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IMPACT has secured the restoration of increments for staff working in a high-profile voluntary agency. As part of the union’s overall pay restoration strategy, negotiations have been ongoing with a number of employers in the community and voluntary sector this year.

IMPACT assistant general secretary Ashley Connolly has represented members on a number of agencies in the sector and said that the most recent decision showed a welcome breakthrough for staff at the agency. “While negotiations continue in a number of other employments, we decided not to name the specific agency until those negotiations are concluded.

“However, it does represent a significant breakthrough in the community and voluntary sector, and indicates that the years of retrenchment in the sector are finally coming to an end. We still face a very significant challenge in restoring pay elsewhere in the sector, but this signals a welcome change,” she said.

Ashley added, “Staff in this sector have been subject to the FEMPI cuts in many instances but also through the imposition of shorter working weeks, increment freezes and other measures to reduce costs, while still maintaining services and responding to increased demand for services. IMPACT has continued to highlight the challenges faced by workers in the sector.

“There is no one-size-fits-all approach, we need to work with employers to see what improvements can be achieved,” she said.

Ashley added that negotiations with other larger employers in the sector are ongoing, and that IMPACT’s drive to recruit new members in the sector will be crucial to achieving pay improvements in other employments.

A recent survey showed that trade union density in the community and voluntary sector is still very low. The Community Foundation for Ireland survey found that more than six out of ten (62%) organisations indicated that their staff were not members of a trade union, while only 6% of organisations said that more than half of the workforce were unionised.

Ashley added, “The employments where we can really make a difference are those with higher trade union density, so recruitment and organisation remains a significant priority. This latest breakthrough shows that trade union membership has real value in the community and voluntary sector.”

The Minister for Public Expenditure and reform, Brendan Howlin TD, has issued an order to extend the ‘grace period’, for the calculation of pension benefits for retiring public servants, to 1st April 2019.

Superannuation benefits of those grades affected by the reductions - under the terms of the  Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) - will continue to be calculated by reference to the scales in place on 30th June 2013, immediately before the HRA came into effect.

PRD repayment

The FEMPI Act 2015, which gives effect to the Lansdowne Road Agreement, provides for the repayment of a small amount of pension levy (€62.50) deducted in 2013.

To effect the repayment, the exemption threshold for Pension Related Deduction (PRD) for 2015 is increased from €15,000 to €17,500. This produces the required reduction in the rate of PRD in 2015.

The original provision, contained in the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA), was to apply from 1 July 2013 (HRA commencement date). However, this change was not implemented until January 2014 because of administrative and legal difficulties which did not facilitate it in mid-2013.

This meant there was an overpayment of PRD in 2013. Since 2013 public service unions, including IMPACT, have pursued this.

The €62.50 due to public servants is scheduled to be paid in December.

Political cartoonist Donal Casey looks to the various election campaigns in the next edition of Work & Life magazine, available from January.

After months of speculation, the general election is expected early in the new year. IMPACT is putting a series of questions to all of the political groupings contesting this year’s election, and we’ll publish their responses in the members’ e-bulletin and on impact.ie as we receive them.

We’re encouraging IMPACT members to use these questions to put to the candidates in your constituency during the election too. Pick questions that are relevant to you and see what your candidates are saying. We’d like to hear from you about their response. Send your feedback to info@impact.ie and put ‘GE16’ in the subject heading.

Policy questions

1. What is your party’s views on the balance between tax deductions and public expenditure adjustments over the next five years?
2. Will your party honour the terms of the Lansdowne Road Agreement, including the partial restoration of public sector pay, no compulsory redundancies and the improved protections on outsourcing?
3. Do you support pay restoration for staff working in the community and voluntary sector? How does your party propose to achieve this?
4. What measures will your party take to improve access to services for children with special education needs?
5. What measures will your party take to continue job creation and reduce unemployment? What are your party’s policies in relation to labour activation schemes such as JobBridge, Gateway and Community Employment?
6. What are your party’s policies in relation to ensuring decent work and terms of employment? Do you support the introduction of a Living Wage?
7. What are your party’s policies regarding housing, homelessness and rent certainty?
8. What measures does your party propose are necessary to ensure that Irish water and sanitation services are retained in public ownership?
9. What will your party do to establish an efficient single-tiered health system, which is free at the point of access?
10. What are your party’s policies in relation to the retention or disposal of state assets and the privatisation of public services?
11. What are your party’s policies in relation to improving the availability of services and working conditions in early childhood care and education services?

The Local Government & Local Services and Municipal Employees’ divisions of IMPACT have balloted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action at Irish Water, following the announcement by the water utility that it will shed 1,500 jobs as part of its business plan published last October.

The ballot result was overwhelmingly approved, with  95% in favour of industrial action. The ballot seeks to ensure compliance with the terms of the agreement on annual service plans and to ensure that vacant posts in the local authority water sector are filled as full-time permanent positions.

Only members involved in the direct provision of services to Irish Water, including those who work in non-domestic water billing and water metering, were balloted. IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan has said that the union will extend the ballot to other workers in the local authority sector if it becomes necessary.

