IMPACT’s biennial delegate conference in Killarney will see up to 700 delegates gather next week under the title of Positive Impact: Together we find solutions. The conference will debate a wide range of motions and focus particularly on the theme of recovery and what that means for jobs, the economy, and IMPACT members’ incomes. You can follow the conference on its dedicated website, which will go live on Wednesday (14^th May). positiveimpact.ie will carry the latest news, speeches and selected video content from the conference – and will feature guest blogs on the issue of recovery. A daily digest of conference news will be circulated to IMPACT members on Thursday 15^th and Friday 16^th May to keep you up to date with conference business, including the election of IMPACT members to the union’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).

Membership peaked at 68,400 in 2009 after 18 years of steady growth before falling, mainly on foot of staff reductions in the public, private and voluntary sectors. The union had just 23,000 members when it was formed by a merger in 1991.  

IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan said staffing cuts continued to have an effect on membership potential, but sustained recruitment efforts had helped increase the numbers of people in the union. “The union has developed a strategic focus on recruitment and organising, including building branch capacity and identifying and developing leaders. We have also taken steps to manage expenditure while maintaining and expanding services to members despite falling income,” he said.

Some 73% of IMPACT members are women and this percentage is increasing because most new members –  83% in 2013 – are women.

You can read more about IMPACT membership, services, recruitment and organisation and other activities in the union’s recently-published 2012-2014 biennial report.

IMPACT membership

Speaking at a major IMPACT conference on the future of local government, the union’s national secretary Peter Nolan said new local authority structures offered an opportunity to establish the kind of vibrant local democracy common in most EU countries. But he feared the opportunity would be missed because the powers and staffing available to municipal districts would make them even less effective than the current structures.

“Far too much power still remains at the centre. Sadly, there’s little indication that this is about to change, despite the opportunity presented by the Local Government Reform Act, which arguably heralds the biggest shake-up of local government in the history of the state. No other European country has such weak local democracy where central government determines virtually all local authority funding, staffing levels and responsibility for services. We need real reforms that give local citizens and communities the same level of democracy and subsidiarity as other Europeans,” he said.

Peter also criticised successive governments for stripping local authorities of responsibility for refuse collection, driver licensing, education grants, direct responsibility for water provision, and other services. “Local democracy badly needs some champions in Irish society. If central authorities continue to take away local government responsibilities, local authorities will become empty shells. It will become impossible to demonstrate the need for local elections – or justify local taxes, including the property tax,” he said.

Mr Nolan said the situation could start to change if the minister valued the new municipal districts, ensured that they were adequately resourced to deliver services, and clearly outlined how the transition from town councils to municipal districts would be implemented.

Mr Nolan was speaking at an IMPACT conference called Local Government 2025: How will local services and local democracy fare?’ which explored how local services, accountability and democracy will fare once reorganisation and reforms now underway rapidly change the shape, size and responsibilities of local authorities.

Conference delegates representing members from across the union will debate a motion calling on IMPACT to develop a strategy for income recovery for members in the public, private and voluntary sectors. It says this should include a public service pay claim when “the state’s finances improve to a degree that would lead us to believe that the exchequer could cope.”

Drawing on official figures, the paper reports that average public sector weekly earnings decreased by 5.1% - and average hourly earnings by 5.4% - in the five years to December 2013. These figures do not include the so-called pension levy, which has further reduced public service incomes by 7% on average. In the same period, average weekly private sector earnings fell by 3.4%, while average private sector hourly earnings were stagnant.

Although the average effective direct tax rate - the amount households actually pay in tax as a proportion of income - increased from 12.8% to 13.5% between 2007 and 2010, Ireland’s tax-to-GDP ratio is the second lowest in the euro area.

Updates on the pay debate and other conference news will be posted on our special conference microsite next week.

Aer Lingus cabin crew have voted by 97% to take industrial action if the airline fails to implement revised rosters for short-haul services and acceptable time off arrangements after long-haul flights.

The ballot also sanctions action if there are further management breaches of agreements or if the company fails to implement an outstanding Labour Court recommendation on supervisors’ contracts.

Cabin crew can currently work up to 60 hours in a seven day period with six working days followed by one rest day before starting again on a six-day work roster. IMPACT Official Michael Landers said they can be rostered to work any day. “They get eight days off in 28, but might be rostered to work five with two off, or six days with one off,” he said.

Cabin crew describe the roster patterns as ‘erratic’ and they are subject to changes at short notice. As a result, many are struggling to maintain caring arrangements for when they are on duty. Cabin crew have also reported incidences of extreme fatigue among crew, necessitating medical attention.

A second ballot backed action to achieve agreement on the dispute with Aer Lingus on the Irish Airlines Superannuation Scheme (IASS).

