Union Post - September 2009

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NEWS YOU CAN USENION POSTU

SEPTEMBER 2009

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE IRISH CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONSTHE

CONGRESSVOWSMASSCAMPAIGN

COMMISSION ON TAXATION EXCLUSIVE PAGE 6

� Drive will focus on jobs, workers’rights and cuts to public services

� Bid to mobilise 650,000workers and their families

CONGRESS is to organise amass campaign focusing on thejobs crisis, workers’ rights andcuts in public services.

Stating talks with Govern-ment had “produced nothing”,general secretary David Beggsaid: “Congress sees no alter-native but to mobilise its mem-bership – some 650,000 peopleand their families – in a cam-paign of sustained oppositionto these policies.”

He added this was to im-press upon Government thecentral importance of fairnessand social justice in finding aresolution to the crisis.

The Executive Council ofCongress will meet on Sep-tember 30 to finalise and ap-prove details of the campaign.

FULL STORY PAGE 5

IN THE END IT WAS AQUESTION OF FAIRNESS

BRENDAN HAYES ON WHY HE SAID NO TO REPORT

2 UNION POST � September 2009

UNION POST was produced by Brazier Media for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions

Congress in massdrive on jobs & cuts

McCarthy Reportgets health warning

5

10

Congress hails migrants move

Big show of supportfor dock workers

12

16

Stateside look athealthcare battle 18

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UNION POST

NION POSTUTHE Get it in A4

IT’S THE IRISHCITIZEN NAVY!

THE “IRISH Citizen Navy” launched a waterborne protestin support of the Marine Terminals strikers. Demonstra-tors in several craft took to the Liffey waters on Au-gust 27. Local community activist said: “East Walland Ringsend have strong links with the port, asworkers, seafarers, boating and water sports enthusi-asts. This is just their way of showing a bit of soli-darity with the men and women on strike. In the weekthat marks the centenary of the start of the 1913 Lock-out maybe we should establish an Irish Citizenʼs Navyto follow the example of the Irish Citizen Army.”

SHOW OF SUPPORT PAGES 16 & 17

3September 2009 � UNION POST

THE WEB EDITION OF THE UNION POST IS SAVED IN A3 LANDSCAPE FORMATIF YOU WANT A4 EMAIL YOUR REQUEST TO [email protected]

We won’t be cowedby neoliberal lies

ICTUVIEWDavid BeggGeneral Secretary

OVER the last three decades, the opponents oftrade unions have managed to pull off quite a re-markable coup.

They are small in number and belong to tinyelites in business and on the wilder shores of poli-tics. They are an unrepresentative minority. Yet theyhave enjoyed success in portraying unions as irrele-vant, as being little more than marginal groups or‘sectional, vested interests’.

And their propaganda is endlessly parroted incertain media outlets. It is an astonishing optical il-lusion, in which the laws of physics are invertedand the rational world is turned on its head.

There is a method to their madness. Those thatdepict unions as irrelevant to the modern era doso as part of a wider political project: the neolib-eral agenda.

In a society with weakened trade unions thepower of business is multiplied considerably, as isits capacity to overturn and roll back any gains thathave been won by workers.

This is the real goal of people who would haveyou believe that the Irish union movement existsonly at the margins of society.

In fact the opposite is the case. Congress has inexcess of 850,000 members across the island ofIreland. That makes us the largest civil society or-ganisation on this island.

Through sheer weight of numbers, there is aunion presence in virtually every community, northand south. Teachers, tradesmen, transport workers,nurses, carers, rescue workers, engineers, hotelstaff, bar and shop workers... the list is as long anddiverse as human life itself.

No reasonable person could claim it reflects a

movement that is either irrelevant or removedfrom the harsh realities of life today.

In fact it is on this section of society that the bur-den of the current crisis has fallen. Jobs are beinglost and peoples’ homes are being threatened.

Those still in work and still earning – the greatmass of whom are low and middle income earners– are being asked to carry a disproportionateshare of the burden of this crisis. It is to theseearners that Government has repeatedly turned torefill coffers emptied by errant bankers andbuilders. First incomes were cut and now vital pub-lic services are threatened. This cannot continue.

THREATSOn September 30, the Congress Executive Coun-

cil will meet to finalise plans for a campaign of sus-tained opposition to current Government policy:from inaction on the jobs crisis to threats to publicservices.

In short, our campaign is aimed at ensuring thatthe ‘burden of adjustment’ is no longer foisted onthose who already bear a heavy burden.

The McCarthy Report, the Commission on Taxa-tion, the official response to the banking crisis,threats to social welfare and the minimum wage –all have a common thread running through them:to preserve the status quo and pretend that theworld as we knew it can be restored to rudehealth. That is an illusion.

We do not require an adjustment or a ‘correc-tion’, we require a fundamental change of direction

If we want a genuine recovery we must ensurethat justice and equality are at the heart of every-thing we do.

UNION POST � September 20094

NAMA PROTEST

STRIKING workers from the Coca Cola, GreenIsle Foods and Marine Terminals disputes joined1,500 SIPTU and TEEU members in a rally outsideLeinister House as TDs prepared to debate thedraft NAMA legislation earlier this month

In a joint statement issued in advance of theSeptember 16 protest, TEEU general secretarydesignate Eamon Devoy and SIPTU general presi-dent Jack O’Connor said: “The Government istaking an incredible gamble with the Irish taxpay-ers’ resources at the same time as they are look-ing the other way while PAYE workers in CocaCola, Marine Terminals, Green Isle Foods, Mr Bin-man and the Manor Nursing Home are beingbludgeoned into the ground by employers whohaven’t even the decency to participate in LabourCourt investigations of the issues in dispute.”

They warned: “The debts recklessly incurred bygreedy bankers are being shifted on to the shoul-ders of the taxpayers while PAYE workers arebeing thrown to the wolves by the Government.”

The rally was organised under the banner ofthe Trade Union Federation which links the twounions.

Contrasting Government policy “towards thebanks [with that] towards the PAYE workers theyexpect to foot the bill for NAMA”, Mr Devoyclaimed this amounted to a “socialisation” of debtand was being pushed through in the face of paycuts and dismissals in a number of high-profiledisputes.Workers from Coca Cola HBC Ireland,on strike for four weeks, Green Isle Food, out forthree weeks, and a delegation from the long-run-ning Marine Terminals dispute stood stood shoul-

der to shoulder at the Kildare Street entrance tothe Dail with supporters and other SIPTU andTEEU members.

