THE UNION POST PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE IRISH CONGRESS OF

NEWS YOU CAN USENION POSTU

JUNE 2010

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE IRISH CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONSTHE

NIC-ICTUBIENNIAL CONFERENCE

REPORTS AND PICTURES

PAGES 10,11,12,13,14 &15

WILL HUTTON

PAGES 6&7

RESHAPINGTHE FUTURE

TOO HIGH A PRICE

CONGRESS: Human cost of bank bail-out ‘immeasurable’

18.5%

13.7%

and rising...

officially on thedole but the truefigure could be

CONGRESS has warned Ire-land is paying too high a pricefor the bank bail-out which iscosting us jobs and damagingprospects for recovery.

Reacting to figures releasedearlier this month showing a rise in unemployment from 13.5% to 13.7% in theRepublic, Congress economicadvisor Paul Sweeney claimedthe ‘true’ unemployment figurewas far higher and that divert-ing billions to shore up finance

houses was destroying jobsand undermining growth.

He said: “The Government’shighly deflationary policy istaking money out of the econ-omy and destroying jobs, asthese figures show.

“The price is too high – in financial, economic and socialterms. In addition, wholesalecuts in spending and incomesare reducing both investmentand demand in the economy –again the first casualty is jobs.

Demand is down 10% in thelast three years.”

Last month, Congress president Jack O’Connorlashed the Government’s “intellectual bankruptcy” aftercontroversial benefit changeswere revealed in the SocialWelfare Bill.

He slammed the measures –targeting one parent familiesand the unemployed – as “rep-rehensible beyond belief”.

� Continued on Page 3

Paul Sweeney

Jack O’Connor

ISRAEL STANDSCONDEMNEDOVER ATTACKON AID CONVOY

P3

Picture: Paula Geraghty

2 THE UNION POST � June 2010

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One in 10 voluntarysector jobs could go

Hutton on reshapingIreland’s future

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Getting to grips withclassroom violence

Reports and pix fromNIC-ICTU conference

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UNION POST

BOLD AS BRASS!

NIC-ICTU’s Peter Bunting & Bob Crowe of RMT

Downpour: UNITE women use flags for shelter

Brian Campfield, left, leads NIPSA contingent

Following the march there was entertainment and food on offer at marquee in Writers’ Square

Patricia McKeown, left, with Palestinian flag led sizeable group of UNISON members on march

BELFAST MAY DAY

Pictures: Kevin Cooper, Photoline

3June 2010 � THE UNION POST

Mr Sweeney said it was clearthe unemployment trend wasgoing up and cautioned thatmore jobs would be lost if theGovernment was determinedto persist with its policies.

He added: “Equally, it is clearthat the figure of 13.7% under-estimates the ‘true’ level of un-employment and thus the scaleof the social and economicdevastation now unfolding.

“When you add to that num-ber the tens of thousands whohave been forced to emigrate,because they cannot find work;the tens of thousands who havestayed in or returned to educa-tion for the same reason andthe tens of thousands who canonly get part-time or casualjobs, you get a more accuratepicture of the scale of theproblem and its huge social im-pact.

“Taking those numbers intoaccount, the true unemploy-ment figure could be as high as18.5%.

“This is a huge crisis and willput serious strain on our socialfabric. The lost potential for theeconomy, for society and theindividuals is huge, when almostone in five is out of work.

“The level of human sufferingis immeasurable.

“We urgently need a signifi-cant reordering of Governmentpriorities with people placedfirmly before banks and privateprofit.

“In May 2009, Congresscalled for a €1bn job creationand protection plan, it needs tobe implemented immediately.”

� From Page 1

Too high a price

ICTU chief slams ‘reprehensible’ govtCONGRESS president Jack OʼConnor hasslammed the Governmentʼs “intellectualbankruptcy” following the publication of its“heartless” new Social Welfare Bill.

Calling the current administration “repre-hensible beyond belief”, he claimed the pro-posals penalised the “most vulnerable” insociety.

Among the changes proposed in the newBill is reduced eligibility for the one-parentfamily payment from April 2011 as well aspunitive measures against unemployed peo-ple who refuse jobs deemed suitable. Mr

OʼConnor, who is also SIPTU general presi-dent, said:“This is a direct consequence ofthe budgetary policy reversal by the Govern-ment between April and August of last yearin which the prospects of any element of bal-ancing the burden of adjustment in societywere discounted in favour of a decision toimpose the entire €4 billion deficit cut onworking people and on those who dependmost on public services.

“The Government contemptuously dis-missed proposals from the trade unionmovement and even employersʼ organisa-

tions for putting in place a proactive jobs

support strategy. Instead it has embarked on

a policy which will leave our young people

exposed to the most ruthless and unscrupu-

lous exploitation.”

He added: “Their only alternative will be to

emigrate, taking with them the skills and

potential to rejuvenate our country in the

medium term.

“Of course there is nothing new in this.

Enforced emigration is the traditional strat-

egy of Fianna Fail and those on the right.”

SOCIAL WELFARE BILL

CONGRESS has blasted the IrishGovernment for ignoring the jobscrisis and failing the Republic’s435,000 unemployed.

In a May Day statement, generalsecretary David Begg said: “Govern-ment inaction and failure has seenthe numbers out of work triple andhas ensured that long-term unem-ployment and emigration are centralfeatures of Irish life, once again.”

Claiming it was “as drastic an in-dictment of official policy as it is topossible to get”, he added: “The

spectre of the 1950s and 1980s nowhaunts working families all acrossIreland.

“It appears that Government isjust not working.” Mr Begg slammedthe Government for seeming “ut-tery transfixed” by the banking cri-sis, while those who had lost theirjobs had seen their benefits cut.

“There appears to be a bottom-less pit for the senior bankers thatcaused this mess – and the joblessare told to wait in line, literally.

“For there to be any sense of jus-

tice or of a burden being shared,Government must move with ur-gency to give the jobs crisis equalbilling with the banking crisis.

“Even enlightened self-interestshould tell them that we will noteven begin to recover until employ-ment starts to pick up.

“Claims that we have already ex-ited the recession or have turnedthe corner are meaningless, until westart getting people back to work.”

Pointing out that a number of “or-ganisations, institutions and individu-

als” had proposed “innovative re-sponses” to the problem, Mr Beggadded: “For our part, Congress hasput forward proposals on how wecould effectively protect and createjobs. Government did nothing.

“We have published proposalsthat could help create tens of thou-sands of jobs in the Green Tech sec-tor and also agreed withconstruction employers a new initia-tive to allow the billions held in Irishpension funds to be invested in keyinfrastructure projects.”

Ministers ignoring jobs crisis

CONGRESS has claimed Israelacted like a “rogue state” followingthe assault on the Gaza aid convoyby IDF special forces that left nineactivists dead.

In a joint statement issued afterthe May 31 attack, general secre-tary David Begg and president JackO’Connor said the Israelis hadshowed “an utter disregard for allprecepts of international law andhuman rights”.

It continued: "The people onthose boats were civilians engagedin peaceful humanitarian work andwere no threat to anyone. Tolaunch a military assault on a hu-manitarian convoy is beyond the

bounds of all that is acceptable andshould be judged as such by the in-ternational community.

“The assault was akin to the ac-tions of a rogue state.”

Meanwhile, Congress assistantgeneral secretary Peter Bunting hasinsisted that “decent people every-where” must now stand with thebesieged people of Gaza.

Speaking following the release ofIrish and Malaysian peace activistsfrom the MV Rachel Corrie, headded: “If people are angry at thecontinued economic siege of Gaza,then take similar action as an ethi-cal consumer and an active citizenand boycott Israeli goods.

“If you have a pension plan, con-tact your broker or those whomanage the fund and ensure thatyou are not contributing to theeconomic oppression of the Pales-tinian people.

“At the same time, we must notforget that there are brave humanrights activists in Israel itself – over6,000 demonstrated last weekendin Tel Aviv.

“Show them that they have oursupport.

“The ICTU campaign of boycottand divestment of Israeli goods isaimed at the government of Israeland its militarised policies towardsits Palestinian neighbours.”

Convoy attack ‘action of rogue state’

Pictures: Paula Geraghty

A section of the crowd at the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign rally in Dublin on June6. UNISON regional secretary Patricia McKeown, inset, spoke on behalf of Congress

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CONGRESS has called for the setting up of anew Office for Debt Resolution to ensurehouseholders with mortgage problems do notrely on the “grace and favour” of banks to keeptheir homes.

The new agency would have the power tovary or revise existing mortgages taking accountof changed circumstances and would strike abalance between the rights of householders andthose of banks.

The proposal to create the non-judicial bodywas made in a presentation to the Govern-ment’s Expert Group on Mortgage Arrears andPersonal Debt on May 18.

In his address, general secretary David Beggsaid: “It is not acceptable that hard-pressedhouseholds – struggling with job loss and in-come cuts – should be forced to rely on thegrace and favour of banks to keep their homes.

“That is unfair and untenable, especially giventhe scale of the mortgage and debt problem.

“At the very least, householders in difficultyshould have the right to know that there is a fair,independent way to deal with the problem.

“We envisage the ODR operating independ-ently of the legal system, acting to strike a bal-ance between the rights of householders andthe banks.

“Consequently, it would have the power tovary or revise existing loan agreements, to takeaccount of changed circumstances.”

Noting that there may be up to 200,000 peo-ple living in households where there is a diffi-culty with mortgage repayments, he added:“They are entitled to some level of security andto be treated with the same degree of under-standing already shown to those that caused thecrisis.”

Congress official Esther Lynch claimed thecurrent banking code of conduct on mortgagearrears was inadequate which seemed to pointto a “serious underestimation of the scale of theproblem”.

Congress calls for settingup of debt resolution body

She said the setting up of the ODR would pro-vide an easy-to-understand alternative to thecourts, providing a less intimidating atmospherein which people can “work through” all of theirdebt problem.

She said the Office for Debt Resolution would:� Protect family homes from repossession

and from creditors practices that exacerbate fi-nancial distress,

� Consider if there has been reckless lendingor excessive penalties charged and reduce thedebts accordingly,

� Have the ability to modify or reduce theterms of a mortgage, and decide the scheduleand order of payment across all creditors,

� Have the power to consider the totality ofpeoples’ debts and conclude an arrangementthat sets out an affordable payment schedule,suitable to the person’s means and provision of a

decent standard of living,� Be impartial and have a duty to ensure bal-

anced negotiation and to prevent manipulativeor intimidatory techniques. This is particularlyrelevant as the debtor may have multiple credi-tors all seeking immediate repayment,

� Be able to suspend interest and othercharges and penalties as these can exacerbatefinancial distress,

� Have the capacity to address negative eq-uity and repossessions by remodeling and revis-ing existing loans to take account of changedcircumstances,

� Have the capacity to determine equitychanges including facilitating a role for local au-thorities in equity purchase or buy and rentback, and

� Will have the power to freeze/modify in-terest rates.

