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Recruitment proposals withdrawn for talks
by Martina O’Leary

Local authority management has pulled back from its threat to unilaterally change promotion procedures so that talks with IMPACT take place. The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), which represents employers in the sector, confirmed that the status quo will remain in place pending the outcome of negotiations after local authority staff overwhelmingly voted for industrial action if changes were imposed without agreement.

IMPACT met with the LGMA last month to discuss the agency’s proposal to advertise all promotions for grades IV-VII in public competitions with effect from 1st January 2017. A further meeting is being scheduled.

Meanwhile in the education sector, talks between the union and the education department have resulted in agreement to maintain the ratio of promotions. This means that 80% of promotions for grades V-VII will be filled by competitions confined to IMPACT’s educational pool.

 

Firefighters in city hall rally
by Niall Shanahan

IMPACT members in Dublin fire brigade will join their Siptu colleagues in a protest rally at Dublin’s City Hall between 5.45 and 6.45pm this evening (6th March). Union official Dessie Robinson said the protest would highlight firefighters’ opposition to plans to break up the Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) emergency medical service by removing its ambulance call and dispatch function.

IMPACT members in DFB have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action to oppose the move. Dessie explained, “Dublin Fire Brigade emergency medical service acts as a cohesive unit, combining highly trained paramedics, emergency vehicles and a dedicated call and dispatch centre which consolidates all fire and emergency service calls. This is especially suited to an urban environment with strategically-placed stations.

“The proposed break-up risks severing a key link in the DFB emergency medical service chain and reducing its effectiveness. This could result in response time delays, putting lives at risk. We believe this is going directly against the advice of Dublin’s chief fire officer who has confirmed the importance of maintaining the fire EMS model,” he said.

In 2014, an independent expert panel appointed by the Dublin Ambulance Forum stated the removal of the call and dispatch function from the emergency medical service would “detrimentally affect the safe delivery of this service by DFB to the patient.”

Dessie explained that unions were now looking at industrial action because of management’s refusal to implement solutions presented by the expert panel. “They have walked away from the consultative process,” he said.

Dublin City Council established a consultative forum, under an independent chairperson, to work towards securing agreement on a model of operation to address recommendations in a 2014 report by the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA). The report didn’t support the proposal to transfer the call functions from DFB to the National Ambulance Service (NAS), on the grounds that removing any element of the DFB’s emergency service would have an adverse effect on patient care.

Instead it recommended “the implementation of more efficient joint dispatch procedures between the two organisations, which could be complemented by an integrated technical solution.”

Civil registration report received

IMPACT has sent details of an independent report on the civil registration service to staff working there. The report, by consultant Sean McHugh, was received by the union last Friday (3rd March).

IMPACT will be organising an early meeting with staff representatives in the service once there has been time to digest the contents of the report. This will be followed by a meeting with the HSE to address its recommendations.

Fundraiser for Syrian children

Members of IMPACT’s youth forum are holding a table quiz to raise funds for World Vision Ireland’s humanitarian work with refugee Syrian children. The event takes place at 6.30pm on 4th May, and branches are being invited to participate.

The cost is €100 for a table of four, and donations are also being accepted for members and branches who are unable to attend.

The event will also feature a special screening of a short documentary film about ICTU’s visit to the Calais refugee camps.

If you or your branch are interested in attending, you should contact lead organiser Joe O’Connor (joconnor@impact.ie).

Precarious work concerns young members
by Lughan Deane

Young IMPACT members are concerned that the rise of precarious work in the private sector is now gaining traction in the public service. This was among the main concerns expressed in a focus group conducted at the union’s recent young members’ forum.

The related issue of poor promotional opportunities for young public servants also emerged, as did the soaring cost of rents. Youth forum participants were positive about the union’s organising activities but called for the establishment of a specific youth and new member strategy.

IMPACT lead organiser Joe O’Connor said participants were also eager for the union to campaign on social issues, as well as focussing on its core industrial relations role. He said they wanted the union to be visible and quick-moving in its campaigning.

The forum was held at the end of January and a follow-up meeting took place last month. Further meetings are planned.

