IMPACT Audio Bulletin
IMPACT job opportunities
IMPACT is hiring four industrial relations officers and one lead organiser. Click HERE for more information, including job descriptions.
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Members outline why they value IMPACT
by Hazel Gavigan
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Our Communications Unit has produced a short video explaining the benefits of joining IMPACT, to help local branches and activists interest and recruit new members. It was filmed at this year’s union conferences, where we spoke to existing members about why they’re glad to be represented by IMPACT.
Watch the video here to see members like Frankie Mangan tell us how he feels he’s in “good, safe hands” when it comes to workplace negotiations. Or Irene Tiernan, who explains that IMPACT is “willing to invest” to develop her “professional and personal skills.”
The core message is that IMPACT offers its members professional representation in national negotiations – and when issues arise at work. This was well put by Stephen Barry when he said: “You don’t have one person talking for you, you have everyone talking for you.”
You will find a more comprehensive list of membership benefits at the end of the extended video. There is also a condensed version of the video, which has been produced for social media. You can watch it here.
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Union addresses Brexit and border
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IMPACT is organising a symposium on Brexit and the border with Northern Ireland later this month. The event will consider whether the border has simply become a Brexit-deal bargaining chip, or whether it’s just evidence of a failure to consider the consequences of the Brexiteers’ folly.
IMPACT branch representative and members are being invited to register for the symposium, which brings together an impressive line-up of speakers from unions, civil society organisations, business, farming and politics. It takes place in Letterkenny on Friday 24th November.
IMPACT official Richy Carrothers, who is hosting the event along with Siptu, said Brexit was the greatest single threat to the normalisation of life on both sides of the border. “The border runs for nearly 500km from Lough Swilly in Derry to Carlingford Lough in Louth. Tens of thousands of people cross it freely everyday – students, shoppers, tourists, commuters, school children, hauliers and, of course, workers.
“The fact that it’s crossed 110 million times a year is a practical expression of the normalisation of politics on this island, which was reflected in Northern Ireland’s majority referendum vote to remain in the EU. Now the British government is in the process of dismantling the rights and entitlements of EU citizenship and all that brings,” he said.
You can read Richy’s feature on Brexit and the border in the latest edition of IMPACT’s magazine Work & Life HERE.
See the full symposium programme HERE and register by emailing IMPACT Sligo. Please put ‘Brexit Symposium’ in the email subject line. Or you can call 071-914-2400.
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Inspiring IMPACT’s women activists
by Bernard Harbor
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Over 50 women gathered to take part in the second IMPACT INSPIRE event in Dublin last weekend. The training programme helps to build the confidence of female IMPACT activists, and give them the skills and insights that can help them take on leadership positions at various levels of the union.
Facilitated by IMPACT lead organiser Julie Healy, the training consisted of a wide range of expert speakers including ICTU president and teachers’ leader Sheila Nunan, Niamh Gallagher from Women for Election, and Siptu deputy general secretary Ethel Buckley.
IMPACT activists participated in a panel discussion featuring former INTO official Deirdre Gillane, who is now chef de cabinet with Fiannal Fāil, as well as IMPACT national secretary Angela Kirk and vice president Margaret Coughlan. They all spoke about their personal journeys as trade union activists.
The event also featured targeted sessions on confidence training, facilitated by Clodagh Hughes of Motive8, and communications, facilitated by Orlaith Carmody.
Speaking after the event, Julie Healy said: “The majority of IMPACT members are women, yet most of our senior decision-makers are men. As a union with a strong equality ethos, it’s important that we continue to address the low levels of female participation at senior levels. This programme is part of our effort to take a lead in promoting full and equal participation of female activists. We’ve received extremely positive feedback from participants.”
Last year, 40 women attended the training, and it is intended that this will become an annual event.
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Industrial action planned in flexi-time row
by Bernard Harbor
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A work-to-rule by IMPACT members in Roscommon County Council is due to start on Tuesday 14th November as management insists it will effectively scrap its flexi-time provisions from next month in defiance of a Labour Court recommendation.