For a full copy of the Office for Debt Resolution Proposals, go to www.ictu.ie/publications/fulllist/office-for-debt-resolution/

MORTGAGES

David Begg said Irish householders should not have to rely on ‘grace and favour’ of banks

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June 2010 � THE UNION POST 5

LEGISLATION

TRADE unionists protesting againstjob cuts or paramilitary killingscould face up to six months in jailunder proposed Northern Irelandparades legislation, it has beenclaimed.

Proposals contained in the DraftPublic Assemblies, Parades andProtests Bill mean that those organ-ising demonstrations or rallies in-volving 50 or more people could infuture be required to give 37 daysadvance notice.

If the proposals become law, theywill seriously hamper the wayNorthern unions and other interestgroups operate.

A NIPSA spokesperson said: "Thenew legislation will severely restrictthe ability of trades unionists, politi-cal activists, community and cam-paign groups to organise effectiveand spontaneous public demonstra-tions to highlight issues which oftenrequire a speedy and immediatepublic response at very short no-tice.

"Protest meetings such as thoseagainst the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, solidarity vigils held tosupport the victims of racist at-tacks, or demonstrations such asthose outside the BBC in relationto airtime being given to the BNP,will all fall under the remit of thenew law."

The proposals – designed to dealwith the vexed issue of contentiousparades – are currently out forpublic consultation.

The draft Bill includes plans fortwo new bodies to replace theGovernment-appointed ParadesCommission.

The first would be an officewhere applications can be made forpermission to hold a parade or aprotest.

The second would be an adjudi-cation body which would decide ondisputes.

Under the proposals, StormontJustice Minister David Ford wouldalso be given the power to ban aparade.

Union furyover Billproposalson protests

A NEW STUDY has warned the community and vol-untary sector is facing a crisis with the potential lossof one in 10 jobs as state funding is slashed.

The report – commissioned by IMPACT’s Boards &Voluntary Agencies branch – estimates up to 5,000jobs will go even as demand for services increasesdue to the recession.

It claims voluntary organisations that are morecritical of government policy could also be seen as“an easy option to cut”.

There are about 6,100 voluntary and communityorganisations in the Republic, employing more than53,000 people.

The sector’s estimated value to the economy is€6.5bn, while state funding approaches €1.89bn.

The study, carried out by independent researchconsultant Brian Harvey and launched on May 12,looked at the disproportionate impact budget cutswill have on the sector.

The report found the recession had meant a mas-sive increase in demand “not only in traditional areassuch as the need to help people with cash, shelter,food and food parcels, but in new areas such asmoney-lending, debt and mortgage arrears, as well asunemployment”.

Una O’Connor, secretary of IMPACT’s Boards andAgencies branch, emphasised the reliance on a hugelevel of commitment and skill from individuals work-ing in the sector.

She explained: “With limited resources, we havemade this a strong and vibrant sector which supportsa strong social economy.

“Inflicting cuts on the community and voluntarysector is nothing less than a betrayal of everythingthat we have achieved.”

Ms O’ Connor, who works for the Sophia housingproject in Dublin, added: “This report confirms thatthe ability of the sector to represent those most inneed will be sharply reduced and that the civil societyvoice for a more enlightened social policy will dimin-ish.

“It marks the greatest risk that the community andvoluntary sector, which has been a model of best

practice and expertise in so many fields, has everfaced.”

During 2009/2010, when the state budget in-creased overall, budgets for voluntary and communityorganisations were reduced.

On the state side, government spending rose by 6%in 2009 and is due to fall by 1.8% in 2010.

However, the voluntary and community sector cutswere between 18% and 20% over the same period.

The report claims that while the cuts were lowerin social and health services, they were much higherin community development.

Ms O’Connor said a contraction in the voluntaryand community sector of about 15% over the nexttwo years is expected.

She added: “We know that voluntary and commu-nity organisations are trying to absorb cuts.

PAY CUTS“Most staff in these organisations have taken pay

cuts similar to those in the public services or havegone on three-day weeks.”

However, despite efforts to absorb cuts, heavy joblosses are expected.

Ms O’Connor added: “In employment, we project aloss of almost 5,000 jobs, with an additional 1,100posts at risk in community employment. These arecautious and conservative projections.

“These jobs are done by skilled professionals, withyears of experience and commitment, vital qualitiesfor modern social and public services.”

Public services provided by the sector include so-cial housing, services for people who are homeless,social services for children and older people, devel-opment aid, services for people with intellectual andphysical disabilities, community development, servicesto people who are unemployed and disadvantagedcommunities.

Ms O’Connor underlined that community and vol-untary organisations provided the “human face” ofpublic services to the most vulnerable people in oursociety, adding: “These organisations have evolvedinto professional, quality services and are not a cheapalternative.”

Warning govt cuts maydecimate communityand voluntary sector

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From left, independent researcher Brian Harvey, Una O’Connor and Jack McCarthy of IMPACT’s Boardsand Voluntary Agencies branch executive and union general secretary Shay Cody Picture: Conor Healy Photography

MORE than half of migrant nursesclaim to have experienced bullyingor workplace discrimination whileworking in Ireland, a shock newstudy has revealed.

In a survey of 300 non-EU nursescarried out by the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland, 34 per cent re-ported being bullied by native-bornfellow nurses while another 25 percent claimed to have been bulliedby nurse management.

A further five per cent claimedto have been bullied by junior doc-tors or consultants.

Of those questioned – mainlyfrom the Philippines and India –only one in five said they plannedto remain in Ireland.

Migrant survey:bullying shock


in 10 years time with bank assets eight or ninetimes GDP, but noted this was less true of Ire-land with NAMA scaling back bank assets here.

Turning to how the current mess came about,he pinpointed the introduction of new bankingtechniques to manage risk at a time when thecapital that was underpinning growth in assetswas being run down as a prime cause.

He said: “They thought the bigger they were,the less risky they were. We now know the big-ger they were, the more risky they were.”

Mr Hutton also flagged up the massive in-crease in private debt in developed countriesand pointed out how in many countries thisnow constitutes more than three times GDP.

He predicted this would make growth in theyears ahead “very, very difficult” and suggestedthat even China – which has been using privatedebt to grow its economy just like the West –was “going to hit the rocks too”, adding, “theseare serious times”.

Mr Hutton claimed that Ireland’s big publicsector deficit teamed with enormous privatedebit presents “an existential threat” to thecountry.

Slamming Ireland’s political and financial estab-lishment, he claimed the Irish people shouldhave been alerted to the risks that were beingtaken in the run up to 2008.

“You were living in La-La Land. For a country

as small as yours to have banks the size yourbanks were, to build up private debt on thescale that you did…”

Admitting that what lay ahead was a “policychallenge” for government in its bid to reducethe deficit in the euro zone, he said this involvedcutting household debt as well as “unwinding”what took place in commercial real estate.

However, he claimed that Ireland now hadsome “credibility” because of what had beendone to address the budget deficit and wanted itto push for greater financial regulation in theeuro zone.

He told the audience: “We need a EuropeanMonetary Fund, we need early resolution meas-ures to prevent banks from over-lending ontheir balance sheets too quickly, and to windthem back without their collapse.

“We need pan-European financial regulation.Don’t buy the line from London that hedgefunds have no place in this or private equity. Pri-vate equity has borrowed worldwide $1.7 tril-lion and it has to repay that before 2016.”

Mr Hutton claimed this massive sum couldnot be repaid within that time-frame.

“They’re going to write those loans off andwho’s going to pick up the bill? Western taxpay-ers. This notion that private equity hedge fundsare not part of the crisis – they are an ongoingpart of the crisis.”

A LEADING economic analyst has called for thesetting up of “an innovation ecosystem” to helpdrag Ireland out of the economic crisis.

Will Hutton, executive vice chair of UK think-tank The Work Foundation, made the commentsduring a Congress-organised lecture and debateat Liberty Hall, Dublin, on May 12.

He pointed out that running “like a goldenthread” through such an approach was the viewthat fairness was “paradoxically the indispensiblevalue that makes capitalism function”.

Mr Hutton said: “Capitalists don’t think thatfairness – as I define it – counts. They define fair-ness as essentially ‘I eat what I kill’.

But he added: “Capitalists don’t think that fair-ness – as I define it – counts. They define fairnessas essentially ‘I eat what I kill’.

“I did the deal. I made the money. Here is thebleeding carcass. I killed the beast. I have the rightto eat it. And when I’ve gorged myself, theremight be a bit left for you but I did the killing, Ikill what I eat – and that’s only fair.”

Mr Hutton pointed out there was anotherconception of fairness which involved “propor-tionality” and getting “due deserts” for your ef-forts and claimed that studies of hunter-gatherersocieties had show that “in order to survive, youhave to share”.

Mr Hutton said: “Sharing reciprocity and duedesert for discretionary effort are embedded inthe human condition. What happened in the last20 years is that we allowed our capitalism inBritain and Ireland to forget that fundamentalprinciple.”

Describing the behaviour of some banks as“unbelievable”, he outlined how banking assetshad risen inexorably since deregulation in the1980s to become four and five times GDP in thecase of Ireland and the UK.

He claimed this growth in Ireland, which wasless diversified and more focused on commercialreal estate, property lending and construction,“came close to bankrupting the state”.

Mr Hutton warned that despite bailing out thebanks, the basic business model remained essen-tially the same.

He told the audience: “They’re back to theirbad old ways because they know no other. That’sthe way they make money. They’re growing theirbalance sheets again.”

Mr Hutton predicted the British state could beoverwhelmed if there was another banking crisis

The banks are back to their bad old ways because they know no other. That’s how theymake money... Capitalists don’t think that fair-ness – as I define it – counts. They define fair-ness as essentially ‘I eat what I kill’...

Last month, Congress invited WILL HUTTON to speak on building aneconomic alternative vision for Ireland. This is what he had to say...

RESHAPINGTHE FUTURE


Mr Hutton underlined the crucial importanceof the knowledge economy in leading bothBritain and Ireland out of the recession.

He said Ireland had to find a way of exploitingnew opportunities through emerging new tech-nologies – such as manuservices, developmentsin low carbon energy, tidal and wave science –that were likely to have a “transformative” im-pact on society.

Mr Hutton claimed in future a better-educatedpublic would also be making greater demands onboth the public and private sectors.

“You want a great experience with what youconsume and it’s the inter-relationship betweentechnologies and demand.

“You want smarter things from your iPhone,smarter apps. You want a pill that sorts you out ifyou’ve got muscle pain. That’s what’s driving theknowledge economy.

“It’s like the tide – it’s coming in. You as con-sumers – and as workers – are going to makemore and more demands in your workplace.

“How you’re led, managed, organised in unionsis going to be very, very different in future.”

According to The Observer columnist, despitethe importance of the knowledge economy,British and Irish investment was “pathetic” andinsisted “the taps” had to be turned on to fundthe sector.

In comparison with the rest of the world, both

countries were currently “not at the races”.

He added: “If we’re going to capitalise on allthis opportunity in the future, we’ve got to havethe kinds of ways of irrigating our productive en-trepreneurs – who grow the economic power –not our unproductive entrepreneurs in bankingwho actually tax us and shrink our economicpie.”

