Page 28-29 Page 16-17 Raise the Roof on October 3rd · See page 13, 16 - 17. Masked private security men leaving North Frederick Street in Dublin after evicting housing activists

Vol. 17 No 4ISSN 0791-458X

Radical political action is required to force the Governmentto roll out a major, public building programme to deal withthe urgent need for social and affordable housing, accordingto SIPTU General Secretary Joe O’Flynn.He has called on SIPTU members, their families and friends to join

the ‘Raise the Roof’ rally to be held outside Leinster House on Wednes-day, 3rd October. The rally organised by the Irish Congress of TradeUnions, the National Homeless and Housing Coalition, the NationalWomens’ Council and the Union of Students in Ireland is timed to coincide with a Dáil motion on the housing crisis.The motion calls for the immediate construction of quality, afford-

able public housing, an end to evictions and the inclusion of the rightto housing in the Irish Constitution. It is supported by opposition par-ties including Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, People Before Profit/Solidar-ity, the Social Democrats, the Green Party and Independents4Change.Trade union members and other campaigners have been lobbying

Fianna Fáil deputies and senators over recent months to support thecall for a massive, publicly led, social and affordable housing pro-gramme. They will seek to have the party support the motion to betabled by the other opposition parties.“It is no exaggeration to say that the housing crisis is damaging the

lives of hundreds of thousands of people and their families. As withany crisis it is working people, those on low and average incomes, whosuffer the most,” O’Flynn said.“Buying your own home is now beyond reach for a generation of

young people. The shortage of public, social and affordable housingmeans that tens of thousands are forced into the rental sector.“Rents are increasing, as landlords take advantage of the shortfall

by Frank Connolly

Continued on page 2

WORKERS RIGHTS CENTRE8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m., Monday - [email protected]

September 2018

Hundreds of young people in a sit down protest atthe Parnell monument in O'Connell Street, Dublinon Wednesday, 12th September. They were protesting against the forced removal of housingactivists from a property nearby on the previousnight. Photo: RollingNews

PalestinePage 28-29

No people’s budgetPage 10-11

Raise the Roof on October 3rd

Housing crisis impact on members Page 16-17

October 3rd

www.ictu.ie/raisetheroof

#RaiseTheRoof #HomesForAll #Oct3rd

at Leinster House @12.30-2pmOCT 3rd Rally

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LibertySEPTEMBER 2018

2 News

Continued from page 1 — Raise the Roof on October 3rd

Liberty ViewPage 13

Industrial NewsPage 4-8

Big Start CampaignPage 9

In this month’s Liberty

Defining workplace bullying Page 19

SIPTU District Council NewsPage 22

Civil Rights strugglePage 26

A league going nowhere?Page 34

Editor: Frank Connolly, SIPTU Head of CommunicationsJournalist: Scott Millar Design: Sonia Slevin (SIPTU), Joe Mitchell (Brazier Media)Publications Assistant: Deirdre PriceAdministrative Assistant: Karen HackettProduced, designed, edited and printed by trade union labour. Printed by The Irish Times, City West, Dublin.Liberty is dedicated to providing a platform for progressive news and views.If you have any ideas for articles or comments please contact: [email protected] is published by the Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1SIPTU General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn • General Secretary Designate, Joe Cunningham • Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley • Deputy General Secretary, John King • Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack Production: SIPTU Communications Department, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1, Tel: 01 8588217 • Email: [email protected]

LibertyView

in supply. Young workers and stu-dents find it almost impossible tofind decent accommodation at af-fordable prices, particularly whenthey work in low paid, precariousemployment,” the SIPTU GeneralSecretary told Liberty.“More and more families are

forced into homelessness becauserents are too high or because theycannot meet their mortgage re-

payments due to financial diffi-culty. They are then forced intounsuitable accommodation in ho-tels or emergency hubs. A genera-tion of children will grow upwithout knowing what a normalhome is like.”“It is important that we come

out in large numbers to supportthis call for immediate action thatputs the public interest ahead of

those who are profiting from thelack of social and affordable hous-ing which makes life a misery forso many families across the coun-try,” he said. The SIPTU DublinDistrict Council is co-ordinatingthe union’s participation in therally. It is calling on all membersto stand with the union flag on3rd October. See page 13, 16 - 17.

Masked private security men leaving North Frederick Street in Dublin after evicting housing activists from a property on Tuesday, 11th September.

Trade union members inNewry Mourne and DownDistrict Council have voted totake industrial action in a dis-pute resulting from attemptsto erode workers’ terms andconditions.The consultative ballot con-

ducted by the Joint Trade UnionSide (JTUS), which includes SIPTU,NIPSA, UNITE and the GMB, was

counted on 12th September andshowed members were over-whelmingly in favour of industrialaction.The move comes follows along-running dispute betweenmanagement and workers follow-ing the creation of the super coun-cil through the merger of DownDistrict Council and Newry andMourne District Council.SIPTU Organiser, Niall McNally,

said: “The straw that broke the

camel’s back was the attempt toforce through a detrimental Man-aging Attendance Procedure with-out negotiation or consultation.This potentially breaches TUPEregulations and could be detri-mental to workers with disabili-ties. We are concerned that themanagement side only wants totalk about effective implementa-tion dates rather than a negotiatedsettlement of our differences.”

A SIPTU activist in Dublin CityUniversity was among those in-jured during the high profile evic-tion of protesters on 11thSeptember from a building onNorth Frederick Street, Dublin 1,The house was occupied to high-

light the growing housing crisis inthe city.Seamus Farrell, a SIPTU member

and activist with Dublin CentralHousing Action, complained thathe was thrown down a set of gran-ite steps before being put into a

police van. He said: “I was not in the prop-

erty but as a supporter of the ‘TakeBack the City’ campaign I was no-tified that an eviction was takingat about 6.00 p.m. As we live closeto the building myself and my girl-friend cycled to it to see what washappening for ourselves.”He added: “We were shocked to

see men in masks using a powersaw to force their way into whatwas a completely peaceful occupa-tion. I began to film what wasgoing on and this provoked a reac-

tion from a member of the Gardawhich resulted in me being hurleddown the steps on to the pavement.“I was then arrested and held in

Store Street station with severalothers. After my release I went tothe Mater Hospital A&E andtreated for severe bruising.”The unidentified security com-

pany using a vehicle with Englishregistration plates removed the activists on foot of a court order.

SIPTU activist injured during Dublin eviction

Newry Mourne and Down District Council workers set for industrial action


3News

A large number of singers, musicians and otherperformers gathered in Dublin for the ‘RisingTides’ conference and concert in Liberty Hall inearly September. Organised by the Fairplé cam-paign and the Musicians Union of Ireland (MUI)the event highlighted issues of concern towomen working in Irish traditional and folkmusic.Exploitation, sexual harassment and bullying in the

largely male dominated music industry featured in the wide-ranging discussions while emerging artists were given adviceby more experienced artists on finding their way in themusic business.In her opening address Faireplé co-founder and MUI

member, Karan Casey, described how the campaign seeks to“change the working environment for women in the worldsof traditional and folk music.”“We are advocating for deep societal change, an improve-

ment in the imbalance of line-ups that discriminate againstfemale performers particularly instrumentalists, an end tosexual harassment and to the macho cultural bravado thatis endemic within the community,” Casey said.Other participants complained about the disappointing

number of women performers on the line up for music fes-tivals and other major concerts and events.Among the speakers were singer-songwriter, Eleanor

McEvoy, who is chairperson of the Irish Music Rights Organ-isation (IMRO), Folk singer and Fairplé co-founder, PaulineScanlon, film maker, Nuala O’Connor, musician and man-

ager, Eamon Murray, and the Head of the Worker’s RightsCentre in SIPTU, Paul Henry.Many of those present sang and played at a well attended

concert in Liberty Hall theatre on Sunday 9th September,including harper, Una Monaghan, who created a powerfulpiece of art about gender balance entitled “What we haven’tHeard?” performed with Pauline Scanlon, Niamh Dunne andKaran Casey.Other acts included Sile Denvir, Muireann Mic Amh-

laoibh, Donal Lunny and Barry Kerr; Emma Langford; theFriels; Niamh Parsons and Graham Dunne; Atlas; and JohnSpillane.

Rising Tides for women in music

‘Raise the Roof’, a new alliance totackle the housing crisis waslaunched at a packed press confer-ence on Thursday 6th September.Speakers including Congress pres-ident, Sheila Nunan, the directorof the National Women’s Council,Orla O’Connor and Aisling Bruen

of the National Homeless andHousing Coalition spoke of theneed to mobilise large crowds fora rally outside Leinster House onWednesday 3rd October. The rallyled by Congress is in support of anopposition party motion on hous-ing that is scheduled to be debated

in the Dáil that day. The motioncalls for real action on the housingcrisis. It is supported by Sinn Fein,the Labour Party, People BeforeProfit, Solidarity, the SocialDemocrats and the Green Party, In-dependents4Change with othersexpected to add their support.

Raising the roof for housing: Pictured (Left to Right) Union of Students in Ireland (USI) Campaign Officer, Michelle Byrne, FrPeter McVerry, Sheila Nunan, Orla O’Connor and Aisling Bruen.

Raise the Roof campaign launch

Harper, Úna Monaghan. Photos by Cathal Mac an Bheatha. Final encore at the Rising Tides event in Liberty Hall on Sunday, 9th September.

From left: Uilleann Pipers, Jane Walls , Amy Campbell and Sean McKeon

4 NewsLibertySEPTEMBER 2018

Worker praises SIPTU role in Labour Court caseA former Dunnes Storesworker, whose unfair dis-missal award was doubled to€30,000 by the Labour Courtafter the company appealedan initial decision, has praisedthe support and representa-tion she received from theSIPTU Workers’ Rights Centre(WRC) with her case.The Limerick-based worker, who

requested her anonymity be main-tained, said: “I would very muchlike to thank the professional rep-

resentation I received from SIPTUWRC Advocate, Ger Malone. Sheshowed great understanding andhumanity in dealing with this casewhich was a welcome contrast tothe approach of my former em-ployer.”She added: “I was delighted with

the final outcome of the case.”In a ruling published in August,

the Labour Court found in favourof the woman who claimed shehad been sacked because of a dis-ability, which is a breach of theEmployment Equality Act.

At the date of the termination,she was employed as an assistantmanager at Dunnes and her salarywas €35,000. She had worked forthe retailer since November 2003.She was fired in September 2016

following a two-year period of ill-ness-related absence.During this time she attended

meetings with Dunnes manage-ment and in February 2015 shewas asked to see the company doc-tor. That doctor confirmed that thewoman was unfit for work but saidthat she would make “a good re-

covery with continued care”.However, in a letter of termina-

tion of employment, Dunnes saidthat the employee had been “un-able to provide an indication of adate of return to work in the nearfuture” and could not provide anyupdate on her illness. The retaileradded that it could not continue toemploy her under these circum-stances.The Labour Court said that her

dismissal followed a meetingwhere she indicated that she couldnot confirm a return date but had

provided written advice from herdoctor indicating that this wouldhave to wait until after she had vis-ited a specialist. It added that inthe absence of this specialist infor-mation, Dunnes was “not in a po-sition to objectively evaluate” herworking arrangements.The employee was awarded

€15,000 in compensation by theWorkplace Relations Commissionin December 2017. The award wasdoubled las month after her appealto the Labour Court.

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack,has written to the senior man-agement of Lloyds Pharmacycalling on the company to re-spect its employees’ requestand a Labour Court recom-mendation that workers arerepresented by the union oftheir choice.Mandate trade union members

employed by Lloyds Pharmacyhave been conducting a campaign

of work stoppages at its storesaround the country since June.The workers are demanding thatthe company respect the LabourCourt recommendation that theyshould be represented by theunion of their choice in collectivebargaining negotiations.In the letter, sent to the com-

pany on 4th September, McCor-mack, said: “The company’srecent actions by failing to imple-ment the Labour Court recom-mendation and the clear attemptat union busting techniques is an

affront to normal industrial rela-tions processes and procedures.”He added: “You [Lloyds manage-

ment] can take this letter as no-tice of SIPTU’s intention tosupport Mandate members by anymeans possible.”Commenting on the letter,

Mandate General Secretary, JohnDouglas, said: “Your solidaritymakes a real difference anddemonstrates to our membersthat they are not alone in theirfight for justice.”

SIPTU supports Lloyds strikers

Photo: Deputy General Secretary Gerry McCormack and SIPTU Manufacturing Division Organiser,Teresa Hannick with Mandate members at Artane Castle in Dublin on 3rd September.

The work and progressiveideas of Peadar O’Donnellwere the centre of a weekendof discussion on ArranmoreIsland in county Donegal on14th - 15th September.The event was opened by retired

SIPTU official, Seamus Rodgers,who outlined the connection ofO’Donnell to the island where hetaught during the early years ofthe last century.As well as discussions, which in-

cluded contributions from John

Boyle INTO, Bernadette DevlinMcAliskey and Údarás naGaeltachta Chairperson Anna NíGhallachoir, there were perfor-mances by sean nós singers and afiddle workshop.SIPTU Deputy General Secretary,

Ethel Buckley, also addressed theevent. She outlined the activity ofthe Big Start Campaign and calledfor support for SIPTU members intheir upcoming industrial action atthe Rapid Action Packaging (RAP)plant in Gweedore, County Done-gal.

O’Donnell the educator and union organiser

Photo: Participating in the Peadar O’Donnell weekend on Arranmore Island in Donegal were (Left to right) Summer School Organiser, Nora Flanagan, SIPTU Organiser, Martin O’Rourke, Seamus Rodgers, SIPTU Deputy GeneralSecretary, Ethel Buckley, Hugh McConville of the Sligo Leitrim Roscommon District Council and Seán Ó Longáin retired CEO Donegal ETB.

SIPTU CPD COURSES STARTING THIS SEPTEMBER IN THE RCSISIPTU in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons Irelandis now offering SIPTU members the opportunity to undertakethe following short interdisciplinary Continuous Professional Development (CPD) courses.

• Safeguarding the Vulnerable Adult at Risk of Abuse • Leadership-in-Action Regulatory Standards in Healthcare Maintaining Professional Competence (Online)• Strategic Management in Action Understand the Factors Influencing Safety and Quality in Healthcare • CPD Planning/Maintaining a Portfolio Leadership Development and Succession Planning

* All courses are accredited by the RSCI and the NMBI

COST: €70 for SIPTU members €100 for non members

****SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY OFFER****SIPTU members can receive of a special introductory offer of €50 per course by emailing: [email protected]

To book a course please download theSIPTU Health Division app.

The first 100 applicants will enter a draw to win a new iPad mini


5Manufacturing News

SIPTU wins in pharma sector builds on a string of recent successes

A MAJOR union organisingdrive is under way in multina-tional pharmaceutical andmedical devices companiesfollowing recent successes insecuring major improvementsin terms and conditions forworkers in the sector.Among the recent wins is a deal

accepted by members in GEHealthcare in Carrigtohill, countyCork, in August. In this agreementpay rises of between 10% to morethan 25% (equalling an additional€9,000 on to workers’ basic pay)were secured.The agreement came out of a

deal brokered following a unionrecognition dispute in 2015, whichincluded strike action by SIPTUmembers. This led to a collectivebargaining agreement on pay be-

GE Healthcare shop stewards Cormac Griffin, Paul Collins and Pat Cotterwith PCMD Sector President Jemma Mackey at the vote count over new payagreement on 25th August

tween SIPTU representatives andGE Healthcare.SIPTU Sector Organiser, Alan

O’Leary, told Liberty: “This majoradvance for workers in GE Health-care came after eight years ofunion organising in the pharma-ceutical multinational. The effortwas led by a remarkable group ofshop stewards who deserve mas-sive credit for what has beenachieved.” Other plants where the

organising drive is taking place in-clude Servier Industries in Arklow,county Wicklow, and Medtronic inMervue, county Galway.SIPTU Organiser, Jim Furey, ex-

plained “The SIPTU Pharmaceuti-cals, Chemicals and MedicalDevices Sector is getting stronger,with workers in many so-callednon-union multinational compa-nies confidentially joining theunion every day.“SIPTU members in organised

workplaces in the sector do nothave pay linked to the individualperformance appraisal model.Members are instead paid thesame pay rise equally across theboard. This is the fairest and mosttransparent model of pay determi-nation and it is why pay for work-ers in the sector has increased byup to 25% in the past few years.”

...workers inmany so-callednon-union firmsconfidentiallyjoining the unionevery day...

TITAN Tanks has announcedthat it was closing its plant inCarrickmacross, county Mon-aghan, with the loss of 18 jobs. Management at the liquid stor-

age tank manufacturer, which is asubsidiary of Kingspan, stated inAugust that the plant was closingdue to concerns over profits. How-ever, plant machinery is to bemoved from Carrickmacross to an-other company facility in Portad-own, Northern Ireland.SIPTU Organiser, Denis Sheri-

dan, said: “Local management in-formed SIPTU representatives thatone of the main reasons for the

closure is to secure the future op-eration of the facility in Portadowndue to concerns over the impact ofBrexit on job orders for the com-pany.”He added: “It is of deep concern

that the continued uncertaintyover Brexit has played a role inthese job losses.” SIPTU members at the Carrick-

macross plant accepted a redun-dancy package negotiated byunion representatives. Most work-ers in the plant will be made re-dundant on 26th October, with afew remaining on till Christmas toassist in removing the machinery.

Brexit ‘played role’ inTitan Tanks job losses

A presentation of a SIPTU Private Sector scroll wasmade by SIPTU General Secretary Designate, JoeCunningham, to Pat Daly, a former senior ShopSteward at Medtronic in county Galway to mark hisretirement from the company at an event on 23rdAugust. Pat has been a trade union activist with theFWUI, later SIPTU, for more than 30 years. Heserved on the Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, MedicalDevices Sector Committee and was a member ofthe Manufacturing Division Executive Committee.During this time Pat maintained a highly effectivelevel of union organisation within Medtronicwhich is one of the largest SIPTU organised work-places in the country.

