Public service unions have accepted the invitation by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, into talks about unwinding the emergency legislation (Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act - FEMPI) used to cut public service pay during the economic crisis, and talks are set to get underway today (Tuesday 12th May).

The talks announcement was included in the Spring Economic Statement in April, which outlined the current budgetary position and the scope for public spending and tax reductions in the October budget.

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody said that current conditions demonstrated that the economic emergency had passed, and that the beginnings of pay awards in the private sector and job growth are welcome signs of economic recovery.

“Pay recovery is a crucial element of economic recovery, and public sector pay recovery is just one element within that. It makes sense now to look at how the legislation used to cut pay can be dismantled and how pay improvements, that are in step with pay recovery elsewhere, can be achieved."

Shay said that Minister Howlin’s acknowledgment of continuing productivity in the public sector was also welcome. “Public services have delivered on the demands placed upon it by a growing population, which has increased by 350,000 since 2006. There are 30,000 fewer public servants in Ireland than there were when the crisis hit in 2008.

“In that time our public services have responded to the needs of an additional 260,000 people needing social protection services; more than 630,000 extra medical card holders; an increase of 50,000 children in schools and an increase of 13% in the number of people receiving state pensions. People who work in public services continue to respond to that demand, which demonstrates a deep commitment to public service delivery” he said.

Speaking to IMPACT delegates at last week's Health and Welfare divisional conference, division chair Tony Martin said that public service productivity must be recognised as unions and the Government prepare for talks on public sector pay restoration, and that members could not entertain any further alterations to terms and conditions of employment. “We’ve had enough of taking backward steps and this week, this conference, marks the point at which we should begin to move forward again and start talking about recovery."

IMPACT has said that pay recovery across all sectors of the Irish economy is vital if the Government is to achieve its target of full employment by 2018.

IMPACT will keep members up to date on the progress of talks via the ebulletin. The talks are expected to continue throughout May.

IMPACT trade union has welcomed the publication of draft legislation on collective bargaining which was published last week by Minister Gerald Nash TD.

The legislation, which will allow trade unions to represent members at the Labour Court where employers refuse to recognise unions, and secure legally binding benefits for workers, is expected to become law by the middle of the year. The legislation also provides for robust anti-victimisation protections.

IMPACT, which was the main union involved in the Supreme Court decision on Ryanair in 2007, said the legislation removed a significant obstacle to advancing the pay and conditions of all workers.

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody said “The development of this legislation is of vital importance to every worker in the country. Collective bargaining rights will mean that unions and worker representatives will be able to secure benefits in companies where employers refuse to pay the going rate. The legislation will also give new and stronger statutory protection against the victimisation of workers in such companies.”

Mr Cody said the union would immediately begin the process of studying the legislation in detail. The legislation amends the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001, and will bring Irish law in line with recent European Court of Justice rulings, provide clarity on the process of trade unions advancing a claim under the Act, and provide policies and principles for the Labour Court to follow when assessing those workers’ terms and conditions.

The legislation also defines what constitutes “collective bargaining” and offers guidelines to help the Labour Court identify if internal bargaining bodies are genuinely independent of their employer.

Mr Cody said “Trade unions have sought the introduction of collective bargaining rights for over a century. As economic recovery continues and more people return to employment, it’s important that the right to collective bargaining is in place, and that employees who seek improvements in pay and conditions cannot be victimised for doing so.”

Changes to the public service travel and subsistence rates will take effect from July. The changes were introduced following a review established under the terms of the Haddington Road agreement. The review was conducted by the Civil Service Staff Panel and the sub-group of the General Council.

Subsistence rates have been increased though the distance required to travel, in order to qualify for the rate, has been reduced. Day rates for being away from the office, for 10 hours or more, remains at €33.61 while the rate for being away for between 5 and 10 hours will increase from €13.71 to €14.01. The distance required to travel to qualify for the increased overnight rate has been increased from 48km to 100km.

The changes to the scheme are as follows:

• The qualifying distance for an overnight claim will increase to 100km from 1st July 2015, except in circumstances where complex work patterns or health and safety issues warrant a lower qualifying radius.
• The overnight rate will increase from €108.99 to €125.00.
• The qualifying distance for the 5 hour rate will increase to 8km from 1st July 2015. The 5 hour rate will increase from €13.71 to €14.01.
• The 10 hour rate remains unchanged.
• The travel rate per kilometre travelled also remains unchanged.

The new rates will come into effect from July, 2015 and will be reviewed annually thereafter.

A study by the CSO into the public/private sector pay differential for 2009 and 2010 shows that the premium for public sector pay, reported as 11.9% in 2009, decreased to 1.3% in 2010 after a full year application of the public service pension levy and additional pay cuts introduced in December 2009.

Quarterly CSO figures on earnings are based on gross pay and do not take account of the effect of the pension levy. This study provides, for the first time, a comparative analysis that takes account of the effect of the pension levy on pay.

The publication provides an in-depth analysis, providing different results depending on the weighting of data and the size of the organisation. Unlike a lot of news coverage on the public and private sector pay differential, there is no single figure that captures the difference in pay.