Mr Hutton suggested Ireland needed to focuson constructing an innovation ecosystem builtaround universities as “real poles” to generatewealth.

He described this approach as a “part centreleft, part centre right”, using taxation to fund re-search while allowing entrepreneurs to pocketreturns “for their discretionary effort”.

Mr Hutton warned the trade union movementhad to grasp that “things have got to change”.

The emergent new technologies would lead to“a dynamic private sector” that was going topush for “more and more contractual flexibility”.

He claimed that employers were not going tohire if they were going to be “saddled with hugecosts for ever and ever”.

In the light of this reality, there needed to be a“new bargain” in the 21st century workplacewith a move from “unemployment insurance” to“employment insurance”.

This would involve employees paying a five percent premium so that if their companies got into

trouble, they would be able to get 90 per cent oftheir salaries for the first year while they re-trained “or found something else”.

“You can be the author of your own life. It’s agrown-up thing to do. Take your own risks – butyou can’t do it by yourself. You’ve got to do itnested in a network of institutions that help youmitigate the risk. I regard that as a social demo-cratic task in the 21st century.”

Trade unions had to become “a midwife to anew deal at work” and think of themselves “lessas the shock troops in the socialisation of capi-tal” and more as “an enlightenment institution”to act as one of the checks and balances – suchas a free press or the rule of law – “that keepscapitalism honest and permit workers to have avoice they wouldn’t otherwise have”.

Mr Hutton said Ireland “should not waste thecrisis” but use it as a means of pushing innova-tion and investment in the years ahead.

He outlined a vision of a “fantastic network ofproductive entrepreneurship” that “regrows theIrish economic pie”.

Mr Hutton insisted there had to be a skillsrevolution “synthesising disciplined, creative, re-spectful and ethical minds” with a move towardsflexisecurity and life long learning.

Added to this should be a building up of “inter-mediate institutions” to populate the ecosystemand “drive wealth generation”.

Cautioning that though the retirement age was“certain” to rise, there would also be a growingrecognition of the importance of fairness in paydetermination, negotiation of changing job roles,performance pay, bonuses and in dispute resolu-tion.

He said: “Fairness not just process, but ensur-ing that effort is proportionally rewarded.

“The reason we must have fair remunerationfor company directors as well as workers is be-cause of the elemental need to have fairnessrunning as a golden thread throughout our capi-talism.

“Traditional trade union concerns on pay, dis-parities on bonuses, dispute resolution, theprocesses about how you sort out the work-place have to be fair as much as the outcomes,

“A lot of people on the left think, ‘From eachaccording to his ability, to each according to hisneed’, but I don’t think that idea of fairnessworks any more than ‘I eat what I kill’. You havework hard to think hard about fairness means.”

...We need pan-European financial regulation. Don’tbuy the line that hedge funds have no place in this or private equity... You want smarter apps for youriPhone, you want a pill that sorts out muscle pain.That’s what’s driving the knowledge economy...

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Pat Kingscrowned!PATRICIA King has been appointedSIPTU vice president.

The May 27 announcement means thatMs King, who has been Congress vicepresident for the past three years, willbecome the first woman to serve as anational officer of the union.

SIPTU has three national officers –each of whom shares equal authority.

Ms King, who lives in Co Wicklow andis married with two children, has been afull-time organiser for SIPTU for 25 yearsand has represented members in bothpublic and private sectors.

Meanwhile, ASTI has appointed a newgeneral secretary designate, also withthe surname King.

Dubliner Pat, who is currently the as-sistant general secretary, takes up hisnew role this month.

His appointment was approved at ameeting of ASTIʼs 180-member CentralExecutive Council on May 8.

Mr King, who worked as a secondarylevel teacher at Presentation School,Terenure, will succeed current generalsecretary John White in September.

TEACHERS in Northern Ireland have called forgovernment funds to be used to raise aware-ness of violence directed against public sectorworkers.

Pointing to the growing number of incidents,Ulster Teachers Union general secretary AvrilHall-Callaghan said: “Violence must never beseen as acceptable and when incidents arise –whether in the classroom because of abusivepupils or outside because of parents – it is im-perative teachers have the assurance of back-up and support.

“Teachers already have the powers theyneed to manage bad behaviour but many fearretribution if they were to forcibly remove anunruly pupil, for instance.

“Teachers must feel safe to act when pupilsare, for example, fighting and could hurt eachother.”

Ms Hall Callaghan also flagged up “endemicviolence” in the special care sector.

A new survey has revealed three-quarters ofspecial school teachers struggle to cope with

disruption on a daily basis. A further two-fifthsreported being verbally abused every day withone in five facing intimidation and one in 10 ac-tually reporting being attacked.

She added: “Teachers in special schoolsshould not be expected to tolerate abuse inthe classroom as part of their job.

“The survey was carried out among col-leagues in England but, sadly, it reflects the ex-periences of our members here in NorthernIreland too with valuable teaching hours beinglost every week as teachers spend time dealingwith disruptive pupils.

“Being abused or assaulted should never betolerated in any workplace, yet it appears thatthere is a certain endemic level of abuse beingdirected at teachers working in specialist set-tings as well as an unspoken understandingthat such behaviours are to be expected aspart of the job.

“There must be no expectation that teach-ers should have to tolerate assaults or abuseat work by virtue of the pupils they teach.”

Picture: Kevin Cooper Photoline

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Getting to grips withclassroom violence

Pictures: ASTI/SIPTU

General secretary Avril Hall-Callaghan gets to grips with personal safety trainer JimMcAusland, of Defence Sense UK, at a recent self-defence workshop in Belfast

Pat King, ASTI, and SIPTU’s Patricia King

SIPTU has called on the Irish Govern-ment to employ redundant apprenticesto help develop new visitor and touristattractions.

It follows a recent €3.8 million FAS ini-tiative that will allow 750 redundant ap-prentices to complete theirapprenticeships with private employers.

The union has proposed that a similaramount be given to State bodies to em-ploy a further 400 apprentices.

SIPTU organiser Brendan OʼBrien said:“There are currently 7,000 redundant ap-prentices. The vast majority of them areyoung people aged 18 to 25.

“Weʼre proposing that around 400 ap-prenticeship places be allocated immedi-ately throughout various public sectorbodies to work on tourism-related proj-ects to help with the recovery of localeconomies.”

He added: “A lot more needs to bedone urgently for the thousands of ap-prentices who are facing into long termunemployment.”

Apprentices call


The attack on public sector workers’ pay, pensions and the very principle of public service in ON.

This agenda from the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition parties, cloaked in the language of making society“business friendly”, is a green light to profiteers to feed off

a diminished public service.

Central Government and the devolved proxies are determinedto take advantage of the chaos created by the financial andeconomic collapse to force through their pre-existing policies

of cutting the people’s services.

Only organised labour can resist this!

NORTHERN IRELAND PUBLIC SERVICE ALLIANCE

The union for public sectorworkers in Northern Ireland

Support Public Services Defend Workers’ RightsJoin NIPSA and Fight Back

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www.nipsa.org.uk


NIC-ICTUCONFERENCE2010

OPENING the conference on behalf of Derry Trades Council, Ea-monn McCann admitted that these were “trying times for tradeunionists” and predicted that what lay ahead in terms of an assaulton jobs, working conditions and services would “test our resolveto the limit”.

Giving a number of examples of how cuts had already impactedon service provision in Derry, he said: “These are front line serv-ices by any definition of the term and gives the lie to the notionthat public sector spending reductions that the Government andExecutive are demanding and identified as so-called waste are notinefficiencies but cuts.”

But Mr McCann warned worse was to come.He said: “£113m cut from health, regional development cut by

£80.5m, education by £73.7m, employment and learning by £27.8,culture by £25.5m and so on…

“Everywhere there is a simple question that needs to be asked –why should working people have their jobs destroyed and theirservices wrecked to pay the bills for the capitalist crisis and thebankers’ bail-out?”

He pointed out that tax avoidance, tax evasion and uncollectedtaxes amounted to £123bn per year and that returning the taxrate to 60% would recoup £19bn – “after all, that is what the ratewas under Margaret Thatcher”.

“It’s just not true that the money isn’t there. It is just in thewrong hands and being used for the wrong purposes.

“These are simple arguments that will be all the more persua-sive if voiced in clear and consistent terms by our movement andexpressed in action as well as in words.”

He added: “We can win the argument against neoliberalism iffirst we make the argument and then put it into practice.”

The money’s there... it’sjust in the wrong hands

Bill Lynn, NIPSA, calling for remissionon Motion 2: “The elephant in the roomis not the public sector, the elephant inthe room are the greedy bankers, thegreedy capitalists who have got us intothis position today. We have to defendall public services, whether itʼs inhousing, health or education.”

IN introducing the debate on the economy, Con-gress assistant general secretary Peter Buntingnoted how cutting Corporation Tax was high onthe agenda of all political parties in Northern Ire-land.

He told delegates: “What is being mooted inNorthern Ireland is a transference of money outof the pockets of workers and working families tothe rich in terms of giving grant aid to corpora-tions under the guise of reducing their tax pay-ment bill.”

Mr Bunting pointed out that only four per centof firms in Northern Ireland actually paid Corpo-ration Tax at the full rate of 28%, whereas mostcompanies paid tax at 19%.

But now Northern Ireland’s political partieswere suggesting this rate should be reduced to4.5%.

He told delegates: “I don’t mind public incomegoing to creating jobs, for companies who de-velop new products, for companies who boostexports, for companies who invest in researchand development – areas which can create asound basis for an economy.

“But where you blindly give people publicmoney under the premise that they will create

nothing, then it a licence for the rich to put thedifference of the 19% in their back pocket andline their bank balances.”

Mr Bunting also took aim at those who wouldtrade off Northern Ireland’s block grant for re-duction in Corporation Tax.

He warned: “Reducing the block grant meansthat we will reduce frontline services to thosewho are the most needy, and who are – in gen-eral terms – the people we represent.

“The rich don’t need public education, the richdon’t need public health – they can buy it.

“So why transfer money from our pockets fromthe most deprived and marginalised in our societyand give it to the rich?”

He described as “annoying” and “repugnant”the fact that every political party in Northern Ire-land agrees with the cut.

Mr Bunting added: “We are approaching a stagewhen you listen to all the political parties wherethey are all advocating the fact that the old way ofdealing with the economic crisis is to reducespending.

“I have a difficulty with that – because our sup-port is becoming very close to becoming condi-tional.

“It’s time that we must have a debate in future– somewhere along this road that how do we re-dress the situation in Northern Ireland where thepoor and the marginalised have never benefittedfrom the Good Friday Agreement.

“If you go the Mount Vernons, the Turf Lodges,the Ballybeans and you look around you and saywhere is the peace dividend?

“Where has it been manifested in the publicsector? We are constantly fighting a rearguard ac-tion in relation to the retention of jobs and publicsector services.

“It seems to me that at some stage we need tohave a conversation within this movement – dowe continually support political parties in North-ern Ireland and it may well be time in the near fu-ture to think of some other political movementto represent working class people and as an alter-native to the stagnation and the failed policies.”

