Feature Article
YOU decide!
by Bernard Harbor
 
Pay ballot closes Friday

Voting on the proposed new pay deal, the ‘Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020,’ closes at noon this Friday (14th July). That means IMPACT members who are eligible to vote must ensure their completed ballot papers are returned and arrive by 12 noon on Friday if they want to have their say.

Voting on the proposed new pay deal, the ‘Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020,’ closes at noon this Friday (14th July). That means IMPACT members who are eligible to vote must ensure their completed ballot papers are returned and arrive by 12 noon on Friday if they want to have their say.

The elected IMPACT Central Executive Committee has recommended acceptance of the proposed deal, which was the outcome of over two weeks of negotiations that concluded last month. Now it’s up to the members, and IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody has urged everyone to vote.

“The proposed agreement will deliver pay increases and pension protections for all public servants, plus important safeguards on outsourcing. The most important thing now is that every public servant exercises their right to decide. Don’t let someone else decide for you,” he said.

Some IMPACT branches are conducting postal votes, while others are balloting members in the workplace. In either case, each paid-up member who is eligible to vote gets an individual ballot paper and can cast a secret ballot. You can get details of local arrangements from your IMPACT branch.

The union has set up a helpline (mail ballothelpdesk@impact.ie) for members and activists who have queries about their eligibility to vote or the ballot process. You can also get information from our website guide to the ballot.

 

Meanwhile our frequently asked questions document contains explanations of all the main aspects of the proposed agreement including pay restoration and pension levy adjustments, the new ‘additional superannuation contribution,’ outsourcing, working time, new entrant issues, and more.

All IMPACT members who are directly affected by the proposed deal are entitled to vote. If you work in the public service or a non-commercial semi-state organisation you are probably entitled to a ballot paper. Members in ‘section 38’ voluntary and community organisations are also eligible to vote.

Once the branch ballots are completed, the votes will be aggregated to determine the national outcome of the IMPACT poll. That will determine IMPACT’s vote at a meeting of the ICTU Public Services Committee which, in turn, will determine the overall public service union position on whether the proposals are accepted or rejected.

additional articles
IMPACT demands huge public housing programme
by Bernard Harbor

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody has demanded a huge public housing programme on the scale of the one that delivered tens of thousands of homes in the 1970s. Speaking at the ICTU biennial delegate conference in Belfast last week, he called for a “national plan to implement the largest housing programme in the history of the state.”

Shay said Ireland had effectively abandoned public housing provision to the private sector in the twenty-first century. And this had failed.

The union has demanded capital investment for 10,000 social and affordable homes to be built each year, together with a commercial funding agency to underpin the initiative and a municipal housing authority “with powers to compulsorily purchase land and derelict stock, underpin housing standards, and hold local authorities to account.”

Speaking at the conference Shay said there were almost 15,000 homeless families, and 2,500 children in emergency accommodation in the fastest growing economy in Europe. “As a people, we have achieved a remarkable turnaround in employment and economic performance. Yet over 77,000 households – many of them trade unionists and their families – are in mortgage arrears.

“A short time after a catastrophic collapse, our exchequer finances are in recovery, and our debt is close to the EU average. Yet homeless families queue for food and emergency accommodation. Almost 30% of AIB is back in private hands, further boosting the exchequer, less than a decade after the citizen-funded bailout. Yet those same citizens desperately compete for a tiny stock of affordable private rented accommodation, or enter bidding wars to buy overpriced homes,” he said.

“More than 80% of the many available properties are too expensive for those on state housing benefits, as landlords take advantage of excess demand. And the landlord’s right to evict, to sell or house family members, makes security of tenure a fantasy in our private rented sector.”

IMPACT has been at the forefront of the housing and homelessness campaign, working with NGOs and campaign groups for the right to an affordable and secure home. Shay said a huge public housing programme as not a “fanciful” aspiration.

“We have done as much in more difficult times. A large-scale local authority housing programme in the 1970’s provided over 60,000 houses, peaking at almost 9,000 in 1975 under Labour minister Jimmy Tully. This on top of 180,000 private houses built in the same decade.

“But, by the early 2000’s social housing provision was contracted to an unregulated private sector and local authority house building had effectively ceased. Soon, the only housing options available to ordinary workers and citizens were private ownership or the private rental sector.

“That approach has manifestly failed – and failed magnificently. By relying almost entirely on the market, successive governments have created today’s housing crisis. And we will enter a new and frightening phase of the housing crisis as a generation of workers – many of them depending solely on the state pension for the lack of any occupational provision – enters retirement paying full and inflationary market rents for their basic housing needs. The old – and effective – model, where private mortgages were generally paid off by the time you retired, and local authority rents were income-related, has been shattered,” he said.

