The merger that created IMPACT was far more successful than we imagined when the union was formed in 1991. Now it’s time to make history again, writes IMPACT general secretary SHAY CODY.

This article is about our future, but I’m going to start by taking you back a couple of decades. Bear with me; this isn’t a lengthy history lesson.

When IMPACT was created 26 years ago, the newly-merged union had 22,000 members – 15,000 from the old Local Government and Public Services Union (LGPSU), and 7,000 from the Union of Professional and Technical Civil Servants (UPTCS).

That figure grew to almost 24,000 when the Irish Municipal Employees Trade Union (still affectionately known as ‘The Muno’) joined the party later in 1991.

As a member of UPTCS staff, I was involved in the preparations for what was then a huge event in Irish trade union and political circles. The birth of a united organisation, representing so many public servants and others, seemed like a big prize at the time.

But we soon began to realise that the true achievement was far more significant. Today the union boasts a membership just shy of 60,000 – almost three times the size of the nascent IMPACT that was finding its feet in the early nineties.

We now know that the merger did much more than simply unite and consolidate the existing membership of three kindred unions. Rather, it created a platform to recruit and organise more and more workers into our organisation, which became stronger and better able to protect and advance all our members’ interests as a result. 

Exciting

That’s what excites me about today’s ‘new union’ project. Like the IMPACT merger of old, it would bring together three unions – IMPACT plus the CPSU and PSEU – that already share a set of values and work closely together in negotiations, campaigns and workplaces across the country.

By bringing some 80,000 workers into one trade union family – under the Fórsa name - I firmly believe it would mean better services and outcomes for our members. Not least by creating a very strong negotiating block, with members in the public service, civil service, semi-state sector, community and voluntary organisations, and even some private companies.





















It would simultaneously establish one articulate – and frankly unignorable – voice, campaigning in our communities, parlaying with public representatives, and defending our members in the workplace. Employers, politicians, journalists and, indeed, other unions, would sit up and take stock.

But the biggest prize of all is the potential to organise, recruit and represent tens of thousands more members over the coming years – giving them a voice and making their lives better, while boosting the strength and influence of existing IMPACT members and the wider trade union movement.

Size matters, but only because of what it can deliver. We’ve had our setbacks and arguments, and progress sometimes comes too slow. But look what we’ve achieved since IMPACT was formed.

We’ve fought for, and won, the professionalisation of formerly-ignored groups in the health and social care professions – physiotherapists, social care workers and many more. This has resulted in decent pay scales and career structures, a measure of respect, and a model for advancing the interests of other groups like childcare and early years’ professionals.

Thousands of SNAs are now part of our family, finally getting the protection of union representation and negotiated pay scales as a result. 

Thrived

Despite some early anxieties, professional grades in the civil service and state agencies have survived and thrived, benefitting from the collective negotiating and campaign resources that enabled us to see off decentralisation and the privatisation of our Coillte forests.

Our clout has helped restore the minimum wage and deliver public pay deals that benefit lower paid workers most.

And we’ve had more authority to speak for public servants, who so frequently attract unfair media criticism and political scapegoating. Many clerical and admin staff are now seeing job evaluations and other prospects open up because IMPACT stayed strong.

In the worst of times, we worked together to limit salary cuts – and eventually negotiate pay restoration – while avoiding compulsory redundancies and outsourcing even during the greatest recession modern Ireland has seen.

That was delivered by members, activists, branches, staff – yes, and other unions like the PSEU and CPSU – working together with a common purpose. And in recent years we’ve had the resources to invest in new membership services, support to branches, training, communications, campaigns, and an organising team that’s helping activists convince ever more workers to join and strengthen our family.

We’ve remained strong even when large groups of loyal members – including thousands of community welfare officers and tax officials – had to leave for other unions on foot of government decisions. And all the while, others came to join us – pilots, cabin crew, FGE in the civil service, and many more – attracted by the benefits of being part of a bigger, stronger team.

 
United

Many of us had our reservations about creating IMPACT back in 1991. I acknowledged that, even though I saw it was the right thing to do for our members and our movement. Frankly, staying in our silos would have been an easier option for officials and activists alike.

