Latest News & Updates

Workers in Struggle

30/03/10

Besiege the Government – Not the Workers

For some time now the Dublin government and its allies in the corporate media have been engaged in a sustained and concerted campaign both to divide workers and to heap the blame for the capitalist recession on the shoulders of those employed in the public sector.

Not only have the lowest paid workers in the public sector suffered cumulative pay cuts of 13 per cent, they have also faced the vitriol of the right-wing press.

Click here to read on. >>

22/03/10

Pay Cuts Stopped at Mount Carmel

Management at the Mount Carmel Hospital Group have agreed to suspend staff pay cuts following a threatened strike by workers.

Strike action was due to begin today (March 22) at Mount Carmel in Dublin and Aut Even in Kilkenny, before management reached an agreement with representatives of SIPTU and the Medical Laboratory Scientists Association.

Pay cuts, which had been imposed from January 1, will now be suspended until an independent financial review of the hospital can be carried out. The review will be chaired by nominees of ICTU and IBEC.

John Kane of MLSA said, “The unions will enter these talks in a positive manner and we expect management will do likewise.”

Teachers’ Pay Talks Resume

Talks resumed today between the Twenty-Six County Department of Education and the four main teachers unions – INTO, TUI, ASTI and IFUT.

A series of talks will take place this week on pay cuts and the transformation of the public service.

Little progress has been made in sectoral meetings so far and teachers have made clear their intention to push for an intensified campaign against cuts at their Easter conferences.

Emergency motions will be forwarded for strike action, as well as withdrawal of co-operation and a ban on non-contractual teaching duties.

NIPSA Reject Civil Servant Management Offer

NIPSA’s Civil Service Group met today to consider the management side’s belayed offer on pay for civil service staff in the Six Counties, and voted to reject the offer.

Brian Campfield, general secretary of NIPSA said that union representatives would now seek an improved offer from management.

He said, “The offer does not come near to meeting the terms of the NIPSA claim which was submitted early in 2009. Specifically it does not provide any increase at the maxima of pay scales nor does it deal with the issue of the improvements we were seeking to annual leave entitlements and therefore represents an unacceptable attempt to place an absolute cap on [the] Civil Service.”

15/03/10

Hospitals on the Brink

Talks between public sector trade unions and the Twenty-Six County government resumed today [Monday] against the backdrop of the planned 48-hour hospital strike in April.

Today’s talks were facilitated by senior officials of the Labour Relations Commission.

Unions are engaged in a six-week dispute over pay cuts introduced in last December’s budget. A series of work stoppages in schools, hospitals and other public services will ensue if workers’ rights are not secured.

Some 4,500 lower-paid staff in seven hospitals, including porters, catering personnel, security, healthcare assistants and supervisors, are to go on strike from 1am on Wednesday, April 7 until 1am on Friday, April 9. The public hospitals to be affected are St James’s, St Vincent’s, Connolly Memorial, Mater, Beaumont, Tallaght and St Colmcille’s in Loughlinstown.

SIPTU health sector organiser Paul Bell said the action would be proceeding. He said hospital management had sought to cancel a meeting planned for this week to discuss the proposed dispute and the union felt the organisation was not taking the strike threat seriously. There would be a “sharp, short withdrawal of labour” in Beaumont hospital as early as the week after next if the organisation did not take it seriously, he said.

Private Sector Joins Action

Staff at Mount Carmel private hospital in Dublin staged a second protest today [Monday] in a dispute over pay cuts.

Impact, SIPTU and the Medical Laboratory Scientists’ Association, which represent the workers, have served strike notice on the hospital for Monday, March 22. It will involve administrators, radiographers, scientific and support grade staff at the hospital.

The unions said the action was as a result of a decision by management to cut pay without consultation or agreement.

The three unions said that, as most of the procedures taking place in the hospital were elective or non-urgent, it was expected industrial action would cause disruption to services at the hospital, including pharmacy and laboratory services.

The hospital provides maternity services, as well as orthopaedic and eye and ear services on a for-profit basis.

Firefighters demand strike

Firefighters in the Twenty-Six Counties have increased the pressure on SIPTU to serve strike notice with immediate effect.

Members have called for a statewide fire brigade and ambulance strike with complete withdrawal of cover.

John Kidd of SIPTU’s full-time fire officers’ committee said firefighters were working in unsafe conditions due to staff cutbacks.

“In addition to the pay cuts, 108 members retired last year, around 30 so far this year, and there have only been no new recruits over the last two years. We cannot continue to provide a service like this.”

Members of the branch met with union officials over the weekend to discuss the demand for a strike.

02/03/10

Hunger Strike Into Third Week

Dublin City Council last night [Monday] backed an emergency motion by éirígí activist and city councillor Louise Minihan in support of the striking Green Isle workers in County Kildare.

The council extended solidarity to the striking workers and those currently on hunger strike and called for a just resolution to the dispute.

There was little progress in talks yesterday on Monday and a third Green Isle Foods worker is to join the hunger strike tomorrow [Wednesday] if there is no breakthrough in the meantime. No information is available on the substantive issues as the company would only enter talks on the basis of a legally binding confidentiality agreement.

