Yesterday Fórsa announced that it will host a special joint meeting of its Local Government and Municipal Employees divisions on Monday 3rd December, to formulate the union’s response to government proposals for the transformation of Irish Water.The Government announced its intention during the summer to create a single water utility by 2021 last year, four years before the expiry of service level agreements (SLAs). Fórsa told the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government in June this year that SLAs between Irish Water and local authorities should continue, and that local authority staff should not be forced to transfer to a new entity. RTE reports on the development citing concerns that staff could be forced to transfer to the Irish Water utility.
The Irish Times highlights issue of precarious work in a published letter to the editor from the chair of the youth network Osal Kelly. In his letter, Osal explains that lower paid but more secure employments are in high demand and that falling unemployment has done nothing to ease the sense of insecurity among workers.
Fórsa’s health division leader has called on the Public Service Pay Commission to press on with examinations of recruitment and retention difficulties in the health professions, social care and elsewhere, now that it has concluded its work on nurses and medical consultants. Fórsa's Éamonn Donnelly also warned of pressure for further pay claims in the health sector and elsewhere if some groups of workers were to be granted pay benefits beyond those set out in the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA).
The Irish Times reports that the INMO have called for talks with the Minister to head off threatened strikes in hospitals. Nurses have accused the Government of exaggerating the cost of meeting their claim for an across-the-board pay rise of up to 12 per cent. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) said the Government was seeking to portray the cost of providing safe care in hospitals as being “unattainable”.
In a report published today the Economic and Social Research Institute says the low level of unemployment in Ireland means solving the housing shortage will require large numbers of immigrant building workers. It also says a large increase in housing output will require a large increase in bank lending to construction firms and house buyers, to levels not seen since 2008. However, it says strict lending rules are needed to avoid a repeat of the last property bubble and collapse.
Fórsa official Geraldine O'Brien will today join an ICTU delegation which will meet the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to discuss the gender pay gap information bill. Congress has welcomed the opportunity to participate in today’s meeting on this important subject. Follow our twitter account for more information on this throughout the day.
A quick reminder that the "Future of Working Time" event is taking place tomorrow. With an excellent line up it promises to be an engaging day. Click here for more information.
Our zen today is some interesting wildlife photography.
Have a good day.