Blog: How to spot fake news

 

The internet and social media have increased the speed at which news travels, while reducing the time we have to check the facts. This means ‘fake news’ can spread quickly, reaching millions of people within hours. In a recent IMPACT blog, work experience student Dan O’Connor advised on how to spot the false stories that aim to make you believe things that aren’t true.

Read the blog HERE.

IMPACT shares union’s history
by Lughan Dean

IMPACT has handed over a complete copy of its publications archive to Dublin City University (DCU) Library. The archive includes copies of IMPACT News from 1991 to 2008 and Work and Life from 2008 to the present day, as well as copies of Four Lives – the union’s 1916 publication – and IMPACT 25 – its 25th anniversary history.

All of this material will be made available to research students.



Pictured: Niall Shanahan, IMPACT's communications officer, hands the IMPACT News archive over to David Meehan of DCU library."

Gaeltacht scholarships 2017

Eighty grants of €150 each are available to assist children of IMPACT members to attend Residential Irish Language courses in Gaeltacht areas in summer 2017.

The grants do not apply to any Irish language courses held outside of designated Gaeltacht areas or to daytime-only attendance at Irish colleges in Gaeltacht areas.

The grants apply to children of IMPACT members who are aged between 11 years and 18 years of age on 1st July 2016.

For more details, download the application form here.

NEWS
Unions counter IBEC pay claims
by Bernard Harbor
 
Unions have rejected employer claims that Irish public servants are, on average, paid more than their European counterparts. In a submission to the Public Service Pay Commission, which addresses arguments put to the commission by employers’ body IBEC, the ICTU Public Services Committee (PSC) says Irish public servants are in the lower half of EU15 average public earnings, and are paid almost 20% less than the average in northern and central European countries.

Unions have rejected employer claims that Irish public servants are, on average, paid more than their European counterparts. In a submission to the Public Service Pay Commission, which addresses arguments put to the commission by employers’ body IBEC, the ICTU Public Services Committee (PSC) says Irish public servants are in the lower half of EU15 average public earnings, and are paid almost 20% less than the average in northern and central European countries.

The union submission also takes issue with IBEC’s claim that public servants make only a small contribution towards their pensions. It says those earning over €28,750 a year contribute 6.5% of gross salary in superannuation contributions, and that the pension levy represents a further 10% or 10.5% contribution, depending on earnings.

So, in total, public servants who earn over €28,750 pay either 16.5% or 17% of gross salary towards their pensions, it says.

The PSC paper goes on to refute the employer body’s claim that public servants earn an average 12% more than their private sector counterparts. It accuses IBEC of distorting the figures on pay movement by factoring in the value of increments, which are not paid to all staff.

And it points to CSO analyses of public and private sector pay averages. These found that, depending on how the gap is measured, the pre-pension levy public service pay ‘premium’ ranged from -3.9% to 6.3% for men, and from 2.2% to 12.9% for women. The big difference in the figures for men and women reflects the narrower gender pay gap in the public service compared to the private sector.

The pay commission has been charged with giving inputs to Government and unions on how ‘FEMPI’ laws, which introduced pay cuts and the pension levy, can be unwound. The PSC, which represents almost all the unions in the sector, has now made two formal submissions to the commission, along with the response to the IBEC submission. A fourth union submission – on the issue of pensions – is being prepared.

New direction for early education
by Bernard Harbor
 
IMPACT will launch its new national Early Education branch on Saturday 25th March. The branch will provide an effective and professional focus for the campaign for adequate investment and professionalisation of the sector, with agreed salary scales and a proper career path for early education staff.

IMPACT will launch its new national Early Education branch on Saturday 25th March. The branch will provide an effective and professional focus for the campaign for adequate investment and professionalisation of the sector, with agreed salary scales and a proper career path for early education staff.

The meeting will also elect officers for the new branch.

The launch will feature professor of early childhood Mathias Urban. IMPACT experts in early education campaigning – including in delivering professional salary scales and career progression – will also speak about the union’s strategy for organising the sector.

