Elsewhere in today's news there's coverage of the final report of the high-level working group set up to review collective bargaining and the industrial relations landscape in Ireland, about which there was plenty of discussion at yesterday's IRN conference.

ICTU general secretary Patricia King told the conference the recommendations in the report will, through increased collective bargaining coverage, provide new opportunities to achieve decent working and living standards for hundreds of thousands of workers. 

Patricia also said it meant trade unions could no longer be regarded as some sort of malevolent underground movement. Dismissing some other old stereotypes we've lived with, Mark Paul, writing in the Irish Times, is much less contrarian than usual, and writes "most trade unionists just want to do fair deals." He highlights the biggest challenge we face, low membership densities. Worth a read, contact me if you can't pass the paywall.

Meanwhile, the Irish Times reports that the Government is considering a winter ban on evictions under plans being examined to deal with the cost-of-living crisis. 

Elsewhere, the Labour Party is to table a private members motion in the Dáil next Wednesday, calling for the Government to act to improve the pay and conditions of workers in the community and voluntary sector. The party has said it’s "long past time that pay scales were aligned on an equitable basis with staff in the HSE and other voluntary agencies doing the same job."

The motion follows the recent strike actions by Section 39 workers in Galway, Cork, Kerry and Mayo. Fórsa is organising a delegation to attend the Dáil debate on Wednesday. In the meantime, you can show your support by signing the petition HERE.

Zen

Take a quiet moment today with Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings and have a lovely weekend.

Niall