European Work Councils crucial to Brexit challengeA focus on ensuring effective rep-resentation for workers in Irelandon European Work Councils(EWCs) is crucial, particularly inthe lead up to Brexit, according toSIPTU Manufacturing DivisionEWC co-ordinator, Denis Sheri-dan.SIPTU is currently conducting

an audit of companies regardingthe representation of workers onEWCs. Sheridan said this auditwas finding that some companiesare appointing their own pre-ferred representatives rather than

elected workers representatives.“To counter this practice, SIPTU

is enacting EWC agreements tohave ballots to elect representa-tives so ensuring SIPTU mem-bers are adequately represented”,Sheridan said.He added that Brexit was also a

major issue of concern in relationto representation on EWCs.Sheridan said, “What is hap-

pening is that some British com-panies do not wish to leave theEWCs as they will have to whenthe country leaves the EU. Rather

they are seeking to change theareas which elect members fromseparate UK and Ireland regions tojust the UK/Ireland.“In some companies we are

finding that this is leading to a de-crease in representation for work-ers in Ireland and that is why it isbeing opposed by SIPTU.”Discussions are currently ongo-

ing between SIPTU organisers andtheir colleagues in the ConnectTrade Union regarding the jointutilisation of EWCs to ensure thebest results for members.

Notice has been served of a 16-hour work stoppage by SIPTUmembers in the Rapid ActionPackaging (RAP) plant in Gwee-dore, County Donegal The work stoppage scheduled

to begin at 7.00 a.m. on 24thSeptember and with pickets to beplaced on entrances to the plant,results from a dispute concerninga refusal by management to re-spect a Labour Court Recommen-dation in relation to union

representation for workers.SIPTU Organiser, Declan Ferry,

said: “The decision to commencea campaign of industrial actionfollows a ballot of our membersin the RAP plant in August inwhich a majority voted for strikeaction and industrial action. “Our members have been left

with no option but to undertakeindustrial action in relation tothis dispute. This is because man-agement has refused to respect aLabour Court Recommendation

concerning this dispute, eventhough the company handbookstates that it will always adherewith decisions of the State’s in-dustrial relations mechanisms.”He added: “It is worth remind-

ing this company, once again, thatit is in receipt of public fundsthrough Údarás na Gaeltachta.The public, and in particular thepeople of Donegal are entitled,therefore, to demand that thiscompany recognises workers’ fun-damental rights.”

Work stoppage planned at Rapid Action Packaging

Pat Daly retires

Photo from left: SIPTU General Secretary Designate Joe Cunningham with Pat Daly

FUTURE Labour governmentin Britain led by Jeremy Cor-byn would give everyone ininsecure work access to sickpay, maternity or paternityrights and protections againstunfair dismissal, the shadowchancellor, John McDonnelltold the Trades UnionCongress in Manchester. He has also called for a complete

ban on zero hour contracts.On Wednesday 12th September,

the Financial Times described Mc-Donnell’s proposals as “an assaulton gig-economy companies such asUber and Deliveroo and marked anambitious attempt to reverse amajor structural change in Britishcapitalism over the past decade.” The paper added: “His interven-

tion comes amid a broader debateabout whether the UK economy isfailing its citizens because of en-trenched income inequality andstagnant real wages.”McDonnell told the TUC dele-

gates that the balance of powerhad dramatically shifted awayfrom workers, with companiesusing legal loopholes to duck re-sponsibilities. He said that aLabour government would ensurethat workers in the UK’s gig econ-omy would have the same rights asregular employees, as part of amuch broader package of measuresthat he described as the “biggestextension of individual and collec-tive rights our country has everseen”. These measures include thereversal of trade union reforms in-troduced by David Cameron’s Tory-led government that restrictedstrikes, and a new levy on compa-nies’ profits that would be used topay dividends to their employees. McDonnell proposed a system of

“sectoral bargaining across theeconomy” in which new sectorcouncils made up of union organ-isers and business representativeswould set various pay floors, abovethe minimum wage, for different

employee roles in various indus-tries. Responding to the shadow chan-

cellor’s speech, Tim Roache, gen-eral secretary of the GMB union,said: “John was absolutely on themoney about what needs to bedone to give working people powerover their own lives . . . If thatspeech becomes a reality after thenext election, people up and downthe country will see a real, pro-found change in their daily lives.” Gig-economy platforms connect

workers with customers, withouttaking any responsibility for themas employees. In many countries,including the UK, these workersseem to fall into a legal no man’sland: not truly independent be-cause the platforms often controland monitor them closely, but notquite employees because they usetheir own tools and “log on” to

work when they choose. However, the exact status of

people working at gig-economycompanies has been establishedthrough a series of legal cases. Forexample, an employment tribunalin the UK has recently ruled thatUber’s drivers are workers. Thecompany is appealing the rulingand continues to treat the driversas self-employed.


6 Services News

SIPTU Sport scored threemore victories over the sum-mer in its drive to effectivelyorganise and represent foot-ball players.The wins included settling pay

disputes at the League of Irelandclubs Bray Wanderers and LimerickFC, during July, as well as securinga collective bargaining agreementfor the Northern Ireland SeniorWomen’s Football Team.After direct meetings with SIPTU

representatives and those of ouraffiliate union, the Professional

Footballers Association of Ireland,the administrators of Bray Wander-ers and Limerick FC paid outstand-ing wages to their players.However, this was only after play-

ers at both clubs had voted to takestrike action in ballots conductedby SIPTU.A long-running organising drive

by SIPTU Sport with the Northern

Ireland Senior Women’s FootballTeam also achieved success duringthe summer. This resulted in an agreement

between the Irish Football Associ-ation and FIFPro, the worldwiderepresentative organisation forprofessional footballers, on payand collective-bargaining for theteam.Since the agreement a £300 per

player payment for internationalduty, improved facilities and med-ical support have been negotiatedfor the team.

SIPTU Sport Sector Organiser,Denis Hynes, told Liberty: “Theright to be organised into a unionand represented by professionalworker representatives is one thatshould be open to all workers, nomatter what their profession.”He added: “In the coming

months and years SIPTU Sport willcontinue to organise players in allcodes to ensure they are respectedand receive the best supports sothey can get on with doing theirbest to win their games.”

SIPTU Sport scores hat trick

Over 500 SIPTU membersworking for the security com-pany G4S cash-in-transit, inlocations across the country,secured significant pay riseswhen they overwhelminglyvoted to accept a LabourCourt recommendation inlate August.The deal includes a 7.5% pay in-

crease over the next two yearswhich is back dated to January2018 with increases being appliedat a rate of 1.25% on a six-

monthly basis. The recommenda-tion also includes increments fornew entrants since 2012 whichamounts to pay increases of be-tween 11.3% and 14%.SIPTU Organiser, Brendan Carr,

said: “This Labour Court recom-mendation was secured followingprolonged negotiations and sev-eral WRC conciliation confer-ences. Our members stuck withthis process and achieved a verysatisfactory outcome.”

John’s absolutely on the money aboutwhat needs to bedone to give working peoplepower over theirown lives . . .

John McDonnell addresses TUCconference and promises actionon combatting precarious work

UK Labour to tackle ‘gig’ jobs Major SIPTUpay victory atG4S cash-in-transit

Former Clerys shop stewards from left: Alan O’Brien, John Finn and GerryMarkey join SIPTU stalwart John Crowe for his 65th birthday celebrations. Johnwas presented with a framed picture of James Connolly in recognition of hisservice to our union.

Clerys workers re-united


7TEAC News

Public Admin and Community Division News

Staff in the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland (RCSI)agreed significant pay in-creases in late August. Thenew pay agreement includesincreases of 7.5% for all unionmembers earning under€100,000 per year with an in-crease of 3% for those earningabove this amount.The agreement was negotiated

by representatives of the Irish Fed-eration of University Teachers(IFUT) and SIPTU. It has a life spanof two years and nine months witha retrospective starting date of 1stJanuary, 2018. It will conclude at

the end of September, 2020.SIPTU Organiser, Geoff McEvoy,

said: “This agreement representsthe first ‘across the board’ pay in-creases secured in the RCSI sincethe collapse of the national wageagreements in 2009. The RCSI is aprivate college and not subject tothe terms of the public sector paytalks. “That this deal was securedis a credit to our workplace repre-sentatives. Their work on theground in the course of these nego-tiations was instrumental toachieving this win for their col-leagues.”

SIPTU members' pay success in Royal College of Surgeons

SIPTU representatives fromthe Transport Sector have ad-dressed several communitymeetings during August andSeptember to discuss the im-pact of the Bus Connects pro-posals to implement majorchanges to the operation ofDublin Bus.SIPTU Sector Organiser, John

Murphy, said: “While we welcomeaspects of the overall plan drawnup by the National Transport Au-thority, which include a €2 billioninvestment in the network, movesto ease congestion and its environ-mental impact along with the fur-ther integration of public transportsystem, we also have major con-cerns.“Central to the problems we see

with the Bus Connects proposalsas they are currently configured isthe impact they will have on somelocal communities, disabled pas-sengers and the elderly.”At the community meetings,

SIPTU representatives have ad-vised people on how they can sub-mit their views and objections to

the proposals during the publicconsultation process, which con-cludes on 28th September.The concerns of the union were

also submitted to the OireachtasJoint Transport Committee whichSIPTU representatives addressedduring July.

SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Murphy,addresses a community meeting todiscuss Bus Connects in St. PeterParish Hall in Phibsboro, Dublin 7, on 3rd September.

Will Bus Connects leave passengers behind?

‘Red Card’ campaign to intensify

Aer Lingusprofit shareschemeThe claim by Aer Lingusworkers for a profit sharescheme has be considered attwo hearings of the Work-place Relations Commission(WRC), the latest in July.SIPTU Sector Organiser, Neil

McGowan, said: “The DAA isposting significant profits as a re-sult of re-structuring pro-grammes which have beenimplemented by our members. Itis now time that our memberswere provided with

Continuing progress on the docks

A campaign of protests out-side building sites to highlightreports of subcontractors fail-ing to comply with legallybinding terms and conditionsfor employees in the industrywill be stepped up this au-tumn. At the protests, trade union

members have distributed “redcards” outlining the issues asso-ciated with non-compliance inthe construction industry, in-cluding paying workers belowlegal pay rates, not contributingto pension and sickness schemes

and employing people as bogusself-employed.

SIPTU members have agreeda three-year pay deal with theGalway Harbour Companywhich will see wages increaseby 8%. The deal was reachedafter several weeks of negoti-ations and also includes im-provements in conditions

concerning rotation sched-ules and other issues.An agreement to directly em-

ploy eight new General Opera-tives forming an additional teamand allow for the development ofa newly negotiated four on fouroff roster was also secured with

MTL/Peel Ports operating inDublin harbour.SIPTU Organiser, Jerry Brennan,

said: “This new roster and the ad-ditional workers are welcomed byrest of the workforce who bal-loted in favour of it.”

The focus of the biennial confer-ence of the SIPTU Public Admin-istration and CommunityDivision will be on the key roleSIPTU members can play in re-building communities and publicservices in Ireland.Among those who will address the

two-day conference to be held in Corkon 15th and 16th October, are SIPTUGeneral Secretary Designate, Joe Cun-

ningham, Assistant General Secretaryof the Irish Congress of Trade Unions,Owen Reidy and Head of SIPTU Col-lege, Tish Gibbons.Motions to be debated include a call

for a referendum to ensure the reten-tion of water services and assets withinpublic ownership, how to counter thethreat of outsourcing and privatisationas well as closing the gender pay gap.Ending the increasingly precarious na-ture of employment for workers in the

education sector will also be discussedwhile delegates will debate a motioncalling for a national campaign to en-sure the ‘Control of Economic Activity(Occupied Territories) Bill 2018’ is en-acted into law without delay.SIPTU Public Administration and

Community Division, Adrian Kane,said: “As the economy improves thefocus of the Division is moving fromdefending our members’ terms andconditions to rebuilding the services

they provide on a daily basis. We allknow public and community serviceshave been under extreme pressure inrecent years but now we have the op-portunity to improve them in a mannerwhich promotes jobs and public ser-vices.”He added: “SIPTU members will be

crucial to any such developments andthis conference will act as a spring-board to our campaign to rebuild de-cent public and community services.”

Rebuilding communities and public services

PAC Division Organiser,Adrian Kane


8

Section 39 members defer strike actionSIPTU members in Section 39organisations deferred strikeaction scheduled for Tuesday,18th September. after accept-ing an invitation to the Work-place Relations Commission(WRC).The move comes as the Depart-

ment of Health and Health ServiceExecutive officials confirmed thatthey have a position which may re-solve the pay justice claim of Section39 workers following an interven-tion from the Minister for Health,Simon Harris.

Despite this positive progress,SIPTU representatives warned that

In early August, SIPTU repre-sentatives secured an agree-ment that proposes to endprecarious work practices forhome help workers in thecommunity sector.SIPTU Sector Organiser, Marie

Butler, told Liberty that the propos-als are another step towards secur-ing a quality home care servicewith fully qualified workers provid-ing care for people with care needswho wish to remain in their ownhome, in their own community. She said: “Among the tangible

benefits of this proposed agree-ment is that there will be a sub-stantial increase in home carehours for the most vulnerable citi-zens.”She added: “It will also see travel

time for home helps being in-cluded in their take-home pay andhours of work. It is also agreed thevaluable work performed by theseworkers will be recognised by anew and more relevant job title andthe introduction of a set of mini-mum qualifications for future in-takes of home helps.“Our members will now consider

these proposals and the opportu-nity it provides for home helps tomake the transition to becomingHealth Care Support Assistants.”Information meetings on the

new deal for home care workershave been scheduled around thecountry. The times and dates ofthese meetings can be seen onwww.siptuhealth.ie

ACTIVISTS in SIPTU’s HealthDivision will debate severalkey motions that call for anew direction on how publichealth services are deliveredat their Biennial DelegateConference (BDC) in Pairc UiChaoimh, Cork, on 4th Octo-ber SIPTU Health Division Organ-

iser, Paul Bell, said that alongsidehousing and precarious work, the

SIPTU representatives havewritten to the Minister for Fi-nance, Paschal Donohoe,seeking a meeting to discussthe outcome and implemen-tation of the first module ofthe Public Service Pay Com-mission (PSPC), which dealswith medical, nursing andmidwifery staff. Speaking to Liberty, SIPTU Health

Sector Organiser, Kevin Figgis saidSIPTU representatives presented de-tailed and robust submissions onbehalf of nurses and midwives, am-bulance professionals, radiogra-phers, radiotherapists andphlebotomists to the PSPC.“We have sought an early engage-

ment with the minister and his de-partment on a proposed pathwayfor implementing these findings,”Figgis said. “SIPTU Health Division will con-

tinue to work to advance our mem-bers’ legitimate claims for payjustice, pay restoration and pay pro-gression through the full utilisationof the provisions and mechanismsavailable within the terms of thePublic Service Agreement.” A second module that includes

other grades in the health service,including ambulance professionals,radiographers, radiotherapists andphlebotomists is expected to bepublished by the PSPC later thisyear.

funding of our health service is thenumber one concern for SIPTUmembers. “Over the last number of

months we have seen the tragicconsequences that the outsourcingof vital work has had on our healthservices. Low pay and precariouswork also mean that the chances ofmany health workers owning ahome are merely a pipedream.” He added: “Our members will be

debating how we can be more am-

the strike by workers will go aheadif an agreement can't be reached.Speaking to Liberty SIPTU Health

Division Organiser, Paul Bell, said:“It is only through the commitmentand collective efforts of our shopstewards and members that this cru-cial engagement has been made pos-sible. The decision taken by ourrepresentatives to defer strike actionwas not taken lightly and is down tothe efforts of the WRC, the IrishCongress of Trade Unions and ourmembers determination to win payjustice without impacting on theclients they care for. Strike action istemporarily deferred and not can-celled. Should the WRC engagementnot be successful, we will reactivatestrike notice with immediate effect.SIPTU members in Section 39 or-

ganisations can get updates from thetalks by downloading the SIPTUHealth App.

bitious when it comes to cam-paigning to address these vital is-sues.”CervicalCheck campaigner Vicky

Phelan, Minister for Disabilities,Finian McGrath; broadcaster andjournalist, and James Bloodworthwhose book Hired delves into theever-expanding growth of precari-ous work are among the high-profile speakers who will addressthe conference.

SIPTU to endprecarious workfor home helpworkers

SIPTU seeks meeting with minister on health professionals pay

SIPTU call for new direction on Health

SIPTU Health Division Organiser, Paul Bellwith Hired author James Bloodworth, who is to speak at the upcoming SIPTU HealthConference in Cork on precarious work

Health Division News

By Paddy

Cole

Section 39 workers Phyllis O’Callaghan, Amanda Grech and Denise Delaney with SIPTU Organiser Liz Cloherty (second fromleft), outside the Department of Health on August 10th. Photo: Jimmy Weldon


9Big Start

Activists call for minister Zappone to deliverSIPTU Organiser Dimma Van Dulmen, far right, meets with Early Years educators fromUrlingford Community Childcare in county Kilkenny and its manager Mick Kenny, far left

SIPTU has called on the De-partment of Children andYouth Affairs (DCYA) to pro-vide adequate support to thepre-school to primary schooltransition plan developed bythe National Council for Cur-riculum and Assessment(NCCA). The NCCA plan envisages the

sharing of information on approx-imately 70,000 children who movebetween pre-schools and primaryschools each year. This would in-clude the compiling of reports andvisits by Early Years educators to

LEADING economists andchildcare experts have en-dorsed views expressed in anopinion article written by BigStart Campaign co-ordinator,Darragh O’Connor, and pub-lished in the Irish Times on3rd September.O’Connor had called on the Gov-

ernment “to make a choice aboutchildcare; continue with patch-work policy making that fail every-one or make a real investment inorder to establish the childcaremodel that Ireland needs”.Following its publication, the

paper carried a number of lettersbacking the Big Start Campaign callfor investment in the Early Yearssector to provide good quality, af-

THE Government announce-ment on Wednesday, 5thSeptember, of increased fund-ing for childcare supports anda new regulatory framework isa positive move, according toBig Start Campaign co-ordina-tor, Darragh O’Connor. He said: “This announcement is

a step in the right direction to-wards ensuring that children aresafe and the quality of childcareprovided continues to increase.High quality childcare benefitschildren in terms of their cognitiveand social development. It also im-

proves their school readiness andlife outcomes.”SIPTU activist and Early Years ed-

ucator, Jessica Lee, said: “Until thelow remuneration of Early Yearseducators is addressed we will stillrightly feel we are not adequatelyrecognised and are undervalued. “We need the Minister for Chil-

dren and Youth Affairs, KatherineZappone, to make good on hercommitment to radically overhaulthe Early Years funding system andensure that educators in the sectorearn a decent wage for their invalu-able work.”

primary schools.Early Years manager and SIPTU

activist, Mick Kenny, said: “Thejourney from pre-school to pri-mary is a big step for a child. Wewelcome the plan by the NCCA tosupport this transition.“However, Early Years educators

need to be recognised for theircontribution. It is unreasonablefor the Government to ask low-paid, precariously-employed pro-fessionals, who already do unpaidwork because of the chronic under-funding of services, to take onmore unpaid work.”

