You can help with the campaign, which is now online - enabling IMPACT members living in Dublin to ask candidates in their electoral area to pledge their support. Click here to take part.

Special campaign leaflets have been distributed to members of the branch, for distribution to candidates who canvas their homes. Hard copies of the leaflet are available from IMPACT’s communications office.

The campaign follows January’s Dublin City Council budget vote, which reversed €6 million in proposed cuts and increased funding for homeless and disability services in the city’s 2014 budget. IMPACT had called on Dublin City Council to reconsider the proposed cuts ahead of the vote.

In his blog for the IMPACT website, branch chair Derek Beattie said homeless services will need continued support. “Hopefully, services will begin to come under less pressure as more homes become available to people. We decided we’d get out and talk to the people running for election to Dublin’s local authorities in May. We’re going to ask them to protect the homeless services budget for the next five years of local government,” he said.

Derek added: “We don’t think it’s a big ask. People who put themselves forward for elected office do so out of a desire to do some good. We’re appealing to that desire and asking them to pledge their support for this one simple measure. IMPACT will play its part too, by campaigning at national level to have the homeless services budget restored to 2012 levels.” 

IMPACT official Ashley Connolly said that the active participation of union members is crucial to the success of the campaign. “Cuts have been the norm in Dublin’s homeless services since 2008. Redundancies, reduced hours and reduced budgets have put enormous pressure on services throughout that time. This year, the councillors’ decision brought some good news, but we need to keep fighting for homeless budgets to be maintained. Simply ask your local election candidates to make this pledge.”

Watch and share our campaign video HERE, follow the campaign on Twitter using the hashtag #lepledge14.

Workers rights and union consultation will be protected under a new protocol governing the operations of the Office of Government Procurement, which was established to implement a single procurement approach among public service and non-commercial semi-state bodies.

The protocol, issued last week by the Labour Relations Commission after negotiations between unions and public service management, says the outsourcing provisions of the Croke Park and Haddington Road agreements must govern any outsourcing proposals or activity.

The Croke Park agreement requires management to consult with unions before any operation is outsourced. It also has to demonstrate a solid business case – which cannot be based solely on pay savings – before outsourcing can happen. If outsourcing does occur, it requires management to monitor contractors to ensure they are meeting legal protections of workers pay, working conditions and representation rights. Haddington Road reaffirmed these protections and added stronger compliance measures.

The protocol says: “Commissioning bodies will be instructed that any consideration of procurement to an outside body must be notified to the appropriate unions before any decisions are taken and in accordance with timelines to ensure that the process provided for within the Public Service Agreement (2010-2014) and the Haddington Road agreement are adhered to.” 

IMPACT official Robbie Ryan, who was part of the union negotiating team, said that unions had achieved their main goal of ensuring compliance with existing agreements. “The protocol very explicitly copper-fastens Croke Park and Haddington Road protections on outsourcing, which are the best available at this time. It also contains references to new European legislation in this area, which we believe will have a positive effect when enacted in Ireland,” he said.

Ms Hartley said the new ETBs, which replaced vocational training committees last year, faced huge challenges. “It’s about organisational development, and admin has to be at the centre of that as a support to services. If admin support can be harnessed, ETBs will meet the challenge,” she said.

Since last July, 33 vocational education committees have been reorganised into 16 education and training boards, which have also taken on the direct training functions formerly provided by FÁS. SOLAS now provides the funding for these services.

Speaking at the same conference, ICTU general secretary David Begg also praised admin staff, and particularly school secretaries. “The relationship between schools and their communities is a very sophisticated one and clerical staff have a huge and unrecognised role as gatekeepers of that relationship,” he said.

IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said staff and their unions faced a challenge in providing decent work while responding to rapidly changing education and skills needs. “Education is an equalising force and a liberating power, which speaks of what a Republic is about,” he said.

INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan welcomed the developing relationship between her union and IMPACT and said teachers were now working daily with IMPACT members. “Bringing special needs education into the mainstream was one of the most positive changes in schools in the last 15 years,” she said.

This short film of young people talking about what education means to them was presented at the conference.

IMPACT’s new Limerick office will be officially opened in Roxborough Road in the city centre today. The new office will provide significant new resources for IMPACT members in the mid-west, with training facilities for up to 120 people in five training and meeting rooms. It is expected that the facilities will also be used by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and other unions for training and meetings.