TEEU general secretary designate Eamon Devoy said: “We are continuing to make every effort to resolve this dispute before it assumes more critical dimensions. I do not believe the company fully appreciates the wider implications it could have if we do not find a solution at this stage.”

TEEU shop steward Jim Wyse is entering his 14th day on hunger strike today, while fellow worker and former All-Ireland footballer John Guinan is in his seventh day. A colleague will join them on hunger strike tomorrow if the dispute is not resolved today.

They are protesting at the unfair dismissal of three colleagues and the refusal of the company to allow them union representation. The Labour Court recommended the full reinstatement of the dismissed men and said they should be paid €180,000 compensation if the company does not reinstate them.

See www.teeu.ie for more information and Hunger Strike Diary.

More Cuts to Come in Construction

Direct employment in the Twenty-Six County construction industry has decreased by 130,000 jobs since 2007, according to a new study.

The report, compiled by the construction consultancy firm Davis Langdon PKS (DLPKS), forecasts a further 40,000 jobs will be lost in the sector this year.

In their annual review of the sector, DLPKS predict that the construction industry will see a decline of approximately 23 per cent in 2010.

From a high of €38 billion [£34 billion] in 2007, the sector is predicted to have reduced in value to the region of €19 billion [£17 billion] in 2009 and is expected to fall by a further €14 billion [£13 billion] this year.

According to Davis Langdon PKS, direct construction employment totalled 260,000 in the second quarter of 2007 and is now at about 130,000.

260 Jobs Under Threat at An Post

Postbank, the joint venture between An Post and European bank BNP Paribas, has announced that it will close at the end of the year due to loss-making savings rates being offered in the highly competitive Irish deposit market.

The company is the second retail banking business in as many weeks to announce its closure following the decision of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) to shut down Halifax, with the loss of 750 jobs.

The bank said that it hoped to secure “a significant proportion” of the 260 jobs at Postbank.

Some jobs may be relocated to An Post as it will continue to offer life, motor and home insurance products, though the semi-state company has itself been cutting back on staff over the past year.

Steven Fitzpatrick, general secretary of the Communications Workers Union, said the decision to close the bank was “a major missed opportunity to provide straightforward banking services to ordinary people” through the most extensive branch network in the Twenty-Six County state, An Post’s post offices.

17/02/10

Hunger Strike Begins at Green Isle

Workers at Green Isle Foods in County Kildare, who have been engaged in strike action at the plant for the last six months, today [Wednesday] began a hunger strike.

The Technical, Electrical and Engineering Union [TEEU] said last night that shop steward Jim Wyse would be the first to commence the fast in protest at the continued refusal of Green Isle Foods to accept Labour Court recommendations for the settlement of the lengthy dispute over the dismissal of union members.

The Green Isle workers accepted Labour Court recommendations to resolve the dispute in December last year and again in January. The Court ordered Green Isle to pay the dismissed men €40,000, €60,000 and €80,000 compensation respectively last December. When the company refused to pay the awards, the Court recommended the reinstatement of the men with full pay.

The union said that, if the company continued to refuse to accept the court’s recommendations or engage in talks with the TEEU, a second member would join the hunger strike on February 24, followed by another worker each Wednesday.

A number of employees at the plant were sacked after a confidential file was sent in error to a staff member. The file contained restructuring proposals, and the employee shared that information with staff.

“They told staff inside that we could stay out here until we rot, and they obviously meant it”, said Wyse.

“We mean what we say too.

“For five of the last six months, the company has refused to talk to us. In spite of all we have been through, we contacted the company after Christmas to ask for talks on the basis of the Labour Court recommendations, which were in our favour. They wouldn’t meet with TEEU officials but agreed to meet us in direct talks. We accepted as we felt we had the Labour Court findings as a guide.

“There were three meetings over four weeks. Each lasted about 10 minutes. They didn’t even bring a notebook with them. We even offered a compromise based on less than the Court’s terms.”

Wyse says that, in light of past events, the hunger strike will not be called off until there is a resolution of the dispute.

“They want us to go back on new pay and conditions and leave the three lads dismissed. This protest has to start. We have to save our dignity and self-respect. We’re not going to be walked on.”

Jim and any others who join him will be staying in a caravan on the picket line during the hunger strike.

Jim is 58 and has been working at the plant for 13 years. He is married with five grown up children, four grand children “and another one on the way”. His youngest son is with him on the picket line.

“It is the younger people it is affecting most”, he says.

One of the dismissed men, who has been with Green Isle for 16 years, has several young children.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has granted the TEEU an All-Out picket against Green Isle Foods. Its products include Goodfellas and San Marco pizzas, Donegal Catch, a variety of savoury filled pastries, potatoes and other vegetables.

The TEEU has called on fellow trade unionists to support the protest rally in Naas being organised by the Kildare Council of Trade Unions on Saturday, February 27.

The rally will be at the Storm Cinema car park in Naas and a march will follow to the Green Isle Foods plant, where the men have been on strike since August 2009.

<< Newer stories
        Older stories >>