ICTU to launch ‘Year of Enterprise’
by Bernard Harbor
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has pledged to launch a ‘year of enterprise’ next year. Building on the work of the trade-union supported Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI), the initiative is designed to develop trade union analysis and policy on innovation, enterprise and industrial policy.

Speaking at the ICTU biennial delegate conference in Belfast last week, IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan welcomed the contribution of multinational companies to Ireland’s economic development, but said workers were vulnerable in the face of Brexit, changing global markets and aggressive nationalist chauvinism. He said unions needed to put themselves at the centre of industrial policy debates to ensure that working people shared in the fruits of innovation and improved productivity.

“The fruits of Belfast’s first industrial revolution were not evenly spread. The fourth industrial revolution must be different. The Year of Enterprise 2018 will focus on ensuring that the new industrial strategy forms one strong thread in a tightly woven social fabric,” he said.

The ICTU Year of Enterprise would “identify areas for progress in relation to innovation, employee participation, and skills at local, regional, national and European level,” according to a motion sponsored by the ICTU Executive Committee.

In the context of Brexit, Mr Callinan said Irish unions would collaborate with sister organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and the wider EU to defend and advance European social protections. “In responding to Brexit, the new industrial strategy must take its cue from this legacy of lasting partnership.

“And it must forge new ones too with workers and employers, north and south, EU and UK. We cannot follow the emergent isolationist trend. Now is not a time to batten down the hatches or abandon ship,” he said.

Coillte pay deal backed
by Bernard Harbor
IMPACT members in Coillte have accepted a new four-year pay and performance deal by a margin of two to one. The agreement, which covers pay, performance management and dispute resolution, is structured to enhance payments to workers in lower pay bands, while avoiding a freeze for others.

Under the agreement, pay is structured by taking account of the cost of living, market pay movements, change proposals, and the situation of staff who have received no pay increase for over four years. There is also a performance element, which takes account of performance at company, divisional and individual employee level.

The pay and reward aspects of Pathway to 2020 include a lump sum for staff not on legacy salaries or bands, and a faster rate of promotions. Voluntary redundancy will also be available for some. It also features joint union-management working groups to deal with concerns about workloads, and a ‘transition review.’

An earlier proposal was rejected by 70% of IMPACT members in a ballot.

Court considers Aer Lingus claim
by Bernard Harbor

The chair of the Labour Court met separately with the Aer Lingus group of unions and the airline’s management last week to hear submissions on pay. The court is now considering the unions’ demands, along with management’s response. It’s expected that a full Labour Court hearing will be convened shortly.

IMPACT and other unions in the airline are seeking pay increases averaging 5% a year over the next three years, along with a profit-sharing scheme and the restoration of increments foregone since 2008.

Management initially sought a ‘self-financing’ outcome, with productivity measures underpinning any and all increases. There was insufficient progress at Workplace Relations Commission hearings earlier this year, and the unions referred the claim to the Labour Court.

IMPACT has pointed to the high performance of Aer Lingus, compared to the wider AIG group, in terms of operating profits, return on investment, and payroll costs as a proportion of revenue.

Brexit rights warning
by Bernard Harbor

 

 

Brexit must not be used as a pretext to dismantle workers’ rights, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has warned. In a Brexit update published late last month, ICTU called on the Irish and UK governments to “make a public declaration that no existing rights or protections will be lost or eroded as a result of Brexit.”

The document, Brexit: time to rethink the key issues, also calls on the Irish Government to establish an early warning system and training fund to help workers in sectors where jobs are vulnerable because of the proposed UK exit from Europe. In proposals that echo those made at a joint IMPACT-Siptu seminar earlier this year, ICTU calls on the EU to make similar funding available.

And it argues that unions and employers should be centrally involved in preparations for Brexit.

The Congress update calls for the continued free movement of people on the island of Ireland, and says it would be best if the UK remained in both the customs union and single market if Brexit goes ahead. It notes that the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland is now high on the EU agenda in Brexit talks.

Brexit: Time to rethink the key issues
Trade unionists killed in 11 countries
by Lughan Deane

There were attacks on trade unionists in 59 countries last year, including killings in 11 states, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) 2017 global rights index. The index ranks workers’ rights in almost every country in the world using 97 metrics.

The countries where trade union officials or activists were murdered were Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mauritania, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and Venezuela.

ITUC’s latest annual review reports that the number of countries in which workers experience serious threats has risen 10% in the last year – from 52 countries to 59. Over three-quarters of countries deny workers at least some part of the rights to strike and to bargain collectively. And, worryingly, 60% of countries exclude certain classes of workers from protections under labour laws.

ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow, who spoke at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ conference in Belfast last week, said “We need to look no further than these shocking figures to understand why economic inequality is the highest in modern history. Working people are being denied the basic rights through which they can organise and collectively bargain for a fair share. This, along with growing constraints on freedom of speech, is driving populism and threatening democracy itself.”

According to the index, the ten worst-performing nations on earth in terms of workers’ rights are Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

It placed Ireland in the second best category. This section, labelled ‘repeated violation of rights,’ also includes Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Rwanda and several others.

 

Targeted Colombian trade unionist in Ireland
by Lughan Deane

Huber Ballesteros, the famous Colombian trade union leader, spoke at the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s (ICTU) biennial delegate conference in Belfast last week. This was his first international trip since being released from prison, where he had been held for three and a half years as a political prisoner on trumped up charges.

He was invited by IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan, who met Ballesteros languishing in a jail cell without basic medical attention or equipment when on a union delegation to Colombia last year. Ballesteros was never convicted of any crime.

The delegation was in Colombia during the week that an historic peace deal was signed between the FARC rebel group and government authorities. At that time Kevin and his fellow delegates called on the Colombian government to release Ballesteros, and other political prisoners, as a demonstration of faith in the peace process.

Upon Ballesteros’ release, the campaign group Justice for Colombia wrote a personal note of thanks to Kevin and other Irish trade unionists for their solidarity and support.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) ranks Colombia among the top ten countries for violations of worker and union rights. Last year, 19 Colombian trade unionists were murdered, 17 were attacked and 186 were threatened with violence of death.

Last week, Kevin said it was “a privilege to welcome” Ballesteros to the conference after his ordeal. He said that the ultimate success of the campaign to have Ballesteros freed demonstrated the importance of “solidarity and perseverance.”

Ballesteros received a spontaneous standing ovation from delegates as he rose to address conference. In his remarks, he again thanked the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for its support during his time in prison.

He said that trade unionists’ commitment to the principles of solidarity and social justice must be permanent and that they must be willing to make sacrifices to see their aims and objectives achieved. He gave an update on the current status of the peace deal at a fringe gathering, where there was a strong emphasis on the need for continuing international support and pressure.

Owen Reidy, assistant general secretary of ICTU, thanked Ballesteros for his “inspirational contribution”. Conference also endorsed an emergency motion calling for continued support for peace in Colombia and for the release of remaining political prisoners.

Win a trip to Iceland
by Bernard Harbor




IMPACT members can put themselves in with a chance of winning a trip to Iceland for two, with €1,000 spending money, by completing a simple 60-second survey.

Part of the New Union Project, which is exploring a possible merger of IMPACT, the PSEU and the CPSU, the survey is designed to get your views on the kind of financial services you want from your union.

The results will inform decisions about new services for members if the new union is approved in separate ballots of the three organisations later this year.

All IMPACT members are eligible to complete the survey and enter the draw. But you must do it before 31st July 2017.

Enter the survey HERE.

NEWS
Unions back IMPACT on gender pay gap
by Bernard Harbor
 
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has backed IMPACT’s call for legislation to compel companies to reveal data on their gender pay gap. The ICTU biennial delegate conference – made up of representatives of virtually all Irish unions – last week unanimously passed IMPACT’s motion, calling on the Government, employers and unions to act.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has backed IMPACT’s call for legislation to compel companies to reveal data on their gender pay gap. The ICTU biennial delegate conference – made up of representatives of virtually all Irish unions – last week unanimously passed IMPACT’s motion, calling on the Government, employers and unions to act.

Statistics compiled after last week’s event showed that IMPACT’s motion generated more social media traffic than the rest of conference business put together.

IMPACT says pay gap reporting would have a massive impact on female earnings. When similar measures were introduced in the UK earlier this year, a leading labour law expert said it could do more for gender pay parity in five years than equal pay legislation had done in 45.

Speaking at the ICTU conference in Belfast, IMPACT lead organiser Linda Kelly said compulsory reporting of organisations’ gender pay gaps would “shine a light on inequity” and enable consumers to take account of the pay gap when deciding what to buy.

“At the current rate of action, the United Nations reckons it will take 70 more years before women’s average pay matches men’s. Laws to compel pay gap reporting would send a strong signal that Ireland doesn’t just care about equal pay, but that we mean to do something decisive about it. Not in 70 years’ time, when I’ll be 101 years old, but now,” she said.

