The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is asking voters to think about what type of society they would like to see in the coming years before casting their vote in the general election on Friday. Congress asks, “What needs to be done to ensure society will be fairer and more equal?”

Congress has said the key components to create a fairer Ireland are a living wage, decent jobs, fair pensions and good public services and that it makes sense to support the parties and candidates who back these measures.

Questions

The dedicated campaign site provides some useful election campaign tools, including questions to put to canvassers and candidates in the remaining days of the election, background information on all the issues, and a list of current TDs and Senators who support fair conditions at work.

Charter support

Congress recently revealed it had found overwhelming support for its Charter for Fair Conditions at Work among political parties, with Labour, Sinn Féin, Fianna Fáil, the Social Democrats and socialist deputies signing up, while there was little or no support for the Charter from either Fine Gael or Renua.

The Congress Charter for Fair Conditions at Work sets out five key principles to help make decent work a reality:

• A Living Wage
• Fair hours of work
• The right to union representation
• The right to respect in the workplace
• Fair public procurement.