Pre-school transition plan welcomed by SIPTU

fordable childcare given by ade-quately paid and motivated staff.Among those who wrote to the

Irish Times in support of the BigStart campaign were Dr. SinéadPembroke, of the think-tankTASC, Dr Tom McDonnell, a se-nior economist in the Nevin Eco-nomic Research Institute, and DrSheila Garrity, a lecturer in EarlyChildhood Studies at NUI Galway.Sheila Garrity wrote: “If signifi-

cant funding increases are notforthcoming, expect to hear moreabout increasing number of par-ents opting out of the workforce,the shortage of suitable educatorsand setting closures, all due to un-affordable fees, to poor wages,precarious working conditions,and an insolvent financial model.”

SIPTU calls on Government to invest in childcare

Commitments: Katherine Zappone

Leading economists and child-care experts came out in sup-port of the views expressed inan opinion article by Big StartCampaign co-ordinator, Dar-ragh O’Connor, which waspublished in the Irish Timeson 3rd September.In the article, O’Connor called

on the Government “to make achoice about childcare; continuewith patchwork policy making thatfails everyone or make a real in-vestment in order to establish thechildcare model that Ireland

needs”.Following the publication of the

article, the newspaper published anumber of letters supporting thedemand of the Big Start Campaignfor investment to create an EarlyYears sector which provides goodquality childcare, at an affordableprice for parents, with adequatelypaid and well-motivated staff.Among those who wrote letters

supporting the aims of the BigStart campaign were Dr. SineadPembroke of the think-tank TASC,Dr Tom McDonnell, a senioreconomist in the

Nevin Economic Research Insti-tute, and Dr Sheila Garrity, a lec-turer in EarlyChildhood Studies at NUI Gal-

way.Darragh O’Connor said; “If sig-

nificant funding increases are notforthcoming, expect to hear moreabout increasing number of par-ents opting out of the workforce,the shortage of suitable educatorsand setting closures, all due to un-affordable fees, to poor wages, pre-carious working conditions, and aninsolvent financial model.”

Big Start article in Irish Times sparks debate


10 Budget 2019

It’s high time wecut through allthe talk about‘prudence’ and...address majorissues in the areas of housing, childcare and health

By Marie

Sherlock

PICTURE: RollingNews.ie

Don’t believe the hype on Budget dayDESPITE all the talk of prudence and the need to becautious, expect to see plentyof banners on Budget day proclaiming the €3.9bn budget for 2019.The key issue is that there is

very little in this Budget – approx-imately €800m – that has not al-ready been committed. To put in context, this equates to

less than 0.4% of expected outputin Ireland in 2019. Expect to see some small in-

crease in social welfare rates, fuelallowance and the state pension, asmall increase in the AffordableChildcare Scheme and some addi-tional boost to housing. Last July,the Low Pay Commission recom-mended a pay increase to €9.80for 2019 so we expect that to fea-ture in the budget speech.On the tax side, the lifting of the

9% VAT rate of some parts of thehospitality sector will generate in-come to allow the Government toincrease the standard rate thresh-old from €34,550; the point atwhich a worker pays the higher taxrate of 40%. The long promisedprocess of merging USC and PRSImay well commence and, if not,USC is likely to be further reduced. Last year’s budget announced in-

come tax changes worth €333m.Expect to see changes costingmarginally less in Budget 2019. Ultimately, the elephant in the

room in Budget 2019 is the €900min fiscal space available, that theGovernment is choosing not tospend in order to further reduceIreland’s negligible general govern-ment deficit. In effect, the debate about Bud-

get 2019 pits those who worryabout the long-term economic andsocial impact of failing to investnow versus those whose onlyfocus is the here and now. For many of us in the trade

union movement, we realise thelong-term economic and social im-pact of a range of issues – failingto build a sufficient number ofhouses and the implications of toolittle funding of childcare supportson mothers’ wages. Also workplaceopportunity, pension income andthe wider issue of pensions for allif there are not enough women atwork. For those who work in the

health service and for all of us whoat some stage in our lives or ourfamily’s lives depend on thehealth service, we realise that thecurrent system of excessive wait-

ing lists and delays in affordableaccess to GP services imposes agreater long-term cost on thehealth system. For the ‘here and now’ brigade,

in the face of such uncertaintyabout Brexit, Trump and future in-ternational tax changes, it is logicalto maintain a very conservative ap-proach to the public finances.The Department of Finance and

the Fiscal Advisory Council arguethat ‘primary’ government spend-ing (not including debt servicingpayments) has increased at thesame pace as tax revenues since

2015. This is what ‘prudent’ man-agement of the public finances isabout – increasing spending at thesame rate as tax revenues. How-ever, the exit of a major multina-tional in the wake of Brexit, forexample, or Trump or interna-tional tax changes would dent ourcorporate tax revenues. This latter approach is severely

short-sighted. This ‘steady state’economic policy that MinisterDonohoe and others promote as-sumes that, outside of infrastruc-tural provision, our existing levelsof public spending are sufficient.

We know that in many sectors it isnot. Even more alarming aboutthe ‘steady state’ perspective isthat it allows no room to talkabout significant increases in fu-ture demand. This is of particularconcern with regard to futurehealth demand, pension provisionand childcare. This isn’t a generalised argu-

ment to increase funding for allareas of public spending. No, it isabout ensuring that we have afunding model in health, in child-care and in other sectors that issufficient to meet unmet demand.

And we know that structuralchanges to public service provisioncosts money. However, we alsoknow from other EU member statehealth systems, that greatly ex-panded access to healthcare neednot cost a lot more over the longterm compared with what Irelandis currently spending.Over the past 24 months, one of

the key recommendations from theEU Commission and the OECD toour Government has been that theyneed to do more about “social in-clusion.” These recommendations were

not motivated by any deep-seatedsense of social justice, rather theseinternational organisations havedrawn the link between publicspending and the long-termprospects of an economy. It’s high time we cut through all

the talk about “prudence” andhighlight that the truly prudentand long-term, cost-effective way ofmanaging the public finances is ad-dress these major issues in theareas of housing, childcare andhealth. Because when the down-turn comes, ní hé lá na gaoithe lána scolb.

BUDGET 2019 what to expect on 9th October• €1.5bn in capital expenditure already announced in the 10-year National Development Plan launched in spring 2018.

• €400m for the public sector pay bill agreed under the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

• €400m for “demographics” – the increased cost to the public services for additional children in the education system, older people in our health system and more recipients of state pension etc.

• €300m in carryover costs – initiatives commenced in 2017 but full year payment is in 2018.

• €500m to a ‘rainy day fund’. This is the brainchild of the current government designed to allocate monies away from public spendingover the short-term and fund increased socialwelfare and other government spending at atime of a downturn in the economy. This planmay appear prudent at first glance but isdeeply flawed. It is a grossly inefficientallocation of state resources as near zerointerest rates means the Irish State willgenerate a zero return when it could otherwise be more productively invested.

• €800m remains to be divided out between childcare, education, health and social welfare and all the other

areas of government spending.

Minister for Public Expenditure and ReformPaschal Donohoe on Budget day last year


11Budget 2019

By Michael

Taft

Same old story behind the budgetTHERE will be a lot of debateabout tax and spendingchanges in the run-up to thebudget but they will onlymake up a fraction of the over-all package. This is not to dismiss the impor-

tance of such changes, but merelyto keep it in proportion. We needto uncover the story behind thebudget and where the Governmentintends to take us in the next fewyears. And the destination theyhave in mind is not a place con-ducive to prosperity, equality orsustainable growth.As pointed out in the last issue

of Liberty, the Government’s ownprojections show they will in-crease public investment but payfor it by squeezing expenditure onpublic services such as health andeducation. Further, they project that social

protection payments will besqueezed as well. Given that pen-sions will be increasing, this willleave little scope for enhancingsupports for workers – family ben-efits, illness and injury benefits,temporary unemployment sup-ports, etc.Against this, the Government

has scope for increasing spendingover the next three years by €6 bil-lion within the EU Fiscal Rules butthey refuse to avail of it. Theyclaim that it would be ‘dangerous’to adhere to these rules (only a fewyears ago they were telling us itwould be dangerous not to) andthat it would lead to over-heatingand spiralling debt. None of this stands up. Debt is

not reduced by curtailing spend-ing; it is reduced by growing theeconomy. And withholding invest-ment will undermine that growth. Take housing, for instance – the

shortage of which is far more dan-gerous to the economy than over-heating. Failure to build houseswill only degrade living standardsand limit the ability to attract for-eign investment. People will haveto spend more and more on rentsand mortgage payments, whichmeans less spending in the pro-ductive economy.Meanwhile, in the workplace and

market economy, Ireland suffersfrom one of the highest levels ofwage inequality in our EU peer-group (other high-income coun-tries such as the Netherlands,Denmark and Germany) and oneof the lowest levels of average pay. A major contributor to this dis-

mal state is employers’ refusal tobargain collectively and the Gov-ernment’s indifference to workers’rights. The Government’s claimthat they have “learned the lessons”from the crash hardly stands up ei-ther. Before the crash, there was anover-reliance on construction andproperty speculation. Today we havean over-reliance on a handful ofmultinationals (just 20 multinationalcompanies pay half of all corporatetax – a dangerous concentration). Before the crash we had a spate

of privatisations and that is contin-uing. The Government intends toprivatise AIB. Its new defined-con-tribution pension framework po-tentially privatises the risk ofretirement income (that is, put therisk on workers rather than social-ising it through the social insur-ance system). And they also seemdetermined to prop up a failed pri-vate-sector model of childcare.It is clear that the Government

will continue its tax-cuttingagenda, reinforcing our ‘smallstate’ model – one of the sources

next recession than we are to thelast. This may seem a bit dramatic(but who knows what awaits us onthe other side of Brexit, Trumptrade wars, rising interest ratesand new corporate tax changes).However, we don’t need to fall intorecession. Years of low growth andstagnation will impact in a similarnegative and destructive way.During the last recession and ac-

companying austerity programme,the trade union movement andprogressives in general were di-vided in their analyses and re-sponses. We can’t afford to allowthat to happen again. We need aconsensus around a new economicframework that is rooted in theproductive economy, a strong so-cial state, workers’ rights, equality,and climate change initiatives. This time must be different.

Otherwise, we will be doomed torepeat history – again and again.

This time must

be different.

Otherwise, we

will be doomed

to repeat history –

again and again.

... Government will continue its tax-cuttingagenda, reinforcingour ‘small state’model – one of the sources of ourboom-and-bust economic cycles

of Ireland’s boom-and-bust eco-nomic cycles.The story behind the Govern-

ment’s budget, whatever the de-tails, entails an intensification ofall these downsides: suppressedpublic services and in-work bene-

fits, inequality, minimal workers’rights, privatisation, the lack ofpublic provision and the instabil-ity that comes with a low tax-and-spend economy. The Department of Finance has

admitted that we are closer to the

Facing the facts on housingcrisis: activists wearinghousing minister EoghanMurphy masks at a protestin Dublin last month

Mirroring pre-2008 privatisations,the Government signals intentionto sell off AIB PICTURES: RollingNews.ie


12 Economy

An Taoiseach has said he doesn’t want to go back to‘boom and bust’

The working, if tenuous, assumption is that ... a deal [will be done] to avoid a hard Brexit.That’s still probablythe most likely outcome, but odds are lengthening all the time

By Vic

Duggan

Salad days are over, winter is comingSURE as night follows day,and winter follows autumn,the economic cycle will ebband flow.Right now, the Irish economy is

enjoying something of an Indiansummer: strong growth, recordemployment, rising wages, low in-flation and low interest rates. Andthe good times have a while to runyet.That’s far from saying that every-

one is living on the pig’s back, asanyone facing the sharp end of thehealth or housing crises can attest.But the economy is at cruising

speed and unlikely to soar higher.At least not safely.Maybe not today. Maybe not to-

morrow. But winter is coming.Ireland is highly dependent on

trade and, more than most Euro-pean countries, closely linked tothe US and UK economies in termsof destinations for exports andsources of investment. Turbo-charged by massive and ir-

responsible tax cuts, the US isprobably beyond its cruisingspeed, but is set to slow next yearas the impact of fiscal stimulusfades. Already, this is one of thelongest economic expansions inmodern American history, even ifit did come after one of its deepestrecessions. Odds are high and ris-ing that the US experiences an out-right recession before their nextPresidential election in 2020. On top of an economic slow-

down is the risk that increased UStrade protectionism weighs furtheron Irish exports, while their recenttax reforms are at best likely toslow future US Foreign Direct Involvement (FDI) inflows to Ireland, and at worst lead to a reversal. It’s an economic maxim that

when the US sneezes, the worldcatches a cold and Ireland is in thefrontline.The working, if tenuous, as-

sumption is that the EU, Irelandand the UK will come to theirsenses and do a deal to avoid ahard Brexit early in 2019. That’sstill probably the most likely out-come, but the odds are lengthen-ing all the time. We shouldn’tforget that the working assump-tion among most pundits back in2016 was that the UK would voteto remain in the EU. Ireland’s economy is the most

exposed to the Brexit downside,more so even than the UK itself,even in a best-case, soft Brexit sce-nario. A hard Brexit would makethe pain an order of magnitudeworse, and an Irish recession prob-

be running a budget surplus. Manyon the left will have felt that thisis simply a voice of the conserva-tive establishment trying to warnthe Government off investing whatis needed to tackle the housing cri-sis and improve the health service.In fact, it is common-sense Key-

nesian economics: a far cry from

the calamitous ‘if I have it, I spendit’ approach in the years precedingthe crisis. As things stand, the Gov-ernment is aiming for a -0.1% bud-get deficit in 2019, having pushedback by a year to 2020 the targetdate for balancing the books. Inthe world of forecasting economicgrowth and budgets, a tenth of apercent is negligible, a roundingerror. So, calling for a surplus isjust semantics and signaling.There was a strong Keynesian

economic argument for a slowerbudget adjustment than that Ire-land endured as a ward of theTroika. That was because the econ-omy was on the floor and in des-perate need of investment. By the same Keynesian logic,

however, now is the time to be, ifnot running a surplus, at least min-

imizing the deficit so that the debtburden falls. This means that wewill have a bigger buffer to spend,invest and support the economywhen the next recession hits.The point is this: there is noth-

ing inherently left wing about run-ning a budget deficit, no more thanthere is anything left wing aboutprinting money to finance it as inWeimar Germany or BolivarianVenezuela. It matters how andwhen governments spend and in-vest, and how it is financed.None of this is to say that Budget

2019 shouldn’t include vastly in-creased investment in social hous-ing, for example, or a meaningfuldown-payment on implementingSláintecare. These are politicalchoices well within the means ofour government, with just anounce of imagination and clarity ofpurpose. So-called ‘fiscal space’ is nothing

but a mental straitjacket. Forstarters, an extra billion euro ayear could be found by ending thespecial subsidy VAT rate for thehospitality sector (€527m), equal-ising excise on petrol and diesel(€328m) and hiking the carbon taxby €5 to €25 a ton (€125m).That’s enough to build an extra5,000 social houses every year ontop of what the Government is al-ready planning. Enough to put aserious dent in the housing crisiswhile at the same time acquiringassets that will generate revenuesinto the future. An Taoiseach has said he doesn’t

want to go back to ‘boom andbust’, unconsciously echoing thehubris of then UK Prime MinisterGordon Brown on the eve of theglobal financial crisis. Varadkar canno more hold back the economictide than could Brown. People are right to say that now

is not the time to increase the bud-get deficit. But that shouldn’t beused as a mealy-mouthed excuse toavoid the investment our societyneeds.

ably inevitable. And it is indige-nous enterprise rather than themultinational sector that will bearthe brunt.Why all the doom and gloom?Central Bank Governor Philip

Lane came in for a lot of flak forsaying recently that at this stage ofthe economic cycle, Ireland should

Nothing to sneeze at: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar withPresident Trump, a dyed-in-the-wool protectionist

Central Bank GovernorPhilip Lane

An extra billion, found from equalising fuel duty, increasing carbon taxes and ending thehospitality sector VAT subsidy, could build an extra 5,000 social houses each year...

PICTURES: RollingNews.ie

PICTURE: TaxRebate.org.uk (CC BY 2.0)


13Liberty View

Liberty View

It is no exaggeration to say thatthe housing crisis is damaging thelives of hundreds of thousands ofpeople and their families. As withany crisis it is working people,those on low and average incomeswho suffer the most. Buying yourown home is now beyond reach fora generation of young people. Theshortage of public, social andaffordable housing means that tensof thousands are forced into therental sector. Rents are increasing,as landlords take advantage of thesupply shortage despite thegovernment cap in some parts ofthe country. Young workers andstudents find it almost impossibleto find decent accommodation ataffordable prices. Families areforced into homelessness becauserents are too high or because theycannot meet their mortgagerepayments due to financialdifficulty. They are then forced intounsuitable accommodation inhotels or emergency hubs. Ageneration of children will grow upwithout knowing what a normalhome is like.