IMPACT organiser Lisa Connell said the new branch would represent early education professionals in a campaign for professionalisation of the sector. “Professionalisation can only happen with increased government investment and funding for agreed salary scales for early education staff. This campaign can help that happen by building a stronger, more united voice for workers in the sector.”

The launch takes place at 11.30am on Saturday 25th of March in IMPACT’s Head Office (Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1, D01 R2C5). Places are limited so you should register here if you want to attend.

‘Right to disconnect’ urged
by Lughan Deane
 
IMPACT has written to ministers Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Denis Naughten seeking new laws that would give workers the ‘right to disconnect’ from work emails outside office hours. The union says work email has permeated workers’ free time, and that the boundary between professional and personal lives has become blurred for many employees.

IMPACT has written to ministers Mary Mitchell O’Connor and Denis Naughten seeking new laws that would give workers the ‘right to disconnect’ from work emails outside office hours. The union says work email has permeated workers’ free time, and that the boundary between professional and personal lives has become blurred for many employees.

The union has called for individual employers to be required to publish their expectations of employees in relation to work email. And it says no worker should be expected to respond to work emails between 9pm and 7am.

“The current situation, wherein employers operate on the unwritten assumption that employees are always available, encourages further blurring of work-life boundaries,” it says.

A ‘right to disconnect’ law was passed in France earlier this year amid concerns that existing workplace rights had become outdated in the digital era.

Management stalls staffless libraries
by Martina O’Leary
 
The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) has confirmed that no staffless library services will open until negotiations with IMPACT are concluded. The assurance was given when representatives from the union’s Local Government division and library vocational groups met agency officials last month.

The Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) has confirmed that no staffless library services will open until negotiations with IMPACT are concluded. The assurance was given when representatives from the union’s Local Government division and library vocational groups met agency officials last month.

As well as staffless libraries, the talks covered staffing levels for professional and non-professional grades, the library management system, and qualifications. A further meeting is being scheduled.

Union campaigns on international women’s day
by Lughan Deane
 
This year’s international women’s day sees IMPACT active in a growing number of campaigns on issues that matter to women at work and in their communities.

This year’s international women’s day sees IMPACT active in a growing number of campaigns on issues that matter to women at work and in their communities.

The union is calling for new laws to require employers to reveal the gender pay gap in their organisations. IMPACT official Geraldine O’Brien recently wrote to the Tánaiste on the matter after it was reported that the country’s gender pay gap now stood at nearly 15%.

Geraldine acknowledged the Programme for Government commitment to “take measures to reduce the gender pay gap,” including by requiring companies with more than 50 staff to undertake wage surveys. But she said this was “not sufficiently ambitious” given the scale of the challenge.

IMPACT says that requiring employers to reveal their record would increase the incentive to address the gender pay gap. Geraldine said the union was calling on the Government to take decisive action on this important issue.

The pay gap means that the union’s participation in ICTU’s campaign for the living wage, which calls for a substantial increase in the national minimum wage, is also of specific interest to women. The minimum wage is currently set at €9.25 an hour, while the living wage has been estimated at €11.50. Three-quarters of minimum wage earners are female.

The union’s recent organising campaigns in the education sector have led to improved earnings for thousands of women, particularly special needs assistants. The successful campaign for the reestablishment of the health service job evaluation scheme also brings the prospect of increased earnings for many women in the sector.

Our new campaign for the professionalisation of the early education sector will also have a disproportionate impact on women, as 97% of staff in this area are female. Right now, average wages in the sector are just €10.27 an hour, with a €1 premium for graduates.

The union is calling for well-funded, properly resourced early education services, which would improve the lives of tens of thousands of women as the paucity of affordable childcare contributes to inequality in the wider Irish workplace.

Meanwhile, IMPACT’s innovative INSPIRE training programme took place at a special event in Dublin last November. The programme, designed to prepare and encourage women in IMPACT to run for election to branch, divisional and national committees, attracted some 40 activists from across the country.

The union developed this programme in response to the relatively low participation of women in many of the union’s local and national committees. While 75% of IMPACT members are female, women account for just 22% of members of the union’s central executive committee.

Women make up a similar proportion of industrial staff, while only one of the union’s eight most senior staff members is female.

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