Direct comparisons are difficult as many occupations do not exist in both sectors, such as hospitality, prison security, teachers and Gardaí.

Pay cuts for those earning €65,000 and over, alongside increment freezes under the terms of the Haddington Road agreement, are excluded from the analysis, and suggest that the public sector pay premium is likely to have fallen further since 2010.

However, the study reveals the following:

• On a ‘like-for-like’ comparison, taking account of organisational size, many private sector workers earn more than those in the public service, and this is particularly noticeable in the top 20% of earnings distribution.
• Male workers in the private sector, on a ‘like for like’ basis, earn more than their public service equivalents
• The gap for male workers in favour of private sector workers is even larger if commercial state bodies are excluded from the analysis
• In general, the public sector pay differential was highest for those on lower earnings
• The analysis reveals that a higher concentration of women working in low paid occupations in the private sector (retail and hospitality in particular) means that women working in the public sector are, on average, paid more than women in the private sector.

Writing in the Irish Times, John Fitzgerald said that the higher pay differential in favour of women working in the public sector may be partly explained “by the fact that there is better de facto protection from discrimination in the public sector. It may be that women in some areas of the private sector are not receiving compensation commensurate with their skills and experience.”

Other CSO data shows that, since 2010, average hourly earnings in the private sector have risen 2.5% whereas they have fallen 2.5% in the public sector.

Size

The CSO analysis also reveals the importance of size in determining the pay differential. This assumes that the larger the organisation, the higher the pay. Public sector employments tend to be larger than the average in the private sector.

Including the size of the organisation as a factor, the CSO figures show that the average public sector pay premium was 13.5% in 2009 and this drops to 9.7% in 2010. When size is excluded, the average public sector pay premium is shown at 21.7% in 2009 and drops to 19.1% in 2010.

In his analysis, John Fitzgerald said the evidence suggests that, on average, pay rates in the public sector are now close to those in the private sector, with those on higher incomes probably earning significantly less than corresponding private sector workers and those on lower incomes probably still marginally better off than those in the private sector.

Related: Blog: There’s a good reason for the private-public sector pay gap – IMPACT website (1^st September 2014)

The union’s Health and Welfare and Civil Service divisions held their conferences last week at Treacy’s West County Hotel in Ennis, Co. Clare. Here’s a brief roundup of some of the news from conference.

IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell told the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD, that there is an inbuilt culture of dysfunction in Irish health services that is threatening its future. Louise said that results from a recent health service employee survey, Have Your Say, were damning. “It reflects very poorly on the HSE as an employer,” and Louise said the lack of a response from the HSE “betrays the dysfunction at the heart of the health system.”

The chair of IMPACT’s Health and Welfare division told delegates at the division’s conference last week that public service productivity must be recognised as unions and the Government prepare for talks on public sector pay restoration. Talks commence today (Tuesday 12th May).

The conference also endorsed the call for a forum to be created on pay and job security for the community sector. Michelle Grehen, of the union’s Boards and Voluntary agencies branch explained “I have been working in the domestic violence area in the community sector for twelve years, along with my colleagues in the homeless, drugs and youth services. In that time we’ve seen a major increase in the demand for our services. This has put pressure on staff who are striving to deliver a service and battling consistent cuts along with increment freezes."

Helen Cousins, of IMPACT’s Galway branch, brought a motion seeking the end of zero hours contracts, which she said is a growing feature in the social care sector, in addition to the hospitality and retail sectors. Conference backed the motion, and Helen said trade unions needed to “keep striking blows against zero hours contracts until the trend is wiped out”, while delegates also voted to support early childhood care workers who are low paid but expected to up-skill and re-train at their own expense.

At the Civil Service division’s conference, national secretary Eamonn Donnelly said the time has come for recruitment in the civil service as gaps emerge in some professional and technical grades. “There are now major gaps in the system which were created through retirement and the moratorium, there is a legitimate fear that services such as the archivists and archaeological heritage will become so depleted that they will never be replenished” he said.


IMPACT's Local Government and Services & Enterprises divisions will hold their conferences next week in Galway, from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd May.

IMPACT’s Dublin City branch have launched a two-week advertising campaign supporting a ‘Yes’ vote in next week’s referendum on marriage equality. The branch, which represents members working in Dublin City Council, decided to run a series of advertisements on Dublin Bus entitled ‘Love Equality’.

The ads are currently visible on bus routes all over Dublin and have been well received by campaign supporters who’ve posted pictures of the ads on social media.

IMPACT’s central executive have also posted the ‘Love Equality’ message to a number of billboards all over the country until 17^th May.

The billboard ads are visible at a number of sites in Limerick, Galway, Cork and Dublin.

Shay Cody, general secretary of IMPACT said “Marriage equality is one of the most important issues of our time. On May 22^nd we will have the opportunity to show that we are a generous, welcoming, forward thinking and inclusive society. I call on all members to think about what this referendum means to IMPACT members who are LGBT and the wider LGBT community of Ireland, and to open their hearts to the spirit of love equality.”

Take part in our readers' survey on marriage equality HERE.