The union action will leave phones and emails unanswered, counters unstaffed, and halt staff cooperation with additional duties or work outside normal hours. IMPACT has also warned that strike action is on the cards if management presses ahead with plans to gut flexi-time from 8th December.
Earlier this year the Labour Court said there should be no change in the current facility for staff to take 13 days flexi-leave a year. Management initially wanted to reduce this to just two days. Now, in an attempt to side-step the Labour Court recommendation, it is insisting that staff members should submit an individual business case before working up time that would give them the scope to take a day or half-day flexi-leave.
IMPACT welcomed the Court’s recommendation, which confirmed that Roscommon council staff should have the same rights as their colleagues throughout the local government sector. But the union says management is continuing to ignore the ruling of the State’s senior industrial relations authority.
The Labour Court recommendation, which is binding on both sides, pointed to the Haddington Road agreement’s provisions on flexi-time, which say: “no change is proposed to the existing terms with regard to the amount or the use of hours to be carried over.” That protection carried into the current Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).
Management also wants to remove control of the scheme from line managers who understand local service needs.
IMPACT says flexi-time is of most benefit to low paid women workers with childcare commitments, because it allows them work up time, which that can later be taken as leave or flexible working.
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Pilots want independent representation
by Bernard Harbor
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Irish-based pilots in Ryanair have insisted that they will only negotiate with company management through a new joint European Employee Representative Council (EERC). The airline has refused to recognise the EERC and insists that talks be conducted through management-controlled “employee representative councils.”
Amid continued controversy over flight cancellations due to pilot shortages, which have left tens of thousands of customers in the lurch, the American pilots’ union APA has produced an online video calling for respect for Ryanair pilots.
IMPACT has sought legal opinion on the convoluted employment arrangements in place for many Ryanair pilots. The union has accused company management of using arms-length ‘zero hours’ contracts to undermine employees’ rights and avoid independent trade union representation.
The European Cockpit Association (EPA), which speaks for pilot bodies across the continent, recently sent an open letter to members of the European Parliament. It called for “genuine social dialogue” in the company, which denies its staff independent union representation and instead has company-run procedures in place.
Like IMPACT, the EPA also wants the implementation of a recent European Court of Justice judgement, which said Ryanair pilots should be on employment contracts, governed by the laws of the country where they’re based and work from most of the time.
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CE supers win political support
by Bernard Harbor
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TDs from five parties spoke up in Dáil Eireann recently in support of IMPACT’s campaign for pension justice for community employment (CE) supervisors. The issue was raised by Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on public expenditure and reform Dara Calleary, who was backed by Labour, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit.
IMPACT also participated in a meeting of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) high level forum for the community and voluntary sector, last Thursday (2nd November).
CE supervisors currently have no occupational pension provision at all. IMPACT has held meetings with senior representatives of political parties and groupings in the Dáil including Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Independent Alliance. There have also been meetings with advisers to the independent ministers in government.
Further meetings with party spokespeople and ministers are lined up, and the issue is on the work programme of the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection.
Back in 2008, the Labour Court recommended that a pension arrangement be put in place for CE supervisors, and funds were allocated by FÁS. However, the economic crisis and abolition of FÁS led to delay.
IMPACT raised the issue in pay talks in 2015 and 2017, and secured the establishment of a high level forum to deal with the issue under the Lansdowne Road Agreement. More recently, the union won a commitment to complete a scoping exercise by the end of this month.
Read our statement of case HERE.
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Stress awareness test launched
by Martina O’Leary
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The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) has launched a new information campaign aimed at raising awareness of the damaging effects of work-related stress.
Mental health problems like stress, anxiety and depression are the second highest causes of work-related illness in Ireland. The conditions are associated with the longest absences from work according to a 2016 ERSI study.
Some 22% of workers in Ireland experienced stress at work ‘always’ or ‘most of the time,’ according to a recent European-wide survey on working conditions. The proportion that ‘always’ experienced stress was the third highest in the EU15, and the tenth highest among the 34 countries surveyed.