But fast forward 26 years and very few people believe we made a mistake. The evidence confirms that a larger, united force has delivered for our members and the values we all support.

Now it’s time to move up another gear. To create another new union that will be the platform for better trade unionism in Ireland. To strengthen the hand and amplify the voice of civil and public servants and the vital services they provide to the people of Ireland.

And to hold out the prospect of a more prosperous and secure future for the tens of thousands we now represent, and the thousands more that need the protection of a strong, sure friend in the workplace and in our communities.

That’s why I’m urging you to create some more history by voting for a new union in the forthcoming ballot. You may think it’s a courageous thing to do. I agree. But it’s also the canny thing to do, and the correct thing to do.

Shay Cody is IMPACT’s general secretary. This article is taken from the latest edition of Work & Life magazine, which will be available to subscribers and in workplaces from next week. The latest edition includes news and views on the New Union project, including a comprehensive FAQ feature. You can read the magazine online HERE.

IMPACT AND SIPTU will host a joint symposium on Brexit, on Friday 24th November, in the Mount Errigal Hotel, Letterkenny, County Donegal.

Focusing on the issue of the border with Northern Ireland, the symposium will examine questions of the border’s future post-Brexit. Has the border become a Brexit deal bargaining chip or is it yet another victim of the failure of ‘Brexiteers’ to consider the consequence of their folly?

IMPACT official Richy Carrothers says it’s the greatest single threat to the normalisation of life on both sides of the border. “The border, as it was, ran nearly 500km from Lough Swilly in Derry to Carlingford Lough in Louth. Now, everyday tens of thousands of people crisscross freely the border areas. Students, shoppers, tourists, commuters, school children, hauliers and workers. In fact, the border is crossed 110 million times a year.

“This figure represents the continued normalisation of politics on this Island, and of life on both sides of the border, and is reflected in the majority referendum vote (56%) in favour of ‘Remain’ in Northern Ireland. Now the British government is in the process of dismantling the rights and entitlements of EU citizenship and all that brings,” he said.

The event will run from 10.30am to 3.15pm and will feature speakers from across the trade union movement, civic society and the business community.

Richy added, “The event will have three panel discussions on the free movement of People; Brexit and public services and Brexit and the economy."

Richy is encouraging all IMPACT branches to send representatives to the symposium and take part in the discussion.

To register, please email the IMPACT Sligo office (click on the link provided) or call 071-9142400 no later than 10th November 2017.

Read Richy’s special feature on Brexit and the border in the latest edition of Work & Life HERE (hosted at issuu.com).

Around 65 officials and activists from several unions gathered in University College Cork (UCC) last Saturday (30th September) for a special forum to address the housing and homelessness crisis.

Proposals for a local authority-led response to the crisis (see related article at the bottom of the page), developed by the One Cork movement and which have since been adopted by ICTU, were at the centre of the forum, which was moderated by IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan.

The forum divided into ten workshop tables to brainstorm around the issues, and to develop proposals for trade union led responses.

Panel speakers included Barry Murphy, assistant general secretary with OPATSI, who was instrumental in driving the One Cork/Congress proposals; Joe Finnerty from the School of Applied Social Studies at UCC; Jane Hayes Nally, a fifth year student at Midleton College and past president of the Irish Second Level Students Union; Donal Guerin, a housing officer with Cork City Council, and speaking as a member of IMPACT’s Cork branch; and Dermot Kavanagh, director of Cork Simon.

Colm Cronin, from the Cork Council of Trade Unions, also addressed the forum which was organised with the assistance of Fiona Dunne of Congress.

Kevin Callinan said, “The One Cork initiative is proving that bringing activists from all unions together is the way to leverage the energy necessary to take on the big issues such as the housing crisis. I want to pay tribute to our own official Hilary Kelleher and our IMPACT staff and activists for their attendance and ongoing support for One Cork”.

Kevin told the forum about his recent Labour Employer Economic Forum meeting with Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Eoghan Murphy where the main item on the agenda was housing.

Preparations to launch the One project in Galway are now underway. Initial planning meetings, involving IMPACT officials and activists, have already taken place.