Strike breakers have been drafted in to all threesites and court injunctions sought to minimise theeffect of pickets – marking a sea change in theway some management teams deal with industrialdisputes.

SIPTU branch organiser John Dunne said: “My

members have been on strike at Coca Cola sinceAugust 27 over company plans to outsource 130jobs to third party companies.”

He claimed workers wanted the issues heard inthe Labour Relations Commission and that the is-sues had been referred to the body as far back asJuly 8, but that the company had sacked all thestrikers on September 8.

Mr Dunne added: “Members are attending theDail protest to show how angry they feel regard-

ing the softly softly approach adapted to financialinstitutions, who are largely to blame for thecountry’s current economic situation, and the wayemployers are allowed to ignore basic industrialrelations procedures.”

Referring to the dispute at Naas-based GreenIsle Foods, Mr Devoy claimed the firm had usedworkers as scapegoats unfairly dismissing themand introducing strike-breakers.

Calling for an end to “double standards”, headded: “On the one hand we have big businessbeing bailed out through NAMA and on the other,employers are using the crisis created by financialinstitutions to attack PAYE workers. It is a ‘lose-lose’ scenario for Irish workers.

“Like everyone else our members’ living stan-dards are under attack as their capacity to repaymortgages and pay daily bills is reduced, whileemployers do what they like.”

Later responding to Finance Minister BrianLenihan’s presentation of the NAMA legislation inthe Dail, Congress President Jack O’Connorclaimed the current proposals exposed taxpayersto a massive risk with a potential exposure of€54 billion.

He described Mr Lenihan’s assertion that hewill bring in a banking levy if NAMA overpays thebanks as providing “little comfort” for the tax-payer.

Pointing out there was no legislative provisionfor this, he added: “We can be sure that the bankswill fully benefit if NAMA gets its pricing right butwe can be a lot less confident that the banks willbe made to pay if NAMA gets it wrong.

BANKS BAILED OUT WHILEWORKERS ‘BLUDGEONED’

NAMA is alose-losescenariofor Irishworkers– Eamon Devoy

THE Labour Court has made asettlement recommendationover the four-week long dis-pute at Coca Cola HBC Ire-land.

Following a hearing on Sep-tember 18, the court proposedthe company offer a redun-dancy package in line witharrangements previouslyagreed with SIPTU.

It also suggested thereshould be further talks on theunionʼs proposal to conduct afeasibility study looking at theretention of jobs at the Bally-coolin plant in Dublin.

Branch organiser JohnDunne said: “An opportunitynow exists through this rec-

ommendation to conclude anamicable settlement in the in-terest of all parties.

“We are therefore urging thecompany to accept the LabourCourt recommendation andbring this dispute to an end.”

The move is a welcome de-velopment. Earlier this monthSIPTU general president JackOʼConnor had warned thestrike was entering “a verydark phase”.

He made his comments dur-ing a visit to union memberson picket duty outside theCappagh Road depot inDublin. At the time he claimedthe company had refused to

engage with the union at theLabour Relations Commis-sion.

Mr OʼConnor said: “This is acompany that has not had atrade dispute in living mem-ory, whose workforce previ-ously delivered major changeprogrammes and initiatives,all through the normal indus-trial relations process.

“What is now of major con-cern is the employersʼ attitudeto the tried and tested systemof local collective bargainingfollowed by joint referral to theLabour Relations Commissionand to the Labour Court if nec-essary.”

The right to useagreed industrial relations procedures,

including the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court

The right to have theircase heard through

agreed procedures

The right to try andsave jobs for directly

employed Coca Cola Workers

The right to have thepositive contribution

of workers to Coca ColaHBC acknowledged by itsnew management team.

�

�

�

�

BASIC DEMANDS

Labour Court proposalsCOCA COLA DISPUTE

46 printing jobs lost Health attacks up 400UNITE has described the closure of the Kilkenny Peopleprinting press with the job of 46 jobs as a hammer blow tothe local economy.

The plant – which has printed the title for 100 years – wassold to regional news giant Johnston Press four years ago.

UNITE regional officer Billy Kyne said the union would befighting for the best possible terms for what he called “themost loyal and long-standing group of workers in the coun-try”. He added: “We expect Johnston Press to play fair withtheir Irish workforce.”

FIGURES from the UKʼs Department of Health have revealedthere were 3,622 attacks on healthcare staff in Northern Ire-land in the six months up to March.

Stormont Health Minister Michael Gimpsey said such at-tacks – representing a rise of 400 on the previous six monthperiod – would not be tolerated.

He added: “Since I came into office, a zero tolerance cam-paign has been running. This has included strengtheningthe law to ensure that people who are violent and abusiveare dealt with fully.”

September 2009 � UNION POST 5

CONGRESS has announced it will organise acampaign of sustained opposition to Governmentinaction on jobs, the threat of cuts to public serv-ices and to ensure the burden of economic ad-justment is not borne disproportionately byworking people and their families.

In a statement issued on September 16, gen-eral secretary David Begg stressed that fairnessand equality had to be at the heart of any solu-tion to economic crisis.

He said: “Not alone has there been no actionto keep people in work, but those defending theirjobs have been subjected to extraordinary mis-treatment and abuse.

“There are currently five serious private sectordisputes in progress in which the behaviour of

the employers is more in tune with practicesfrom the early 1900s, than with a modern society.

“Our talks with Government have not pro-duced anything. Congress therefore sees no al-ternative but to mobilise its membership – some650,000 people and their families, in this jurisdic-tion – in a campaign of sustained opposition andin order to convince Government that fairnessand social justice must be central to any pro-posed solution to the crisis.”

A special meeting of the Congress ExecutiveCouncil will be convened on September 30 to fi-nalise and approve detailed proposals for thecampaign.

These will drawn up in advance by the GeneralPurposes Committee of Congress.

Picture: Anna Farrell, TEEU

MASS DRIVE ONJOBS AND CUTS

CONGRESS has expressed deep concern thatthe recommendations of the Commission onTaxation could result in “significant new bur-dens being placed on already hard-pressedworking people.”