IMPACT official Andy Pike, who has overseen the development of the new premises, said the building was becoming derelict before IMPACT redeveloped it. "It's an old building, dating back to the early part of the last century, which reflects the original fabric of Limerick city. It’s been a very satisfying process to breathe new life into the building and hopefully contribute to the continuing regeneration of the city," he said.

Last month the union also opened new premises in Sligo. The new city-centre office will provide training and meeting facilities for branches in the north-west and will substantially raise the profile of the union in the town and region.

Sligo office: Ice House, Fish Quay, Sligo. Email impactsligo@impact.ie. Phone: 071-914-2400

Limerick office: Roxborough Road, Limerick. Email aodonoghue@impact.ie. Phone: 061-319-177.

Transport minister Leo Varadkar is to consult with his ministerial colleagues on whether the Government should challenge the remuneration package of Aer Lingus chief executive Christoph Mueller.

Responding to a request from IMPACT, which has asked the Government to use its 25% holding in the company to vote against the €1.3 million package at the company’s forthcoming annual general meeting, Mr Varadkar said he was keeping the issue under review.

In a letter to the minister, IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton said the chief executive’s proposed salary, pension and bonus package was an insult to staff who face uncertainty about their pensions and non-payment of most of their agreed gainsharing payments. He said the Government was a significant shareholder and should vote against a proposed AGM resolution to ratify the payment and other large pay packages for senior managers in the airline.

Responding to IMPACT’s request, Mr Varadkar said: “As you are aware, I have indicated concern about the increased pension contribution for the chief executive at a time when the pensions issue more generally remains unresolved.”

Separately IMPACT’s pilots' branch IALPA has asked members who have shares in the airline to vote against the huge pay packages. IALPA also recommended that its members back the re-election of ICTU general secretary David Begg to the board of Aer Lingus.

 
The Aer Lingus AGM takes place on Friday 2^nd May at the Radisson Hotel, Dublin Airport at 2pm.

A copy of Mr Varadkar’s letter is available HERE

Tailored Wages found that half those surveyed had codes of conduct that acknowledge that pay rates should meet workers’ basic needs. But only Zara, Marks & Spencer, Switcher and Tchibo could demonstrate any clear steps towards implementing a living wage for the garment workers that produce for them. And even they have a long way to go before a living wage becomes a reality

The report’s author Anna McMullen said none of Europe’s leading 50 companies yet pays a living wage. “While more brands are aware of the living wage and recognise that it is something to be included in their codes of conduct, for most of the brands surveyed this was as far as they went. With millions of women and men worldwide dependent on the garment industry it is vital that these words are turned into definitive actions sooner rather than later,” said Ms McMullen.

Of the Irish retailers requested to participate, only Penneys shared information on their activities in relation to workers’ wages. Neither Dunnes Stores nor O’Neills sportswear supplied even rudimentary information on codes of conduct or ethical trading policies.

Find out more about the Clean Clothes Campaign HERE.

Tom was a stalwart of IMPACT’s Cork branch, the Cork Trades Council and the ICTU unemployed centre in his beloved Cork city. He was respected throughout the union movement for his commitment, hard work and cool judgement, and also for his deep understanding of local government and public service issues.

In recent times Tom was an active member of IMPACTs retired members’ vocational group. The ICTU executive passed a motion of sympathy at its April meeting. A full obituary will appear in the next issue of IMPACT’s Work & Life magazine.

She said the state should offer a job guarantee to all workers, including through direct job creation, to secure “real” full employment. “A job guarantee would ultimately secure real full employment at every stage of the economic cycle by making the state the employer of last resort, guaranteeing employment and training opportunities for unemployed people,” she said. A fixed wage for job guarantee positions “would serve as the effective basic living wage in the economy,” she said.

If the idea were adopted, future recessions would see workers in active employment and training rather than mass unemployment. “Private employers would then be prepared to hire them once the economy recovered,” she said.

Speaking at the conference, called ‘a new course for better times,’ the leader of the German trade union confederation DGB, argued for a job-creating European investment fund worth 2% of European GDP. Reiner Hoffmann said this could be funded through a small financial transaction tax – which is already supported by 12 EU countries including Germany and France – and a once-off tax on rich individuals.