Concluding, he told delegates: “There is a bet-ter, fairer way – it’s articulated in the Congressdocument Campaigning for Jobs and Services.

“It is rooted in non-sectarian politics, workingclass politics and perhaps it’s time, comrades, thatwe got back to building a working class politicalmovement.”

Corpo Tax agenda blastedSetting agenda: Eamonn McCann kicked off proceedings with a stirring speech

SPECIAL REPORT


PICTURES: KEVIN COOPER PHOTOLINE

IN his address, NIC-ICTU chairperson JohnCorey called on governments to hold those re-sponsible for the recession to account, instead ofsuccumbing to the current propaganda effort toshift the blame on to public services and publicservants.

He told delegates: “Those responsible must notbe allowed to sweep their criminal actions underthe carpet.

“In my view this should be one of the definingissues in the UK General Election – which partyis really going to ensure that banks and financialinstitutions are fully accountable to the state andthe people.”

Referring to David Cameron’s comments aboutthe public sector in Northern Ireland being big-ger than that of the old communist states ofEastern Europe, he said he at first thought it was“some kind of joke”.

But then he thought to himself that this was aview shared by almost every political party in

Northern Ireland – that the size of the state “wastoo big” – and warned: “One way or other nearlyall have all the public services and public servantsare lined up for attack.”

Attacking the various slanders against publicsector employees, Mr Corey said: “If any politicalparty is really serious about getting NorthernIreland out of recession top of the list in theirmanifestos should be more investment in ourpublic services – not less.

“All working people would benefit from moreand better public services.”

The former NIPSA general secretary under-lined that the trade union movement stood forall workers – whether in the public or privatesector – and singled out the “resolute stand” ofVisteon workers and their trade union UNITE.

He added: “When the trade union movementfights for our public services, it is not doing soonly in the interests of public servants.

“It is to protect those public services for all

workers and their families – all are users of pub-lic services.” Attacking the “despicable” murderscarried out by dissident republicans over the pastyear, Mr Corey reiterated the trade union move-ment’s “absolute condemnation” of their actions,adding: “We are in the business of going forwardnot backwards”.

On personal note, the outgoing Chairpersonthanked members of the Northern Ireland Com-mittee for their support and also put on recordhis thanks to officials and staff at Carlin House.

In concluding, Mr Corey emphasised the vitalimportance of remaining united and working to-gether as trade unions.

He told delegates: “United we stand, dividedwe fall is not just for workers in each workplaceor just for members inside their own trade union– it applies equally across all trade unions.

“I have always believed the trade unions arethe greatest movement in the world. The morewe can work together the stronger we will be.”

Together we are stronger

Gareth Smyth, UNITE, supporting Mo-tion 4: “Iʼm from Sion Mills, a villagethat was built around a linen mill.

“My grandparents worked in thatlinen mill, my mother and father workedin that linen mill and my brother and Iworked in that linen mill – but no onewill work in that linen mill again.

“That is because like so many facto-ries and manufacturing industries, it isnow closed and crumbling into itsfoundations.

“Manufacturing was not decimatedby this recession, it was decimated anddestroyed by the betrayal of variousgovernments over the last threedecades.

“From the 80s on they decided tocower before big business who wantedto impose globalisation and free mar-kets.

“The only thing thatʼs free about freemarkets is that itʼs free for multination-als to go out and exploit workersthroughout the world.”

Personal impactof globalisation

Means of robbing the poor: Peter Bunting hit out at those calling for a cut in Corporation Tax

Top table discussions: David Begg, Peter Bunting, John Corey, Avril Hall-Callaghan and Eamonn McCann during conference at City Hotel in Derry



“WE are in deep, deep trouble if the Tories getelected”, Congress general secretary David Beggconfided to delegates.

Describing the phrase One Nation Tory as the“original oxymoron”, he claimed the Conserva-tives election slogan “We’re all in this together”did not stack up “in terms of what they want todo”.

He pointed out that the 1,000 richest people inthe UK had increased their wealth by almost athird last year “while the rest of the country wasgoing through the most horrid time”.

Mr Begg told conference that the “same defla-tionary mindset” demonstrated by DavidCameron existed “on both parts of this island”.

He said Congress had been petitioning the Re-public’s government to deal with fiscal retrench-ment over a longer period – up to 2017 – butthat they had insisted “it had to be done by2014”.

JAPANESE-STYLE SLUMPMr Begg predicted that such policies would

propel both parts of the island into “a very longslump”, possibly a Japanese-style recession lasting10 years.

Blasting talk about “green shoots of recovery”,he insisted that recovery was not around the cor-ner but that both North and South were in for“dire, dire times ahead”.

Mr Begg told delegates that recent researchhad shown that half a million public sector jobscould go across the UK if £163bn was taken outof the economy.

He explained: “The Tories do not see fiscal re-trenchment as an evil that is forced upon them.

“They actually believe in it as a matter of intel-lectual persuasion. They are adherents to publicchoice theory – that is the application of neolib-eral theory to public services.”

Insisting that the collapse in the economy was

not a public sector crisis but rather a private sec-tor crisis, he name-checked the Prime Minister ofIceland, who, he said, had accurately summed uphow the crisis happened.

He told delegates: “She said, ‘Mistakes werecertainly made – the private banks failed, supervi-sory systems failed, the politics failed, the adminis-tration failed, the media failed. And the ideologyof an unregulated free market utterly failed’.”

Mr Begg pinpointed the period between Sep-tember 15, 2008, when Lehman Brothers col-lapsed, and October 22, 2008, when AlanGreenspan admitted there was “a flaw in the sys-tem” to a US Congress select committee, as theend of the 30-year “liberal era of capitalism”.

He said that we were moving towards a differ-ent world but warned that “what kind of eco-nomic order will emerge we can’t be sure of”.

Mr Begg noted that there had been general dis-appointment on the left that more radical changehadn’t come about as a result of the crisis, but re-minded delegates that it took five years after the

Wall Street Crash for Roosevelt’s New Deal toemerge.

He added: “These things take a little bit of timeto emerge but change, once it starts, is inexorablein its development.”

Mr Begg claimed there was no shortage ofideas about how to respond to the crisis anddrew attention to a new NIC-ICTU document onthe economy.

He also spoke about a recent study by the IrishAcademy of Engineering and Intertrade Irelandthat had pointed to “enormous economies ofscale” that could be made “if organised properly”over the next two decades.

DECENT PLACE TO WORKThis would mean developing an efficient and in-

tegrated transport system, high-quality connectiv-ity as well as cost effective energy supplies with afocus on eight cities across Ireland North andSouth.

Mr Begg also noted that having an attractivequality of life was vital as “you won’t get invest-ment if it’s not a decent place to come andwork”.

He told delegates that people don’t spendmoney in a recession, which Keynes dubbed “theparadox of credit”, and suggested an all-IrelandNational Recovery Bond as a “patriotic” means offunding growth.

Mr Begg said: “If people were given a reason toinvest money in something like this, I’m quite surethey would do it.

“If only we had the right political leadership tosay an alternative is possible, it doesn’t have to bea 10-year slump.

“It is possible to take this opportunity to makethe whole island of Ireland a decent place, whichcan give a good quality employment with goodquality services for its population. It is not rocketscience.”

Congress chief warns of‘dire, dire times ahead’

CONGRESS vice president EugeneMcGlone has called for a “root andbranch” appraisal of trade unionstructures across Ireland north andsouth.

Mr McGlone, who is also UNITE’sIrish deputy regional secretary, tolddelegates that unions faced a seriesof tough questions in “determiningthe direction of our class in the age-old struggle against capital”.

He said: “What have we donewith the legacy handed down to us?

“Have we examined it to ensurethat it is fit for purpose and takenthe appropriate actions to keep ithealthy for the next generation?”

Referring to setting up of a spe-cial commission to look into theissue, Mr McGlone said the last timeunions “did more than tinker” withstructures was when ICTU was setup nearly half a century ago, butpointed out he was “certain” it wasnot now functioning as well as it

could be. Admitting that the tradeunion movement had not alwaysbeen “a happy homogenous organi-sation”, he claimed what wasneeded was “a dollop of honesty” inreappraising “our effectiveness andusefulness”.

He said: “That does not merelymean the functions of the ICTU butit includes it.

“It means critically examininghow we do our business in our ownunions. How we interact with eachother.

“Can we still afford as independ-ent unions to hide behind the fig-leaf of our individual sovereignty tothe detriment of our colleagues inother unions?”

Mr McGlone, who was movingMotion 42 on behalf of the North-ern Ireland Committee of ICTU,added: “Competitive trade union-ism has done more damage to ourclass than can be assessed. ‘Better

than you’ trade unionism is acurse.”

He insisted the “wasteful andpointless” competition among affili-ates had to stop.

“We all know that we must stoppretending we don’t do it, becausewe all do it.

“Let’s be honest, let’s admit ourfaults and at least let’s resolve to

stop lying to ourselves, lying to each

other and lying to our member-

ships.”

Mr McGlone flagged up SIPTU’s

Rest Assured campaign as a shining

example of the way forward for

unions.

He told delegates: “It is a para-

digm of how we should behave. It is

about interdependence for the

greater good, ultimately the greater

benefit of our members.

“It represents as close as we can

currently get to a ‘union made

badge’. It’s an example of how by

spending our resources in a smarter

way we can help one another.”

Paraphrasing Dante, Mr McGlone

also urged delegates not to be

afraid of change and to “follow our

path and let people talk” in engaging

with the Commission and “opening

up the possibility of how we do

things for our members”.

We need ‘dollop of honesty’

Grim warning: Congress chief David Begg

Way forward: Eugene McGlone

SPECIAL REPORT



And he also had a warning to those north ofthe border who wanted to see a similar reduc-tion in Corporation Tax.

“I’ll tell what happens when you let compa-nies come into an economy and they’re only in-terested in not paying tax. They’re notinterested in paying decent wages either. They’renot interested in complying with regulations orin environmental laws. They’re not interested insupporting communities.

“They are there because they are fly-by-nights. They are there because they want tofleece you.

“If you want a 12.5pc tax rate in NorthernIreland, my suggestion is think very hard beforeyou pursue that one. It would be a disaster foryou and for every other person in the UK.”

Mr Murphy also called for a massive shake-upin the UK’s tax relief system.

He outlined how of £39bn given in tax reliefeach year, most went to those earning morethan £100,000.

“The person who has income of a millionpounds per year gets tax relief worth £85,000in cash – that’s four times average UK earnings– and they get it in tax revenue. That’s ludi-crous.”

Mr Murphy claimed it would be a simple mat-ter – “one line of legislation” – to pass an anti-avoidance law and, in so doing, close off anotherloophole.

He added: “We got to do it. We’ve got tomake companies pay their obligations. We canprove that we can raise over £40bn a year andstill give extra tax reliefs to those that need it –those earning the least in our society who atpresent pay a higher tax rate overall than thewealthier in our society.”

PUBLIC sector cuts are completely avoidable, atop tax expert insisted at conference.