To assist employers manage this, the HSA , in conjunction with the State Claims Agency, has developed the ‘work positive’ online tool. Available at WorkPositive.ie, it helps employers to implement a structured and collaborative approach to managing work-related stress. With employees at the heart of the process, the free tool provides clear guidance for employers to design and implement focused action plans and interventions.
IMPACT official Dessie Robinson said that employers have a duty of care to ensure that all workers have a safe and healthy workplace. This applies to all aspects of work including stress. “WorkPositive is a valuable tool to enable employers to establish good practices around stress in the workplace,” he said.
The tool, which is free and easy to use, can help employers comply with their legal responsibilities and develop action plans to mitigate against known workplace stressors.
For more information visit www.hsa.ie or www.workpositive.ie
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Retired cleansing staff to get €1k
by Bernard Harbor
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IMPACT members who retired from the cleansing departments of Limerick city and county councils, and who have not had overtime included in the calculation of their pensions, are set to receive a €1,000 interim payment, probably before Christmas.
The HR department of the now-unified council agreed to the payment on foot of a union claim. It conceded that it will take some time to work out, on a case-by-case basis, what its retired workers may be due following incorrect pension calculations.
A review of a backlog of cases is currently underway. In the meantime, an interim payment of €1,000 will go to every pensioner who has been identified as having an entitlement to have overtime included in their pension. The payments will be credited against any final pension calculation.
IMPACT official Mike McNamara said: “This is good news for IMPACT members who are waiting to get their full pension benefits. The union has accepted that it will take time to work out what affected members are owed, but we were determined to achieve a goodwill gesture in the meantime.”
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More women earn minimum wage
by Lughan Deane
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A new ESRI study has found that women are over twice as likely as men to earn the national minimum wage. The report also says that three-quarters of those in receipt of the minimum wage are female. Low pay is a major component cause of the gender pay gap.
In a related finding, the study confirms the often-quoted fact that highly-feminised sectors are characterised by low pay. For example, 15% of those working in the accommodation and food sector are stuck on the minimum wage.
The paper also reveals that part-time workers are three times more likely than their full-time counterparts to be on the minimum pay. Many women choose to work part-time to accommodate caring and other responsibilities outside the workplace. The study finds that 56% of female minimum wage workers are part-timers.
IMPACT recently made two submissions to the Department of Justice and Equality’s consultation process on measures to close the gender pay gap. The union has been campaigning for the introduction of gender pay gap reporting laws for several months.
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Alzheimer’s action deferred
by Niall Shanahan
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A planned one-day stoppage by eight IMPACT members at the Alzheimer Society of Ireland’s (ASI), Orchard day service in Blackrock has been deferred. The members had unanimously backed industrial action after care staff were placed on reduced hours for a protracted period.
IMPACT official Philip Mullen explained that the respite service, which operated in conjunction with the Orchard day service, ceased in November 2016 after HIQA had identified unsafe practices. The ASI was unable to provide the appropriate staff required.
“Management signalled their intention to enter into an arrangement with another organisation to provide respite in the ASI premises. Staff were maintained on full pay until the end of April 2017, after which seven of the care staff were placed on reduced hours, working in the day service. This was on the understanding that a new provider would be identified.”
Philip said the union had a number of meetings with management, at which they identified delays in ASI getting HSE approval for an arrangement with the new provider. Staff continued to work on reduced hours, and Philip described management’s communication on the issue as “poor.”
“We’d been informed that HSE approval would be finalised and the new provider announced by July, then September 2017. This announcement has now been further delayed, with a possible reopening date of January 2018.
“Our members have maintained the Orchard day service on a reduced hours basis. This has led to a loss of income, lack of certainty in relation to ongoing employment and a difficult working environment. Management also refused our proposal to make a joint referral to conciliation through the WRC,” he said.
A one-day stoppage, scheduled for today (Tuesday 7th November) has been temporarily deferred as the union was invited to a meeting with management to confirm return to contracted hours under transfer of undertaking or voluntary redundancy option for staff.
