IMPACT secured a significant win at the Labour Court in August, in a case involving a senior assistant chief fire officer whose roster allowance was withheld during the course of two pregnancies in 2010 and 2012.

The case was brought to the Court when the employer, Wicklow County Council, appealed an earlier decision by the Rights Commissioner.  In February 2013, the Rights Commisioner had recommended that the employee, Sinead  Sweeney, should receive payment in respect of the withheld allowance for the duration of her maternity leave in 2012. However, the recommendation did not include the allowance withheld during Sinead’s pregnancy while she was still at work, nor in respect of her pregnancy and maternity leave in 2010.

Management at St. Michael’s House has made a specific commitment to protecting the employment of staff in one of the country’s largest providers of community-based services to people with intellectual disabilities. The commitment was made in a joint statement yesterday (Thursday) following meetings with IMPACT, SIPTU and the INMO representing St Michael’s House staff.

The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, led the State commemoration of the 1913 Dublin Lockout last Saturday at the James Larkin statue on O’Connell Street, Dublin. Thousands lined the streets in attendance at the commemoration, which took place 100 years to the day since the events of Bloody Sunday 1913.

The latest CSO report on earnings shows that weekly earnings in the private sector increased by 1.0% in the year to the second quarter of 2013 compared with an increase of 1.3% in the public sector. The public sector figure includes earnings in the semi-state sector.