IMPACT members at Cork City Council have backed the outcome of two conciliation conferences in a dispute over staff parking facilities. The proposals include a guarantee on replacement parking spaces and confirmation that parking charges will not be introduced for staff during 2017 and 2018.

Following Cork City Council’s sale of Navigation House in 2008, the Council continued to avail of around 120 staff parking spaces at the site. In May this year, Cork City Council advised staff that the council was notified that it must vacate the spaces by 1st June. This was despite earlier assurances by management that arrangements would not be affected, and not before alternative arrangements were agreed.

In the absence of alternative proposals or assurances on staff car parking, IMPACT members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, and were joined by members of the Local Authority Professional Officers (LAPO) division of SIPTU. Unions served two weeks’ notice of industrial action.

Two conciliation conferences took place at the WRC in July. A series of proposals were put to members:

• Replacement staff car parking spaces, in close proximity to City Hall, were guaranteed, in addition to the continuation of arrangements at North Main Street and the Kinsale Road park and ride facilities
• Confirmation from the employer that no charging would be introduced for car parking facilities during 2017 and 2018
• With effect from 1st January 2018, consultation to commence through the partnership process in relation to devising a car parking policy.

The proposals were backed by members in a ballot.

IMPACT organiser Ruth Crowley said, “No local authority in the country currently charges staff for car parking facilities. In this case, if the employer succeeded in introducing staff charges it could open the floodgates for others to introduce charges for their employees.”

Ruth added that IMPACT’s Cork City Council committee, chaired by Paul Walsh, had done an excellent job of keeping members informed and engaged throughout the process. “Such a positive outcome can be attributed to the long established work of these members and their dedication to fairness in the workplace,” she said.

The Special Olympics Ireland Games will take place next summer between the 14th and 17th June 2018, returning to Dublin for the first time in 16 years.

Special Olympics Ireland is now recruiting volunteers for this huge and unique series of events. The message from Special Olympics Ireland is “Staging these will require the enthusiasm, skills, knowledge, support, and commitment of over 2,500 volunteers. Our athletes deserve the best and that's why we are asking you to help us and volunteer for the games.”

Special Olympics Ireland is inviting prospective volunteers to join them at one of their recruitment open evenings in Dublin where you can find out all you need to know.

These take place as follows:

• Saturday 7th October 11am to 1pm, St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra campus, theatre E-214, Block E
• Tuesday 10th October 6.30pm to 8.30pm, Trinity College, Thomas Davis Theatre
• Saturday 14th October 11am to 1pm, UCD Belfield, Lynch Theatre, O’Briens Centre for Science
• Wednesday 18th October 6.30pm to 8.30pm, UCD Belfield, Lynch Theatre, O’Briens Centre for Science

Find out more HERE, with thanks to former PSEU president Maria Ryan for spreading the word.

Last week, IMPACT hosted a special one-day seminar entitled ‘Equality in the Workplace: a Reality?’  at its Dublin offices. Minister of State at the Justice Department, David Stanton made the opening address. He began by acknowledging that “trade unions like IMPACT have led the progress towards equality in the workplace.”

The minister urged members, staff and guests to read the ‘National Strategy for Women and Girls’ , emphasising its commitments on equality.

The minister also used the opportunity to announce that he will “shortly” be opening an LGTBQI equality consultation process. The minister’s full address is available here.

IMPACT’s general secretary, Shay Cody, responded to the minister’s remarks. Shay praised the minister for taking a genuine personal interest in his equality brief. Shay emphasised the role that the EU has played in advancing equality in Ireland.

He went on to say that a solution needs to be found for same-sex married couples who opted out of children’s and spouses’ pension schemes at a time when those weren’t options for them (see ‘other news in brief’ below).

Other speakers at the event included Edel McGinley, director of the Migrants’ Rights Centre Ireland; Martin Collins, co-director of Pavee Point; Laura Harmon, women in leadership officer with the National Women’s Council of Ireland; Simone Flannery of the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland; Barbara Brennan of See Change; and Senator Fintan Warfield.