Responding to criticism by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, who said he was “sick” of strike threats at the airline, Mr Landers said "We are sick of having to take strike action and would far prefer to do our business in a different way. Nobody wants to be on strike. We should be able to do our business with the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court, but the problem is Aer Lingus won't engage in that process.

“The company did engage at the Labour Relations Commission to a point, but on four separate occasions refused to allow the Court make a recommendation. This is not the ideal way to do business but the solution is in Aer Lingus's hands, not ours,” he said.

Shareholders approve CEO pay deal

Shareholders voted by a very narrow margin of 50.03% to approve the generous pay, pension and bonuses package awarded to Aer Lingus CEO Christoph Mueller at the company’s annual general meeting last week. The Government, which holds a 25% stake in the airline, voted against the remuneration following a request by IMPACT. The union described the pay deal as an “insult” to staff at the airline. Ahead of the vote by shareholders, IMPACT was invited to comment on RTE’s News at One programme and on Today FM’s The Last Word (from 5m50sec).

The union has highlighted the failure to agree a framework to deal with workloads, the filling of vacancies, the consolidation of long-term acting positions, and the “intense effort” required to absorb SOLAS staff and structures. The staff concerned have already cooperated with huge changes arising from the merger of 33 vocational education committees into just 16 ETBs.

In a letter to members, IMPACT’s National Education and Training Boards (NETB) branch executive says it envisages industrial action taking the form of non-cooperation with the next phase of the transfer of SOLAS functions to the education and training boards.

IMPACT’s NETB branch has expressed disappointment at the long delay in finalising an agreement similar to that reached with Siptu and the AHCPS and say time is running out as the second phase of the transfer of SOLAS functions approaches.

IMPACT official Pat Bolger said staff had waited too long for assurances that they would be protected as they enhance the service and make it even more effective and cost-efficient. “This is about protecting the dignity as well as the interests of staff who have already delivered massive change and efficiency. As always, the union remains available to negotiate, but we now need members to show their support for industrial action to help get management to move on these important issues,” he said.

Members of the NETB branch have until noon on Friday 23^rd May to vote.

We’ve set up an on-line facility to help Dubliners contact their local candidates  to seek their commitment that homelessness services won’t be cut in future. Taking part is easy, just follow the link, choose your electoral area, edit the template letter (non-members are also welcome to take part in the campaign) and with a few clicks every candidate on your ballot paper receives your message.

Speaking last week at an IMPACT conference on the future of local government services, IMPACT official Ashley Connolly applauded Dublin City councillors’ decision to increase homelessness spending in 2014, but said guarantees were needed to protect funding in future years.

“In 21^st century Ireland we are still reading about homeless people living in public lavatories and dying in dumpsters. Families with young children are living in hotel rooms with nowhere to play and nowhere to cook. Demand for housing in Dublin is increasing while funding and staffing is in decline. In January Dublin City councillors exerted their power and rejected a budget that would have seen €6 million slashed from homeless services. We are confident that those councillors and other candidates will now want to show continued support for these vital services into the future,” she said.

Ms Connolly said the provision of housing should be a key function of local authorities. “Around 100,000 people are on social housing waiting lists across the country. Even as we emerge from recession, rents are rising and the number of people sleeping rough on Dublin streets is on the increase. We can’t leave this to the private housing market. We need a properly-funded collaborative effort between local councils and not-for-profit agencies to provide affordable homes and address a growing housing and homelessness crisis,” she said.

Ms Connolly said Dublin’s homeless services had seen enough cuts since 2008. “Redundancies, reduced hours and reduced budgets have put enormous pressure on services throughout the recession. This year, the councillors’ decision brought some good news, but we need to keep fighting for homeless budgets to be maintained,” she said.

WATCH: The IMPACT homeless pledge campaign video and take part in the action HERE. Follow the campaign on Twitter using the #lepledge14 hashtag.

In an act of calculated bad faith, council management announced its intention to cut the pay of staff in acting positions just days before a Labour Relations Commission hearing, which was to arbitrate on the matter. Local talks had broken down after management told the union it intended to change the pay rates rather than regularising the acting positions as agreed in the talks that led to the Haddington Road agreement.

IMPACT said management was in breach of Haddington Road and was effectively extending pay cuts to staff below the €65,000 earnings threshold set out in the deal. The union also condemned management for refusing to discuss its proposals, saying that they were non-negotiable.

Many of the affected staff have been working at the more senior levels for years.  They have already seen their pay cut by an average 14% since 2009 and have seen their working time increased under the Haddington Road agreement.

During the talks that produced the Haddington Road agreement, IMPACT won agreement on a process to regularise long-term acting positions following the completion of a workforce plan in each local authority.

The dispute saw a half day strike take place in April because the agreed appointments process was not being followed. IMPACT official Denis Rohan welcomed the arbitrator’s decision.