The housing crisis is a perfectstorm. Unlike natural disasters suchas hurricanes and earthquakes,however, it is one that wasforeseeable and avoidable. It canalso be fixed if there is the politicalwill to tackle the vested intereststhat benefit from this state of

affairs. That requires theGovernment, in particular, torecognise the scale of the crisis andto accept that property developers,builders and private landlords,whose primary motivation is tomake profit, will not resolve it.

The current estimates of housingneed are restricted to the numbersof households that qualify for socialhousing. This currently amounts to85,799 households on localauthority lists. This, however, doesnot include tenants who are in theprivate rental sector in receipt ofsocial housing supports like theHousing Assistance Payment (HAP)and the Rental AccommodationScheme (RAS). The HAP and RASschemes are also very poor valuefor money as the State is handingover almost €750 million a year toprivate landlords. They also deepenthe rental and housing crisis byadding to demand rather thansupply. The housing crisis is a crisisof supply, but it is the lack of socialand affordable supply that is at itsheart.

These tenants do not havesecurity of tenure, as they can beevicted by landlords with littlenotice and are therefore still inhousing need. The official figuresdo not include homelesshouseholds, those in directprovision, in domestic violencerefuges, who are all clearly inhousing need.

There are approximately 35,000home owners over 360 days inarrears on their mortgage, and whoare also clearly in distress. The realsocial housing need extends tosome 185,505 households, overdouble current estimates. Thisdemonstrates the real scale of thecrisis. If the Government isunderestimating the real scale ofthe problem it is clearly going to beineffective in meeting the actuallevel of housing need.

The latest proposal fromgovernment for a LandDevelopment Agency (LDA)demonstrates clearly that theGovernment, and Fine Gael inparticular, is still wedded to thefalse belief that the private sectorcan deliver the affordable, qualityand secure housing to which everycitizen is entitled.

While it claims that the LDA willdeliver 150,000 new homes over20 years, it concedes that none willcompleted before 2020. Theproposal also involves the Statehanding over public land to privatedevelopers who will then beexpected to deliver ‘up to’ 30%social and affordable housing oneach project. The cost of theaffordable homes will beunattainable for many as wages andsalaries struggle to keep up withproperty costs.

Over the past decade the Statethrough the National AssetManagement Agency has sold landson which over 50,000 social andaffordable homes could have beenbuilt. Much of these lands remainsidle as their private owners wait forprices to increase before they buildon them or sell. Receivers handlingNAMA controlled propertiescontinue to sell land to the highestbidder instead of releasing them tomeet public demand.

There is increasing acceptance,including by the State’s ownresearch bodies that a core solutionto the housing crisis is for the Stateto build more social and affordablehousing in the form of new publichousing in well planned, mixedincome communities. This can beachieved through cost rental andother forms of social and affordableprovision delivered and managedby local authorities, co-operativesand a new housing agency andincluding the use of compulsorypurchase orders to take over vacantbuildings and sites.

A new alliance comprising thetrade union movement, women’sorganisations, students and thehousing and homeless agencieshave come together to demandradical action to address the crisis.A ‘Raise the Roof’ rally in support ofa Dáil motion calling for such a

programme for the construction ofquality affordable public housing,to prevent evictions and toenshrine the right to housing in theConstitution, will be held atLeinster House on Wednesday 3rdOctober. It is essential that apowerful message is delivered tothose in power who continue to putprivate interests before the publicgood in the delivery of homes.

Raise the Roof on 3rd October

If the Government is underestimating thereal scale of theproblem it is clearlygoing to be ineffectivein meeting the actuallevel of housing need

It is essential that apowerful message isdelivered to those inpower who continue toput private interestsbefore the public goodin the delivery of homes


14 Brexit

More and moreunions are now seeking and demanding that the British people get the right to afinal vote on theBrexit proposals

We have a duty to ensure that whatever the outcome of theseBrexit talks we maintain the integrity, spirit andintention of the[Good Friday]agreement

By Owen

Reidy

AS WE edge closer to thedeadline of the October meet-ing of the EU Council for adeal on the withdrawal of theUK from the EU, tensions arequite understandably rising. It remains to be seen whether an

agreement can be reached orwhether the process will limp onbeyond the council meeting intoNovember and beyond. The UK parliament will go into

recess shortly to allow for the con-ference season. It is doubtfulwhether Theresa May’s convolutedattempt at putting together a co-herent proposal to negotiate withthe EU (the Chequers proposals)will survive the Tory conference. It is not just the hardcore oppo-

sition of the ideologically-drivenBrexiteers, even some Remain ToryMPs believe it is already dead. Itwould seem very unlikely that itwould receive the majority backingof the House of Commons. What isof greater concern it that it seemsimpossible to see any proposal atall which would command the sup-port of a finely-balanced House ofCommons in near future.The Chequers White Paper falls

well short of what the trade unionmovement across these islandswould like to see, (and rememberboth the ICTU and TUC cam-paigned vigorously and vocifer-ously against Brexit and wouldagain). However, it was neverthe-less an attempt at a softer Brexitwhile also seeking to square theimpossible circle on a range ofmatters including the border, anindependent trade policy etc.I represented the ICTU at the

TUC conference in Manchester on10th September as the Britishtrade union movement gatheredtogether to debate key policies forthe future and also to celebrate its150th anniversary. The motions on Brexit were

telling. More and more unions arenow seeking and demanding thatthe British people get the right toa final vote on the Brexit propos-als. The GMB is the latest union tosupport this call which makes per-fect sense, particularly as the po-tential for securing a majority inthe UK parliament for any deal isvery unlikely. Closer to home it isclear that Brexit, while not being

the main impediment to a restora-tion of devolution and a power-sharing government in NorthernIreland, has clearly made an al-ready difficult task doubly so. Despite some rhetoric it is clear

that the DUP will support TheresaMay’s Chequers proposal and anyproposal (even if it delivers a softBrexit) as long it doesn’t create anyborder within the UK in the IrishSea. Despite Sinn Féin being on the

opposite side of the Brexit debateto the DUP, it also realises that aborder in the Irish Sea in the con-text of Brexit is not preferable.The Irish trade union move-

land, Strand 2 reflecting relation-ships north/south and Strand 3east/west. The text and the spirit of the

agreement underpinned the plu-rality and diversity of identity andsupported the concept of parity ofesteem between Irish and British.Crucially, if you re-read the agree-ment now, it clearly presupposesthat both sponsoring governments,i.e. the Republic of Ireland and theUK government, would be and re-main members of the EU. We all have a duty to ensure that

whatever the outcome of theseBrexit talks we maintain the in-tegrity, spirit and intention of thisfinely-balanced international agree-ment.

ment, supported by our colleaguesin the TUC in England, Scotlandand Wales have made it clear to theEU, the Irish and British govern-ments that resulting from Brexitwe cannot have:

l A hardening of the border onthe island of Ireland;

l A border within the UK be-tween Northern Ireland and Britain;and

l An economic border east andwest between these islands.We have adopted this position

because these three elements areessential to protect jobs, workersand decent conditions in Derryand Dublin, Ballina and Belfast. As

an all-island movement we areobliged to appreciate this.Another potential casualty of a

hard and chaotic Brexit is theBelfast Agreement (more com-monly referred to as the Good Fri-day Agreement). This agreement, which is 20

years old this year, represents theconstitutional settlement on theisland of Ireland having been en-dorsed by the people in a referen-dum across the island in bothpolitical jurisdictions. The beauty of this agreement is

that it reflects the totality of therelationships on and betweenthese islands – Strand 1 focusingon relationships within and be-tween the people of Northern Ire-

We are one trade union move-ment on the island of Irelandwhich respects the plurality anddiversity of our identities, andshares an outward looking per-spective with the Welsh, Englishand Scottish Congresses. Wepresently have both an opportu-nity and an obligation to protectand strengthen the integrity ofthese relationships along the threestrands outlined in the agreement,irrespective of the outcome ofBrexit.Owen Reidy is the Assistant

General Secreatry of ICTU.

In reading the Good Friday Agreement,it’s clear the British and Irish governmentsof the time pre-supposed they would bothremain within the European Union

Meeting of hands if not of minds:Theresa May and Leo Varadkar

Trade Union Solidarity in Face of Brexit


15Brexit

Whether it will be afree trade deal, aregulation and tradedeal or no deal, allroads leads to border checks –question is whattype?

By Marie

Sherlock

PICTURES: RollingNews.ie; Lars Lanstrom (CC BY 2.0)

After Brexit... Partition on steroidsIF BRITAIN crashes out of the EU,the Irish Government will be re-luctantly forced to erect borderchecks to remain a member of theEuropean Single Market and EUCustoms Union.If Britain agrees a free trade

agreement with the EU, borderchecks will still be required as theUK is refusing to sign up to full reg-ulatory alignment with the EU. Either which way the prospects

are bleak for a no land bordercheck scenario on the island of Ire-land. Despite strong support bythe member states towards Ire-land’s terrible predicament arisingfrom Brexit, the current or futureIrish Government will face a choicebetween a no hard border scenarioor maintaining full membership ofthe EU with all its associated rulesand advantages.An alternative to a hard border

will only happen in one of twoways. In the North, the DUP wouldhave to blink first and concedethat Northern Ireland should havespecial EU protected status. In thatinstance, Northern Ireland wouldremain a EU member when therest of the UK would not. The al-ternative is that UK will remain inthe EU but it is hard to imagine ei-ther scenario being realised. Best case scenario: we are just 15

months away from when the UKfully exits the European Union.Worse case: this will happen inMarch 2019.Where did it all go wrong? The

original plan was that negotiatorswould be about to conclude thesecond phase of the exit talksaround now in time for October’ssummit of EU leaders. On March1st, the UK would enter a newtransition period with the clockticking towards December 2020,the end of the transition agree-ment.Sadly, the current mess means

that the first phase remains unre-solved – the British governmenthas backslided from the ‘backstop’– the promise that there would beno hard border whether not therewas a Brexit agreement.And the second phase is in tat-

ters. The so-called ‘Chequers pro-posal’ agreed in May by the UKcabinet was the UK contribution to

the second round; the round thatwould set out the parameters for aEU-UK trade agreement in advanceof the technical detail beingworked out. EU negotiators rightly

highlight that there can be nocherry picking. There are sugges-tions now of a CETA-like deal –Canadian Europe Trade Agree-ment. More will be known at a cru-

cial informal meeting of EU foreignministers in Salzberg next month.Whether it will be a free trade

deal, a regulation and trade deal orno deal, all roads leads to borderchecks. The question is what type? The best we can hope for is that

it will be a low friction border. TheSwedish-Norwegian border is con-sidered to be the most advanced inthe world. Despite extensive use oftechnology, a common legal frame-work for border operations, plusan economic area agreement whichsees Norway mirror EU regulatorystandards for goods, both coun-

tries require a pre-arrival declara-

tion at least one hour prior to ar-

rival at one of the 14 border posts

between the two countries.

Some products can cross un-

manned border crossing but they

too are subject to pre-arrival decla-

rations and additional special con-

ditions. This is the product of six

decades of customs cooperation

between both countries.

The current free-flow of traffic to Northern Ireland is under major threat – prospects look bleakfor a no land border solution. It has taken Norway and Sweden, below, decades to work out asolution and still both countries require pre-arrival declarations of at least an hour...

County Louth politicians, GerryAdams TD of Sinn Féin and Senator Ged Nash of the LabourParty are among the speakers at aseminar on Brexit organised by the SIPTU Manufacturing Divisionwhich will take place in Dundalkon Tuesday 18th and Wednesday19th September.

A senior official at the Departmentof Foreign Affairs, Orla Keane, andeconomists, Paul McFlynn of NERIand Marie Sherlock of SIPTU willalso address the two day seminarto which trade unionists fromacross the island and the UK havebeen invited.

Commemorating All DeceasedDublin Dock Workers

Saturday, 29th September at 6.45 p.m.Meeting at the Sean O’Casey Centre, East Wall.

To be led by a lone piper to St. Joseph’s Church where at 7.15pma ceremony of reflection and music will commemorate all dece

ased dock workers. This will be followed by tea, sandwiches and music fromPaul O’Brien in the Sean O’Casey Centre.

Sponsored by the Dublin Port company and organised by the Dublin Dock Workers’Preservation Society and the East Wall History Group.

16 Housing CrisisLibertySEPTEMBER 2018

• MEMBERS IN FURTHER EDUCATION• SECOND-LEVEL AWARDS FOR MEMBERS AND FOR MEMBERS’ CHILDREN• GAELTACHT AWARDS FOR MEMBERS’ CHILDREN

EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENTSUPPORT SCHEME

SIPTU


CLOSING DATE FOR RECEIPT

OF COMPLETED APPLICATIONS

30TH SEPTEMBER, 2018

(FOR AWARDS 2018/2019)


A member, applying on his/her own behalf or on behalf of his/her child/children, must have at least one year’s membership of the Union and be in benefit when both the application and the payments are made.

For young workers buying a house is a pipe dream...THERE has been a lot of hype

in recent years about whatyoung workers want. But be-hind all of this, we know thateach worker, whatever theirage, requires the basic dignityand decency of having a per-manent roof over their heads. And nowhere are the problems

associated with precariousnessand low paid work more evidentthan in the area of housing andthe capacity to access affordablehousing with certainty of tenureand price, particularly in the mainurban areas in Ireland today. Over three decades ago back in

1986, a young worker aged be-tween 25 and 29 earning averagewages for his or her age cohort wasfacing house values worth 4.7times their annual income. Thirty-one years on, that ratio hasjumped to 11.1. It is no surprise then that 45% of

all 25-29 year olds owned theirhouse back in 1991 – fast forwardto 2016 and that share has plum-meted to 12%. The situation forthose aged 30-35 is not much bet-ter – 50% owning their house in1991 and the share drops to 32% in2016.For today’s average young

worker, the prospect of being ableto buy a house with their own re-sources anytime soon is remote.For young workers in precariousjobs, that prospect is even moredistant, the difficulties of afford-ability compounded by a set ofrules that require consistency ofincome. And those prospects become

even more remote as house pricescontinue to far outpace the in-crease in real wages. House pricesare increasing at almost five timesthe rate of wages in this country

and we can only assume that thisratio is getting worse with eachpassing year.For a lucky 25% of first-time

buyers, the impossible becomespossible with the help of a giftfrom parents to help with theirmortgage deposit. No official dataon housing down payments isavailable but we know from 2017statistics by the Central Bank thatin 2014 almost one quarter offirst-time homebuyers had an in-heritance.

For the remaining 75%, thosethat are on low or average wages,the future in terms of their hous-ing needs is bleak. Currently, theaverage worker spends just over50% of their disposable income onprivate rent for a one-bed apart-ment in Dublin, with little or noscope of being able to save for adeposit. Research from the UK’s Social

Market Foundation confirms thatparents from lower income fami-lies as well as higher income fam-

ilies make cash transfers to chil-dren. The main difference wasthat, on average, lower incomehousehold transferred cash forevery day consumption, whereashigher income families trans-ferred money for strategicallyplanned life events such as thepurchase of a house. In effect, older higher income

generations helping younger gen-erations to buy assets or capitalfurther reproduces inequality between generations.

By Marie

Sherlock

For today’s average youngworker, theprospect of beingable to buy ahouse with theirown resourcesanytime soon isremote


17Housing Crisis

I came back from living inChicago in 2014, where I hadworked since 2012 in thecommunity sector. I grew upin Blanchardstown in Dublinand prior to going to theStates had rented inMaynooth in county Kildare.The conditions of the rentalaccommodation were notgreat but the rent was afford-able.Since coming home I have

been mainly living in rented ac-commodation in the NorthInner City. In 2014 the rentswere beginning to go up, I re-member looking for a room inshared accommodation and therents were about €300 up to€400. I felt at that time it wasexpensive because we were rel-atively low paid. I was a youthworker. There was mould anddamp in the accommodationbut after a time this was fixed

and the rent was doable.Rents began to spiral about

two years ago. You started hear-ing about people paying €600-€700 for a room in a houseshare people having to pay€400 to share a room. Peoplelike my sister, who is workingtwo jobs on precarious con-tracts, cannot now afford toleave home. My brother alsojust could not find a place hecould afford to rent. The major-ity of people I knew who wereunder 35 were struggling to findanywhere to live.I now teach students and you

hear of more and more havingto defer courses because theycan’t find somewhere to live.The new student accommoda-tion being built around the cityis €1200 a month on ninemonth leases. People just can-not afford them. They are justfuelling price rises.Sometime ago I became in-

volved in a local housing group

in Dublin Central. This is be-cause myself and others feltthat we were being badly af-fected by the housing crisis. Weneeded to organise to supportone another because the situa-tion was just getting worse. Sowe set up tenant supportgroups which provide advice onrights. We also campaign tofocus attention on the govern-ment, banks, letting agents andlandlords who are damaging ourprospects of a secure home withfair rent.

I live in a rural area ofcounty Galway called Co-rofin. I work as aplayschool leader. My hous-ing situation is that I live athome. I started working inchildcare in 2007 and as akind of stop gap I movedinto my family home butmy plan to move out andrent never happened. Thisis because the cost of rentis just out of my reach atthe moment and, as forowning my own home, thatis just a distant aspiration. It is something that might

happen if I win the Lotto. Idon’t know how I can have a

home of my own unless there issome kind of solution to thehousing crisis such as rent con-trols or some major change tohow housing is provided.Living at home is not the

worst but it would be prefer-able, when you’re in your 30s,to live out of home. The crisiswith rents means that currentlyit is just out of reach for me. Inmy locality rents would beabout €800 for a small houseand there really isn’t much ac-commodation for single people.Not living independently

does have an impact on yoursense of self, relying on some-one else for your housing. You

are supposed to be a grown up,an adult minding yourself.Among people I know who arerenting, there is also this con-stant sense of a lack of securitybecause it is not a renters’ mar-ket, it is landlords’ market. Yourhome security depends on hownice of alandlord you have oryou’re just constantly indebtedto the older generation of yourfamily.