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€10 off travel insurance for IMPACT members
Win a Samsung tablet!
by Bernard Harbor
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IMPACT members can get €10 off their travel insurance from KennCo Travel Insurance – and be in with a chance to win a Samsung tablet.
The first 50 people to contact KennCo before 30th November 2017 will be entered into a draw for a Samsung tablet. Simply send your name, address, and contact number to travel@kennco.ie.*
KennCo offers IMPACT members annual multi-trip cover for just €59. You’re covered no matter how many trips you make and, if you’re living with your partner for over six months, they’re covered too at no extra cost.
KennCo annual travel insurance has bundles of features included as standard at no extra cost. Features include
- Kids go free
- Independent travel for children up to and including 17 years old on annual policies
- School trips included
- Worldwide and European cover available
- 365-day emergency medical assistance
- Public liability
- Cancellation and curtailment
- Lost baggage
- Missed departure
- Winter sports and scuba diving included.
Terms and conditions and excesses apply.
To find out more or to purchase online click here. Contact KennCo on 01-499-4607 or email travel@kennco.ie.
*By providing your contact details you are agreeing to receive marketing communications.
KennCo Underwriting Ltd T/A KennCo Insurance is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland.
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IMPACT executive explains Fórsa backing
Members have been urged to vote ‘yes’ before the 17th November deadline
by Bernard Harbor and Niall Shanahan
![](/files/1/63805/123625/5815098/1d202c45e48707151c2f509b/forsavid_3.jpg) Members of IMPACT’s central executive committee have appeared on video to outline their reasons for backing a merger of IMPACT, the CPSU and the PSEU. IMPACT members have until 12 noon on Friday 17th November to vote on the proposed amalgamation.
The video also features IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody responding to questions about the creation of a new union called Fórsa.
Members of IMPACT’s central executive committee have appeared on video to outline their reasons for backing a merger of IMPACT, the CPSU and the PSEU. IMPACT members have until 12 noon on Friday 17th November to vote on the proposed amalgamation.
The video, which also features IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody answering some commonly-put questions on the creation of a new union called Fórsa, is available HERE.
Members have been urged to vote ‘yes,’ and to contact their branch secretary if they have not received a ballot paper. Ballots must be returned to the branch (or directly to IMPACT if they were sent with a pre-paid envelope) before the 17th November deadline.
A comprehensive FAQ is available on the IMPACT website, where members can also download the Instrument of Amalgamation, the legal document that sets out Fórsa’s rules and structures. The Fórsa pages include details of workplace information meetings, which are taking place in locations across the country.
If members of all three unions vote for the amalgamation, the new organisation would combine the strength of over 80,000 members. This would make it the second largest union on the island of Ireland and by far the largest trade union voice in the Irish civil and public service.
The executives of all three unions backed the proposal in the belief that a larger, stronger and more powerful organisation would be able to deliver better outcomes for members in pay negotiations, workplace representation, individual membership benefits, and services to branches and activists.
The proposal also includes strong safeguards to ensure an effective voice for individual grades, and to preserve and enhance the best traditions of each of the three constituent unions.
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PSSA working time provisions to kick in
by Bernard Harbor
A means of allowing staff to convert some annual leave into flexi-time is to be developed in a number of pilot schemes, with a view to rolling it out across the public service in time. Unions and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) agreed to this approach at a recent meeting of the ‘oversight body’ set up to monitor the implementation of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which was recently endorsed by a large majority of unions.
A means of allowing staff to convert some annual leave into flexi-time is to be developed in a number of pilot schemes, with a view to rolling it out across the public service in time. Unions and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) agreed to this approach at a recent meeting of the ‘oversight body’ set up to monitor the implementation of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which was recently endorsed by a large majority of unions.
Unions and DPER will also meet to agree how to implement the PSSA provision that gives staff the option of a permanent return to ‘pre-Haddington Road’ hours on the basis of a pro-rata pay adjustment. Under the deal, staff will be able to permanently opt into this arrangement in one of two time slots – at the start of the agreement in January-April 2018, or at its end in January-April 2021.
