve seen on public water policy over the last two years and more. But they have been unfairly criticised, vilified in the Oireachtas and the media, and even threatened on the streets,” he said.

He added that IMPACT had successfully resisted management plans to axe 1,200 jobs from badly-stretched water services. “We will continue to ensure that local authorities, the Local Government Management Agency, and Irish Water operate the service level agreements, and the collective agreement that underpins it,” he said.

Over 160 delegates representing 12,000 local authority workers debated motions on pay, gender equality, housing, job evaluation and career progression, flexitime, working conditions, whistleblower protection. Delegates sent solidarity messages to Roscommon County Council staff in dispute over the withdrawal of flexitime, and to bus workers.

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