Peter said that Irish Water’s proposals constitute clear breaches of existing agreements negotiated by the union, and said the ICTU group of unions would not tolerate breaches of collective agreements as a result of the unilateral position of Irish Water. Each of the unions conducted their own separate ballot.

Peter added that the Irish Water consultative body will meet on 7^th January. The group of unions are scheduled to meet with Irish Water management on 21^st January.

A Frequently Asked Questions document is available to download here.

Colleagues, this past year has proved, once again, what we can achieve when we work together as a union. At our conference in 2014 we emphasised the need to achieve income recovery. This year, we took the first steps toward achieving that goal, and now the Lansdowne Road Agreement will begin to deliver pay restoration for the first time since before the economic crisis.

Throughout our 2015 campaign for pay restoration, we emphasised that it was essential that all workers - public, private and in the community and voluntary sector – should experience the economic recovery through improvements in their income. Happily, we are seeing this happen, including a recent breakthrough in the community and voluntary sector, but a lot of work still needs to be done before the fruits of economic recovery become more universal.

We know, all too well, that many of our citizens have been left behind, and nowhere is this more evident than in the national housing and homelessness crisis. IMPACT is continuing to campaign on the need to introduce both emergency and long-term measures to address this crisis.

In a post-crisis environment, as we look at the challenges facing the country in housing, health, education and other public services, it’s important to remember that we have choices. The country and the union have a new found freedom to make choices for the first time in eight years. Making responsible choices is crucial if we are to ensure that the economic recovery is both equitable and sustainable. That means we must get the balance right between taxation and expenditure.

With a general election taking place quite early in 2016, many of the political parties will use the promise of tax cuts to attract voters. It’s a well-worn strategy and it has been successful in the past. However, there is now an increased understanding that it is not possible to continue cutting taxes and still deliver quality public services to everyone who needs them.

As a union we stand together, unashamedly, on the side of efficient, organised and well-funded public services. In 2016 we must focus our attention on rebuilding those services in the wake of the economic crisis.

The incoming Government has a choice. It can squander the recovery by eroding the tax base and force the contraction of our public services. However, it can instead choose to ensure the sustainability of the economic recovery with a broadly based, progressive system of taxation, and deliver European levels of public services to a growing and ageing population.

As we face into a year of new challenges, we must continue to exert our collective influence and champion the right choices. The future of our public services will depend upon our success.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your work colleagues and families, a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

Shay Cody, general secretary, IMPACT.

IMPACT representatives have been appraised of the report of the expert panel into the ambulance services in Dublin which has recommended that the Dublin City Council’s Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) have full control over the Dublin ambulance service.

The review panel was established following the publication of a Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report into the ambulance service in December 2014. Dublin City Council established a consultative forum, under an independent chairperson, to work towards securing agreement on a model of operation to address the recommendations in the HIQA report.

The report does not support the proposal to transfer the call taking/dispatch functions from DFB to the HSE run National Ambulance Service (NAS), on the grounds that removing any element of the DFB’s emergency service would have an adverse effect on patient care.

The report recommended “the implementation of more efficient joint dispatch procedures between the two organisations, which could be complemented by an integrated technical solution.”

IMPACT official Phil McFadden welcomed the report’s recommendation. “IMPACT and SIPTU made a joint recommendation to the expert panel. The fact that the report recommends the retention of the DFB ambulance control room in Tara Street is vitally important. As is the fact that the report has recommended that the DFB ambulance service be funded by the Department of Environment and not the HSE as proposed last year. This will consolidate an already excellent service.” The report acknowledges that the recommendations will present challenges for all parties involved.

The joint union group is due to have a meeting with the Ambulance Review Panel tomorrow (Tuesday 22^nd December) to discuss any outstanding issues and concerns. IMPACT’s Dublin Firefighters and Officers Section Committee are currently considering the recommendations. There is another meeting with the review panel on 22^nd January 2016.

The recent arbitration decision which recommended four pay increases for grant-funded school secretaries and caretakers has been welcomed by the Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD.

The Minister said arbitration findings were a significant step in addressing the pay concerns of school secretaries and caretakers, and acknowledged the vital role they play in the running of Irish schools.

The minister added “While the Government must maintain a sustainable approach to the cost of services, including in the education sector, as economic recovery takes hold we expect to see the benefits of that recovery being shared by all, especially those on low pay.”

The arbitration recommended four separate pay rises of 2.5 per cent for school secretaries and caretakers, who are paid from grant funding, between 2016 and 2019. Responding to the arbitration finding, IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said that it had not eliminated the two-tier pay system but said the proposals would end the most exploitative practices.

“This is a significant result because it sets an improving standard over the next four years, and gives us an established rate of pay, with certainty on pay improvements over the period. It doesn't solve the problem, but it does close the gap. As such, it marks a vital first step,” he said.

IMPACT’s general secretary Shay Cody and the Central Executive Committee (CEC) wish all IMPACT members a happy Christmas, particularly those who will be working in our essential services over the festive season.

IMPACT’s Dublin office will be closed from 1pm on Christmas Eve and reopen on Tuesday 29^th December, from 10am to 4pm. It will be closed on 1^st January and back to normal opening hours from Monday 4^th January.

Local arrangements apply for the IMPACT offices in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Sligo. Queries should be referred to the Dublin office over the Christmas period.