IMPACT and other unions won these provisions in the talks that fashioned the PSSA, despite strong resistance from management in some parts of the public service. Although they fall short of the restoration of additional hours introduced under the Haddington Road agreement in 2011, they at least give options to staff for whom time is more important than money.
A July 2017 report by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service put the value of the additional Haddington Road hours at €583 million a year – a huge exchequer saving and productivity boost delivered by Ireland’s public servants.
As reported in the last issue of this bulletin, the oversight body also kick-started PSSA measures to address ‘new entrant’ and recruitment and retention issues.
Meanwhile, members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) have voted overwhelmingly to accept the PSSA. Their colleagues in the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) are currently voting on the deal after the association’s executive recommended acceptance.
With almost all the ballots concluded, virtually all unions have backed the deal and a large aggregate majority of public servants voted in favour. Members of only four unions rejected the PSSA, and all of these are currently working within its provisions. This means their members can access the benefits of the agreement.
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Blanket retirement age not on
by Bernard Harbor
IMPACT says the Government is not going to announce a blanket increase in the public service retirement age, despite a report in the press last Friday (3rd November). Along with other unions, IMPACT has been working to resolve the plight of public servants who are forced to retire at age 65, but cannot now access the state pension until they are 66.
IMPACT says the Government is not going to announce a blanket increase in the public service retirement age, despite a report in the press last Friday (3rd November).
Along with other unions, IMPACT has been working to resolve the plight of public servants who are forced to retire at age 65, but cannot now access the state pension until they are 66. Discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have been taking place under the auspices of the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA), which was recently backed by a large majority of IMPACT members.
On the basis of those talks, the union believes it will be possible to achieve an arrangement that gives civil and public servants the option of retiring when the state pension kicks in – currently age 66. However, there won’t be a requirement for “all” public servants to work until they are 66, as reported on the front page of last Friday’s Irish Independent.
IMPACT has also told DPER that this is an issue across the economy – not just in the public service. Workers in any employment with a compulsory retirement age below age 66 are affected. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has been working to achieve an economy-wide solution.
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Des fights for daa worker-director post
by Bernard Harbor
IMPACT activist Des Mullally is seeking support for his bid to win a second term as a worker-director on the board of airport operator daa. Polling day is 22nd November, and all company employees are entitled to vote. A company employee for over 30 years, Des was first elected as a worker-director in 2013, when colleagues gave him the second highest number of first preference votes.
In a letter to daa staff, Des said he was running to address high staff turnover, protect jobs from privatisation, see that staffing levels increase in line with business and passenger number growth, and ensure that staff continue to share in the success that daa has achieved in recent years.
![](/files/1/63805/123625/5815098/36ff545b583be3ef0485e488/desmullally_2.jpg) IMPACT activist Des Mullally is seeking support for his bid to win a second term as a worker-director on the board of airport operator daa. Polling day is 22nd November, and all company employees are entitled to vote. A company employee for over 30 years, Des was first elected as a worker-director in 2013, when colleagues gave him the second highest number of first preference votes.
In a letter to daa staff, Des said he was running to address high staff turnover, protect jobs from privatisation, see that staffing levels increase in line with business and passenger number growth, and ensure that staff continue to share in the success that daa has achieved in recent years.
He told colleagues that, by working together, they had overcome much of the uncertainty of the recession years. “We’ve seen our workplace thrive as passenger numbers have grown. In the last four years we’ve secured a new DC pension scheme available to all staff, a 4% pay increase for everyone, and the restoration of pay cuts two years before schedule.
“We’ve also secured better terms and conditions for some categories of staff through new framework agreements, while others continue to work to reach agreements that should deliver pay progression over time,” he said.
But staff turnover at the company remains high. “We need to find solutions to this and ensure that working conditions are sustainable and attractive,” he said.
Asked what had been his main achievement as a worker-director so far, Des told us: “Probably the resolution of the pension issue. Four years ago we were faced with a DB scheme that was under-funded and heading for wind-up. Yet we were still paying into it, while new staff had no access to a pension scheme.
