The ‘FEMPI’ (Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) legislation was introduced by the last Government, which imposed the so-called ‘pension levy’ in 2009 plus cuts to pay rates in 2010 and cuts to pensions in 2011. FEMPI was also used last summer to underpin temporary pay reductions under the Haddington Road agreement.

“Next year we certainly will have to engage with the unions on the orderly winding down of FEMPI, who should benefit first, and how that should be done over time. It is not going to be a big bang, because that would undo all the good work we have done over three years. There has to be an orderly wind-down as opposed to a sudden ending,” Howlin told the Independent.

IMPACT had already indicated that it would seek talks on pay restoration once the Government met its 3% deficit target, which is expected to happen next year. The union set out its priorities for pay restoration in the public, private and community sectors at its delegate conference last May.

There has been no formal approach to IMPACT or other unions at this stage, although that’s not surprising given that talks aren’t expected until next year.

IMPACT said the minister’s comments were encouraging and said pay must move as the economy comes out of recession. A union spokesperson told journalists: “It’s really important that we get on the road to income recovery to improve living standards and support growth and recovery by getting people spending in the local economy again.”

Minister Howlin’s comments are significant because he is the minister in charge of public service pay. But it’s not the first time this year that senior Government figures have talked about public service pay restoration. Former Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore told IMPACT’S May conference: “Next time the Government and unions sit down to talk, it will be to talk about increasing pay not reducing it.” He also said he looked forward to the day “when the FEMPI legislation becomes a thing of the past.”

The union says the decline in safety inspections, which is due to falling staff numbers in the agency, could put lives at risk as the number of people at work continues to grow.

IMPACT official Geraldine O’Brien said three front-line inspectors have been redeployed from the HSA over the last 12 months, which could result in over 900 fewer inspections. “What’s more, a further five front-line inspection posts have been earmarked for future redeployment to meet official staffing reduction targets. Meanwhile, the number of people working in often hazardous workplaces continues to grow,” she said.

In their introduction to the annual report, HSA chair Michael Horgan and chief executive Martin O’Halloran echoed these concerns, saying welcome employment growth “may be accompanied by an unwelcome rise in the rate of people being killed and injured in workplace accidents.”

Some 47 fatal workplace accidents occurred in 2013 – one fewer than in 2012. Almost 6,600 non-fatal injuries were reported, compared to just over 6,800 in 2012. Agriculture, fishing and construction continue to be the most hazardous sectors of the economy.

The HSA’s budget fell 27% between 2009 and 2014. Last year saw both the president of the National Irish Safety Organisation Pauric Corrigan and HSA chairman Michael Horgan warn that continuing staff losses could lead to a reduction in standards and an increase in workplace injuries and costs.

Mr Horgan told an Oireachtas committee that the agency was struggling to maintain support to high-tech industries that earn more than €50 billion in exports. He said production could be moved to other countries as a direct result.

The main causes of non-fatal workplace accidents last year were manual handling (33%) and slips, trips and falls (18%).

Tánaiste Joan Burton and homelessness campaigner Father Peter McVerry will be among the speakers at an IMPACT public event on Dublin’s homelessness crisis on Saturday 20^th September. The event, hosted by the union’s Boards and Voluntary Agencies' branch, will challenge policymakers and practitioners to outline practical measures to implement their commitments to tackle the capital’s homelessness crisis.

Other confirmed contributors include Wayne Stanley of Focus Ireland, Bob Jordan of Threshold, Catherine Kenny of Dublin Simon, and IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan and assistant general secretary Ashley Connolly.

The event is part of IMPACT’s homelessness campaign which, earlier this year, saw over 100 Dublin local election candidates pledge to protect homeless service budgets during the current local government term, which ends in 2019. Since then, the Government coalition has published its Statement of Government Priorities, 2014-2016, which promises measures to tackle the housing crisis.

Dublin City Council is also reported to be seeking substantial Department of the Environment funding to increase its housing stock. Meanwhile, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has placed housing at the centre of its 2015 pre-budget submission.

The IMPACT event aims to probe these and other commitments to tackle homelessness by exploring the practical measures necessary to turn pledges and promises into new sustainable homes and homelessness services.

It will bring together a range of practitioners and stakeholders from homelessness and housing NGOs, trade unions, local authorities and politics to explore priorities and policy options while highlighting the importance of homelessness services being delivered to those most in need.

Contact joconnor@impact.ie for more information.

Meanwhile, the latest issue of the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s Labour Market Monitor points out that Irish unemployment is still 50% higher than in EU countries that didn’t have to enter troika programmes. This is calculated by taking out the relatively high unemployment figures from Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland.

ICTU says it will take until 2020 for unemployment to get down to 5% if joblessness continues to fall at the current pace.

The CSO figures show that male long-term unemployment was down 8% in year to July 2014, while female long-term unemployment was up 3.2%.

The Workplace Relations Commission will deal with all complaints in the first instance, while a revamped Labour Court will deal with appeals. The legislation is due to be enacted by the end of the year.

The bodies set to be merged into the new structure are the Labour Relations Commission, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Equality Tribunal, the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court.

In future, appeals heard by the Labour Court will be taken as new or, to use the Latin term, ‘de novo,’ and they will beheld in public unless they involve sensitive or confidential issues.