Legislation to introduce workplace gender pay gap reporting was adopted in the Seanad, with all-party support, in May. Introduced by senator Ivana Bacik, the Gender Pay Gap Information Bill 2017 is likely to face a sterner test when it returns to committee stage in the autumn. Ms Kelly urged trade unions and civil society organisations to keep up the pressure to maintain all-party support for the reform.

IMPACT says the legislation would put pressure on employers, forcing them to address the issue if they want to protect their reputations in an economy where brand value is ever more important.

“It will help decent employers to compete for the best talent in the labour market. Just for once, it could have them competing to pay people more. It will empower women to organise and bargain, armed with the facts and with public opinion on their side. And it will enable trade unionists, citizens and progressive organisations to take account of the gender pay gap when making decisions about how they spend their money,” said Linda.

The move on gender pay reporting has so far been opposed by employer group Ibec, despite winning the support of the UK Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and other British-based employer bodies.

IMPACT has written to Ibec, saying the measure “would open up a new front on which employers could compete to attract and retain the best female talent” and said “publicly available gender pay gap information would also allow firms to make informed choices about who to engage as suppliers or contractors from a gender equality perspective.”

SNAs to ballot for action
by Niall Shanahan
 
IMPACT’s 8,000 special needs assistants (SNAs) will ballot for industrial action immediately at the start of the new school year because of the Government’s failure, for the fourth year running, to announce next year’s SNA allocations before the end of the  summer term.
IMPACT’s 8,000 special needs assistants (SNAs) will ballot for industrial action immediately at the start of the new school year because of the Government’s failure, for the fourth year running, to announce next year’s SNA allocations before the end of the  summer term.

The SNA allocations establish the number of SNAs that are allocated to individual schools each school year. Until they’re published SNAs don’t know if they have a job to return to next September, but are unable to apply for redeployment in the event that they don’t. This year the publication was delayed until last Wednesday (5th July), almost a week after the summer primary school closure.

IMPACT says the failure to publish the allocations puts the education department in breach of agreements on job security and redeployment. The union says it has been forced into an industrial action ballot by the education department’s contempt for SNAs and the children they serve.

IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said there was no practical reason why the schools cannot get the figures in April or May, so that they can plan for the new school year and, where necessary, organise redeployment of SNAs in a dignified, effective and timely way.

 

Disgraceful

“The education department’s disgraceful and 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 next September. If it happened one time, it would be unacceptable. But it happens every year – and that shows contempt for SNAs, and for the children, parents and schools they serve.”

Kevin said IMPACT had contacted the Department of Education on the matter scores of times. The union also raised the issue with Minister of Education Richard Bruton at the union’s education conference in April, and wrote to him again in June. He said the union continued to make daily contact with the department in an effort to get the allocations issued.

The union says the department is in breach of agreed redeployment procedures, under which a ‘supplementary assignment panel’ is in place for SNAs who lose their post because the child they serve moves on. This year, posts have been advertised on the panel, but with closing dates that precede the publication of the 2017-2018 allocations.

This puts SNAs in an impossible position, because they don’t know if they need to apply for redeployment, but will lose the opportunity if they don’t do so. As a result, an SNA could lose their position at the end of the 2017 school year, but be unable to apply for an alternative post next September. The union says this undermines the effective application of the panel system.

“We have repeatedly warned them that their failure to do so is raising the industrial relations temperature. But they aren’t listening, and so we are now going to ballot for industrial action to ensure that SNAs achieve the same job security as the national teachers they work beside in the classroom,” he said.

Extra posts

Last Wednesday’s allocation announcement included an extra 975 SNAs for the next school year. It was also reported that Cabinet agreed that the process on the provision of special needs assistants would not be decided so late next year.

But IMPACT says this commitment is too little and came too late. The allocation delay has already caused significant difficulty for SNAs and the avoidable uncertainty about their working life has moved into palpable anger.

IMPACT’s response follows successive years of avoidable delay to publish the allocations in a timely manner. The department needs to demonstrate, with its actions, that SNAs will no longer be treated as an afterthought in the planning of the new school year.

Pensions and new entrants explained
by Niall Shanahan
 
IMPACT has published short videos to explain two of the most frequently asked questions about the proposed Public Sector Stability Agreement (PSSA) – the changes to pension contributions and the proposed process to address the ‘new entrant’ issue.

IMPACT has published short videos to explain two of the most frequently asked questions about the proposed Public Sector Stability Agreement (PSSA) – the changes to pension contributions and the proposed process to address the ‘new entrant’ issue.

Proposed Public Sector Stability Agreement: A Q&A about pensions was launched in late June. It sees IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody address common questions about what the proposed PSSA means for pension benefits, what happens to the pension levy, and how incomes will be affected.