Congress Economic Advisor Paul Sweeneysaid: “The Commission’s recommendations, ifimplemented in full, could see working peoplehit with higher costs at an already difficult time,while the business sector would benefit – ef-fectively a transfer of resources from one tothe other. That is neither fair nor sustainable.

“We have always believed and supported taxreform as we believe in an equitable, fair andprogressive taxation system – unfortunately wecannot see how the Commission’s report willdeliver on that goal,” Mr Sweeney said.

“This exercise was flawed from the beginning:its terms of reference and composition virtu-ally guaranteed this outcome. We support thedecision of the trade union representative tothe Commission – Brendan Hayes of SIPTU –not to sign the final report and agree fully withhis reasons for so doing.

“The entire exercise was driven and domi-nated by an outdated ideology that has beenabandoned wholesale across the globe. Thismisguided philosophy is what has caused thegreatest financial crisis of the modern era. Re-markably some still believe it to be a suitablereference point and basis for an examination ofour tax system.

“Our fear is that the tax base had not beenwidened but that the burden imposed onworking people, as opposed to business, hasbeen increased.”

BRENDAN HAYES: PAGE 6

ICTU fearworkerscould beartax brunt

People power: Mass demo organised by Congress in February

COMMISSION REPORT

CONGRESS has claimed the behaviour of a num-ber of companies involved in a series of continu-ing high-profile disputes is more in keeping withthe industrial relations of a bygone era.

Nearly 100 years after the infamous DublinLockout, some firms are once again resorting tocourt injunctions and to drafting in strike-break-ers against workers taking industrial action.

Increasingly employers are making less use ofstate mechanisms in place to resolve disputes –such as the Labour Court – and seem intent ondeploying more aggressive tactics.

Earlier this month, Congress general secretaryDavid Begg referred to the “extraordinary mis-treatment” meted out to employees who heclaimed were simply defending their jobs.

He said: “There are currently five serious pri-vate sector disputes in progress in which the be-haviour of the employers is more in tune withpractices from the early 1900s than with a mod-ern society.”

This view was echoed by one of the Marine Ter-minals Ltd strikers who claimed the foremostreason that the stoppage was taking place wasthat the company had made workers redundantwith no negotiation.

He said: “That is why we are on strike – and

that is what the company still refuses to discuss.”Last month, SIPTU general secretary Joe

O’Flynn slammed what he called the “bully boytactics” of Peel Ports bosses at Marine Terminalsand claimed they had shown “total contempt forthe conflict resolution institutions of the Irishstate”. He told a rally outside the Marine Teminalssite on August 24 that the firm had “set its face”against engaging in serious negotiations with em-ployees.

Mr O’Flynn added: “Peel Ports are trying to setthe clock back a hundred years to secure superprofits for themselves and consign dockers andtheir communities to penury.”

One of the strikers claimed the company“seemed quite happy to leave us outside for aslong as it takes to break our spirits”.

Peel Ports management has often made use ofthe courts during the stoppage.

They applied for a High Court injunction onJuly 3 frustrating workers attempts at mountingan effective picket. The following month an in-terim injunction was granted against SIPTU, Con-gress and a number of named officials and strikerspreventing them from “intimidating” strike break-ers or referring to them as “scabs”.

On September 16, another injunction pre-

vented SIPTU and Congress from distributing fly-ers or publishing details of those who had contin-ued working during the strike at MTL.

However, on that occasion, Mr Justice KevinFeeney ruled that workers were entitled to usestrong language – including “scab” – outside thecompany’s gates.

Green Isle Foods has also made use of strikebreakers and the courts during the continuingdispute at its plant in Naas, Co Kildare.According to the TEEU, 40 workers have been

drafted in from other operations in Britain tocarry out the work of the striking staff.

The stoppage arose out of the dismissal ofthree workers over alleged misconduct involvingcomputer use.

TEEU general secretary designate EamonDevoy claimed the dismissals were a “clear caseof ordinary employees paying for sloppy manage-ment procedures”.

He added the union had offered to discuss theissue but that the company seemed determinedto use it as a means of pursuing an “anti-unionagenda”.

Mr Devoy said:“What they’re doing here is try-ing to use their own blunder to get rid of work-ers they wanted to make redundant anyway.”

LOCKOUT MENTALITYOLD-STYLE MANAGEMENT TACTICS BLASTED BY CONGRESS


GOVERNMENT’SNOT MAKE US A WON’T CREATE

EXCLUSIVE BRENDAN HAYES ON

LOW taxes, inequality in the provision ofhealth and education, a growing incomegap and sub-optimum economic growth:

these are not separate, unrelated issues, butare inextricably connected and bound up to-gether.

And it is this deep connection that meantwhen the Commission on Taxation opted togratuitously support continuation of our lowtax model, I could not sign the report.

The Commission's Term of Referencewere designed to underpin and reinforceconventional wisdom on taxation policy inIreland, which holds that low income andcorporate taxes promote the economicgrowth necessary to generate the revenuerequired to run public services.

Within that limited framework the Com-mission was mandated to review the effi-ciency and fairness ofthe tax system and tomake recommenda-tions on proposedchanges. In additionthe Commission wasdirected to leave un-touched the currentcorporation tax rate,make recommenda-tions on the design ofa carbon tax, indicatehow long term savingsfor retirement couldbe incentivisedthrough the tax sys-tem and bring forward proposals on howlocal government might be financed throughfuture charges and taxation.

There was no mandate to address socialor economic inequality, to provide for afairer society or to make recommendationson how income and wealth might be redis-tributed to bring about social cohesion intandem with economic growth.

The members of the Commission werechosen by the then Minister for Finance,Brian Cowen. The Minister did not disclosewhy any of those he appointed were se-lected to serve.

However, the Commission members actedwith integrity in discharging their mandate.

And while I could not sign the report, I be-lieve they are convinced that the recommen-dations they made are in the best interestsof Irish society and the economy.

However, I am also confident that anothergroup of people drawn from different back-grounds would have come to different con-clusions with equal conviction that they toowere acting in the best interests of the Irishpeople.

There are many good recommendations inthe Commission’s report. For example, itrecommends a broadening of the tax base,the elimination of many of the reliefs thatwere availed of by wealthy individuals toavoid paying tax, suggests systematic costbenefit analysis for evaluating tax expendi-tures in future and makes some valuable pro-posals on the future financing of local

government.However, in assessing the

report as a package of meas-ures I asked one key question:would the Commission's rec-ommendations do anything toeliminate social inequality?The broad answer was thatthey would not.