Reiner said the fund should be controlled by the European Parliament rather than unaccountable bodies like the troika. If properly invested, he said such a fund could create 11 million new jobs and generate up to €104 billion in tax revenues, €20 billion of savings on social security and a €300 billion reduction in Europe’s fossil fuel imports.

NUI Maynooth economist Séan Ó Riain told delegates that a more egalitarian economy could also be more efficient, so long as there was sufficient investment. The most consistently successful European economies had higher – but strongly controlled – public spending and “invested more in every aspect of their societies,” including social, business and educational investment. They also had higher levels of union membership and collective bargaining rights.

Professor Ó Riain said that, in any future social partnership arrangement, unions should trade wage restraint for public service investment rather than tax cuts. And employers should be required to deliver genuine investment.

IMPACT has welcomed Dublin City Council’s announcement that it won’t press ahead with a review of the city’s ambulance service, pending the outcome of a HSE review of the national service.

The news came as several hundred firefighters marched on Dublin City Hall on 7^th April, along with supporters from their families, trade unions and the public. IMPACT's national secretary for the union's municipal and local government divisions, Peter Nolan, said the demonstration was an opportunity for firefighters to express their proud history of service to the city of Dublin.

"The council’s decision to suspend this review is welcome, but we can be in no doubt that this does not mark the end of the campaign to protect the ambulance service,” he said. He said that the support offered by people in the city centre during the protest was hugely encouraging.

The Dublin ambulance service spends about 7% of the national service budget, yet responds to between 35% and 40% of national ambulance calls.

IMPACT has raised concerns with the Data Protection Commissioner about an alleged breach of data protection rules at the National Ambulance Service control centre in Ballyshannon, County Donegal.

Richy Carrothers, IMPACT official for the North West, has written to the commissioner about the potential breach, which involves the recording of all staff telephone calls at the centre. He said that the calls would have been recorded without the knowledge of the staff involved, and that the recordings are not confined to emergency calls. He has advised that the union may seek the intervention of the commissioner on the issue.

In a letter to HSE management Richy raised a number of questions about the alleged data breach. He said that staff had previously been assured that the practice had ceased in 2010.

He asked management to confirm that calls had been recorded, who had authorised the recordings and who knew about the continuing practice. He asked if the recordings had been reviewed since 2010, by whom and under what criteria. Richy also demanded to know if the HSE has complied with Data Protection legislation and if the employer had informed the Data Commissioner about the practice.

“This is a very serious revelation. I have sought an urgent meeting with management, and I have insisted that our questions are responded to in writing ahead of any meeting,” he said.

An outcome from the arbitration set up to resolve a dispute between IMPACT driver testers and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) is expected next week. The row, over outsourcing and recruitment of a reserve panel of driving testers, led to a half day strike earlier this month.

The union met the independent arbitrator and made its submission last week. The arbitrator’s determination is binding on both sides under clause 1.27 of the Croke Park Agreement.

IMPACT is strongly urging members to vote today – and to urge their friends and families to do so too. Voting is quick and easy; just follow this link.

The awards reward civil society initiatives that “give real substance to democratic citizenship, bring about social innovation and positive change in the life of the local, regional, national or European communities.”

The Right2water campaign garnered over 1.7 million signatures, forcing the European Commission to consider proposals to make water and sanitation a human right and take measures to prevent privatisation of water services.

Don’t forget to VOTE NOW.

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) general secretary Sharan Burrow said the report showed that the world had the capacity to meet the challenge. “Governments need to cease their prevarication and rise to that challenge now,” she said. The IPCC brought together hundreds of reports, which showed that investments in zero and low-carbon energy sources will need to at least triple by 2050.

“These investments are critical for fighting climate change as well as tackling other major priorities such as unemployment,” said Burrow. “Millions of jobs can be created in the renewable energy, building efficiency and public transit sectors. Governments must now send the right signals and show their commitment to a climate-sound and job-friendly transition.”

Burrow said working people were at the forefront of the climate struggle. “Unless we are able to stop dangerous climate change and create sustainable jobs, the dreams of prosperity of millions around the world are at risk. We still have time to make it happen,” she said.

Read our blog by IMPACT member Oisin Coghlan, director of Friends of the Earth.