Meanwhile, Irish public service new entrants pay scales - what happened before and what happens next  was published last week. It outlines the recent history of changes to new entrant pay scales in the public service and how, if accepted, the PSSA would address the remaining iniquities. This video is also available, with closed captions, on IMPACT’s Facebook page.

Both videos, along with comprehensive questions about the agreement and the current ballot are available here.

The ballot on the proposed agreement closes at noon this coming Friday, 14th July. The result will be announced on Monday 17th July.

IMPACT’s Callinan re-elected as ICTU VP
by Bernard Harbor
 
IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan was re-elected as ICTU vice president last week. The union’s general secretary Shay Cody was also re-elected to the ICTU executive, along with IMPACT assistant general secretary Marie Levis.
IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan was re-elected as ICTU vice president last week. The union’s general secretary Shay Cody was also re-elected to the ICTU executive, along with IMPACT assistant general secretary Marie Levis.

Speaking from the ICTU conference in Belfast, Kevin said his priority over the next two years would be to prioritise an all-island approach to Brexit, while working for a more egalitarian society based on a dynamic economy.

He said he would also work to maximise cross-party political support for trade union principles and values in Ireland, north and south. “I want to see trade unions at the centre of a debate on the development of an indigenous enterprise sector that reflects the needs of our young people, whatever their talents, as workers and citizens.

“We must also be at the forefront of relating economic and employment policy to broader global questions like climate change and the future of work,” he said.

Kevin said he would work to unite trade unions around core principles and values, including through the promotion of organising and effective collective bargaining strategies. “I will focus on the imperative for investment in public services and other infrastructure, and highlight the scale of wealth and income inequality in our society.

“This means addressing the decimation of private sector pension provision and intervening in the debate on the future of Europe to demand a more democratic and socially just European Union,” he said.

Kevin was appointed Deputy General Secretary of IMPACT in 2010. He also has executive responsibility for the union’s Education Division and organising work. He was first elected as ICTU Vice President in 2015.

He is a member of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), and represents ICTU on the National Competitiveness Council. Mr Callinan was previously National Secretary of IMPACT’s Health and Welfare Division for 12 years. He has also represented IMPACT members in local government and the civil service.

Deal on civil service specialist posts
by Niall Shanahan
 
IMPACT has secured an agreement on how technical and specialist posts, equivalent to principal officer (PO) and assistant principal officer (APO) will be filled in future. The union had sought an agreed sequence of confined and open competitions to mirror existing arrangements for general service grades.

IMPACT has secured an agreement on how technical and specialist posts, equivalent to principal officer (PO) and assistant principal officer (APO) will be filled in future. The union had sought an agreed sequence of confined and open competitions to mirror existing arrangements for general service grades.

The agreement sets out the following provisions, which will apply to grades common to more than one department:

  • Posts equivalent to principal officer will be filled using a ratio of two-thirds open competition and one-third confined competition
  • Posts equivalent to assistant principal officer will be filled using a ratio of one-third open to the department, one-third interdepartmental competition, and one-third confined competition
  • A list of grades common to more than one department is attached as an annex to the agreed report
  • Departmental grades will continue to be filled according to local agreement. This means that where confined competitions have traditionally been used to fill promotional outlets this practice will continue
  • Where no agreement exists, consultation will take place to determine what type of competition will be used.

More details are available on the IMPACT website, and General Council Agreed Report No 1539 (click to download) is effective from 29th June 2017.

 

Frequently asked questions

Does this agreement prevent employers from using open competitions?

No. The agreement will require employers to fill one-in-three posts at PO equivalent level through confined competition and two in three at AP equivalent level. The agreement sets parameters for the use of public competitions and confined competitions.

 

How do I find out if my grade is a departmental grade?

The common interdepartmental grades are listed in the annex to the agreed report. Branches are asked to note that many other grades are based on the engineering pay scales. If there is any doubt about the status of a grade local discussion should take place. Where established local arrangements for the filling of departmental posts exist they will continue unless there is agreement on changing arrangements.

 

How do we agree which posts are filled through open and confined competition?

Our preference is to commence the new sequencing with a confined competition (at AP equivalent level this should be a departmental competition). Branches should keep a record of posts filled through confined and open competition and commence discussion with local personnel as soon as possible.

 

What happens if a branch cannot agree if a grade is a departmental grade or an interdepartmental grade?

Advice should be sought from your IMPACT official. If no agreement can be reached a dispute on the interpretation of the report may have to be referred to General Council or the C&A scheme

 

What are the arrangements for the filling of general service grades below AP level?

At HEO level, one in six posts are filled through open competition and five in six are filled through confined competition. At EO level a 50-50 arrangement is in place this is to be reviewed later in 2017.