There remain far too manyreliefs in the Commission’srecommendations that con-tinue to promote inequalityrather than reduce it. Thus, itrecommends the introductionof a “modest” earned income

credit for the self employed. This earned in-come credit is essentially the extension ofthe PAYE Tax Allowance to the self em-ployed. If this was done at the same level asthe PAYE Allowance the cost to the excheq-uer would be in the region of €600 millionper annum. In essence, close to the entirenet value of a property tax would be giftedto the self employed.

Whatever justification there is for this, andI find it hard to identify any, it is totally inde-fensible that this would be done without anyrestrictions on the current expenses regimethat applies to the self employed. Thatregime is generous to a fault and is used tofinance activities that would be paid for out

of after tax income, by the PAYE sector. The'best of both worlds' nature of the recom-mendation, at the cost of up to €600 millionto the state, is not defensible.

Another example is the recommendationin respect of professional sports people.Here the Commission proposed that profes-sional sports people should be entitled toreclaim up to €350,000 tax back at the endof their sporting careers. In essence the tax-payer would be subsidising the income ofmillionaires in order to keep them playing inIreland.

A similar recommendation was made inrespect of “leased land relief” where peoplewho lease out their land on a long termbasis can receive up to €40,000 per annumtax free.

Or the decision to recommend a reduc-tion in the current tax rate on some 'divi-dend income' – irrespective of the locationof the investment and without any linkage tothe creation of jobs or economic activity inthis state.

Of particular concern was the decision torecommend that the proposed new thirdrate of income tax should be set at a levelbelow the current top rate of tax. In essencethis meant that those on super incomeswould pay no more tax than at present.

By implication the exchequer would eitherlose revenue, if it set the new rate betweenthe two existing rates without doing majorsurgery on the tax bands, or those on in-comes currently outside the tax net wouldnow be taxed.

I could not support a proposal that wouldin effect exempt those on super incomesfrom paying additional tax and impose taxeson people with low or marginal incomes.

It appeared to me that these and otherrecommendations were indefensible andwould have had the effect of increasing thetax burden on those least able to pay, whileprotecting those with the ability to pay fromcontributing more, an outcome that wouldhave simply entrenched and exacerbated so-cial inequality.

However, in many ways these specific rec-ommendations are on the margins of thereal debate that needs to take place. Ireland

To raise doubtsabout low tax

model is to commit heresy and economic

treason


LOW TAX MODEL WILL FAIRER SOCIETY AND

A VIBRANT ECONOMY

WHY HE COULDN’T SIGN REPORT

is one of the most unequal societies in thedeveloped world. The incomes of those atthe top of society are rising at a much fasterrate than that of those at the bottom. In-deed the really revealing figures from the re-cent ESRI report on pay is not the so-calledgap between the public and the private sec-tor, but the growing gap between those atthe top and those at the bottom of the in-come scale.

Conventional economic wisdom holds thatthis is inevitable and that there is little wecan do about it. Add this to the privatisationand commercialisation of health and educa-tion services and the chronic underfundingof public services and you see clearly howthe social and economic capacity of the stateis being undermined and inequality is rein-forced.

The low tax model hasassumed near conse-crated status and is be-yond either reason orquestion, a fact which isreinforced regularly inboth print and broadcastmedia. To raise any doubtsabout its efficacy is to si-multaneously commitheresy and economictreason.

The argument that pub-lic services need to be cutis essentially a demand forthe continuation of a mas-sively unequal society. Those on high in-comes would prefer to purchase education,health and other public services through theprivate sector. In this way they need onlylook after themselves and their familiesthrough private provision, as opposed tocontributing to the provision of public serv-ices, in proportion to their income andmeans.

The state supports this process by largescale tax relief on private schools and hospi-tals and private health insurance. In effectthe tax payer is subsidising private healthand education, while at the same time sup-porting a low tax policy that undermines theprovision of public services to the great ma-

jority of citizens. A similar process is takingplace with regard to the introduction oflocal charges, pension provision, college feesand nursing home care.

The drive for low taxes on incomes andwealth effectively means that substitutecharges are necessary to finance the provi-sion of services.

Thus, the total cost of providing first classthird level education is greater than the fi-nances currently available to the universities.As a society we can address this shortfall ina number of ways.We can pay more in taxa-tion or we can levy charges on students ortheir families: that is, we can pay at the pointof use or we can pay through general taxa-tion.

Either way we pay roughly the sameamount. In order to pay the charges out of

taxation we need to raisetaxes. However, those onhigh incomes and thosewho enjoy considerablelevels of wealth, includingsome of our own mem-bers, would rather keeptaxes low and pay fees atthe point of use. This isunderstandable as inthese circumstances theyonly have to pay for them-selves or their own fami-lies. When their childrenhave completed universitythe liability to pay is dis-

charged. But when the charge is leviedthrough taxation they make a contributiontowards the cost of educating all the chil-dren of the state.

However, middle income families find theburden of paying at the point of use muchmore difficult to finance and the cost can becrippling. They cannot afford to meet theburden out of current income and normallyneed to borrow to finance it.

The result is that middle income familiessee the level of public services available tothem as totally inadequate and resent payingtaxes for poor services and having to makeup the additional monies that are leviedthrough charges at the point of use. This in

turn causes them to buy into the low tax ar-gument to their own detriment and bringabout the very pressures they are reactingagainst in the first place.

The politicians refuse to face up to thereal debate and over promise on publicservices and then under deliver, giving rise toa huge level of distrust of the state and itscapacity to deliver quality services to thepublic in any form.

The only people who gain from theprocess are the wealthy who provide forthemselves anyway and avoid any require-ment to address the wider issues facing soci-ety.

The normal justification for a low taxeconomy is that it is the most successfulmodel of economic development that hasever been constructed. But the evidencedoes not support this view.

There are many pathways to economicgrowth and a low tax model is not the mostsuccessful by a long shot.

Indeed anyone interested in exploring thedata might follow the link below, where it isclearly demonstrated that the most success-ful countries across all social and economicindicators are those that have followed hightax and social security growth models.www.sourceoecd.org/pdf/society-ataglance2009/812009011e-01.pdf.