The event discussion forums were facilitated by broadcaster and activist Dil Wickremasinghe.

Last week, IMPACT trade union’s young members’ group hosted a cross-party debate on the cost of living for young workers. There were speakers in attendance from all major political parties.
 
Social Democrat councillor Gary Gannon spoke first. He said he was “proud to pay taxes”, that taxes were “his form of patriotism” and that “he did not need €200 back in his wages.” Councillor Gannon was making the point that the solution to the cost of living crisis for young people lies in investment, rather than in tax cuts.

Nadia Reeves Long, chairperson of the Young Greens argued that, in order to measure the cost of living, “we need to track what’s actually going on in the economy”. She said that “we need alternatives to GDP” and that “we should be tracking things like the percentage of people in low-wage jobs or percentage increases in homelessness”.

Fianna Fáil councillor Emma Murphy said that, in terms of the cost of living for young workers, “childcare is probably the single biggest issue arriving at my door.”

Dave O’Keefe, a People Before Profit councillor, said that “young people have always been broke” but that “today there is no guarantee of a secure job.” He finished by saying that “young people are not work-shy, this is not a generational thing.”

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Fein TD, spoke about the impact of the high cost of living on emigration. “I still know more people in Perth, Western Australia, than I do in most Irish Counties.”

Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said that “we have to stand up for trade unionism and make the case that it is entirely compatible with a modern economy.”

The final speaker was Fine Gael TD Noel Rock. He warned that we are “going to see huge changes in the next five years from, for example, automation.”

The debate was preceded by talks by outgoing president of the students’ union Annie Hoey and UCD lecturer Aidan Regan.

An audioblog of the presentations, edited by Hazel Gavigan, is available to listen back to via Soundcloud.

IMPACT has made two submissions to the Department of Justice and Equality’s consultation process on measures to close the gender pay gap. The consultation period concluded on Wednesday (4th October).

In its submissions, IMPACT has suggested the development of a nationally recognised badge of achievement for companies and organisations that make genuine efforts towards narrowing their internal pay gaps.

In a separate submission focussed specifically on the union’s education division, IMPACT has demanded improvement in the pay and conditions of the non-teaching staff represented by the union in education professions.

The union has also called for continued cross-party support for the Labour Party’s Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2017, and for gender pay gap reporting to be introduced in the public sector as an immediate first step.

Read more here.

The IMPACT submission is available here and IMPACT’s submission on behalf of its Education division is available here.

IMPACT has issued ballot papers to its 8,000 special needs assistant (SNA) members on a motion for industrial action. The ballot was in response to the Government’s failure, for the fourth year running, to announce SNA allocations before the end of the 2017 summer term.

The ballot of SNAs is for industrial action, up to and including strike action, to achieve:

• A guarantee that, in future, SNA allocations will be announced in sufficient time (no later than May) to allow the Supplementary Assignment Panel - and distribution of available hours to serving staff - operate to full effect
• Arrangements in respect of job security on a par with teachers and other public servants
• An agreed procedure for dealing with SNA grievances and issues (including proposals to resolve or refer to an agreed process all outstanding cases).

The ballot was issued to IMPACT members by post in September, and concludes on Friday 13th October.

The SNA allocations establish the number of SNAs that are allocated to individual schools each school year.

IMPACT assistant general secretary Barry Cunningham said the lengthy delays to their publication every year since 2014 means SNAs don’t know if they have a job to return to in the new school term. “The delay may also leave them unable to apply for redeployment in the event that they don’t have a job. There’s no practical reason why the schools cannot get the figures in April or May, so that SNAs can plan for the new school year in a dignified, effective and timely way.

“The habitual failure to do this simple thing, which means so much uncertainty for our children and their schools, also means that SNAs don’t know if they have a job to return to each year. That it happens every year shows contempt for SNAs, and for the children, parents and schools they serve,“ he said.

Barry said IMPACT will no longer accept the protracted delays in the announcement of SNA allocations. “Our objective in balloting our SNA members on this matter is to gain an absolute commitment from the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) that the announcement of SNA allocations is made in sufficient time to allow a smooth transition to the next school term.