The new arrangement is designed to reduce delays and simplify the system while making it easier to use and understand. Complaints and appeals currently being dealt with by employment appeals tribunals will remain in the EAT process.

IMPACT took the case after management at the agency tried to impose HRA pay cuts, increased hours and other negative aspects of the agreement. The union argued successfully that staff should get the protections in the deal as well.

The outcome means that HRA protections on compulsory redundancy will be in place “notwithstanding any future HSE funding cuts.” The HRA redeployment protections will also apply to Enable Ireland staff, who will also have their leave and long-term acting arrangements standardised in line with comparable HSE staff.

The HSE has been reducing funding to ‘section 39’ agencies, saying that they should reduce payroll costs in line with HRA savings.

Read the LRC outcome HERE.

Speaking on RTÉ radio earlier this month, Mr Varadkar refused to give a firm timetable for the introduction of UHI, but said it could be put in place after 2016 if Fine Gael is re-elected to government.

IMPACT is spearheading a campaign against the introduction of current UHI proposals, which the union says will create more inequality in access to health services while costing hard-pressed families far too much. IMPACT and other health unions have commissioned research into UHI and the alternatives, which will form the basis of the next stage of the campaign.

Management told a Labour Relations Commission (LRC) hearing that it hoped to fill the role of operations manager – currently being performed by the consultant – in September. The consultant, who is employed through a private sector management company called Starline, would then be assigned to a ‘facilities management’ role at least until the end of 2014.

IMPACT says a directly-employed manager in this reduced role would earn as little as €80,000 a year.

IMPACT official Andy Pike told the LRC it would be reasonable for the expensive consultant to be off the books entirely by the end of next month at the latest. “To be blunt, management’s proposal seems designed to further frustrate staff and taxpayers and make this situation worse. I’d hoped for a rational and realistic proposal for staffing. Sadly that has not happened and our industrial action must continue,” he said.

The dispute has seen IMPACT members refuse to report to, or cooperate with, the consultancy-supplied manager. Their work-to-rule means staff are refusing to acknowledge his instructions, provide data to him, co-operate with changes directed by his office, or agree to relocate, redeploy or change assignments if instructed.

IMPACT says the action is not affecting service delivery, but has warned that it could escalate if staff are penalised for refusing to work with the consultant.

Advertisements for ‘classroom assistant’ posts under Jobbridge are to be stopped after IMPACT raised concerns that they breached the work experience scheme’s guidelines. The union contacted the Department of Social Protection after a number of members claimed the posts were, in reality, being used to replace special needs assistant posts.

IMPACT official Dessie Robinson told the department there was no such post as ‘classroom assistant’ and said it was, therefore, impossible to train Jobbridge participants for the role. The education department agreed.

In the last IMPACT members’ ebulletin we reported that the union had given €10,000 to an ICTU support fund established to help the 70 Dublin workers, members of Siptu, whose company has refused to let them work unless they accept a 35% pay cut.

The IMPACT social workers’ chairperson Kerry Cuskelly also wrote to the workers last month. “As social workers, whose values are based on fighting for social justice and human rights, we stand in full support of you as you continue to fight for your right to a decent wage and terms and conditions of work. We condemn the actions of the Greyhound waste company in this issue. We join with others in calling for you to be allowed return to work under your existing terms and conditions of employment while talks on changes at the company are underway,” she wrote.

IMPACT strongly opposed the 2011 privatisation of Dublin’s refuse collection, correctly predicting that it would lead to higher charges, poorer service and an erosion of workers’ rights. The union’s executive has agreed to explore possible campaigns to bring privatised services like this one back into public control.

Members of all unions in the Dublin area have been encouraged to complain directly to Greyhound about how it’s treating its workers, and to sign a petition calling on Greyhound to stop using strikebreaking tactics and negotiate with staff.

Read the letter from the IMPACT social workers’ vocational group HERE.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has called for an immediate ban on weapons transfers to Israel and other combatants in the ongoing Gaza crisis. The ITUC, to which Irish unions are affiliated through ICTU, has also called on all governments to help broker a negotiated cease-fire and “an end to the blockade imprisoning 1.9 million people.”

In a 31^st July statement, the ITUC said: “Attacks on civilians are against international law and we support the UN call for accountability and justice. Therefore, we call for an immediate ban of all transfers of weapons, directly or indirectly. But it cannot end there. The international community, not just the US and Egypt, must take immediate action to force the parties to the table and conclude a negotiated settlement that ends the occupation and that instils in both sides confidence in security and mutual respect.”  

The trade union body also called on the international community to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, including food, water, medical aid and generators. “However, the only way for there to be a lasting peace and mutual understanding between the people of Israel and Palestine is for the occupation and blockade of the Palestinian territories to end,” it said.

Meanwhile, IMPACT and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions supported a national demonstration in solidarity with the people of Gaza earlier this month. ICTU general secretary David Begg also wrote to Irish foreign minister Charlie Flanagan calling on the Irish Government to “use its vote at all times, in all international fora, to maximise pressure on Israel, which is the aggressor in the conflict, to persuade it to comply with UN resolutions and international law and, in particular, to end the slaughter of the innocents in Gaza.”