In a wide-ranging speech, Richard Murphy –who described himself as both a practising char-tered accountant and a socialist – told delegatesthat a total of £123bn was lost to the UK Ex-chequer each year through a combination of taxevasion, tax avoidance and non-payment oftaxes.

Mr Murphy, author of The Missing Billions,pointed out that £28bn was known to be owedbut hadn’t yet been collected, because notenough staff were employed in Revenue officesto process the amount.

He claimed this was because the Governmenthad slimmed down the service and got rid of25,000 public servants.

“What on earth is the logic of sacking 25,000public servants to leave £28bn unpaid whenwe’re told that £40bn will plug the gap in ourfiscal crisis? That is insanity.”

Added to the sum known to be owed is£70bn in tax evasion and £25bn in tax avoid-ance.

Mr Murphy said: “When you actually correctlyinterpret the stats in the public domain and addthese three numbers together, it amounts to£123bn of tax lost per year.

“The Financial Times recently reported withglee that £40bn has to be found from cuts.£40bn would mean sacking half of all teachingassistants in the whole of the UK, cutting publicsector pay by 5.5%, removing vast numbers ofprivileges for pensioners, removing the benefitsto many children in nurseries and on and on andon…

“Every single step will be regressive because ithits the poorest in the community hardest andleaves the rich completely untouched. And yetout there is £123bn to be had.”

Pointing out that tax “underpins our demo-cratic society and a decent way to live”, he saidthe solution to the budget deficit was simple –“collect all the tax that’s owed and tackle taxavoidance and tax evasion”.

Tax havens were “extremely harmful” because“they go out of their way to create laws that un-dermine the democratic voice of governmentsin places like the UK”.

Mr Murphy also claimed the Irish Republichad “gone out of its way” – through its 12.5%Corporation Tax rate – to undermine the taxrevenue of every other country in Europe.

TAX BOMBSHELLFinance expert explodes myth public sector cuts necessary

Patricia McKeown, UNISON, welcomingthe report on equality: “There is oneother cause for celebration. Itʼs official.Since the Executive Council met lastWednesday, for the first time in our his-tory the general composition of the Irishtrade union movement has gone 51 percent female.”

Kerry Christie, IBOA, speaking on Motion13: “The crisis was caused by a combina-tion of reckless mismanagement by sen-ior banking executives and overbearingconceit on the part of property specula-tors and a lack of effective supervision bythe regulatory authorities and their politi-cal masters. Many of these senior execu-

tives are still at the helm of our industry,with egos still inflated and demandingsalaries and perks to prove it. They arethe fattest of fat cats, licking the creamwhile ordinary working people who had norole in creating this crisis are facing thedole or cuts in their terms and conditionsof employment.

Antoinette McMillan, NIPSA, giving quali-fied support for Motion 12: “The RPA inlocal government to date is as big a disas-ter as it has been in health and in educa-tion… Letʼs not kid ourselves, if front lineservices are hit by cutbacks, the politi-cians will act like Pontius Pilate and placethe blame on staff.”

Jim King, GMB, seconding Motion12: “We need to explode the myththat local government workers arewell paid and are somehow treatedbetter than our colleagues in the pri-vate sector. It is a known fact thatone in four low paid jobs is in thepublic sector.”

The bottom line: Richard Murphy insisted companies must meet their tax obligations



CONGRESS president Jack O’Connor delivered ablistering attack on the speculators and the profi-teers who believed there could be a return to“business as usual” despite the near collapse ofthe world economy.

Noting that these were same attitudes thatprevailed before the fall of Lehman Brothers inSeptember 2008, he told delegates that socialistshad a far better grasp of what went wrong.

He said: “One of the great ironies is that thehistory that has unfolded since the fall ofLehmans has revealed a very fundamental thing –that the socialists understand capitalism betterthan the capitalists.

“The capitalists just believe in it, the socialistsunderstand it.

“It is the people on the left – the broadest left– across the world who are pursuing policies thatare directed towards a longer-term vision thansimply getting back to business as usual.”

Mr O’Connor, who is also SIPTU general presi-dent, warned delegates that any relief – “such asit was” – enjoyed north of the border was certainto come to an end.

SLASH AND BURNHe said: “The consequences of those policies

are threatening you in this economy now in a waythat you have ample evidence of in what has un-folded in the South.

“We in the Republic have a degree of experi-ence of the consequences of the quick approachand the slash and burn approach.

“Look what has happened with those policiesbeloved by the right – the policies of the Leni-hans, the Camerons, the Osbornes – when theywere applied experimentally in the south over thelast 12 to 15 months.

“We have gone from an unemployment rate of4.3pc to now approaching 13.5pc.

“You don’t do that without trying – that re-quires work, and it requires the application of ab-stract orthodox principles that are aboutensuring it is ordinary people – the ordinary citi-zens the working people and the people who de-pend on public services most that bear the entireburden of a crisis created by others.”

Mr O’Connor pointed out that these policieswere designed to reassure global financial mar-kets “that we are available for exploitation” aswell as to reassure the wealthy at home that“whatever trauma is inflicted” on economy andsociety, “they won’t be required to contribute ona significant scale”.

He underlined how the rise in unemploymentwas being used to drive down wages across theeconomy and to encourage people that they haveno alternative but “to surrender their rights wonover many years of trade union work”.

Mr O’Connor characterised as “an absolute

crime” the running down of the manufacturingsector in Northern Ireland that once enjoyedsuch a glowing global reputation.

He said: “It is a tragedy that we have allowed in-dustries like Visteon, like Bombardier, like Nortel,to disappear to low-cost countries, thus under-mining the potential to rebuild a new economyhere.”

Referring to proposals for a bill of rights forNorthern Ireland, he described as critical theneed for any legislation to recognise as funda-mental “the right to work, the right to a decentjob, the right to be treated fairly in that job, andthe right to a decent standard of welfare provi-sion as well as access to training”.

He added: “You cannot develop a decent civilsociety without recognising the rights, the inter-ests and the voice of organised workers in anysociety.

“This is not just about recognising them asworker but recognising as citizens. There are noorganisations in civil society who have the tradi-tion and who are – despite our deficiencies – sowell equipped to articulate the interests and thevoice of working people.

“If you try to build a civil society that ignoresthat voice you are building on hollow ground andyou are building something that has no prospectof enduring.”

Mr O’Connor cautioned against those who be-lieved that “all the problems with capitalism hadbeen ironed out” and that the economic collapse

“was simply a bump in the road”.He said: “The fact of the matter is that the de-

veloped world is now so indebted that its capac-ity to endure another bump is very much inquestion.

“As one who has spent his whole life lookingforward to the collapse in capitalism, I never en-visaged being standing under it when it fell – andit not a nice place to be.”

Mr O’Connor called on delegates to recognisethe scale of the challenge that lay ahead and theresponsibilities that that placed on them.

He said: “We have a responsibility to interprethistory, we have a responsibility to recognise theconsequences of the shift in the balance of powerfrom working people to faceless shareholders inthe globalised economy.

“And we have to join with others in globalunions across the world who are developingtechniques designed to substitute the loss of theirleverage [reflected] in the decline of industrialpower.

“Industrial muscle, industrial organisation andcollective bargaining will still remain central toour plan to exercise leverage in society andworkplace on behalf of working people.”

Noting that the last few decades had seen ageneral move to the right across society, he said itwas up to unions to shift that balance back – andwith that, a responsibility to face up to organisa-tional deficiencies within the trade union move-ment.

GRASP THE OPPORTUNITYHe added: “That is why I urge you all to partici-

pate fully in the Commission on trade union or-ganisation.”

Calling on delegates to “grasp the opportunity”presented by the Commission, he said that unionshad to “apply the lessons of reality”.

He added: “We are not adequately resourcedto contest the ideological space, resourced interms of expert economic advice, not adequatelyresourced to compete within the informationspace where people derive their thinking andtheir outcome.

“We’re not adequately resourced to addressthe challenge of influencing the political agenda inall parties.

“If we decide to take on that challenge, I believewe must – it does entail making decisions, chal-lenging shibboleths and stepping out of our com-fort zone in a very, very dramatic way.

“If we choose not to do that – if we choose toslumber on then the reality is that we will bereneging on the legacy that the courageous menand women, who suffered and starved and somewho died, so that working people have a say inthe architecture of the future.”

Unions must have a say in architecture of future

Pamela Dooley, UNISON, on Motion 8 onpublic services: “It is ironic that NorthernIreland was systematically criticised for adecade because of the size of our publicsector, yet when recession hit the publicsector opponents breathed a sigh of reliefbecause they now see it as a buffer shield-ing them from the worst effects of the eco-nomic downturn.

“The enemy is doing a very good job ofdiscrediting public servants and the serv-

ices they provide. Hysteria is whipped up inthe press with stories of high-ranking civilservants with superb terms and conditionsof employment and protections that the ma-jority of workers can only imagine.

“That hysteria creates a climate that en-ables the politicians to cut the heart out ofthe health service, close hospitals andschools and abandon public housing proj-ects. It is short-term and it is a disaster forthe economies North and South.”

Understanding capitalism: Jack O’Connor

SPECIAL REPORT



Recession hastaken heavy toll

NIPSA general secretary Brian Campfield at-tacked what he described as “the free rein”given in the media to finance sector “ex-perts” who were now “leading the charge inthe campaign for the culling of public serv-ices, jobs, pay and pensions”.

Making the comments while moving Mo-tion 7, he claimed these same “self-interestgroups” were now calling for public spendingto be diverted to the private sector.

He highlighted in particular proposals thatNorthern Ireland surrenders part of its blockgrant in return for a reduced rate of Corpo-ration Tax.

“So public services should get the chop toallow the so-called entrepreneurs in our so-ciety to get on with the business of creatingprivate sector wealth and jobs – somethingthey have been singularly unsuccessful atachieving over the last number of decadesdespite the large public subvention.

“But we know also that the concentrationof policy has not been to concentrate on ourlocally home-grown entrepreneurs but onthe attraction of Foreign Direct Investment.Will they ever learn?”

He reminded delegates that the experienceof FDI so far has seen the running down ofcommercial operations and the transfer ofjobs to lower wage economies in the devel-oping world “after benefiting from years ofpublic support”.

Mr Campfield underlined how virtuallyevery political party in Northern Irelandwould sign up to a pay freeze on public sec-tor pay “if they could get away with it”.

He said: “We are witnessing an ideologi-cally-driven media focused assault from theinheritors of the neoliberal mantle and weneed to be able to respond.

“As a trade union movement we must bein a position to combat these attacks. Unfor-tunately the enemies of the public sectorseem to be getting a free run without muchchallenge.”

He insisted trade unions needed to putpoliticians and political parties “on the spot”,adding: “We must make it as difficult as possi-ble for them to implement cuts.”

It was necessary to bring the arguments tolocal communities and “build the broadestpossible movement against the cuts”.

“Of course local communities themselveswill inevitably be struggling to defend theirservices but we need to consider how wework together and build a real alliance whichwill be effective in combating the attacks onpublic services: an alliance which the politicalparties here will not be able to ignore.”

He added: “If we truly desire a fairer andmore equal society then we need to startwith defending public services.”

