IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan has said that the current refugee crisis demands a pan-European humanitarian response. “This refugee crisis is something that hasn’t happened overnight, it is something that has been building, it needs a pan-European response with members of every European State playing their full part in this,” he said.

In a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan in May this year, Kevin expressed IMPACT’s concern about the emerging crisis on Europe’s southern borders. “Europe’s position cannot be limited to border management, it must also include a humanitarian response” he said.

A commemoration ceremony to remember Carmel Kirwan was organised recently by IMPACT’s school secretaries’ branch. A beautiful stone chair was unveiled in Carmel’s honour at the Three Sisters marina in New Ross, County Wexford. Carmel’s husband Frank, and her children Dymphna, Mark and Garreth along with family, friends and IMPACT representatives attended the event.

IMPACT president Jerry King said “It is nice to think there is a little bit of IMPACT in New Ross. This memorial is a fitting tribute to Carmel and to her tireless work on behalf of school secretaries throughout Ireland over many years. Carmel was the driving force behind the school secretaries’ branch from the very beginning. She was a tireless advocate for the recognition of the work of school secretaries nationwide.”

The Labour Court has made a recommendation on a disputed assault and injury scheme for staff working on the Oberstown campus in North Dublin. The Court recommended two amendments to an existing set of management proposals presented to the union last April.

The dispute arose after a number of different work practices were identified among the various schools that amalgamated in 2009 to establish Oberstown. One of the issues that emerged was the four year rolling period for the assault and injury scheme.

IMPACT members working at the Irish Aviation Authority have voted to back a new industrial relations agreement that includes a 6% ‘cost of living’ pay arrangement over four years, as well as new pay scales, ‘career averaging’ and a new internal binding dispute resolution system. The IAA is to formally consider the agreement at a meeting in early October.

The deal is known as the ‘New Industrial Relations Collective Agreement’, and covers 290 air traffic controllers, 52 radio officers and 46 safety inspectors. All are members of IMPACT. The agreement is designed to achieve cost stability and industrial peace.