By and large these are the Nordic coun-tries and they have been particularly suc-cessful in managing social progress andeconomic growth, combined with high levelsof taxation and first class public services.

The Report of the Commission on Taxa-tion was compelled by its terms of referenceto look at one model and one model only. Ithad no mandate to address the social conse-quences of adopting that model.

I am of the view that the model adopted isnot capable of providing Ireland with both avibrant economy and a socially cohesive andfair society.

Accordingly, despite the many progressiveindividual proposals it contained, I believethat the overall report will do little to pro-mote economic growth, secure socialprogress and bring about a fair society.

I could not back aproposal that would

exempt those onsuper incomes

from paying additional tax


Picture: Evelina Saduikyte

SEPT30

FINE Gael will, if elected, introduce legis-lation that will recognise the rights ofworkers to engage in collective bargain-ing.

Employment spokesman Leo Varadkarsaid the right was included in the Char-ter of Fundamental Rights and claimedthe issue was “centre stage” in the de-bate over Lisbon Two.

He added:“Ireland is the only countryin Europe in which workers do not havea legal right to engage in collective bar-gaining with their employer.

“Fine Gael believes that if the Irishpeople vote for the Lisbon Treaty, any fu-ture government must honour the Char-ter in its national laws.

“That is why Fine Gael is now commit-ting itself, in Government, to legislatingfor this important right.”

FG promise onnew union law

IMPACT slamsESRI pay data

THOUSANDS are expected to attend a Com-munities Against Cuts protest in Dublin at theend of the month.

Organisers claim the September 30 march willgive people an opportunity to express theiranger over savage cuts in community sectorbudgets.

Recommendations contained in the McCarthyreport will – if enacted – see 6,500 jobs go inthe sector at local level.

A spokesperson said: “These cuts are rippingthe heart out of local communities. We are call-

ing on all community activists, community work-ers, volunteers and service users to mobiliseand participate on September 30.

“We are also calling for solidarity from allpublic and private sector workers.”

The campaign against the cuts is organised bySIPTU, IMPACT and the Community Sector Em-ployers Forum.

Communities Against Cuts protest marchWednesday, September 30

Assemble 1pm at Parnell Square, Dublin

IMPACT has rejected calls for public sector paycuts, following the release of wages data in aEconomic and Social Research Institute report.

The union claimed the findings were basedon statistical averages that did not comparereal jobs in the public or private sectors.

Claiming the paper was a re-hash of researchpublished last year, IMPACT spokespersonBernard Harbour said: “The ESRI is onrecord as saying pay should be cut in the pri-vate sector as well as the public service.

“The fact this edited version of the ESRI’s2008 paper has been re-issued now clearly sug-gests that it’s part of the softening up exercisefor public service pay cuts in the forthcomingBudget. But the pay of private sector workersis firmly in the ESRI’s sights as well.”

Last month IMPACT general secretary PeterMcLoone warned the Government the unionwould take industrial action – including strikes– if attempts are made to impose public servicepay cuts, pension reductions or compulsory re-dundancies.

NEW data from the European Commission hasexploded the myth about Ireland’s “over gener-ous” minimum wage levels in comparision withthe rest of Europe.

The Eurostat report which tracked minimumwage levels in 20 EU states in Janaury showed themonthly minimum take-home here was €1,462 –second only to Luxembourg at €1,642.

But when the actual purchasing power of thisamount was taken into account, Ireland slipped tosixth in the earnings league at €1,152 per month.

Other states with a higher minimum wagewhen guaged against this measure were UK(€1,154), France (€1,189), Belgium (€1,254), Hol-land (€1,336) and Luxembourg (€1,413). The find-

ings follow controversial comments in July by Fi-nance Minister Brian Lenihan in which he claimedthe minimum wage had been “under debate” formonths.

He said: “Clearly if the minimum wage becomesan impediment to job creation the Governmenthas to look at it.”

Responding to the EC findings, Congress eco-nomic adviser Paul Sweeney said: “In some re-spects, this is the Government hoist on thepetard of its own flawed policy.

“Our minimum wage must be high because inmost other EU countries, people benefit from agood ‘social wage’ – free childcare, free access toprimary health care etc. People on the minimum

wage in Ireland must pay for these services.“Congress constantly opposed the Govern-

ment policy from 1998 to shift tax from directtaxes on incomes and profits to consumption.

“We said it was regressive and it pushed upprices. At one point we demonstrated that itadded over a quarter to Irish inflation. Govern-ment policy in moving to high consumption taxessuch as 21.5% VAT and user charges over timehad led to Ireland’s high price levels.

“Our price levels are second only to Denmarkin the EU27.

“But in Denmark you have a free health system,a public transport system that works and fullchild care.”

WAGE MYTH DASHED

SIPTU general president Jack O’Con-nor has hit out at “the fanfare ofpropaganda” directed against publicsector workers.

He was reacting to the release ofan ESRI policy paper on public sectorpay, which he claimed was “as totallymisleading as it is objectionable”.

Mr O’Connor – who is also Con-gress president – said: “This is not anew study, but a reworking of a draftpreviously made public by the ESRIlast December. It confines its analysis

of data to the period between March2003 and March 2006, during whichthe benchmarking catch-up awardswere being implemented.

“And it very conveniently omitsthe fact that before such catch-up,during the four-year period to De-cember 2002, public sector pay hadbeen increasing at only half the rateof increase in the private sector.”

He claimed that the data failed tocompare like with like, adding: “Moresignificantly still, the ESRI has decided

to ignore the fact that pay in the pri-vate sector was being depressed dur-ing that period, due to the rapidlygrowing employment of immigrantlabour.

“At a time when we are witnessingthe obscene molly-coddling ofbankers who have brought on such adevastating economic crisis, it is hightime that the propaganda onslaughton public sector workers, and on thelower paid workers among them inparticular, is brought to an end.”

‘Obscene’onslaughton publicsector pay



We’ll use poll power on health

Trumka: Voting power

O’Riordan: Cut out doom laden mantra

A LEADING US trade unionisthas claimed unions will deploytheir massive voting and mobilis-ing power in forthcoming Con-gress polls to support candidateswho back health care reform.