DEPUTY First Minister Martin McGuinnessopened his address by congratulating Congresspresident Jack O’Connor on his speech andpointing out that there was not “a blade of grassbetween what he said and what I believe”.

He reminded delegates that political stabilitywas the “bedrock” upon which “a better futurefor all our people” must be built.

“The arrangements outlined in the HillsboroughAgreement have put in place a template that willsee us make further progress.

“And it is our intention to create that momen-tum and in doing so guarantee a society wherediscord and division are replaced by unity of pur-pose to build a better, more equal and just futurefor all of our people and for generations tocome.”

Mr McGuinness insisted that building an econ-omy “in a socially responsible manner” was at theheart of “a vision for the future”.

Acknowledging that finding a way out of theeconomic crisis was “painfully slow and fragile”, heclaimed growing the economy was the Executive’s“top priority”.

The Deputy First Minister outlined the keythemes involved in doing this – tackling energyand fuel poverty, dealing with debt, support forthe housing market and construction, support forhousehold budgets as well as “mitigating thethreat” of unemployment and helping business.

He pointed to the £25m spent on fuel credit,the freeze on domestic rates, extending the freebus scheme for pensioners and doing away with“double taxation” on water as examples of ac-tions that had already been taken.

WORKING TOGETHERMr McGuinness also underlined the importance

of politicians and trade unions working together“to improve the lives of our people”.

He spoke of his preference for a Bill of Rightsthat is “both comprehensive and inclusive”.

“The Bill of Rights will require a buy-in fromeveryone and I’m confident that such a bill will se-cure a just and lasting peace based on equality,mutual respect and protection for all.”

On dispute resolution, Mr McGuinness praiseda new DEL initiative, which included a pilot em-ployment relations programme jointly developedwith NIPSA and the LRA.

He also pointed to the repeal of statutorygrievance procedures – which he said had provento be “overly complex” – and flagged up alterna-tive dispute resolution options, including an ex-panded LRA arbitration scheme andimprovements to the Tribunal system.

Mr McGuinness added: “The aim is to resolvemore disputes earlier while fully recognising thatsome cases will require a full legal hearing. Theseare designed to expand the range of options –not to restrict them.”

Turning to job creation in the manufacturingsector, he claimed that despite an overall decline,that there was growth in some industries, such asnon-metallic minerals, fabricated metal products,office machinery and equipment and furniture,which “are areas we think we need to build on”.

Admitting that the recession had taken “a heavytoll”, the Deputy First Minister insisted that man-ufacturing would remain “at the forefront of pol-icy making”.

He also called for “a joined-up approach” onthe Green New Deal.

“By investing in an ambitious programme to cut

consumption of fossil fuels we can create jobs,help secure our energy supply and build a com-petitive, low carbon economy.

“Work is ongoing to identify business opportu-nities in the renewable energy sector and buildawareness of these in local industry.”

On the question of cuts, Mr McGuinness tolddelegates “our priority is to protect frontlineservices”.

He said: “Spending on public services is, I be-lieve, an investment in our community. It is aboutdelivering to those most in need. Those thatwork in our health and education systems needto be protected – not have their jobs threat-ened.”

However, he added that the reality was the As-sembly and Executive did not have control of fis-cal policies.

“We are not in a position to use the taxationsystem as a tool for tackling the economic crisis.”

Acknowledging the strong views expressed atthe conference about Corporation Tax, he in-sisted a reduction was “not about taking from thepoor and the vulnerable to help business” butabout creating a level playing field to encourageinvestment and create jobs.

In concluding, Mr McGuinness said: “Peoplewant peace, jobs, prosperity. They want politicalleaders to be courageous, decisive, to work to-gether and recently people recognise – in all po-litical parties – that working in an all-island wayto develop our economy is something that canbring huge benefits.”

We need aresponseto assault on services

Barney Lawn, PCS, on Motion 9 onprotecting public services: “Itʼs im-portant that we share our experi-ences and tactics among each otherand work collectively as weʼre allgoing to be subject to the cutsagenda.”

An attack on one...

Economic growth is key: Martin McGuinness

Ideological attack: Brian Campfield


SO many workers take their basic freedom tojoin a union for granted. In Turkey, large num-bers of public employees do not have that rightto join or form trade unions, to bargain collec-tively or even to strike.

In the private sector the right to organise andform trade unions falls hugely short of interna-tional standards. Severe penalties, including im-prisonment, are possible for participation instrikes.

The International Labour Organisation has is-sued detailed guidance on how Turkey can bringits labour laws into line with the ILO core con-ventions on the right to organise, the right tostrike and the right to bargain collectively in thepublic and private sector. But these reformshave yet to be implemented.

In July 2009, an indictment was presented inthe case of more than 30 members of the Con-

federation of Public Sector Trade Unions(KESK) accused of membership of the KurdistanWorkers’ Party (PKK). Amnesty was concernedthat the evidence contained within the indict-ment regarded the union’s support for Kurdishlanguage rights and other legitimate union activ-ities and did not demonstrate their participationin or advocacy of violence

Also last year, more than 40 employees of theTurkish state railways were suspended followinga one-day strike by union members regardingtheir right to collective bargaining and right tostrike. A spokesperson for the company saidthat as state employees, they did not have theright to strike in law and that the action taken

was therefore illegal. Despite government com-mitments to address the issue, national lawfailed to uphold public sector workers’ right tostrike as protected under ILO standards towhich Turkey is a party.

Despite government statements indicatingthat legal amendments aimed at bringing na-tional law into conformity with internationalstandards on trade union rights could bebrought before parliament, no progress wasmade during the period under review.

Call on the Turkish government to bring itslabour laws in line with the ILO conventions sothat workers in Turkey can enjoy their humanrights by going to the following link:www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=689

REPORT

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Public sector workersdenied right to strike

MANDATE has slammed “the deplorable be-havour” of Connolly Shoes management follow-ing the dismissal of two workers involved in adispute.

Claiming the action was “irresponsible andpotentially illegal”, the union’s assistant generalsecretary Gerry Light said: “This is deplorablebehaviour from a company which is blatantly ig-noring workers’ fundamental rights contained incurrent employment legislation.”

According to Mr Light, the four staff mem-bers who have now been sacked have morethan 100 years of service between them andhave shown great loyalty to the company

through good times and bad times.Congress recently granted the dispute “all

out strike” status and on May 21 hundreds oflocals from Dun Laoghaire joined trade union-ists and prominent politicians to show theirsupport at a public rally.

Mr Light said: “The two dismissed workershave been on strike for the last nine weeks insupport of two of their colleagues who werepreviously dismissed for refusing to sign an un-dertaking which would seriously erode theirterms and conditions of employment includingtheir hours and pay.

“The actions of management in Connolly

Shoes is clearly a breach of the workers’ funda-mental employment rights and represents thetearing up of long-established statutory employ-ment legislation developed to protect ordinaryworkers as they participate in official industrialaction.”

He added that Connolly Shoes had persist-ently refused to accept an invitation to attendthe Labour Relations Commission extended tothem by the director of conciliation Kevin Foleymore than six weeks ago.

Mandate has already accepted the invite andclaims LRC attendance is the only way to find aresolution to the dispute.

CONGRESS has thrown itsbacking behind a new cam-paign that gives ethically-minded consumers the optionof supporting hotels that treattheir staff fairly and respectworkersʼ rights.

More than 40 hotels acrossIreland, where staff have collec-tive bargaining rights, havesigned up to the Fair Hotelsdrive that will encourage tradeunions and their members touse the hotels for family holi-days and breaks, conferencesand meetings.

Welcoming the initiative, Con-gress general secretary DavidBegg said: “The sense of pow-erlessness and the deep anger

against the behaviour of peoplewho have wrecked our econ-omy is palpable.

“But we can begin to reclaimthe sense decency we all be-lieved was part of our nationalvalue system.

“The Fair Hotels Campaign isa perfect opportunity for citi-zens to do something tangiblefor ethical consumption.

“Hotels that treat their stafffairly are entitled to public sup-port. Those who refuse torecognise that their employeeshave rights are not.

“Congress is delighted togive its full and enthusiastic en-dorsement to the Fair HotelsCampaign." A source at the May25 launch said: “The campaignwill use the combined purchas-ing power of 850,000 workers inIreland and 12 million workersoverseas.

“Alongside this is the institu-tional purchasing power of 50

Irish trade unions and 32 non-government organisations tobenefit hotel workers, fair hote-liers and ethical consumers.”

And it makes sound businesssense for hoteliers to treat theirstaff well. The source added:“Over the next three years,Congress-affiliated unions willhold 61 delegate conferencesrequiring 44,390 bed nights fortheir 17,650 delegates in hotelsacross Ireland.

“In addition, unions will con-tinue to use hotels for meet-ings, training, overnights andfunctions as required and forfamily holidays and breaks.”

For further details, check outwww.fairhotels.ie

CONGRESS BACKS FAIR HOTELS DRIVE

Picture: MANDATE

MANDATEhits out at‘deplorable’dismissals

Labour chief Eamon Gilmore speaks at recent rally in support of Connolly’s workers


A NEW weekly all-Ireland Irish lan-guage tabloid – Gaelscéal – has beenlaunched.

Featuring a heady mix of nationaland international news stories, sport,features, education and Irish languageaffairs, the publication is a joint venturebetween Eo Teilifís (producers of TG4’sIrish language soap Ros na Rún) andthe Connacht Tribune. Gaelscéal is

grant aided by Foras na Gaeilge andedited by Co Down native CiaránDunbar. Project manager Trevor ÓClochartaigh said: “I am relishing thischallenge and I am sure that the teamthat we have put together will be ableto put together a first class paper.

“We have correspondents through-out Ireland and across the world withregular contributors on international

affairs from Brazil, Poland, the US andthe UK.

“We also top columnists writing forus, including TG4 frontman Páidí Ó Li-onáird, former RTE journalist and fi-nancial expert Conall Ó Móráin,socialite and journalist Bernie Ní Fh-latharta and Cork GAA legend JohnAllen.” Check out online edition atwww.gaelsceal.ie


“Instead of a quality induction ex-perience, teachers teaching six oreight hours a week in a school mayfeel unknown in the staffroom.

“They may have insufficient con-tact with pupils, which can affect in-teraction in the classroom.

“They find it difficult to integrateinto the life and the culture of theschool and to avail of career-en-hancing opportunities such as men-toring programmes and teamworking opportunities.”

Highlighting the TALIS report, henoted the study found a strong linkbetween “disciplinary climate in theclassroom” and the type of teachingcontract held by the teacher.

He said that ASTI was calling forreform of the current system of al-

locating teachers to second-levelschools and the introduction of aninduction year for newly-qualifiedsecond-level teachers.

Mr Moran described the currentsystem as “outdated” and “undulyrestrictive” and forced manyschools to apply for concessionaryhours in key subject areas.

Allowing an induction year fornewly qualified teachers wouldallow them to gain valuable class-room experience as well as boosttheir professional development.

He added: “This would ensure ahigh quality induction experiencefor second-level teachers whichwould have long-term benefits forthe teaching profession and the ed-ucation service.”