“It’s become difficult to obtain meaningful engagement from the department on a range of issues affecting SNAs. This is reflected not just in the delayed allocations, but also in the inferior job security and the failure to conduct normal industrial relations. We want a process and procedures equivalent to those that operate for teachers. This is well within the Government’s capacity to deliver,” he said.

IMPACT has called on the Government to announce a timetable for a referendum to ensure that water services remain in public control, amid fears that proposed new governance structures would increase the risk of privatisation over the coming years. The union says proposals before Government, which would create a single unitary organisation with no link to local authorities, would once again put water privatisation on the table.

Officials from the largest trade union in local government raised the issue in a meeting with the Irish Water Consultative Group – a union-management industrial relations forum – in Dublin last week. IMPACT sought detailed information on Irish Water’s parent company Ervia’s proposal to create a single unitary organisation and sever service level agreements with local authorities, which continue to deliver most water and sewage services. 

Privatisation

IMPACT national secretary Peter Nolan, who led the union side in last week’s talks, said: “The creation of a unitary model could pave the way for privatisation of water and waste water services in Ireland, despite political commitments that they will remain in public ownership. This development underpins the need for a referendum, which would support the quality and affordability of water services into the future.

“A large majority of TDs support a referendum, yet it has not featured in the Government’s current legislative programme and was not included on the ‘indicative timetable for referendums’ published last week. This is bound to feed the suspicion that both the Government and Ervia are trying to keep the option of future privatisation alive.”

Peter said that the public was entitled to a constitutional guarantee on the public ownership of water services. “It is alarming that no progress has been made on the matter in spite of the overwhelming support of the public and the Oireachtas on the matter,” he said.

The Government should allocate an extra €125 million in next year’s Budget, and at least €625 million extra over the next five years, to ensure that Ireland meets the OECD average spend on early childhood care and education by 2022, according to IMPACT.

In a costed pre-Budget submission launched last week by Barnardos Ireland Chief Executive Fergus Finlay, the union said two months’ paid parental leave for one parent should also be introduced next year, at an extra cost of €84 million. And it called for fees paid by parents to be capped as a condition of public funding of early childhood providers in future.

The union says Government spending of just 0.1% of GDP on early childhood education puts Ireland at the bottom of the OECD league table. “This lack of significant investment has resulted in high costs to parents and low wages for workers. Irish parents pay some of the highest childcare costs in the world, while most of those working within early education don’t even earn a living wage,” it says.

The EarlyIMPACT pre-Budget submission also demands:

• That Ireland meets the UNICEF early childhood spending target of 1% of GNP within ten years
• The implementation of a Programme for Government commitment to review the early care inspection regime, and withdraw funding from providers who fail to meet standards
• The immediate implementation of a Budget 2016 commitment to a quality audit of early years’ education services
• The negotiation and implementation of agreed salary scales for early years’ staff to boost professionalisation of the sector.

Barnardos CEO Fergus Finlay said: “Having access to quality early years services can make a world of difference to a child’s life, offering the best start possible. It reaps benefits for the child, society and the exchequer, ensuring that every child can reach their potential. It’s important that Budget 2018 commits to investing in early childhood care and education – supporting the improvement of quality and access of services.”

IMPACT official Lisa Connell said international research had demonstrated a clear link between salaries and the quality of early education experienced by children. But Irish workers generally experience low pay and poor working conditions in the sector.

“Average pay in the sector currently stands at €10.27 an hour, with a €1 premium for graduates. It is inevitable that some children experience poor quality early education when the services are provided by poorly qualified and poorly paid staff. Budget 2018 can start to change that by signalling the necessary move towards a graduate-led workforce with payment of an agreed salary scale as a condition of public funding,” she said.

IMPACT says simply providing higher capitation for higher qualifications isn’t the solution to low pay as there is no guarantee that higher capitation fees would be passed on in wages.

IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan proposed that the Government should eliminate the special VAT rate for the hospitality sector and invest it in early education. “If the Government took this step we'd start to come nearer to the amount of investment you'd expect in a modern economy but even then we'd still be well short of the OECD recommended level,” he said.

Download a copy of the pre-budget submission HERE