Debbie Reynolds SIPTU memberEarly Years educator in Galway

Seamus Farrell SIPTU memberPostgraduate in media studies in Dublin City University

Students from NUIG andGMIT organised an eye-catch-ing protest on the accommo-dation crisis in Galway onTuesday 11th September. The‘Crisis Campout’ was organ-ised in co-operation withOne Movement Galway, acoalition of trade unions,students’ unions, and othercommunity groups.“We’ve nearly lost students this

year because of the lack of stu-dent accommodation and it’s theever increasing cost in Galwaycity” said Aaron Burke, Presidentof the GMIT Students’ Union.Both student unions have con-

demned the rise of ‘luxury’ stu-dent accommodation with‘extortionate’ rents that are driv-ing students further and furtherfrom Galway city to find afford-able accommodation“There’s next to no regulation

around AirBnB, which allows a lotof properties lie vacant” saidMegan Reilly, President of theNUIG Students’ Union. “It putsfurther strain on the property

market around the city. Andthere’s the quality of accommoda-tion and issues around inspec-tions. It’s a very broad campaign.”“There needs to be more social

housing built as well as well asmore purpose-built student ac-commodation which can takepressure off the private marketwhich in turn can help more fam-ilies get accommodation,” sheadded.The Crisis Campout was fol-

lowed by the ONE GALWAY ac-commodation workshop thefollowing day in Monroes Tavernin the city when students joinedcommunity groups who deal withthe fallout from the housing crisison a daily basis. They includedThreshold, Cope Pieta House,Simon Community, Youth WorkIreland, LGBT, MABS and others.Those who attended signed a

petition calling for more studentand public housing to ease the cri-sis in the city, a demand for in-creased inspections and higherpenalties for failure to complywith housing regulations.

Students and ONE Galway in housingprotest

John Lenihan, is a SIPTUshop steward working inBorgwarner in Tralee. Johnowns his own house whichhe built in 2003. However, hefears for a future where ei-ther of his two daughters,both in their early twenties,may not have a place of theirown.He spoke to Liberty about his

concerns on the housing crisisand how it is having wide reach-ing consequences across the State.“My eldest daughter moved

back home recently from Dublin.

Despite doing everything right,like getting a good education inUniversity College Cork, securinga good job in Dublin she could notkeep up with the cost of rent. Sheshould have been at a stage in lifewhere she was reaching somemodest level of comfort, but thecost of rent is so high she had tolive in an apartment that was wellbelow standard. She would sendus videos that showed, whenthere was heavy rain outside,water would leak through theroof. Eventually she had to throwher hat at it and come home. Shehad no option.”

He told Liberty that the housingcrisis is not just confined toDublin and that he has seen theeffect spiraling rents in his nativecounty of Kerry are having onworkers, including migrant work-ers.

John Lenihan SIPTU shop steward Tralee

Photo: Students from NUIG SU, GMITSU, St. Angela’s SU with a number of SIPTUrepresentatives and Mayor of Galway Niall Mc Neilis

Photo left to right: Barry Clohessy, USI BMW Officer, Clare Austick NUIGSU Wel-fare Officer, Eoin Walker, NUIG Student and Mollie Fairclough, NUIG Student.

How to create a successful AuthorityFor this Authority to be a success

it is vital that the trade unionmovement is involved in its set-ting-up, running and oversight. Itmust not undermine national sys-tems of enforcement and inspec-tion. To do this it needs to be anindependent and sufficiently well-funded organisation and the planis that by the middle of 2019 it willbe operational with a staff of 100and a budget of €50 million.The Authority will help workers

get information on their rights,mediate in cross-border disputesand support co-operation acrossEurope on laws and inspections.Discussion is ongoing on whetherits role should be supportive, oper-ational or mandatory. In the shortto medium term an operationalrole is most likely, given thatmandatory powers would requireTreaty changes, for which manymember states are not yet ready

The benefits of situating the new Authority in IrelandThere are definite advantages in

locating the Authority in Ireland.Apart from being an English-speak-ing country, we have a strong his-tory of trade unionism working forthe protection of workers’ rights. Many of our trade unions serve

members in both the north andthe south of the island. With30,000 people crossing the borderdaily for work, and with the Northpossibly beyond the jurisdiction ofthe European Court of Justice, an


18 Comment

If the trade unionmovement is fullyinvolved in the design and operation of thenew EuropeanLabour Authoritythen it has the potential to be auseful tool in protecting and enhancing workers’ rights

Irish case for new EU Labour AuthorityWhy is Europe settingup this Authority now?The announcement that the Eu-

ropean Union is to set up a newEuropean Labour Authority is longoverdue. Seventeen million work-ers now work abroad compared tonine million just a decade ago. A million and a half people com-

mute across borders every day towork. Two million are posted towork in other member states. Inthe absence of adequate protec-tions many of these workers havebeen open to abuse.For years the Left has called for

better cross-border workers rightsto combat abuse. In the absence ofa Europe-wide framework on ex-ploitation many member states arealready signing bilateral agree-ments – France alone has alreadysigned eight. It’s estimated that more than

three hundred bilateral agree-ments are needed Europe-wide.There is a widespread belief thatthis patchwork of agreements is apoor form of enforcement andhence this proposal to address theissue at a European level. Part ofthe debate around the proposalconcerns the location of the Au-thority. We should try to get it lo-cated in Ireland.

Irish location could be advanta-geous. Also, as President Higginsrecently noted at the ILO Confer-ence in Geneva, the trade unionmovement has been a consistentand courageous opponent of sec-tarianism. Ireland is home to al-most 400,000 EU migrant workers.Locating here could help to curb alack of enthusiasm from some cen-tral and eastern European statestowards the setting up of the Authority.We host organisations like Euro-

found, which researches in areassuch as employment and social se-curity and the Posted Workers Di-rective. Both Authorities would beable to enjoy close and fruitfullinks.Ireland should be on a shortlist

of less than a handful of countriesseeking to attract the Authority.The key competitors will be thenew member states of Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, which currently have no headquarters ofan EU agency.To convince the EU will require

our politicians to work together.Recently the issue of workers’rights hasn’t been high on eitherour MEPs’ or our government’sagenda. Significant progress wasmade in recent years, when formerminister of State Ged Nash advanced issues such as JointLabour Committees, collective bar-gaining and the living wage. Regrettably the current govern-ment has not built on this stronglegislative history. We will need tosee them change their focus andapproach if we are to successfullyargue for the Authority to behoused in Ireland.

Making a strong case for IrelandIf the trade union movement is

fully involved in the design andoperation of the new EuropeanLabour Authority then it has thepotential to be a useful tool in pro-tecting and enhancing workers’rights. Locating the Authority inIreland has many advantages, in-cluding utilising our long experi-ence of workers and governmentworking in unison to improvelabour conditions. Unions and theGovernment should come togetherto promote the advantages of sit-ing the new Authority in Ireland.

Dominic Hannigan is a member ofSIPTU’s Manufacturing Division and a former Labour Party TD.

By Dominic

Hannigan

Siting the new European LabourAuthority in Ireland would bringmany advantages. Unions and the Government should worktogether to achieve this end...

PICTURE: Matt Schilder (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

It’s estimated thatmore than threehundred bilateralagreements areneeded Europe-wide. There is awidespread beliefthat this patchworkof agreements is a poor form ofenforcement


19

If our politicians are really seriousthey would definebullying on thestatute book, as Australia has done...

By Paul

Henry

PICTURE: Allen Allen (CC BY 2.0)

THE impact bullying has onworkers can be immense. TheWorkers’ Rights Centre hasseen the effects bullying hasin the workplace. It can resultin severe and traumatic lifechanging situations.As well as the toll it takes on a

worker who brings a bullying com-plaint, the delay in dealing withthe complaint also affects theworker against whom the allega-tion is made. The truth of the matter is that it

is happening all around us. Untilthe Government gets serious andputs in place a definition of work-place bullying on the statutesbook, clearly and legally settingout what constitutes bullying,some companies and people willcontinue to ignore the issue.The need to adequately define

bullying in the workplace has notgone completely unnoticed. Ac-cording to the Workplace RelationsCommission (WRC) Programme2018, the Advisory Service of theWRC is working with the Healthand Safety Authority to “reviewand identify possible improve-ments that could be made with re-gard to the efficacy of the twoorganisations’ respective Codes ofPractice in relation to bullying andharassment”.The stated aim of this review is

to ensure that the codes have “agreater impact”, but therein liesthe problem. They are codes – notlaw – and are voluntary. The SIPTU Workers’ Rights Cen-

tre has so far this year had approx-imately 70 cases of bullying in theworkplace reported to it with themajority as yet unresolved or con-cluded. Many of the victims of thealleged bullying have been out ofwork on sick leave. Where there ispaid sick leave, they are using upthat leave; where there is no sickleave, they are on illness benefitfrom social welfare.

Why workplace bullying needs to be defined in law

In February last, Taoiseach LeoVaradkar called on those being bul-lied in the workplace to “be brave”and come forward and report it. In-deed, when bullying and harass-ment hits the headlines in placessuch as the Gate Theatre or theDáil, our politicians come out andsay all the right things but thenthere is silence. If they are really serious they

would define bullying on thestatute book, as Australia hasdone. In that jurisdiction, a workercan apply to an adjudicator for anorder to stop bullying by an indi-vidual or a group. The definitions of bullying in

the Australian legislation are simi-lar those used today in Ireland.However, there is also a definitionof what is not bullying where it

states that it “does not apply to areasonable management actioncarried out in a reasonable man-ner”. However, these actions mustbe conducted in a reasonable man-ner. If they are not, they could stillbe bullying.One of the biggest challenges

that SIPTU members face whenthey raise a bullying in the work-place issue is the delay in it beingprocessed. In many cases these delays are

due to a lack of training of man-agers or poor procedures withincompanies. Under the Australianlegislation, when a case is high-lighted the investigation into thebullying allegation must startwithin 30 days. The Irish Safety Health and

Welfare at Work Act 2005 imposes

a duty of care on an employer toprovide a safe work environment.However, to assist in tackling theissue an amendment to the Act isneeded that would include a defi-nition of bullying and set out a pro-cess to deal with it properly, similarto the Australian legislation.Of course, such a move will not

eradicate workplace bullying. How-ever, employers who take theirlegal obligations seriously, andhave received good advice, arelikely to have comprehensive poli-cies and procedures in place whichaddress this key health and safetyissue. They will be alive to the risks of

bullying and seek to prevent thecompliance costs involved in a po-tential investigation by the Work-place Relation Commission, alongwith the fines that could be in-curred as well as any subsequentdamage to reputation that couldarise from a prosecution. The issues raised in this article

are not meant to deter a memberwho believes they are being bulliedfrom raising their case. The SIPTUWorkers’ Rights Centre has 25 ex-perienced advocates who deal withbullying cases on an on-going basisand who support and representunion members. Should you needassistance you can speak to yourshop steward or your union organ-iser.Paul Henry is the SIPTU Workers’ Rights

Centre Sector Organiser.

Workers Rights Centre


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SINN Féin President, Mary LouMcDonald, has expressed sup-port for the SIPTU Big Startcampaign and for increasedgovernment subvention inchildcare and decent pay andcontracts for educators. “Investment must be made in the

whole area of child care provisionwhere the subvention is lamentedlylow. There is a very effective Big Startcampaign to unionise the 23,000child care workers who are predomi-nately female, who are in very inse-cure employment and who are topranking professionals,” McDonaldtold Liberty. “They’re educated and trained to

the highest level and yet many areearning little more than the mini-mum wage. We would propose to en-hance the subvention there, to makeit possible for those workers to haveproper contracts of employment andto live beyond subsistence, to be on

a living wage and a decent wage andto have a career structure. “This would be a win for them but

it’s also a win for families and for par-ents and for children for whom child-care is not glorified babysitting. It’s a

profoundly important early child-hood intervention educationally anddevelopmentally.”The Sinn Féin leader also called for

increased urgent investment in pub-lic housing provision.

“The State needs to do the heavylifting to resolve the housing emer-gency, not cross their fingers andhope that the market will sort it out.Look to the experience on the groundand you find a housing and homelesscrisis that is getting worse. “There is an ideological problem at

the core of all of this. Whatever rolethe private sector may play and I ac-cept that they will of course play arole, if the State doesn’t do the heavylifting, we are left in this mess,” sheadded.She also said that Sinn Fein will

seek to expedite a referendum onIrish unity, particularly in the contextof a ‘no deal’ Brexit.“If the British government insists

on crash landing themselves and theNorth out of the European Unionwith all of the calamity that that willbring to this Island, in those circum-stances there will be no option but toput the constitutional question.”

McDonald said that her partywants to be in government in orderto deal with the issues of housing,health and precarious work which aredamaging the lives of so many Irishpeople. “I don’t believe for a second that

the housing crisis, the crisis in health,the casualisation of work and lowwage, any of those [will] get sortedout without having Sinn Féin or thelikes of Sinn Féin in government. “After the next election we will talk

to everyone – not just Fianna Fáil andFine Gael but the Labour Party, theGreens, the Social Democrats, the In-dependents, whoever. I want to be ina progressive left government. Ofcourse, that’s our first option. But Irefuse to be a spectator. It goesagainst my grain. It’s goes againstthe grain of Sinn Féin.”


21Political priorities

• Public housing: Significant investment in public building of homes and cost rental housing

• Sustainable tax base: Sustainable and fair long-term investment instead of short term tax cuts; measures tackling tax avoidance

• Energy efficiency: tackle climate change and inequality by reducing energy poverty and increasing energy security

• Education: prioritising the preservation of our highly educated workforce and protecting education as a public good

• Transport: rebalancing investment towards walking, cycling and trains and away from aviation and roads.

• Sláintecare: Provide funding to allow the roll-out of Sláintecare so that we can move to a health service with a strong focus on prevention, primary care, and equal access

• Housing: Provide funding for a new Housing Delivery Agency so that affordable and social homes can be delivered directly by the State without delay, and tackle Land-Hoarding by introducing a specific Land- Hoarding Tax to make it unprofitable to sit on land that could be used for Housing

• Significantly increase funding for the Affordable Childcare Scheme

and introduce a new Parental Leave Payment

• Address Pay Inequality by ending discrimination against newer entrants to the public service

• Tackle the high cost of living by introducing genuinely free Primary Education, reducing Third Level Fees, ensuring energy-saving Retro-fitting Grants can be accessed by every one, reducing Public Transport Fares, and addressing the high cost of Insurance.

LABOUR’S budget prior-ities include advancingour housing policyideas, such as our callfor serious investment –€16 billion over fiveyears – in the State-ledbuilding of 80,000 plushomes. €5 billion available in the

Ireland Strategic InvestmentFund should be immedi-ately allocated to house-building, as this won’t affectthe national debt but couldcommission 25,000 socialand affordable homes. Thatwould clearly signal to thebuilding sector that the Gov-ernment means businesswhen it comes to solvingthe housing crisis. We will seek to progress

our Private Members legisla-tion: ending bogus self-em-ployment, promotinggender pay equality, regulat-ing the rental sector includ-ing AirBnB, restoringtown-level government,banning plastic micro-

beads, regulating online ha-rassment, a technical fixover civil liability, imple-menting genuine progressindicators, and banning ‘vol-untary’ contributions in ed-ucation.We’ll also support abor-

tion legislation beingpassed.For Budget 2019, we argue

against tax cuts, in favour ofinvestment in public ser-vices. We need to ensure ev-eryone can access a local GP,make primary educationgenuinely free-of-charge (in-cluding uniforms andschool books) and begin toinvest in subsidised child-care across the country. And,of course, serious invest-ment in the creation of amunicipal housing sector,open to all, as a permanentsolution to people’s long-term need for affordablehousing. Nat O’Connor is Political Di-

rector of the Irish Labour Party

Action on housing and no tax cuts

LabourNat O’Connor

Mary Lou hails Big Start’s objective as a win for workers, families and for kids

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, with SinnFéin representative Ciara McCormack and SIPTU organiser, Margaret Young. She has called for a major investment in child care provision.

Green PartyEamon Ryan

Social Democrats Roisin Shortall


22 SIPTU District Council News

DEPUTY General SecretaryEthel Buckley presented a pre-liminary schedule of seminarsand meetings for SIPTU Dis-trict Councils across the coun-try in the Dan Shaw Centre inNavan, county Meath, on 8thAugust. Meath District Council co-ordi-

nator, John Regan, said: “Ethel

identified a comprehensive planwhich contained four seminars in2019 and 2020. The proposed na-tional topics for the seminars arehealth, housing, childcare and pre-carious work. It is proposed thatlocal issues will also be discussedat the events.”He added: “Enthusiasm for the

plan was expressed by those at-

tending the meeting. There wasalso support for the formation ofLocal Area Committees which willhave the brief of dealing with in-dustrial maters within the privateand public sectors. Members of thecouncil felt that these would helpaddress some issues which havearisen due to the loss of the oldbranch structures of the union.”

Meath District Council members at theDan Shaw Centre in Navan on 8th August

2019 Meath seminar plan welcomedTHE Galway District Council,in conjunction with Failte Is-teach, is hosting conversa-tional English classes in theSIPTU offices in the city.The initiative is also being sup-

ported by the Galway Council ofTrades Union, local student unionsand the ONE Galway movement, allof which are supplying volunteersto work as tutors on the scheme. One volunteer, Pruthuish Kumar,

a student from NUIG, said: “Help-ing working people overcome thelanguage barrier in order to betterthemselves is a joy and makes mequite proud.” The participants come from

many countries including Brazil,India, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,

Russia, Spain, Ukraine andVenezuela. Arikodiusk, from Poland, attends

the classes with his brotherMarcin. He told Liberty: “It is freeand very helpful but most impor-tantly the friendly engagementfrom the tutors makes all the dif-ference.”Classes take place in the SIPTU

offices, Forster Court, on Wednes-days at lunchtime from 1.00 p.m.to 2.00 p.m. and in the eveningfrom 7.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.