Delegates Natalie Martyn, Aileen O'Halloran and Tara O'Boyle with ASTI president Joe Moran Picture: ASTI

€20,000donatedto Burmaunions

EDUCATION

YOUNG TEACHERSNEED STABLE JOBS

CWU general secretary Steve Fitz-patrick presents a €90,000 chequeto Congress chief David Begg inaid of the Haiti Emergency Cam-paign.

It follows the launch of a massivesolidarity campaign organised bythe International Trade Union Con-federation in response to Januaryʼsdevastating earthquake.

Trade unions mobilised supporton an extraordinary scale and Con-gress contributed a total of€114,816 to the disaster fundwhich will be used to support re-construction as well as providinghelp to the Haitian trade unionmovement.

Along with CWUʼs outstandingdonation, there were significantand important contributions fromNIPSA, PSEU, INTO, MANDATE andUNISON.

Unions raise €114k for Haiti

IMPACT and PSEU have do-nated a total of €20,000 tosupport the undergroundtrade union movement introubled Burma.

It follows the recent settingup of a solidarity fund by theInternational Trade UnionConfederation to funnel aid tothe Federation of TradeUnions Burma.

The FTUB held its first con-gress last March in the borderregions of Thailand.

In April, Bernard Harbor, ofIMPACT, and PSEUʼs EugeneQuinn each presented€10,000 cheques to JuneSorensen, who has responsi-bility for Burma solidaritywork at the ITUC, at a meetingin Dublin.

Ms Sorensen told the audi-ence of the extreme oppres-sion suffered by workersunder the Burmese junta.

Burma is one of the lastcountries in the world wherestate institutions actually im-pose forced labour on thepopulation.

But despite the risk of arbi-trary arrest and torture, tradeunion activists continue toclandestinely organise andunite workers.

Ms Sorensen in particularhighlighted one recent strikeby garment workers demand-ing a wage increase of $10 amonth.

Talk: June Sorensen of ITUC

THE lack of stable jobs for recentlyqualified teachers is having a damag-ing impact on the Republic’s educa-tion system, a special conferencewas told last month.

Delegates attending the ASTI-or-ganised event for young teachers onMay 22 heard that fewer than onein 10 newly qualified second-levelteachers can expect to obtain a full-time permanent teaching job withina year of graduating.

According to a recent OECD re-port ‘Teaching And Learning In Soci-ety’, the Republic of Ireland hassignificantly more temporary teach-ers than most other OECD coun-tries.

Only 73% of second-level teach-ers here have permanent employ-ment compared to the TALISaverage of 85%. More than half –53% – of Irish second-level teachersunder 30 have a temporary teach-ing contact of one year or less.

The low availability of permanentteaching jobs means most newlyqualified second-level teachersspend a number of years movingfrom job to job. Many new teach-ers are employed on an hourlybasis, have little job security and donot receive a full income.

ASTI president Joe Moran tolddelegates this trend towards an“hours culture” was damaging tothe education service offered toyoung people.

He said: “These young teachershave spent the last four to fiveyears studying and training so thatthey can make a positive contribu-tion.

“Instead they find they have littleprospect of gaining anything butprecarious employment for sometime, often seven or eight years.


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THE Northern Ireland Committeeof Congress marked this year’sWorkers’ Memorial Day by holdinga special event under the theme ‘Re-member the dead, fight for the liv-ing’ at Stormont.

Trade unionists, politicians andrelatives of those killed and injuredat work gathered in the LongGallery in Parliament buildings onApril 29.

NIC-ICTU chairperson JohnCorey said: “This is an opportunityto remember all those who havebeen killed or injured at or as a re-sult of their work and continue tofight for improved workplace safetyfor the living.”

He added that it was vital also toacknowledge trade union safetyreps who worked “day and daily” toprotect the health and well being oftheir fellow workers.

Minister for Enterprise Trade andInvestment Arlene Foster, who also

spoke at the event, emphasised that“one death was simply one toomany”.

She added: “It is imperative thatthere continues to be effective co-operation between the regulators,employers and trade unions to en-sure that collectively we achieve ahealthier and safer workplace, notonly for today's workforce but alsofor future working generations.”

At another Congress event, inDublin’s Chester Beatty Library,Archbishop Diarmuid Martin re-minded those present that peoplewere at the heart of a moderneconomy.

He said: “Workers are not dispos-able goods. Their protection cannever be subordinated to exclu-sively economic goals and profit.

“Safe workplaces require normsthat must be respected. But safeworkplaces are more. Workers arenever just employees. They are al-

ways people and must enjoy the re-spect and protection that peopledeserve.”

Congress general secretary hadearlier called on the Irish govern-ment to give official recognition toWorkers’ Memorial Day.

In a statement he said: “It is timeto make this a national day. The In-ternational Labour Organisationsupports this and Workers’ Memo-rial Day is now officially recognisedin 19 countries around the globe.

“Earlier this year, the UK joinedthat list of countries that officiallyrecognise the day.”

Mr Begg underlined how impor-tant it was that action to preventdeaths and injuries at work be pri-oritised.

He said the resources of theHealth & Safety Authority in the Re-public must be “ring-fenced” as Ire-land currently spends less onworker protection and has one ofthe lowest numbers of health andsafety inspectors in the EU, withroughly five inspectors per 100,000.The EU average is 10 per 10,000.

Meanwhile, the ITUC has flaggedup the role unions play in makingworkplaces safer.

Guy Ryder, general secretary ofthe global union confederation, said:“Unions are key for ensuring thatsafe and sustainable work is not aprivilege for the few, but a right forevery worker.”

Those attending the Workers’ Memorial Day event in Dublin join Dublin Castle gardeners for amoment’s reflection to remember those killed or injured in workplace accidents. Right: ArleneFoster speaking at the Long Gallery in Stormont Pictures: Tom Clancy, Kevin Cooper Photoline

WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY

‘One death is too many’

Remembering: John Corey &Archbishop Diarmuid Martin

20 THE UNION POST � June 2010

SIPTU has vowed to “vigorouslyresist” any attempt to slash wagesin the construction industry.

It follows reports last month thatConstruction Industry Federationchiefs had asked the Labour Courtto cut legally-binding minimumwage rates in the sector.

The union insists it will fight themove tooth and nail as well as anybid to peg back overtime paymentsand travel allowances.

SIPTU Construction Branch or-ganiser Martin Meere said: “We willbe present at the Labour RelationsCommission hearing on the CIFclaim for decrease of wages in theconstruction industry which willtake place on June 14.

“SIPTU will vigorously resist theassault on the wages of our mem-bers in the construction industry.”

The union estimates that the em-ployers' demands would mean paycuts of between €130 and €170 aweek for general operative gradesand more than €180 a week forcraft workers.

This is the second attempt by theCIF to cut wages in just over twoyears.

Its last demand for a 10pc paycut was thrown out by the court.

A NEW blog has been launchedwhich aims to boost donationsto childrenʼs charities as well ascollecting memories and storiesfrom those who donate.

Co Antrim woman LesleyMiller, who set up the When Iwas 8 blog, told The Union Post:“I want to know what charitiesusers of the blog have donatedto for helping children, theamount of the donation andwhat they wanted to be whenthey were eight years old.

“The latter request may seema little strange but I think thatthis is the age when childrenwho are loved and cared forstart thinking about their wideraims and ambitions while stillbeing child-like, an innocent butʻbig wide worldʼ perspective.”

Ms Miller is to keep runningtotals on the amounts collectedfor individual charities as wellas provide information on thosewho make donations.

She added: “Please have alook at the blog and if you like,donate, write to the blog bycommenting on any feature andthen tell others who may wish todo the same.”

Check out the blog by visiting:

INMO CONFERENCE

WRITER and analyst Sara Burkegave delegates an overview ofnearly 10 years’ health policy – butin particular focused on the impactthe last three budgets had on thehealth care system in the Republic.

Contrasting the promise of thegovernment’s 2001 health strategy,which had “some good stuff in it”,she noted that much of its contentwas “made redundant soon after itwas published”.

In fact, Ms Burke told conferencethis early promise was replaced by“Brendan Drumm’s mantra” of“doing more with less, more serv-ices with fewer staff and a smallerbudget” as well as the “steady butquiet” privatisation of health care.

She said the entry of for-profitprivate care had “revolutionisedthe landscape of Irish health care…so that [today] one in three hospi-

tal beds are in the private largelyfor profit sector and two in threenursing home beds”.

Characterising the current situa-tion as “investment without real re-form and constant restructuring”,Ms Burke claimed such an ap-proach was known in the UK’sNHS as “disorganisation”, adding:“so much restructuring people donot know who they are or whatthey’re doing – and yet nurses stillhave to get on with their job…”

She told delegates Health Minis-ter Mary Harney had presided overa system that “actively promotes”private care in public hospitals andwhere a two-tier approach hadbecome institutionalised.

Ms Burke said: “We still have asystem whereby 50pc of the popu-lation who have private health in-surance can get faster access into

Govt failings on health during

Overview: Sara Burke

IN her address, INMO presidentSheila Dickson blasted those “fewgreedy, selfish, self-serving, self-opinionated and self-righteous in-dividuals” who had threatenedthe “very fabric of Ireland as a na-tion state”.

She contrasted the positivecontributions made by INMOmembers with the actions ofthose “who felt they could walkon water” and who had causedthe economic crisis in the firstplace.

Ms Dickson told more than300 nurses and midwives whogathered for the three-day INMOconference in Trim, Co Meath, lastmonth: “Despite this the govern-ment has seen fit to cut our payon two occasions, over the pastyear, to cut social welfare pay-ments and to impose levies on alltax compliant workers.

“At the same time the samegovernment has steadfastly re-fused to require others, withmuch greater means, assets andwealth than any of us here, to payanything like their fair share.”

She also noted how public sec-tor workers had been “vilified” by“know-it-alls” in the media and,turning to Minister Harney whowas a guest at the conference,she claimed the government hadshown “a lack of respect” and “aninability to listen to to those“providing a great service tocommunities”.

Ms Dickson acknowledged thatthe economic difficulties facingthe country were “unprece-dented” but insisted they couldnot be tackled by an approachthat “tears the heart out of ordi-nary people” while shelteringsome quarters from the “icywinds” of the recession.

Emphasising that the INMOwanted to engage with the minis-ter, her department, and the HSE,she said: “This is not a time forconflict but, equally, this is not a

time for neglect. We are willingto put forward imaginative waysof working but is the system, in-cluding the government and theHSE, prepared to listen to this vi-able alternative?

“Only time will tell but wecannot afford to get this wrong.”

Ms Dickson claimed that therole of nurses and midwives inthe developing and managementof health services “had greatly di-minished” since the HSE cameinto being.

She told delegates: “We have aHSE that now has an overt policyof not filling any nursing or mid-wifery post.

“Of saying that Directors ofNursing are no longer necessaryat individual hospital level and ofindicating, consistently that wehave too many nurses and mid-wives in this country and that, ef-fectively, the health service wouldbenefit from a cull of nurses andmidwives.”