Members of IMPACT’s central executive joined representatives from across the trade union movement to remember workers killed in workplace accidents on 28^th April, which was international ‘workers memorial day’. It’s estimated that, worldwide, one worker dies every 15 seconds from a workplace accident or work-related illness.

Irish trade unionists met in Dublin to mark the event, which is recognised by unions across the globe and by the tripartite UN International Labour Organisation (ILO). The memorial took place a few days after the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed over 1,100 people and injured over 2,500. The Clean Clothes Campaign Ireland is working with others to win fair compensation for the workers and families concerned.

The ILO estimates that two million workers die in work-related incidents each year and that there are some 270 million workplace accidents a year.

Here in Ireland, 46 people died in work-related accidents last year, including four children killed on farms. IMPACT, which represents staff in the Health and Safety Authority, has criticised staffing shortages that have led to a reduction in the numbers of workplace safety inspections.

The new panel, which is expected to be in place well before the end of the current school year, will also be open to SNAs who lost their posts at the end of the 2012-2013 school year.

Agreement to establish a redeployment panel was won by IMPACT during the negotiations that led to the Haddington Road agreement. But last year’s delay in finalising that deal meant that it was only possible to put a temporary arrangement in place last year.

Job sharing scheme

In a separate development, IMPACT has also negotiated a formal job-sharing arrangement for SNAs, which will replace the informal approach currently in use. Under this scheme, SNAs will be able to apply to job-share although, as in other employments, management will retain discretion over whether or not to agree to the request.

The formal circular setting out the details is expected in the coming days. IMPACT has advised interested SNAs to apply as quickly as possible, although the normal March deadline for applications has been waived this year.

The campaign, spearheaded by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), attracted over 1.8 million signatures from European citizens who backed the union call to establish water and sanitation services as a human right. As a result, the European Commission is bound to consider the campaign’s proposals to prevent the privatisation of water services under new rules established in the Nice Treaty.

The award was presented to Anne-Marie Perret, President of the European Citizens Committee and President of EPSU, last weekend. Ms Perret drew attention to the European Citizens’ Initiatives call for the European Commission to present legislation to introduce the human right to water and sanitation in the EU.

The services being discussed include health, water, transport, broadcasting and other public services. The proposed agreement would also restrict the ability of governments to regulate key sectors including financial, energy and telecommunications, according to PSI.

PSI organised protests against the negotiations at the end of April, with actions in counties across the globe. Its general secretary Rosa Pavanelli said the talks aimed to “secretly extend” the worst of the GATS agreement. “The aim of public services should not be to make profits for large multinational corporations.  Ensuring that failed privatisations can never be reversed is free market ideology gone mad,” she said.

Jan Willem Goudrian, deputy general secretary of the European Federation of Public Service Unions said the agreement would bind future governments, regardless of who wins elections and what the courts say. “If the European Commission has nothing to hide they must immediately release full details of these negotiations,” he said.

ICTU legal affairs officer Esther Lynch said the level of employers’ control over issuing and retaining work permits had not been adequately addressed. “Experience shows that this exacerbates an already unequal relationship and can lead to abuse and exploitation,” she said.

The bill aims to improve the ‘labour market test,’ that requires an employer to demonstrate that a post can’t be filled by a worker from the European Economic Area before a work permit is sanctioned.

ICTU also expressed concern that Enterprise Ireland would have the power to lobby for permits without rigorous safeguards and transparency. It also called for the “grey area” of the role of language schools to be clarified.

ICTU welcomed improvements in the bill, which would allow workers who become undocumented through no fault of their own to be issued with a new employment permit. This problem has been consistently raised by the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI).

Dan Galvin of Kerry Hospice Foundation – one of the charities that will benefit – said cash would go towards a new 15-bed unit being planned for Tralee. “The project will cost about €5.5 million so all donations are most welcome,” he said.

The cycle ride will depart from Limerick city at 8am on Wednesday 14^th May and will end at the IMPACT biennial conference venue in Killarney that afternoon. This is the fourth charity cycle to be organised to coincide with IMPACT conference. The three previous events have raised almost €60,000 for local and national charities.

Branches are being invited to give financial support to the event or sponsor their own cyclists who take part.

Contact Dessie Robinson or Eamonn Donnelly at 01-817-1524 or stobin@impact.ie for more information.

Open to all delegates attending the conference, the event will be chaired by IMPACT president Kevin O’Malley and speakers will include Laura Harmon of  the Union of Students of Ireland, Shane Lambert of the IMPACT youth committee, and David Gibney of the ICTU youth committee.

IMPACT organiser Linda Kelly explained that unemployment, under-employment and precarious employment remain huge issues for young people, despite the departure of the troika. “Youth unemployment stands at 27% in Ireland and is over 40% in Greece, Spain, Croatia and Portugal,” she said.

A light lunch will be served at the event.