For further information orto sign up for the classesplease contact Aneta Sobczakat [email protected]

SIPTU helpingworking peoplespeak out

Participants and tutors in the English languageclasses hosted by the Galway District Council

A GROUP of recently-retired,Galway-based shop stewardswere presented with long ser-vice certificates by GeneralSecretary Designate, Joe Cun-ningham, at a District Councilevent in the SIPTU offices inthe city on 5th July.

The certificates were awarded inappreciation of the valuable contri-bution by the activists to the livingand working conditions of SIPTUmembers. Pictured above (left to

right) are Martina McEvilly, FrankDaly, Helen Murphy, Tom Seale,Anne Burke, General SecretaryDesignate Joe Cunningham andJim Cotter.

Awards to Galway unionstalwarts

Chair of the Sligo Leitrim Roscommon District Council, AnthonyLyons, addressing a seminar on the reconfiguration of locally basedunion structures in Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon in the Sligo ParkHotel on 14th September. The event was attended by shop stewardsfrom across the commercial and private sectors in the area. The maindiscussions were focused on the establishment of Local Area Commit-tees and their relationships with the existing District Council. Therewas enthusiasm expressed for the rejuvenation of SIPTU structuresthat are based on community engagement as well as industrial issues.

More than 25 shop stewardsand union activists attendeda meeting to discuss the next12 months of activity by theSIPTU Limerick DistrictCouncil on 3rd September.The meeting was addressed by

SIPTU Deputy President, EthelBuckley. She outlined the new

local structures for the unionwhich are currently being put inplace and the seminars on issuessuch as housing, precarious workand the health service which willbe held by District Councils in thecoming months.There was also discussion on

the events being organised by the

District Council to mark the cen-tenary of the Limerick Soviet in1919. Activists discussed the de-sign for a new banner which is tobe made for display at the com-memoration events.

Limerick district council plans ahead


23SIPTU District Council News

Connolly would have approved of the alliance of unions and housing andhomeless groupswhich has come together for action on the housing crisis

THE enduring importance ofthe ideas and activities ofITGWU leader James Connollywere the focus of an addressby SIPTU Deputy General Sec-retary, Gerry McCormack, atFéile an Phobail (West BelfastFestival) on 11th August.Delivering the inaugural James

Connolly Annual Lecture in St.Mary’s University College, McCor-mack said: “I believe Connolly’slegacy should not be studied assomething removed from the pre-sent but rather as a set of analysesand views which can continue toinform our practical actions now.”He outlined the development of

Connolly’s ideas from union radi-

calism to uniting with Irish nation-alists to strike a blow against theBritish Empire in 1916. However,he emphasised that throughout hispolitical career Connolly was fo-cused on the fight for social jus-tice. “I think Connolly would have ap-

proved of the broad alliance oftrade unions and housing andhomeless campaign groups whichhas come together to fight for action on the housing crisis,” McCormack said.According to McCormack, Con-

nolly would have supported themove towards greater equality inIrish society including the changesin the Irish Constitution to allowfor divorce, marriage equality andthe repeal of the 8th amendmenton abortion. However, he sug-gested Connolly would have beenless enthused with the failure toplace the struggle for economic jus-tice to the fore of Irish politics.McCormack’s address concluded

with a call for the “progressiveleft” to unite around the commem-oration next year of the centenaryof the Declaration of the Demo-cratic Programme. “The Democratic Programme

was a declaration of economic andsocial principles adopted by theFirst Dáil at its first meeting on21st January 1919. It was a veryprogressive document which

in terms of its egalitarian and so-cialist content.”The James Connolly Annual Lec-

ture was held in conjunction withthe management of the JamesConnolly Centre. The Centre, which will include

an interactive exhibition, studyarea and library of Connolly's writ-ings, is due to open early next yearon the Falls Road close to whereConnolly once lived.

builds on the Proclamation of theRepublic and 1916 was penned byprogressive thinkers who had beenpersonally, deeply influenced byConnolly. “The programme envisaged a

free and independent Ireland butwas also crucially very progressive

Gerry McCormack delivers the inaugural James ConnollyAnnual Lecture in St. Mary’s University College, Belfast

James Connolly’s ideas still relevant today

Markievicz/Partridge eventmarks centenary of suffrage

SIPTU member Mary Mullin laying a wreath at the ConstanceMarkievicz monument in Rathcormac, county Sligo, to markthe contribution women have madeto Irish society since the grantingof women’s suffrage a century ago

OVER the summer, SIPTUmembers and activists fromacross the North West gath-ered in the picturesque andhistoric surroundings of Lis-sadell House, county Sligo, tomark a centenary of women’ssuffrage at the second annualMarkievicz/Partridge summerschool.Organised by the SIPTU Sligo,

Leitrim and Roscommon (SLR) Dis-trict Council, the event includedspeeches and presentations fromthe Head of SIPTU College, TishGibbons; Labour Historian, DrPadraig Yeates; ASTI Assistant Gen-eral Secretary, Moira Leydon; Min-ister for State at the Department ofEducation, Mary Mitchell O’Con-nor TD; and the owner of LissadellHouse, Constance Cassidy.SIPTU Honorary President,

Padraig Peyton, told Liberty thatthe event was organised by Sligo,Leitrim and Roscommon DistrictCouncil members to mark 100years of the achievements made bywomen in the Irish trade unionmovement and politics. He said: “Markievicz has a very

important association with our

union. She has inspired countlessdisenfranchised women to get in-volved in politics and activismdown the years so it was fittingthat we told the story of thesewomen at our annualMarkievicz/Partridge seminar.”

SIPTU SLR District Council ViceChair, Anja Boger, said: “As a dis-trict council, we were honoured tohost such a special event for theworking class women and men ofthe North West region. There is alongstanding and deep bond be-

tween Constance Markievicz, ourunion, and the people of this area.Lissadell House is her ancestralhome [and] we are proud to havehonoured our common bond onthe centenary of her election toparliament.”As part of the summer school,

members from across Sligo,Leitrim and Roscommon received25- and 50-year badges as an ac-knowledgment of their service tothe union.SIPTU General Secretary Desig-

nate, Joe Cunningham (picturedleft) also presented theMarkievicz/Partridge award toAileen Henry for her outstandingcontribution to the union.

National treasure: LissadellHouse set against thebackdrop of Benbulben


24 News

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Tá tuairiscithe san Irish Examiner ar an27 Lúnasa go bhféadfadh 40,000 post abheith caillte i bPoblacht na hÉireannmá tharlaíonn Brexit gan chomhaontú.Deir an Dr. Declan Jordan, OÉ Corcaigh,go bhfuil baol mór ann do gheilleagaran stáit mura bhfuil an Ríocht Aon-taithe in ann teacht ar chomhaontú leisan Aontas Eorpach. Tá an tuairim seoaige bunaithe ar mheastacháin anBhainc Ceannais go bhféadfadh an geil-leagair meath faoi 3% sna deich mblianaseo romhainn agus go bhféadfadh andífhostaíocht a bheith 2% níos airde.Tá seo sa mhullach ar an gcealú a dhéanfar

ar chearta na n-oibrithe sa chuid den tír seoatá sa Ríocht Aontaithe, sé chontae anoirthuaiscirt. Ainneoin ghealltanais TheresaMay go gcosnófar cearta oibrithe tar éisimeacht na Ríochta Aontaithe ón Aontas Eor-pach, is iad rialacháin oibre is túisce a ndéan-far ar shiúl leo le geilleagar na RíochtaAontaithe a dhéanamh “níos solúbtha”. Táseo follasach bunaithe ar fhocail Liam Fox,David Davis agus Boris Johnson, atá ar thúscadhnaíochta ag gearán faoi rialacha an Aon-tais Eorpaigh a chosnaíonn cearta oibrithe. Níliontu, dar leo, ach téip dhearg, maorlathas ganmhaith atá ina ualach do-iomparthad’fhostóirí.Tá níos mó ná a saith ag ceardchumainn dul

i ngleic leis seo, shílfeá, ach is deacra fós anfód a sheasamh ar son chearta na n-oibrithenuair nach bhfuil na hoibrithe féin sásta abheith i gceardchumann. Tá tuairiscithe saGuardian, mar shampla, gur laghdaigh ball-raíocht i gceardchumainn sa Ríocht Aontaithefaoi 4.2% idir 2016 agus 2017, an titim is móó tosaíodh ag coinneáil taifid. I bPoblacht nahÉireann, níl ach 35.1% faoin gcéad d’oibrithean stáit i gceardchumann, síos ó 55.3% in 1980agus 38.5% in 2003. Tá sé deacair a thuiscintcén fáth, ach sa ré seo tar éis na mórtheipe

airgeadais is lú ná riamh an fonn atá ar oib-rithe dúshlán a thabhairt lena gcoinníollachafostaíochta a fheabhsú.Tá, áfach, dóchas le feiceáil in eiseamláir

grúpa amháin oibrithe thall i Sasana. Tá glan-tóirí ollscoile ar fud na Ríochta Aontaithe, atáag obair in earnáil ina raibh dúshaothrúcoitianta, tar éis teidlíochtaí ar thuarastalmaireachtála agus ar íocaíocht bhreoiteachtaagus saoire a bhaint amach trína gceardchu-mainn féin a chur ar bun, Independent Work-ers of Great Britain agus United Voices of theWorld.Ní raibh siad in ann mórstailceanna a

reáchtáil, mar sin b’éigean dóibh a bheithcruthaitheach agus cliste, le gníomh tion-sclaíoch saindírithe comhcheangailte lehagóidí agus brú poiblí sna meáin chlóite,chraolta agus shóisialta. Dhírigh siad, marshampla, ar ócáid tógtha airgid in OllscoilLondan, nuair a b’éigean d’aoidheontóirí mórle rá, iad gléasta go gáifeach i ngúnaí síodaagus carbhait bhána, a mbealach a dhéanamhtrí oibrithe ar stailc ag déanamh agóide, rud atharraing náire ar an ollscoil agus a chosainairgead orthu le lucht slándála a fhostú.Is taicticí radacacha mar seo a rachaidh

chun tairbhe do cheardchumainn níos móagus iad ag iarraidh dul i ngleic leis na dúsh-láin atá roimh chearta oibrithe mar gheall arBrexit.Má tá oibrithe ag iarraidh a gcearta a cho-

saint tar éis Brexit, ní féidir leo brath ar dhea-thoil rialtas na hÉireann agus na RíochtaAontaithe. Beidh orthu an fód a sheasamhdóibh féin agus dá gcomhoibrithe. Agus ní fiúfanacht go dtí go bhfuil an Ríocht Aontaitheimithe ón Aontas Eorpach. Caithfear gníomha dhéanamh anois, nuair atá am ann fós letionchar a imirt ar an gcineál Brexit a d’fhéad-fadh a bheith ann. Ach ní féidir le ceardchu-mann gníomhú gan bhaill. Caithfear clárú.Caithfear eagrú. Nó caillfear.

Contúirtí Brexit d’oibrithe sa dá stát in Éirinn - Lámh Dhearg


25News

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Zwycięscy - SIPTU wins pay risesfor cleaners

Awarded rises: cleaners Artur Zbien, Tomas Sieradzan, MichaelFlaherty and Piotr Wedlarski (Tadeusz Majcher not in photo)

SIPTU members at GalwayUniversity Hospital have wona case against their employer,Noonan, for the payment ofwage increases as set out inthe contract cleaning Employ-ment Regulation Order (ERO).

After a long battle, which startedat the end of 2015, the workers,Artur Zbien, Tomas Sieradzan,Michael Flaherty, Tadeusz Majcher,and Piotr Wedlarski, were awardedthe ERO rises by the Labour Court.

The Labour Court determinationled to an immediate increase of 90cent to the workers’ hourly rate aswell as back pay, and restores the

differential paid for night working.Piotr told Liberty that working

nights was “not easy” but that theresult was “great news for all of usand our families”.

It had been a long fight, Michealadmitted, but said the workerswere very happy with the outcomeof the case “which I know wewould not have achieved withoutour union, SIPTU”.

Tomasz pointed out that in Pol-ish, the workers were “zwyciescu”[winners], adding, “We have se-cured our rights. We are very gladto be members of SIPTU and arevery thankful to our union forstanding by us.”

Artur said: “We want to say a bigthank you to Barnaba Dorda fromSIPTU’s Workers’ Rights Centre forall his hard work on our behalf. Itwas a great comfort to us to havesuch professional representationduring this process.”

And Artur insisted all cleanersshould be members of SIPTU.

“We have to stand togetherthrough SIPTU. ERO increases inpay are achieved because we aremembers of SIPTU, so the greaterthe number of us cleaners who aremembers of SIPTU, the more pow-erful we are. I encourage all clean-ers to join SIPTU.”

Sąd Pracy zasądza podwyżki na rzecz pracowników Noonan’aSprzątacze zrzeszeni w SIPTUpracujący w SzpitaluUniwersyteckim w Galway wygraliproces przeciwko swojemupracodawcy, firmie Noonan, ozapłatę podwyżek płac zgodnie zprzepisami określonymi w tzwEmployment Regulation Order.

Po szalenie długiej bitwie, którarozpoczęła się pod koniec 2015 rpracownicy: Artur Zbień, TomaszSieradzan, Michael Flaherty, TadeuszMajcher i Piotr Wedlarski, na co dzieńpracujący na nocnej zmianie wSzpitalu w Galway, otrzymali od SąduPracy korzystne dla nichrozstrzygnięcie. Decyzja Sąduspowodowała że nie tylko otrzymalinatychmiast 90 centów podwyżki naich nocnej stawce godzinowej, aletakże wyrównania zaległych podwyżekza okres od złożenia skargi w 2015roku do dnia wprowadzenia w życiedecyzji Sądu.

Piotr powiedział, że praca w nocynie jest łatwa, dlatego orzeczenieSądu było „wspaniałą wiadomością dlanas wszystkich i dla naszych rodzin".

Michael przyznał, że to była długawalka w sądzie, ale wszyscy bylibardzo zadowoleni z wyniku sprawy ipotwierdza: „Wiem, że zwycięstwa nieosiągnęlibyśmy bez naszego związku,SIPTU"

Tomasz cieszy sie, żesprawiedliwość zatryumfowala i żecała ich piątka jest zwycięska,jednocześnie dodając:"Zabezpiecziliśmy nasze prawa.Bardzo się cieszymy, że jesteśmyczłonkami SIPTU i jesteśmy bardzowdzięczni naszemu związkowi zawspieranie nas przez cały czas ".

Artur powiedział: "Chcemypodziękować Barnabie Dorda zWorkers Rights Centre SIPTU za całąjego ciężką pracę w naszym imieniu.To był dla nas wielki komfort, aby miećtaką profesjonalną reprezentacjępodczas tego procesu. "

Artur zachęca wszystkich, żebyupewnili się, że są członkami związkuzawodowego SIPTU: "Musimywszyscy trzymać się razem. Podwyżkipłac określone w porozumieniachbranżowych typu EmploymentRegulations Order (ERO) są osiągane,ponieważ pracownicy są zrzesznie wSIPTU. Im większa liczba nas, którzysą członkami SIPTU, tym jesteśmypotężniejsi i mamy silniejszą pozycjęw negocjacjach. Zachęcam wszystkichsprzątaczy do przyłączenia się doSIPTU. "

Podpis pod zdjęciem: Przyznanepodwyżki: sprzątacze Artur Zbień,Tomas Sieradzan, Michael Flaherty iPiotr Wedlarski (Tadeusza Majcheranie ma na zdjęciu)


26 Tradition

We Shall Overcome: Liberty Hall remembers

ON SATURDAY 10th Novem-ber a group of trade unionists,human rights campaignersand musicians of the We ShallOvercome Committee willhost a seminar and concert inLiberty Hall to mark the 50thanniversary of the NorthernIreland civil rights movement. The choice of location empha-

sises the role of trade unions andthose campaigning for social jus-tice in the history of that struggleand in similar challenges facedtoday. The seminar, with speakers in-

cluding solicitor and human rightscampaigner Michael Farrell, Advo-cate for the Homeless Fr PeterMcVerry, ICTU President SheilaNunan, and community and polit-ical activist Bernadette McAliskey,will link the lessons of 50 yearsago to current struggles in hous-ing, workers’ rights, discrimina-

tion and racism. The concert will give musical ex-

pression to the fight for social jus-tice with singers and musiciansincluding Tommy Sands andNiamh Parsons.In 1945, while the members of

CIO Food & Tobacco WorkersUnion Local 15 were on strike inCharleston, South Carolina, awoman called Lucille Simmonscame down to the picket line tosing for them. The song she chosewas an old African-American spiri-

tual called I’ll Overcome SomeDay. She changed the song title toWe Will Overcome reflecting thesolidarity of struggle.When the strike was over the

song was picked up by anotherwoman, social activist and folksong collector, Zilphia Horton,who, in turn, passed it on to PeteSeeger. By the time he performedit at his famous 1963 Carnegie Hallconcert, both the name and tempohad changed to become the iconicWe Shall Overcome.

It became the soundtrack to thecivil rights movement in the U.S.and echoed across the Atlantic toBritain’s backyard where peoplealso demanded their civil rights inthe late 1960s.After decades of discrimination

by the then-Unionist governmentagainst nationalists, particularly in

housing, employment and localgovernment, the struggle for civilrights burst on to the streets andtowns of the North in the autumnof 1968. Actions protesting discrimina-

tion in housing were followed bya civil rights march in Derry on 5thOctober that year. The march wasbatoned off the streets by theRoyal Ulster Constabulary beforethe eyes of the world. It was a sem-inal moment in modern Irish andworld history. What followed was a dam burst

of the pent-up grievances of awhole community. Marches andpickets were organised by theNorthern Ireland Civil Rights Asso-ciation (NICRA), involving manyfrom the trade union movement aswell as republicans, and by themilitant student body, People’sDemocracy. The Unionist government at

Stormont eventually and reluc-tantly responded with proposals

which were too little and too late.When another march, organisedby People’s Democracy, was ambushed at Burntollet Bridge 10miles from Derry in early January1969, the long full-time whistlebegan to blow for a regime whichwas described decades later byUnionist leader David Trimble as

“a cold house for Catholics”. He might have included, for

good measure, the left, workers,trade unionists, liberals and anyone unwilling to bow to thesectarian state of Northern Ire-land.