AFL-CIO secretary-treasurerRichard Trumka claimed unionswould “step up and use their en-ergy and votes” for those politi-cians “who want to fix what’swrong the the system not main-tain a broken status quo”. Speak-

ing on CNBC News, he said:“Every 30 seconds an Americandeclares bankruptcy because ofmedical bills.

“Millions of people don’t havehealth care. You have millions ofsmall businesses and large busi-nesses that are struggling becausehealth care costs are out of sight.

“Insurance companies have astranglehold on us. The only wayto break that stranglehold on the

health care industry is to have apublic option. The fight to reformthe health care system and pro-vide quality, affordable health carefor everyone is at a critical point.

“Now is the time to make itclear: America’s workers are look-ing to elected officials for leader-ship and support, and howmembers of Congress vote onhealth care will be at the forefrontwhen they go to the polls tovote.”

NEWSBRIEFS

THE IRISH National Organisation of the Unem-ployed has called on the Government to makethe jobless crisis its number one priority beforethe scourge of long-term unemployment be-comes endemic to society once again.

It follows the release of Central Statistics Of-fice data that shows the unemployment rate inthe Republic now stands at 12.2%.

A total of 423,400 people were on the season-ally-adjusted register at the end of July.

While welcoming last month’s announcementby Tanaiste Mary Coughlan of a €250 millionscheme to protect vulnerable jobs, INOU policyand media chief Brid O’Brien warned: “Given thescale of the unemployment crisis, considerablymore needs to be done.”

More must be done todeal with jobless crisis

FIGURES released by the Labour Force Surveyhave revealed the largest quarterly increase in UKunemployment since records began in 1981.

The 281,000 rise in the three months to Maybrought the UK jobless total to 2.38 million –7.6% of the working population.

Unemployment among 18 to 24 year oldsjumped to a 16-year high of 726,000.

The unemployment rate for this group nowstands at 17.3%.

Dubbing the figures “horrendous”, TUC generalsecretary Brendan Barber called for swift govern-ment action to tackless the problem of jobless-ness and warned of the “permanent scar oflong-term unemployment”.

Record quarterly hike inUK unemployment rates

SIPTU has called on the Government to stop fu-elling “the economics of fear” and warned that a“non-stop mantra” about pay cuts would onlyserve to further depress consumer confidenceand lengthen dole queues.

Head of research Manus O’Riordan said: “Weare well on our way to reaching half a million un-employed in the New Year.

“The present unemployment rate is primarilybeing driven by a collapse in consumer expendi-ture due to the climate of fear that appears to bethe over riding objective of Government policy.”

Describing the pay cuts strategy as the Govern-ment’s “chief weapon”, he added: “The latest in-dustrial earnings data prove that the non-stopmantra about pay cuts in industry being wide-spread is just not true.

“Even if we discount the overall earnings in-crease for all employees in industry of 5.9 percent annually, because it may be structurally af-fected by large scale redundancies among lowerpaid manual workers and rising numbers in man-agement positions, the average earnings increasefor manual workers themselves still works out at5.2 per cent in the full year.

“Of this, 4.5 per cent is accounted for in the sixmonths since the third quarter of 2008.

“This means that the IBEC survey which foundthat pay increases were more common than paycuts is in fact still the case and the trade unionmovement in determined that it remains so.”

GOVT MUST STOPFEAR ECONOMICS

TRADE unions have lashed acall by Audit Commission chiefexecutive Steve Bundred to slapa pay freeze on the UKʼs six mil-lion public sector workers.

He also attacked politiciansfor not acknowledging “severepay restraint” was needed to re-balance public finances

Mr Bundred said: “At a timewhen inflation is likely to be be-tween 2% and 3%, a pain-freeway of cutting public spendingwould be to freeze public sectorpay, or at least impose severepay restraint .

“This is especially true if realwages in the private sector arestill falling.”

In 2007-08, the watchdogchiefʼs annual pay was £212,000— equivalent to £4,077 a week.UNISON general secretary Dave

Prentis hit back claiming payfreezes were no way to steer thecountry out of recession.

He said: “Letʼs be clear, therecession was caused bybankers and speculators andthe lack of regulation.

“Yet, low paid public sectorworkers, who will be helpingcommunities deal with the fall-out, are being asked to pay theprice — itʼs just not on.

“We all want to see a bit offairness injected into the sys-tem. How about cracking downon the tax evaders and makingthe rich pay their fair share,rather than always targeting thelow paid workers?”

NIPSA deputy general secre-tary Brian Campfield also at-tacked the pay freeze call.

He told The Union Post: “The

last 25 years has seen the trans-

fer of wealth from the bottom

and middle sectors of our soci-

ety to those at the top and to

the major financial and other

corporate bodies, the very indi-

viduals and organisations

which have played their finan-

cial roulette at the expense of

ordinary working people.

“Now they want public ser-

vants – most of whom are al-

ready low paid – to carry the

burden.

“What we need is higher

wages for public servants and a

more progressive tax system

that secures more tax revenues

from company profits, high

earners and those with large as-

sets.”

Watchdog chief’s pay freeze call attacked

Campfield: Progressive tax

Pic

ture

: AFL-C

IO

Picture: SIPTU

Pict

ure:

NIP

SA


UNITE have teamed up with the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers union to counterwidespread misinformation in the US aboutthe UKʼs National Health Service.

The two unions came together to formWorkers Uniting in July last year.

Their latest online campaign is an exampleof how the partnership - representing threemillion workers across the US, Canada,Britain, Ireland and the Caribbean – is usingits transnational character to maximum ef-fect.

One Iowa senator said the late Senator

Ted Kennedy - a champion of health care re-form - would not have received treatmentfor his brain cancer under the British sys-tem. Another senator from South Carolinaclaimed the NHS did “not allow” womenunder 25 to receive screening for cervicalcancer.

USW international president Leo W Gerardsaid: “Health insurance reform [in the US] isabout human and civil rights – exactly whatWorkers Uniting was created to fight for.

“The debate in the US has been intense, attimes unfairly focused on the many myths

and mistruths being circulated by oppo-nents, including those about the universalhealth care system in the UK. Our sistersand brothers in the UK know the truth andare helping set the record straight. “

UNITE joint general secretary Derek Simp-son said: “The NHS is the pride of the UKand workers will not stand by while rich in-surance companies spend millions of dol-lars to promote their smear campaign.