This she pointed out was an“insulting, damaging and provoca-tive approach” that was “cloakedin the language of reconfiguration,reform, restrictive work practices,duplication, centralisation of serv-ices and, of course, transforma-tion”.

Ms Dickson then outlined six“facts” about Ireland’s healthservice.

She said: “It is a fact that wecontinue to have 53 hospitals in

this country that, following inde-pendent review, have been foundto be understaffed with the resultthat the patients daily lives are di-minished.

“It is a fact that we now havealmost 2,000 fewer nursing postsin the system than we had on De-cember 31, 2007.

“It is a fact that no frontlinenursing or midwifery post is beingfilled at this time due to the gov-ernment imposed moratorium.

“It is a fact that our newly qual-ifying graduates have noprospects of being offered a postin the Irish health system.

“The result is that when theyapply for registration they nowalso apply for a certificate of veri-fication so that, immediately, theycan go and work in the UK,America, Australia or the manyother countries that welcomethem with open arms.

“It is a fact that we have Direc-tor of Nursing posts vacant while,at the same time, the HSE seemsable to fill senior general manage-ment posts immediately, when avacancy arises, regardless of thecost.

“It is a fact that we have proj-ects, under the title reconfigura-tion, taking place at the momentwhich are being implemented inan incomplete, unsafe and non-sensical manner.

“The outcome, in recent weeks,has seen extra patients on trol-leys, in wards, which compro-mises every patient’s care.”

Unfortunately, Ms Dicksonclaimed, despite these facts, noone in the HSE wanted to listen.

She told delegates: “Instead allwe see and hear is of organisa-tional reform, at managementlevel, with the frontline being leftbereft of the necessary skilledprofessional manpower and au-thority, with accountability, neces-sary to properly look afterpatients.”

BLOGSPOT

http://wheniwas8.wordpress.com/

Blog boost forkids’ charities

SIPTU vowsto fight CIFcourt move TIME TO FACE

President Sheila Dickson

21June 2010 � THE UNION POST

the public hospital systems andwhere most public hospitals carryout well in excess of their privatecare.

“In my opinion, in time we willidentify one of the major crimes ofthe boom as the failure to disman-tle our two-tier system of publichospital care.

“And the government’s failure toprovide a one-tier universal healthsystem where access is based onneed not ability to pay.”

She pointed out the one-tierhealth system was not on the tablebecause politicians lacked“courage” and “vision” but notedfor the first time all opposition par-ties were in favour of differing ver-sions of a universal system.

Turning to the impact the eco-nomic crisis has had on the healthsystem, she disagreed with those

politicians who blamed the broaderinternational depression.

In fact Ms Burke described thecurrent economic crisis as a “spec-tacularly Irish phenomenon”caused by an eroding of the taxbase, the non-regulation of bankersand the fuelling of a propertyboomed, adding: “We made ourown economic mess”.

One of the government’s re-sponses had been a moratorium onrecruitment that had since trans-lated to 3,000 fewer staff – at leasthalf nurses – working in the sector.

The result was a health system ina “mess… despite increased invest-ment” with hundreds of people stillbeing treated on A&E trolleys andmore than 18,000 public patientswaiting for treatment for morethan three months.

� LIMERICK-based INMO rep Nora Cunningham was the recipi-ent of this yearʼs Gobnait OʼConnell Award.

The clinical nurse manager, who was nominated by colleagues atthe Mid West Regional Hospital, led a local work to rule to addresswidespread hospital overcrowding in the interest of patient safety.

The action achieved an end to trolleys in hospital wards, on corri-dors and behind doors, improving conditions for patients as wellas ensuring in-patient beds are used more efficently in future.

Presenting the award, INMO general secretary Liam Doran – pic-tured above with Nora and president Sheila Dickson – said: “Norais a true professional and trade unionist and a tremendous patientadvocate and we in the INMO are proud to have her as one ofours.”

boom was criminal

� HEALTH MinisterMary Harney

was given a frosty re-ception during herattendance at lastmonthʼs conferencein Trim. According toreports, a number ofdelegates confrontedher as she left theconference venue.She later admittednursing staff were“angry” and ac-knowledged that a lotof people were “en-during huge painacross the econ-omy”.

Pictures: INMOPicture: MANDATE

THE FACTS

SOME FIRMS‘MILKING THERECESSION’SOME retail companies are milkingthe recession Mandate has claimed.

Speaking at its recent biennialconference in Galway, general sec-retary John Douglas, above, ac-cused some retail firms ofattempting to take advantage of theeconomic downturn by forcing un-necessary redundancies, pay reduc-tions and reduced terms andconditions on to low paid workersdespite maintaining extremelyhealthy profits.

Mr Douglas claimed that duringthe last few years the union hasseen:

� The introduction by one prof-itable firm of a highly questionableredundancy scheme that enabled itto replace workers on a higher payscale with workers on a muchlower pay scale,

� Another leading store – whichis still highly profitable – is pursuingthe suspension of allowances forlate night, early morning and over-time work and undermining longestablished terms and conditions ofworkers, and

� A leading retail outlet has at-tempted to cut the wages of the

staff at the top of their pay scale by15.5% along with a reduction of25% in public holiday pay and a 25%reduction in Sunday allowances.

Mr Douglas told delegates: “Inaddition to these specific cases, thefeedback from our members sug-gests that most retail workers havelost approximately eight to 12hours per week as a result of cut-backs from their employers whichequates to €100 for those workingfull time in the industry.

“Ironically, the attempts at pay-cutting by profitable retailers in theIrish marketplace are clearly notthat well thought through and willonly serve to prolong this reces-sion.

“For example, Irish retail work-ers tend to spend almost all oftheir income in the local economyand without this spending, the Irisheconomy would crumble.

Mr Douglas concluded: “When aprofitable retailer takes money outof the pockets of their employees,it obviously means there is lessspending in their local communitiesand therefore more jobs are lost.It’s a vicious circle.”

Log on towww.stophealthcuts.ie

to share your story

The Irish Nurses and Midwives

Organisation is theprofessional tradeunion for nurses

and midwives withmore than 43,000

members – or 4 outof every 5 nurses

and midwives

Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, The Whitworth Building, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7Tel: 01 664 0600 Fax: 01 661 0466 www.inmo.ie www.nurse2nurse.ie



NIPSA slams‘ridiculous’CBI call tofreeze payfor 2 years

SALARIES

NIPSA has slammed the call by CBI chiefs for animmediate two-year freeze on public sector pay.Deputy general secretary Alison Millar said: “It isridiculous that the CBI are calling for a pay freezeat a time when the Retail Price Index is running inexcess of 5%.

“Many public sector workers are low paid andrely on state benefits to bring them up to a livingwage.

“If the Government responds to the CBI pres-sure then it is likely the union’s membership will re-spond accordingly, and industrial action cannot beruled out.”

CBI director general Richard Lambert had calledon the Chancellor to include cuts to the public sec-tor wage bill in his forthcoming Budget.

He told the BBC: "Experience suggests that thebest way of bringing down a substantial deficit with-out damaging growth is through spending restraintrather than raising taxes.”

But Ms Millar hit back and pointed out that manyNIPSA members were already finding it difficult tomake ends meet.

She said: “NIPSA has evidence that a large pro-portion of our members are clinging on by theirfinger tips to meet daily living expenses with thehigh cost of food, rent, mortgages, rates and otherutility bills.

“A public sector pay freeze could mean thatmore people will default on their mortgages andthe Government will have to step in and assistthese people in other ways.

“Why is it workers on low or average salaries arebeing asked to bear the brunt of the financial crisiscaused mainly by the city bankers who got us intothis mess?”

Ms Millar added: “A public sector pay freeze isnot the answer. In addition NIPSA would query whyGovernment continues to spend huge amounts oftaxpayers money on private sector consultantsoften to tell them what they already know – it ispurely and simply a back saving exercise”.

IMPACT has claimed the Irishgovernment could breach Inter-national Labour Organisationconventions if it presses aheadwith plans to allow employers toplead “inability to pay” minimumrates.

Delegates at the unionʼs bien-nial conference in Kilkenny lastmonth also heard how proposedchanges to the Industrial Rela-tions Amendment Bill 2009 couldlead to the Labour Court beingblocked by a deluge of cases.

Billy Gallagher, a member ofunionʼs Central Executive Com-mittee said: “When the govern-ment scuppered an agreementand introduced public servicepay cuts last December, IMPACTand other unions warned that thereal target was incomes acrossthe economy – starting with theminimum wage.

“Less than two months later,

the governmentʼs assault onminimum pay rates is under way.

“Cheered on by employersgroups like IBEC and ISME, thegovernment has said it willamend the Industrial RelationsAmendment Bill 2009 – initiallydesigned to strengthen workerprotections – to allow employersplead ʻinability to payʼ minimumpay rates set out in existing Em-ployment Regulation Orders andRegistered Employment Agree-ments.”

He told delegates this provedemployer organisation had“undue influence” over the gov-ernment and warned changeswould leave minimum wageworkers vulnerable to abuse bybosses “quite happy to exploitlow-waged workers to protectand inflate the bottom line”.

Mr Gallagher added: “EROsand REAs set legally-enforceable

minimum pay rates – usuallyslightly above the national mini-mum wage – in a number of low-paid sectors including hotels,retail and construction.

“The system has been in placesince 1946 and most EU coun-tries have similar arrangements.The proposed legislation will be,in our view, a breach of ILO con-ventions.

“The ʻinability to payʼ clausecould block the Labour Courtwith the volume of cases thatwill be pursued if the govern-ment amend the legislation.

“The construction, hotel,restaurant, cleaning and similarindustries will be affected, andthe reality of the struggle facingworkers in these industries isnot being acknowledged at gov-ernment level. It proves yet againhow far removed from realitythey really are.”

Clauses ‘breach ILO guidelines’

MORE than 200 migrant workers and theirsupporters staged a demo outside the of-fices of Enterprise Minister Batt OʼKeeffeon June 2.

The protesters, above, called on MrOʼKeeffe to give workers employedthrough the employment permit systemthe right to change employer.

Under current rules, the system binds aworker to one employer and, according tothe Migrants Rights Centre Ireland, thishas become a leading factor in instancesof exploitation.

The organisation claims 80% of ex-ploitation cases it deals with involveworkers in the employment permit sys-tem.

The MRCI is seeking an administrativechange which would give migrant work-ers the freedom to leave exploitative con-ditions and find alternative work withintheir job category – without having to go

through an entirely new permit applica-tion. Director Siobhan OʼDonoghue said:“Minister Batt OʼKeeffe can change thelives of thousands with a simple adminis-trative change.

“Most workers on permits will onlycome forward to report exploitation ifthere is a way out that does not put theirlegal status at risk.

“The best way to protect workers andprevent exploitation is by giving the rightto change employer, which gives them afair chance to find an alternative and re-port exploitation.”

Zeno Arumugan, a work permit holderfrom Malaysian, added: “We are heretoday because we are trying to get Minis-ter OʼKeeffe to make the employment per-mit system fairer.

“We are not asking for special treat-ment, just the basic equality and rightsthat other workers have.”

Pictures: Paula Geraghty

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