7.30 p.m. to 11.00 p.m.Doors open at earlier time of 7.00 p.m.

Subscription €5 - no pre booking - first come first served

Jimmy Kelly RememberedWednesday 19th September 2018Cois Life Bar, Liberty Hall Special Guests – Prominent Singers, Musicians and family of Jimmy Kelly

Songs & tunes welcome from the floor

“I’m a man you won’t meet everyday”

Contact Sally: [email protected] Clé Club - 3rd Wednesday of the monthcleclub.wetpaint.com

Mural commemorating civil rights movement on gablewall in Derry. Exhibit, right, from Free Derry Museum

By Michael

Halpenny

The Unionistgovernment at Stormonteventually andreluctantlyresponded withproposals whichwere too littleand too late

The choice of location emphasises the role of trade unions and thosecampaigning for social justice in the history of that struggle


27Comment

As the shift towardsauthoritarianism gathers pace in Europe, the case for left and progressive solidarityis becoming more urgent and we appreciate supportfrom SIPTU...

While the Statewatchdog has been chasing after community organisations, Ireland has failed tokeep up with realthreats posed by unregulated social media advertising

By Liam

Herrick

Electoral Act should not stifle debateTHE Irish Council for CivilLiberties (ICCL) held a pressconference at Liberty Hall inJuly, to draw attention to thegrowing issue of restrictionson civil society organisations. Supported by SIPTU we brought

together a coalition of leadingcommunity and human rightsgroups including the Wheel, FrontLine Defenders, Uplift and Trans-parency International, to speakout about the actions of the Stan-dards in Public Office Commission(SIPO), which over recent yearshave begun to apply laws on elec-tion financing to the general advo-cacy work of civil society. The venue was not coincidental.

The ICCL has a long associationwith the trade union movement,and we operated from Liberty Hallfor several years in the 1980s. Wealso believe that there is now abroad agenda of issues where theinterests of civil liberties and tradeunions increasingly coalescearound common threats to free-dom of association, freedom of as-sembly and freedom ofexpression.As the shift towards authoritar-

ianism gathers pace in Europe, thecase for left and progressive soli-darity is becoming more urgentand we deeply appreciate the sup-port we have received from SIPTUon this issue.The occasion of the event in July

was somewhat ironic. Ireland’srepresentatives at the United Na-tions had just adopted a leadershiprole on the issue of protecting civilsociety space, with Ireland drivinga Human Rights Council resolutionon the issue and Irish Aid activelyproviding ‘foreign’ funding to civilsociety organisations in othercountries. Under the Electoral Act, this

type of funding would be severelyrestricted here if an organisationwere deemed to be engaging in‘political’ purposes such as advo-cacy. The EU Fundamental RightsAgency has criticised Ireland foroperating funding rules at homethat are similar to those used byrepressive governments in otherEuropean countries to shut downhuman rights organisations.The domestic problem is largely

one of unintended consequences.The original purpose of the Elec-

toral Act, introduced in 1997, wasto prevent corruption through cor-porate or foreign funding of candi-dates and parties. However, thelaw was poorly drafted and con-tains an overly broad definition of‘political purposes’ and the typesof activities to be covered by thefunding rules. The definition includes not just

electoral campaigning but also allactivities aimed at “promoting orprocuring a particular outcome inrelation to a policy or policies orfunctions of the Government orany public authority”. In otherwords, the bread and butter workof campaigning is to be treated aselectoral interference, and therebyfunding for such work will beseverely restricted.Education Equality, a voluntary

group working to reform educa-tion policy, told the story of thatorganisation’s experiences withSIPO. Having received a starter grant of

by SIPO to return funds received. These were two voluntary organ-

isations trying to contribute topublic policy in an open and trans-parent manner, which were threat-ened with prosecution foractivities that had nothing to dowith any election or referendumcampaign. Ironically, a law intro-duced to clean up politics was nowbeing used to shut down organisa-tions that hold politics to accounton behalf of the public.The effect of this wide applica-

tion of the Electoral Act will be toincrease the power gap betweenthe State and big business on onehand, and communities and indi-viduals who need to raise funds tohave their voice heard in public de-bate on the other. While critics have raised con-

cerns about the influence of for-eign trusts and foundations on ourpublic discourse, they fail to recog-nise that those bodies supportcivil society work in Ireland pub-

licly and transparently and in ahighly regulated manner. At the same time, foreign busi-

ness interests exert enormous in-fluence on our public life in alargely unchecked fashion. A well-resourced civil society, then, is acrucial counterweight to the pow-erful voice of capital.The case for reform is now

building momentum. In July, SIPOsettled a High Court judicial re-view taken by Amnesty Interna-tional, and withdrew its demandfor the human rights organisationto hand back a grant it received in2015 from the Open Society Foun-dations. The outcome is a vindication for

Amnesty but the case and its out-come also provided a clear indica-tion that certain provisions of theElectoral Act are deeply flawed.The next step will be to amend

the Electoral Act. On October 11th,we will be launching a campaign toaddress the flaws in the currentlaw by clarifying the distinctionbetween election finance – whichshould be tightly regulated byfunding controls: and general ad-vocacy by community and volun-tary organisations – which shouldbe regulated by transparency mea-sures. A further irony in all of this is

that while the State watchdog hasbeen chasing after community or-ganisations, Ireland has failed tokeep up with the real threatsposed by unregulated social mediaadvertising. In the coming months,we hope both issues can be ad-dressed. Liam Herrick is the Executive Director

of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties.

In October, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) will launch a campaign calling for a major reform of theElectoral Act so that advocacy groups are not prevented from campaigning. Such a change is crucial to improvingthe functioning of democracy in Ireland...

€10,000 from the Humanist Asso-ciation of Ireland, Education Equal-ity was informed by SIPO that itsaim of ending the ‘baptism barrier’to entry to primary schools wasdeemed “political” under the Elec-toral Act. As a result it was forced

Education Equality was told itscampaign over the ‘baptismbarrier’ to primary school entrywas ‘political’ by SIPO

PICTURE: John Ragai (CC BY 2.0)


Amnesty contingent at 2016 Pride Parade inDublin. ICCL believes a well resourced civilsociety sector is a crucial counterweight to‘powerful voice of capital’


28 International

PICTURE: Oxfam


PICTURE: Alan Whelan/Tro?caire

unless the settlements stop there will soon be no Palestine left to recognise

By Frances

Black

IN JULY I was proud to tablethe Occupied Territories Bill2018 in the Seanad – an his-toric piece of legislation toend Irish trade in goods pro-duced in illegal settlements inoccupied territories, includingPalestine.The EU, UN and the Irish govern-

ment have long confirmed thatbuilding settlements on occupiedterritory violates international law– a war crime under the Genevaconventions. But in the West Bank,families are kicked out of theirhomes by Israeli soldiers, fertilefarming land is seized, and thefruit and vegetables produced areexported and sold on shelvesaround the world, including in Ire-land, to pay for it all. There’s a clear hypocrisy here:

how can we condemn these settle-ments as illegal, as theft of Pales-tinian land and resources, but stillbuy the proceeds of this crime?

Life on the ground Trade in settlement goods sus-

tains injustice, and I saw it for my-self when I travelled to Palestine inMay. In the West Bank, I met commu-

nity groups, activists and tradeunionists working against the oc-cupation. I met small small farm-ers unable to farm their own landdue to illegal Israeli settlementconstruction. They live in constantfear of displacement and the de-struction of their homes, and aredeeply frustrated that the same EUcountries criticising settlementconstruction are also importingtheir stolen produce, sustainingthem financially. In Gaza, I spoke with protestors

who are sick of life in an open airprison – almost two million peopleare crammed into an area half thesize of Louth, unable to get in orout, with extremely limited accessto electricity, clean water andmedicine. I met children growing up in

refugee camps, and heard aboutthe incredible scale of settlementconstruction from UN officials:more than 40% of the West Bankhas now been seized, and at thisrate, unless the settlements stopthere will soon be no Palestine leftto recognise.

The international community must actFrom all these people, the recur-

ring question was “why are the in-ternational community doingnothing to help us?” Palestiniansfeel abandoned, particularly by EUpartners who oppose the settle-ments but never go beyond emptywords of condemnation. I promised those I met that I

would bring their stories homeand do everything I can to makeIreland stand up and show someleadership, in line with our proudhistory of internationalism and

global solidarity. Trade in settle-ment goods sustains injustice, andit is time to end our complicity init.

Next vote in NovemberWith the Occupied Territories

Bill we can echo our famous standagainst apartheid South Africa inthe 1980s – an historic moment inwhich Ireland stood firmly forhuman rights, justice and interna-tional law. I vividly rememberthose incredible images of MaryManning and her fellow Dunnesworkers, whose courage reverber-

Let the world know we stand for justice and human rights

ated around the world andchanged history. The trade union movement was

crucial in this, supporting thestriking workers, pressuring theGovernment and galvanising thewider public. We can win anothervictory here for Palestinian rights,but that same level of support isvital. Civil society must let theirrepresentatives know that Irishpeople stand for basic Palestinianrights and will no longer be com-plicit in settlement trade. The bill passed its first vote in

July with the backing of every po-litical party outside government,with powerful speeches of supportfrom Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin,Labour and Independents. Butevery bill goes through roughly sixrounds of voting before it becomeslaw – three in the Seanad andthree in the Dáil – so we’re onlyone down, five to go. The bill re-turns to the Seanad in Novemberfor vote number two, and we mustkeep the pressure on. When I spoke to SIPTU mem-

bers in June and with the tradeunionists across the country, thelevel of passion and support is in-credible. We must harness that en-ergy over the coming months, andI need your help to do it. Reach out to my office on 01

6183279 and through public meet-ings, conversations with friendsand other activists of support wecan get this Occupied TerritoriesBill over the line – and send apowerful message of solidarity tothe Palestinian people.Frances Black is a member ofSeanad Eireann.

Palestinian woman with aclear message for the world

Massive destruction after Israeliassault on Gaza in 2014

Senator Frances Black, centre, withfellow members of the Seanad, talksto the media outside Leinster House


29International

By Hugh Golden

PICTURES: Hugh Golden

digs as a pretext for displacement isa common practice of the Israeli occupation. The purpose is two-fold:

displace Palestinians and promotehistorical Jewish connection to theland. The Palestinians of Susiya,who have been there for hundredsof years, have since lived in tentson a small part of their originalfarming and grazing lands.The adjoining settlement, which

has retained the name of Susiya,has been steadily expanding overthe last four decades. But the tent town of Palestinians

displaced in 1986 is an unwelcomeimpediment to the further expan-sion of this settlement. The Israeliforces have destroyed the commu-nity four times, but the Palestinianshave returned after each attack. The soldier on the hill, pictured

above right, is watching to ensurethat the shepherd does not cross aline. This line is invisible, ever-changing and defined by the set-tlers who live just over the ridge ofthe hill, at the soldier’s back.

Palestinian shepherd watchedover by an Israeli soldier onthe slopes outside Susiya inthe south Hebron hills

Shepherd Ahmed Jaber Nawaja, inset andright, sits overlooking the Palestinian community of Susiya. Further in thedistance lies the Palestinian city of Yatta

Israeli settlement’s security chiefinforms IDF soldiers where the security perimeter is to be placed

Ahmed with his two daughtersoutside his tent. The Israeli authorities do not allow him tobuild a permanent structure orimprove his tent dwelling

The soldier is not told before hearrives at his post for the first timewhere exactly this ‘securityperimeter’ lies. The head of thesettlement security, an armed civil-ian, will inform the soldier wherethe line is. If the shepherd crosses this in-

visible line, the settlers will then

complain to the soldier and ‘help’him avoid making the same mis-take in the future. Crossing this invisible line –

even while remaining on your ownland – results in a 20-year-old Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiershouting at you to move away,armed settlers arriving to harass

you, and the likelihood of being ar-rested by the paramilitary ‘BorderPolice’. Knowing that this invisible line

only moves in one direction, out-wards from the settlement, shep-herds are forced to constantlymaintain their presence at the lim-its of their shrinking territory,

where the harassment and violenceis a guarantee. They must stay onthe land today, or tomorrow theywill be told it was never theirs.Ahmad’s land is not where it wasyesterday. A settler called the army.The army called the police. Andthis is how Ahmad discovered thatthe invisible line has moved again,this time by 100 metres. He discov-ered this by being ordered to leaveby three armed 20-year-old re-servists. “It’s not his land,” said one of

the soldiers confidently when Iasked him to explain. “You can seethe way he left without arguing toomuch. He knows it isn’t his land.” Or maybe it’s Ramadan and he’s

too tired to fight today. Maybe he’sthinking of his baby daughters, andhow he wants to be with themtonight, rather than handcuffed inan army base. Maybe it’s just hardto argue with someone with a gun. Tomorrow he will return with

his sheep to the outer limits of hisland, and will have to make a deci-sion: 100 metres or peace?

The good shepherd and a shifting line in the sand...A shepherd grazing his sheep while an Israeli soldier keeps watch over him... The man is from Susiya in the West Bank. In 1986, Israel

expelled the inhabitants of Susiya after the remains of a 5thcentury synagogue were discovered. Using archaeological


30 International

A NEW report detailing afrightening rise in deaththreats and in the number ofunion activists murdered inColombia has been publishedon the day the national parlia-ment discussed the issue.The 5th September report by Es-

cuela Nacional Sindical revealedthat 14 trade unionists were mur-dered so far in 2018. There wereanother 16 attempted murders.In total, the report logged 161 vi-

olent acts targeting trade unionists– including 35 attacks againstunion organisations, up from ninein 2017. The figures suggest a systematic

threat against both individuals andunion organisations that stand upfor workers’ rights.According to other statistics

quoted in the report, some 90 peo-ple prominent in civil society, in-cluding those linked with tradeunions, have been killed so far thisyear in what Colombia’s HumanRights Office dubbed an “extermi-nation”. The reality is that since the

peace agreement with FARC wassigned in 2016, the number ofmurders has increased, with the

biggest upswing in 2018.The Colombian Human Rights

Office reports that of the 311 murders of human rights activists,including trade unionists, sincethe peace deal, more than 123 havebeen killed in the first six monthsof 2018.The Escuela Nacional Sindical

report also flags up a spike in attacks and threats to trade union-ists in the last three months.

UNI Global Union’s General Sec-retary, Christy Hoffman, said: “Un-fortunately, these findings confirmwhat Colombian trade unionistsand other champions of democracyand peace in the country alreadyknow to their cost: the Duque gov-ernment and the Colombian au-thorities are failing to protectworking people and safeguard thepeace process.“Colombia is expected to be a

member of the OECD by the end ofthe year, and the internationallabour movement is urging theOECD to take the necessary stepsto ensure Colombia abides by itsterms of membership, includingsafeguarding trade union activityas part of the human rights of itspopulation.”UNI Americas Regional Secretary,

Marcio Monzane added: “We aretalking about a matter of life anddeath not the niceties of a treaty.Squads of murderous right-wingmilitia are looking to dismantlethe lives of the Colombian peopleand the peace process for theirown gain.”

Colombian trade unionists face nights of terror

...murderous right-wing militia are looking

to dismantle the lives of Colombians and

the peace process for their own gain

Vigil for the victimsof right-wing terror

By Maggie Ronayne andDeirdre McHugh, ShopStewards in NUIG

ON September 6th, the Minis-ter for Justice, Charlie Flana-gan, “regretfully” announcedthat a referendum to removethe ‘women in the home’clause from the Irish Consti-tution (Article 41.2) has beenpostponed.Far from a regret, this is a victory

for everyone pressing for 41.2 tobe amended to extend constitu-tional protection to carers of allgenders, paid and unpaid, as rec-ommended by the Citizens Assem-bly and the ConstitutionalConvention.As trade unionists, we must look

at the implications, especially forwomen members.41.2 states: “In particular, the

State recognises that by her lifewithin the home, woman gives tothe State a support without whichthe common good cannot beachieved. The State shall, there-fore, endeavour to ensure thatmothers shall not be obliged byeconomic necessity to engage in

labour to the neglect of their du-ties in the home.” While the language is sexist and

out-dated, it’s a fact that economicnecessity drives thousands ofwomen to work a double day with-out earning enough to support oreven consider starting a family.Many do caring jobs, invariablylow paid and low status.

SIPTU has been organisingagainst this exploitation withchildcare workers and homehelps. When the work thatmothers do is unrecognised,waged caring and the skills it re-quires are devalued. As shop stewards at NUI Gal-

way, we support memberswhose working conditions havebeen affected because they arecarers. NUI Galway’s recent set-tlement with four women aca-demics is a strong indicationthat there has been discrimination in pay and ad-vancement against women em-ployees because of our caringresponsibilities. As carers our-

selves, one for a young child, theother for an elderly mother, wehave experienced such discrimina-tion.Many mothers take on part-time

work when their children areyoung. While the call for free or af-fordable childcare is long standing,it is not the only outstandingneed. According to a 2017 survey

by Amárach Research, 62% of Irishmothers would prefer not to goout to work, particularly whiletheir children are young. Article 41.2 establishes that,

without caring work in the family“the common good could not beachieved”. Deleting it would be abackward step, denying us finan-cial recognition from the societywhich depends on our work. Anupdated 41.2 that recognises thevalue of caring would be an incen-tive for pay equity and advance-ment. Increasingly, men want time

with their families too. In Ger-many, members of IG Metall wenton strike to demand a shorterworking week of 28 hours ratherthan 35 hours in order to care forchildren or older relatives. Theywon a settlement for 3.2 millionworkers.Caring, whatever our age or gen-

der, is fundamental and must re-main in the constitution. This is the personal view of the authors.

Carers need constitutional recognitionCOMMENT

As carers ourselves, one for a young child, the other for an elderly mother, we have experienced such discrimination...