“We are proud of our universal health caresystem and view the attempts to representthe NHS as inefficient as outrageous.”

Unite & USW counter anti-NHS propaganda

US reform needs resuscitation - P14/15

CONGRESS assistant general secretary Sally AnneKinahan has claimed Government measures tocombat rising unemployment are just not working.

She was responding to the latest data thatshowed a hike in jobless numbers to 11.6 per cent.

Pointing out that the rate of increase was thesharpest in the Eurozone, Ms Kinahan said: "We arefalling further than any other EU country, whichmeans it will take us far longer to climb out of thisrecession.

“While some countries show signs of growth, wecontinue to hemorrhage jobs.

"Yet Government continues to treat the joblesscrisis as some sort of seasonal blip, instead of thenational emergency it actually is.

“To date, their measures have been too little andalways too late. Nothing introduced so far evengrasps the scale of this problem.”

She said that governments across Europe had in-tervened strongly in the labour market to keeppeople at work and to upgrade their skills.

Ms Kinahan added: "Germany alone has kept1.25m people in work through state-supportedshort-term working,"

She also expressed concern over the fall in thoseseeking Jobseekers' Benefit adding: "There were2,622 fewer people claiming this benefit in August,as compared to July, following the Government de-cision to cut eligibility from 15 to 12 months after

which a strict qualifying test kicks in. Have these2,622 people become victims of this cut?

"If so, Government has compounded its inertiaby punishing the victims and making the jobless payfor the crisis.”

Last month, Ms Kinahan gave a “guarded wel-come” to the Employment Subsidy Scheme un-veiled by Tanaiste Mary Coughlan, claiming in was“step in the right direction” but fell “far short ofwhat is required”.

At the time, she said: “While we do welcomeGovernment engagement with the jobs crisis as astep in the right direction, this new scheme falls farshort of what is required.

Ms Kinahan added: “When we were first givendetails of these proposals during negotiations inJune, Congress criticised them as lacking in scale,ambition and application. That criticism is evenmore valid today, with more than 418,000 peopleout of work.

“Taken with the dramatic fall in the tax take, it isalso clear evidence that the Government’s defla-tionary strategy is now destabilising and under-mining the entire economy.

“We need a response to the crisis that is com-mensurate with the scale of the crisis – the €1bil-lion job creation and protection plan whichCongress tabled some months ago, would mark anappropriate response from government.”

Under the new €250m scheme, the Governmentwill provide subsidies to firms in the manufactur-ing sector – with a grant of up to €9,100 perworker over 15 months to help firms meet theirwage bills.

Ms Kinahan also said Congress had concernsabout how the new scheme is structured, particu-larly the fact that it laid no emphasis on training orupskilling those whose jobs were under threat.

“During negotiations, Congress sought to ensurethat affected workers were given full and free ac-cess to training and upskilling opportunities, as theonly sustainable way to assist threatened enter-prises and workforces – but the new scheme doesnot do that.

“Equally we are concerned at the lack of penal-ties for employers who abuse the scheme and whofail to use it to protect the maximum number ofjobs.”

Ms Kinahan pointed out that these issues couldhave been dealt with by an oversight group, as pro-posed by Congress, which would have given a voiceto those workers affected, employers as well asGovernment.

But she claimed the new scheme had no suchplace for workers or their representatives, addingthat this was “further evidence that the social part-nership talks with Government are well and trulyover.”

POLICY ON JOBLESSJUST NOT WORKING

GOVERNMENT MEASURES ‘TOO LITTLE & ALWAYS TOO LATE’

SIX jailed Gambian journalists have been freed following in-

tense campaigning by Amnesty international, the NUJ and

the International Federation of Journalists.

Announcing the release on September 7, Gambian Inte-

rior Minister Ousman Sonko praised the countryʼs Presi-

dent Mr Jammeh for his “humanitarian” gesture made in

“the spirit of Ramadan”.

The journalists, three of whom are executive members of

the Gambian Press Union, were convicted on August 9 of

sedition and defamation and sentenced to two years in jail

and fined the equivalent of $10,000.

The six – Emil Touray, Sarata Jabbi Dibba, Pa Modou

Faal, Pap Saine, Ebou Sawaneh and Sam Sarr – were

charged following the publication in two newspapers of a

GPU press release which criticised the way Mr Jammeh

spoke about former GPU president Deyda Hydara who was

murdered in 2004.

Left: Joint Amnesty/NUJ protest outside Gambian embassy

Gambian journos freed

Picture: Amnesty International


A SIX-week dispute at Carrolls Joinery has ended with the com-pany agreeing as part of the deal to make a further €650,000available to compensate workers made redundant.

The August 26 agreement followed intensive talks betweenSIPTU and UCATT officials and management.

SIPTU branch organiser Ger Kennedy said the dispute hadbeen resolved as a direct result of the huge efforts put in by theworkers over the last six weeks in maintaining pickets at theBallintaggart plant in Co Cork and the firmʼs head office inParkwest, Dublin.

He added: “I wish to acknowledge on behalf of the workersinvolved the solidarity shown by other workers and worker rep-resentative bodies that has resulted in this success.”

Success at Carrolls

STORMONT Employment minis-ter Sir Reg Empey has an-nounced a public consultationon proposals to change flexibleworking provisions in NorthernIreland.

At present employees havethe right to ask their employerfor flexible working if they haveparental responsibility for achild under six, a child with adisability under 18, or if theyhave caring responsibilities foran adult.

But the right to request flexi-ble working was recently ex-tended to cover parents ofchildren under 16 across therest of the UK.

Sir Reg said: “Researchshows that the right to requestflexible working has been a suc-cess right across the UK.

“Following the recent exten-sion of the law in Great Britain,it is appropriate to ask whetherwe in Northern Ireland shouldfollow suit, or whether an alter-native approach would be bettersuited to our local needs.”

A second proposal up for con-sultation concerns an em-ployeeʼs right to ask theiremployers for time away fromtheir normal work duties to un-dertake training.

Sir Reg added: “It is also ap-propriate at this time that weconsider whether there is morewe can do to support the devel-opment of skills in our work-places. A skilled workforce iscentral to our economic compet-itiveness.”