The Standards in Public Office Commission launched the register of lobbying activity www.lobbying.ie, in April. The Register will identify to the public who is communicating with Government and senior civil and public servants on public policy matters.


Trade unions will also be required to register as lobbying organisations, although only lobbying activity carried out by employees (paid officials) will be required to be reported. Lobbying by union members will only be reported in instances where their union has asked them to take part in a 'grassroots' lobbying campaign, and the trade union will be required to report that it organised the lobbying activity.

The register is being established under the recently enacted Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. It will provide a simple, web based register of lobbying activity giving transparency on ‘who is contacting whom about what’.

Those who need to register lobbying activity can now begin to use the website. They will be obliged by law to register lobbying activity that takes place from September 1^st next. They must make returns of lobbying activity every four months, with the first returns being due by January 21^st 2016.

Launching the online register, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, said “The Regulation of Lobbying Act will bring about significant improvements in the policy-making process in Ireland ensuring open communication and transparency.”

The IMPACT Cabin Crew branch is conducting a ballot for industrial action, up to and including strike action, in a dispute about rosters which resulted in one day strike action in May 2014. The branch has expressed its disappointment with a recent Labour Court recommendation which came out of a lengthy process following last year’s action.

The ballot calls for action in the event that Aer Lingus takes any one or more of the following actions:

• Takes any steps to outsource Cabin Crew work to non-Aer Lingus staff and/or offshore Cabin Crew work without agreement with IMPACT
• Fails to agree and implement arrangements for the introduction of a trial 5/3 fixed pattern roster i.e. 5 work days followed by 3 days off fixed pattern, 5:3, 5:3(similar to the roster for short haul Aer Lingus pilots)
• Fails to agree and implement acceptable time off arrangements
• Breaches or refuses to recognise any existing collective agreements
• Fails to agree and implement acceptable arrangements to resolve the ongoing dispute regarding Crew and Operations Supervisors
• Introduces changes to terms and conditions of employment and/or working practices, crewing levels and service levels without agreement with IMPACT.

Michael Landers, assistant general secretary with IMPACT said “All of the issues we went on strike for last year still need to be finally solved.  We have spent almost a year developing proposals for the 5/3 fixed pattern roster.  It has been a frustrating year and the company has continued to drag its feet on numerous industrial relations issues” he said.

He added that cabin crew must act to change their situation, and that they would not tolerate this disrespect any longer. “Only by voting for strike action will we get the company’s attention. We need to show that we are united and determined to resolve our issues and get fair treatment” he said.

The ballot closes on Friday, May 15^th.

The speeches from both President Higgins and General Secretary of ICTU Patricia King focused on the need for decent work, and power dynamics in the workplace. President Higgins said that “trade unions have a crucial role to play in defending workers” and he talked at length about the need to hand a stable working environment to the next generation in an era when instability in employment is increasingly becoming an unwanted feature.

The future for the ethical workplace initiative

On the back of this project Congress has begun a campaign advocating for the development of a National Charter of Workplace Ethics that will outline and provide clear guidance on the key principles that govern fair conditions of employment and ensure that every worker is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.

As part of the development of the National Charter of Workplace Ethics, Congress is calling on employers to sit down with workers and their unions and negotiate fair whistleblowing policies that will protect workers when they report concerns about ethical failures, rather than policies that only protect reporting on legal failures.

For further information on this campaign click here.

Ethical workplace video

This project relied upon the input of trade union members and would not have succeeded without it. One of the main outputs of the project was the creation of a collaborative film, which a large number of unions and their members participated in, from throughout Ireland.

To view the video created from various union events and workplace visits click here.

Project Comments

Below is a small collection of some of the hundreds of comments which were submitted to the dedicated website for the ethical workplace initiative.

Each point below answers the question ‘what does an ethical workplace mean to you?’

• It means not having to constantly apologise to patients I see in hospital for the appalling conditions they must endure in my workplace.
• A place where there is transparency in integration of ideas regardless of grades. Also openness and equality in recruiting - there have been situations where people happened to be in the right place at the right time and that creates inequity.
• That everyone in the workplace supports each other and acknowledges the good in the other! That includes the boss/manager/principal!
• An ethical workplace is where staff feel supported and support each other, where working hours are reasonable, work-life balance is facilitated as much as possible, there are good recycling and cycling facilities and food where provided is ethically-sourced.
• Somewhere safe and respectful where people feel free to say if they are uncomfortable about behaviour.
• A fair day's pay for a fair day's work.
• It means having a work environment that fosters effective communication.
• Staff are given information that is relevant and up to date and are given further opportunities to learn in the form of training.
• That all staff are given equal opportunities.
• A workplace that ensures the dignity and rights of staff are respected. Staff are given an opportunity to grow and develop their strengths and to progress in their careers.
• An ethical workplace is one where there is good leadership and commitment from workers and managers to performing to the best of their ability in the jobs they do, with respect and awareness about how they work with each other and with their customers or the people they serve. The workplace must be guided by principles of equality and fairness and must publically act upon these in all parts of their work so as to ensure that exploitation and inequality are not countenanced, but even further, they are singled out and tackled head on. It is all about trust.
• Senior management is failing miserably in generating trust between them and their employees