31Reviews

Stephen McGonagle: Ombudsman, Trade Unionist, Senator By Owen McGonagle Published by Umiskin PressPrice €35 (hardback) Available at:[email protected]

STEPHEN McGonagle was oneof the few union leaders toaddress Labour’s Northernquestion in a way that wasboth Irish and realistic. Born in Derry in 1914, the son of

an activist in the Plumbing TradesUnion, McGonagle followed his fa-ther into the trade. His appoint-ment as an official of theBritish-based National Union ofTailors and Garment Workers in1947 made him the key union manin Derry’s staple industry. When the Northern Ireland

Labour Party came out in favour ofpartition in 1949, McGonagle, withso many others, joined the IrishLabour Party, which became an all-Ireland party for the next 23 years. In 1952, he launched the break-

away Clothing Workers’ Union,and one year later the Clothing

Workers’ Union merged with theIrish Transport and General Work-ers’ Union (ITGWU). It amountedto the biggest transfer of membersfrom a British to an Irish union inthe history of Northern Ireland,and gave Irish Labour the chanceto lead, politically and industrially,in the North’s second city. But before long, McGonagle had

concluded that, for all its rhetori-cal anti-partitionism, Irish Labourhad no practical policy for what it

termed ‘The Occupied Area’. He resolved to concentrate on

union work and make NorthernIreland work for all its people, inthe belief that it was the only wayto avoid a sectarian divide in tradeunionism. Declining to join the civil rights

movement, he served on the IrishCongress of Trade Union’s North-ern Ireland Committee and in sev-eral public roles, notably asOmbudsman for Northern Ireland(1974-9). He refused an OBE, andin the 1980s he representedLabour in Seanad Éireann and inthe New Ireland Forum. Owen McGonagle, a former

Head of Design and Creative Mediaat Letterkenny Institute of Tech-nology, has penned a worthy trib-ute to his late father. It’s an extensive study, and more

a semi-popular life and times ac-count than a narrowly focused bi-ography. Neither does the authormake a claim to objectivity. Yetwhile the content is uncritical, thetone is not hagiographical, and thebook is a welcome addition to theslim body of work on StephenMcGonagle. North-west readers in particular

will enjoy what is in some ways a

political and social history ofDerry, and all students of labourhistory will benefit from the ob-servations on the often-strainedrelations between nationalism andLabour and McGonagle’s difficul-ties in dealing with clerical oppo-sition.

Few communities in Irelandwere as tightly policed by theCatholic Church as nationalistDerry before the 1970s, and fearsof communism were regularly in-voked against Labour whenever itchallenged the Nationalist Party;fears which miraculously disap-peared when Labour confrontedthe Unionists.

It’s unfortunate that the authordoesn’t say more on the controver-sies surrounding the breakawayClothing Workers’ Union, whichmight shed light on the puzzle ofhow a united, secular trade union-ism is able to function in the work-ing class, where the North’ssectarian divisions are deepest. He does, however, illustrate

some paradoxes, such as the fierceloyalty to the amalgamateds in cer-tain nationalist quarters. Unlikecolleagues who papered over thecontradictions with clichés aboutclass unity against orange andgreen Tories, McGonagle ad-dressed the contradictions, andthen had the sense to see thatsome of his solutions were un-workable and the commitment tokeep trying.Hopefully, this very readable

book will encourage more search-ing studies on an exceptionalLabour leader, and Umiskin Pressis to be congratulated on a hand-some production.

Emmet OÕConnorEmmet O’Connor, who has published

widely on labour history, is a senior lec-turer in history at Ulster University.

Squaring the circle of organising in a divided society

Colombian trade unionists face nights of terror

WILLIAM Walker was a leadingBelfast trade unionist, labour ac-tivist and contemporary ofJames Connolly. However, unlike Connolly, he did notbelieve in an independentIrish Workers’ Republic. Rather, he was opposed even to

Home Rule for Ireland and wasconvinced the future for Irish so-cialists lay within the BritishLabour movement. This book ofessays is published to mark thecentenary of his death in 1918 An interesting chapter by aca-

demic historian, ChristopherLoughlin, traces the roots of theNorthern Ireland civil rights move-ment of the 1960s to the veryfoundation of the State and chal-lenges to its inherently undemo-

cratic nature by trade unionistsand those on the left in the 1920sand 30s.Where others look to factors

such as the impact of the 1947 Ed-ucation Act in promoting a new

Catholic middle class, Loughlinpoints instead to the labour move-ment and left-wing activists as theoriginators and “the key drivingforce” in the development of thecivil rights movement.In examining the essentially re-

pressive and sectarian nature ofNorthern Ireland, he reminds usthat it was boasted by one of its ar-chitects, Lord Craigavon to be “aProtestant Parliament and a Protes-tant state” Another, Sir BasilBrooke said he would not employCatholics because they were “99%disloyal”. And it was loyalty thatwas the “political means by whichreligious discrimination could beconducted”. Limited protections within the

Government of Ireland Act 1920,designed to give political voice tominorities, such as the SingleTransferable Vote (STV), were abol-ished with determined haste bythe new Stormont Government.This and other abuses, such as

“gerrymandering” electoral wardsin Derry ensuring permanentUnionist control in a predomi-nantly Nationalist city, meant thatpolitics was distorted from the get-go.However, the loyalty test was

also applied to those on the leftand within the labour movementwho from the beginning began tochallenge the undemocratic natureof Northern Ireland. The author argues that there was

a price to be paid for that opposi-tion and that “Labour was – along-side Catholics, Irish nationalistsand separatists – a significant vic-tim of the counter-revolutionaryviolence which accompanied thefoundation of Northern Ireland”. Still those trade unionists and

left-wing activists continued dur-ing those early years and after topromote what were called “civilliberties” as well as the interests ofworkers. They opposed the abolition of

the STV and the operation of re-pressive legislation in the form ofthe Special Powers Act. They didwhat they could to unite Catholicand Protestant workers in the Out-door Relief (benefits) strike of1932. In 1936, both Labour and Irish

nationalists were invited to ad-dress the UK House of Commonson civil liberties following an in-vestigation of the Special PowersAct by the (British) National Coun-cil for Civil Liberties.Some of those active in the

1920s and 1930s, such as Betty Sin-clair and Andy Barr, lived to see theflowering of their earlier efforts asthe long arc of history bent to anew and more successful opposi-tion in the form of the civil rightsmovement of 1968.

Michael Halpenny

William Walker 1870 - 1918By Charles LoughlinPublished by Umiskin Press

The long road to civil rights

It’s an extensivestudy, and more asemi-popular lifeand times accountthan a narrowly focused biography


32 Liberty Theatre Event Guide

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

A KILIMANJARO PRESENTATION

THIS WILL BE AN AGES 15+ EVENTOVERSHAREAVAILABLE IN ALL

GOOD BOOK SHOPS & ONLINE

4TH OCTOBER

JOIN ROSE & ROSIE FOR A SCREENING OF THEIR FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY, FOLLOWED BY A LIVE Q&A AND A BOOK SIGNING

OVERSHARE

JOIN ROSE & ROSIE FOR A SCREENING OF THEIR FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH JOIN ROSE & ROSIE FOR A SCREENING OF THEIR FIRST FEATURE-LENGTH

SATURDAY 13 OCTOBER 2018 LIBERTY HALL THEATRE, DUBLIN

www.AIKENPROMOTIONS.com

Sing the songs of Dublin with a 50 person choir

u2 poster.indd 1 11/09/2018 15:56:13

As part of ‘The Lost O'Casey’ by ANÚ Productions in DublinTheatre Festival 2018, there will be a CALL TO ACTIONround table at Liberty Hall on Thursday 11th October.

With guests such as GP Austin O'Carroll, ANÚ's Artistic Director Louise Lowe, Karan O'Loughlin from SIPTU and Joe O'Connor from FÓRSA announced so far, this round table discussion will look at precarious employment, thehousing crisis, health and other themes unpacked in TheLost O'Casey in Dublin Theatre Festival.

A link to this event will go up on the www.dublintheatrefestival.com website from Friday 28th of September for €10 per ticket.

Produced by ANÚ Productions and the Abbey Theatre withICTU, FÓRSA and SIPTU. Supported by Dublin Theatre Festival, Fishamble New Play Clinic and Dublin City Council.

This production is primarily funded by an Arts Council OpenCall Award.

CALL TO ACTION @ Liberty HallThursday 11th of October, at 8.00 p.m.


33Obituary

TRIBUTE Pat Clarke

PAT Clarke, from Elphin, wasa lorry driver with Roscom-mon County Council but tothose of us who knew him, hewas much more than this. Hewas, and remained until theday he died, a trade union ac-tivist.Pat represented the drivers in

Roscommon County Council andserved on various committees inthe FWUI.On the amalgamation of the

FWUI and the ITGWU, he waselected as the Roscommon repre-sentative on the first Regional Ex-ecutive Committee of SIPTU and

Branch President of the Roscom-mon Branch.Pat set about his role on the Re-

gion and very soon achieved hisdream of a Branch Office inRoscommon. This was somethingthat was very dear to Pat and hiscolleagues in the County Council.Pat’s friend and sparring partner,

P.J. Oates, had retired by this timeand it was left to Pat to fly theRoscommon flag – something hedid with great gusto.Pat loved Céilí music and he at-

tended every fleadh that was heldin Ireland and, of course, he likedthe horses and would call to the

A dedicated union activist who flew the union flagunion office in Sligo whenever theSligo races were on.On one such occasion, we men-

tioned the formation of a DistrictCouncil for Sligo Leitrim Roscom-mon. Pat was enthusiastic straightawayThere was one other side to Pat

that not everyone knew about, inparticular the forces of law andorder, but Pat’s produce broughtcomfort to many on cold winternights when it was needed to treata cold or flu.Pat passed away on the 27th

February last and was buried withfull union honours in the church-

yard in Elphin. Music was pro-vided by Aidan Shannon and thelocal Comhaltas group as well asSheila Farrell and the Elphin ParishChoir.It was fitting that both his re-

moval and his funeral was at-tended by a large group of friendsand acquaintances despite the factthat this happened during StormEmma.The irony of this would not be

lost of Pat as he had for years en-sured that the salting was doneand the roads were clear, when re-quired, for the citizens of Roscom-mon.Ar Dheis De do Roimh Sé.

GREG Boland, guitarist, ar-ranger, educator and activist,was born on 15th January, 1955and died unexpectedly on 16thAugust, 2018. In a career span-ning more than 40 years, he es-tablished himself as one ofIreland’s best and most signifi-cant guitarists/musicians. Growing up in Sandymount,

Dublin, Greg was from a musicalfamily. His father, the respectedphysician, the late Dr NevilleBoland, was also an accomplishedpianist and introduced Greg to jazzmusic at an early age.In his teens, Greg studied guitar

at the Royal Irish Academy ofMusic in Dublin. From there he be-came a member and significantcontributor to a number of originalIrish bands. He also worked exten-sively as a session musician. In the mid-1970s he played with

the experimental prog and folkgroup Supply, Demand and Curve.Fellow group members wereJolyon Jackson, Brian Mastersonand Paul McAteer. In the late-1970s he was an inte-

gral member of the soul/funk/rockband, Stagalee. This group con-sisted of, among others, frontmanErrol Walsh and Boland’s lifelongmusic collaborator Tommy Mooreon bass. In the 1980s, along with Sonny

Condell and Philip King, he formedthe group Scullion. The groupgained some success and their sin-

OBITUARY Greg Boland

gle Carol received substantial air-play on Irish radio. The grouprecorded four albums duringBoland’s tenure. The three members of Scullion

came from contrasting musicalbackgrounds and created whatwas, at that time, an original fu-sion. Sonny Condell said: “He (Greg)

would always know exactly whatwas going on, and would deliver.He was a great arranger, a great in-terpreter of a songwriter’s ef-forts… he was the musicalbonding agent, pulling us togetherfrom day one. He had the vision tobe able to do that.” During the 1980s, he also per-

formed with various groups, in-cluding Bumper to Bumper, TheBig Noise and Moving Hearts. As a very much in-demand ses-

sion player, he collaborated with avast array of notable artists, includ-ing Carole King, Sinead O’Connor,Leo Sayer, Bono, Jimmy McCarthy,Christy Moore, Bill Whelan, MauraO’Connell, the Davy Spillane Band,Frances Black, Johnny Logan, RedHurley and Stockton’s Wing. Healso worked with the RTE ConcertOrchestra and in the house bandfor the RTE television show KennyLive. He was a passionate advocate for

musicians’ rights. After the IrishFederation of Musicians and Asso-ciated Professions, formed in the1936, finally closed its doors in2002, he and others formed the

Musicians’ Union of Ireland. Greg was its founding President.

He was particularly concernedwith the issues of promoting moreIrish music on radio and fair payfor musicians. His work as an educator enabled

him to pass on his vast knowledgeand lifelong passion for music. Hetaught for a number years at the‘Rock School’ at Ballyfermot Col-lege of Further Education, wherehe imparted his expertise in guitarplaying, arranging and the musicbusiness in general. In more recent years Greg had a

number of working projects on thego. Aja was a band dedicated toplaying the music of Steely Danand Badge, a classic rock four-pieceoutfit. He had also been workingon some standard jazz repertoirewith a view to performance. Therewas also an upcoming Stagalee re-union. Greg Boland was one of those

rare guitarists/musicians who inperformance, always served themusic. He was meticulous in hispreparation and consistentlyplayed with great taste and musi-cality. His numerous existingrecordings are testament to this.He is survived by his children

Laura and Adam, by his formerwife Jackie Morris, his motherSheelagh and by his brothers Timand Andrew.

Hugh Buckley

Greg Boland was instrumental in helping to set up Musicians’ Union of Ireland

He served the music and the union


34 Sport

With September came rainand the return of competitiveIrish international football.It’s unknown if the twoevents are related.Late in 2018, three decades after

the Republic’s seminal break-through moment of qualifying forEuro ‘88 and the explosion in soc-cer outside of just urban areas,Irish football finds itself on theprecipice.Speaking in the wake of Ire-

land’s loss to Wales in the NationsCup (which has proved a great suc-cess) former Republic of Irelandmanager, Brian Kerr, launched intothe FAI top brass claiming therewas ‘‘no leadership at the top’’ andthat football in the 26 countiesneeds radical change.This wasn’t Kerr’s first broadside

at the FAI since its chief executive,John Delaney, removed the popu-lar Drimnagh man as manager 13years ago and replaced him withSteve Staunton. Since then Ireland

has qualified for two EuropeanChampionships and has beatenGermany, then reigning WorldChampions, in competitive foot-ball.But these moments of ecstasy

have proved to be false dawns.Irish football fans have now be-come used to knowing that thecomedown will be much longerand harder to endure than themomentarily lived through high.September brought many talk-

ing points for football fans, muchof them familiar ground includingthe training pitch spat betweenRoy Keane and Harry Artur andthe recurring issue over the alle-giance of English born players tothe flag. The elevation of busi-nessman and generous donor toIrish football, Denis O’Brien, tothe role of Honorary Life Presi-dent of the FAI was also the sub-ject of comment by some.It’s hard though to blame the

FAI for seeking support where

they can get it but it must be seenin the context of 30 years of controversial strategic decisions.These have resulted in the Irishinternational football team play-ing in a stadium, which was in themain built by a rival sporting or-ganisation. The FAI also presidesover a national league, which de-spite all the well-meaning talkand the sporadic Europeanachievement, still has its Champi-ons elect, Dundalk FC, playing tobig crowds in a ground completelyunfit for purpose which amountsto an eye-sore when it finds itsway onto television screens.The Irish model of letting our

young players go to England intheir early and mid-teens has,since the complete globalisationof the English Premier League,completely failed. Just 18 playersfrom the Republic of Irelandplayed in the English top divisionlast season. This is the lowestnumber since the Premier League

began in 1992, and half the num-ber of Irish players who played in2011/’12.What radical over-haul is the

FAI implementing to deal with thesurplus talent which no longerhas an outlet to the English andScottish leagues which were onceonly comprised of British andIrish players? Why is Brian Kerr,who master-minded the greatestsustained success at youth levelever seen, not just in Ireland butin any European country nowfrozen out by the FAI and reducedto Robert Emmet type speechesfrom the dock as he puts forwardhis case again and again for abrighter future?The Irish sporting public are

fickle and move with the herd.Irish football could find itself cutadrift and back to the position itheld for itself in the 1980s. Somecould be forgiven for thinkingthat the League of Ireland has notyet left that decade.

Irish football’s autumn bluesBy Kevin Brannigan

Ireland's Enda Stevens with Connor Roberts of Wales during the UEFA Nations League match in Cardiff City Stadium on 9th September 2018. Photo courtesy www.dublinlive.com

The Irish model of

letting our young

players go to

England in their

early and mid-teens

has, since the

complete

globalisation of

the English Premier

League, completely

failed


35Crossword

LibertyCrossword

*Correctly fill in the crossword to reveal the hidden word, containedby reading the letters in the shaded squares from top to bottom.

Email the hidden word to [email protected] or post to Communications Dept., Liberty Hall, Dublin 1 along with your nameand address and you will to be entered into a prize draw to win a€200 One4All voucher The winner of the crossword quiz will be published in the next edition of Liberty. *Terms and conditions apply.

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1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8

9 10

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14

15 16

17

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21 22

1 A rip in material(4)2 To improve a building (13)3 The order of which Pope Francis was once a member (7)4 Dodge (5)5 A school for boys and girls (13)6 The flames of the underworld (8)12 Greek hero (8)14 Israeli parliament (7)17 Underground chamber (5)20 Kind of cut (4)

The winner of the crossword competition in the July/August issue was Elaine Goldrick, Claregalway, Co. Galway Answer: Association

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Certain acceptance criteria and policy terms and conditions apply. A.R. Brassington & Co. Ltd. trading as QuickCover.ie is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

• Home Insurance• Car Insurance• Income Protection Plans

1890 30 07 45www.siptu.jltonline.ie

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Documents

Page 28-29 Page 16-17 Raise the Roof on October 3rd · See page 13, 16 - 17. Masked private security men leaving North Frederick Street in Dublin after evicting housing activists