“Along with other worker-directors, I was initially excluded from board discussions on the assumption that we were “conflicted.” But we managed to get our voice heard after seeking legal advice. We were then able to give other board members an insight into the real feeling among staff. This ultimately helped to find the resolution with the creation of a new DC scheme and an upfront lump-sum investment that minimised the loss to staff.”
Des, who is a member of IMPACT’s IAESA branch, is one of seven candidates chasing four posts in the election. Staff can cast their ballot at polling stations on 22nd November.
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Extreme weather protocol needed
by Bernard Harbor
IMPACT has sought cross-union support for a claim for the development of a civil service protocol setting out arrangements for addressing future national emergencies in the wake of storm Ophelia, which led the Taoiseach to advise workers to stay at home on 16th October. The union says procedures for future extreme weather events should include adequate recognition and remuneration for staff exposed to danger whilst working in extremely hazardous conditions.
IMPACT has sought cross-union support for a claim for the development of a civil service protocol setting out arrangements for addressing future national emergencies in the wake of storm Ophelia, which led the Taoiseach to advise workers to stay at home on 16th October. The union says procedures for future extreme weather events should include adequate recognition and remuneration for staff exposed to danger whilst working in extremely hazardous conditions.
The call comes as the HSE confirmed that health workers who were unable to attend work because of safety concerns related to Ophelia would be paid for the hours they were scheduled to work, and would not be required to take leave to cover absence resulting directly from the storm. The decision came on foot of IMPACT representations following confusion over how local HR managers were dealing with the issue.
IMPACT has sought similar commitments in employments across the civil and public service, and in other sectors.
IMPACT national secretary Andy Pike said civil and public servants should be recognised for minimising the risk to the public by their actions ahead of, and during, Ophelia. He called for two days additional leave, on a once-off basis, for staff who were required to work in essential services on 16th October. “The commitment of those civil and public servants in essential services like Met Eireann, coastguard, OPW and many other settings, should be recognised,” he said.
Andy added that neither pay nor annual leave should be deducted from civil servants who were not required to attend work in light of “the Taoiseach’s clear advice to stay at home and not undertake unnecessary journeys.”
The HSE circular was sent to CEOs and senior HR managers in the HSE, community health organisations, hospital groups, and ‘section 38’ agencies.
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Members back Aer Lingus pay deal
by Bernard Harbor
IMPACT members in Aer Lingus have voted overwhelmingly (95.6%) to accept a Labour Court-brokered pay deal worth 8.5% over the 39 months from 1st April 2017. IMPACT branches representing cabin crew and middle managers at the airline had recommended acceptance of the package, which will see a 3% pay increase backdated to April 2017, and further instalments in 2018 and 2019.
IMPACT members in Aer Lingus have voted overwhelmingly (95.6%) to accept a Labour Court-brokered pay deal worth 8.5% over the 39 months from 1st April 2017. IMPACT branches representing cabin crew and middle managers at the airline had recommended acceptance of the package, which will see a 3% pay increase backdated to April 2017, and further instalments in 2018 and 2019.
Speaking after the announcement of the ballot outcome, IMPACT official Angela Kirk said she would be writing to company management immediately to seek confirmation of the arrangements for the implementation of the pay increases, including the rapid payment of back money due under the deal.
Angela said she also wanted early discussions on a profit-sharing scheme after the Labour Court said the parties should engage in ‘without prejudice’ discussions on the potential for introducing profit-sharing arrangements.
“Aer Lingus staff have worked hard to ensure that the airline survived the recession and thrived in the early years of recovery. We believe a profit-sharing scheme should be put in place as a way of recognising and rewarding workers’ contributions to the success of the company,” she said.
IMPACT says the pay package is similar to agreements reached in other successful industrial sectors. The 8.5% increase will be staged with payments on 1st April 2017 (3%), 1st May 2018 (2.75%) and 1st June 2019 (2.75%). The deal expires on 30th June 2020.
Pilots are not covered by the agreement as their pay is negotiated through a separate process.
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