NIPSAʼs Geraldine Alexandersaid: “We welcome the exten-sion of any rights that will en-sure a greater number ofworking families in Northern Ire-land can have the opportunity toavail of a better work-life bal-ance.

“We also believe encouragingemployers to invest in the skillsof their employees can not onlycontribute to the health of thebusiness but also the prospectsof the individual.”

However, according to Con-gress Equality Officer DavidJoyce, this approach is in “starkcontrast” to the situation in theIrish Republic.

He said: “In the south, there isa completely voluntary ap-

proach to flexible working andbetter work life balance whichhas failed to deliver for workingfamilies.

“A study of Irelandʼs top com-panies by the National Centrefor Partnership – New Models ofHigh Performance – reveals a 17perc cent national usage of flexi-ble working systems, whichconfirms 2004 data from theCentral Statistics Office show-ing some 80 per cent of peopleenjoyed no discretion over startor finish times.

“Congress has repeatedlycalled for a legal right to flexibleworking for all, the provision ofmeaningful opportunities for thelow-skilled and low paid to ac-cess skillsʼ development and thecreation of an infrastructure ofcare that better supports work-ing parents.”

Meanwhile, the European So-cial Partners have agreed a re-vised framework agreement onparental leave.

One of the changes proposedis the right to request flexibleworking arrangements upon re-turn from leave.

The Commission will now sub-mit a proposal to the Council forimplementation of the agree-ment by a directive which at themoment seems like the onlyprospect of a legal access toflexible working for some work-ing parents in the Republic ofIreland.

Consultation onflexible working

Geraldine Alexander: Welcome

HEALTH

Picture: INO

THE IRISH Nurses Organisation haslashed proposals for swingeinghealth service cuts contained in theMcCarthy report.

An Bord Snip Nua called for sav-ings of €5.3 billion to be made in-volving the shedding of 17,300 jobsacross the public service.

Of these, a total of 6,168 jobswould go in the public health sectorif the recommendations are actedupon.

In a statement issued shortly afterthe report was published, the INOclaimed such cuts would effectivelylead to the “destruction of the pub-lic health service” and render it in-capable of meeting the needs ofordinary people without health in-surance.

It continued: “The report wasquite clearly written from the per-spective of people who do not see,let alone understand, the challengesfacing over stretched, overworkedand under staffed frontline servicesas they strive to meet the needs ofordinary people seeking essentialhealth services.

“The report also reflects a totalbias against frontline staff repeatedlysuggesting that the staff, throughtheir unions, are barriers to change

who are consistently engaged in re-strictive work practices which arecostly and ineffective.

“This is patently untrue and sim-ply reflects a long-standing manage-ment wish to attack hard-wonterms and conditions of nurses, mid-wives and other essential and hardworking professionals and staffwithin the health system.”

Among other recommendations,the McCarthy report proposes a re-duction of 168 posts from withinthe Department of Health and Chil-dren with a further reduction of atleast 6,000 staff from the healthservice “mainly” from health admin-istration.

The report also proposes nursesbe allowed to carry out routinemedical procedures, currently per-formed by non-consultant hospitaldoctors.

It calls for a rise in the A&E atten-dance fee to €125 and a hike in in-patient fees by 20% as well as a fullrevision of the income guidelines formedical cards.

There is also a proposed 36% re-duction, in the number of acutebeds, leaving 8,800 out of the totalof 12,778.

Frontline staff: Nursing staff will bear brunt

THE CPSU has warned it will oppose – with industrial action if necessary – any

bid to implement proposals contained in the Bord Snip Nua report.

General secretary Blair Horan said: “The Executive Committee were very

angry at the contents of the report, and considered some of the proposals a

deliberate attack on public servants and the services they provide.”

The proposals include further cuts in pay and allowances, a new bench-

marking exercise and the privatisation fo public service work.

Mr Horan added: “A blind belief in free market economics has brought this

country close to disaster. Many policy choices of the past decade were fun-

damentally flawed and a similar policy approach cannot provide a solution to

the crisis.”

CPSU lash Snip report

Pict

ure:

NIP

SA


THE

REPORTMcCARTHY

WARNING Taoiseachmust clipwings ofthe hawksSIPTU general president Jack O’Connor hascalled on the Taoiseach to go to the polls if hewants to forge ahead with the “slash and burn”policies of “hawks” in the Department of Fi-nance.

Claiming the Government had no mandateto pursue this course, he said: “If the Taoiseachcannot rein in those elements in the Depart-ment of Finance who appear determined towreck the economy and the country then heshould call it a day and call a general election.”

He added that in the past he had stoppedshort of making such a call but now believedthe country needed to be given a choice be-tween “those who believe that ordinary peopleshould pay the price for the economic catas-trophe and those who favour a national initia-tive for recovery based on the principle thatthose who have the most should contributethe most”.

Mr O’Connor, who is also Congress presi-dent, was responding to the publication of theMcCarthy report into public expenditure cutsin July. He said it could not be seen in isolation,and was one of a “glut of recipes for the eco-nomic crisis that all contained the same ingre-dient” - to make workers and the least well offpay for the slump.

He added: “The report of An Bord Snip Nuais another illustration of this recipe of repre-hensible remedies. It follows the transfer, orsocialisation, of the massive bank debts on tothe ordinary tax payer and the constant call forworkers to take wage cuts.

“It represents an attack on public servicesand on the social welfare payments of themost vulnerable while simultaneously propos-ing to sell off important state assets so thatthose who still have money can pick them upat bargain basement prices.

“This would reflect the disastrous decisionof a decade ago to privatise Eircom, whichcould have been such a vital engine of renewedeconomic growth.”

Mr O’Connor warned Finance MinisterBrian Lenihan if he was not careful he wouldfollow in the footsteps of his 1950s predeces-sor Sean McEntree “who almost turned off thelights” condemning the country to “a decade ofzero growth, widespread misery and mass emi-gration”.

He advised the Taoiseach to rein in the De-partment of Finance before it did “irreparabledamage”.

Mr O’Connor said SIPTU accepted certainjob reductions in the public service were pos-sible but warned frontline services must bemaintained.

He added: “We are prepared to fully engagein discussions on these public service issuesand we will respond positively, in the contextof a progressive social dynamic, to any policiesand proposals put to us in goodfaith by the Government.

“We are not prepared, how-ever, to engage with thosewho believe that nationaleconomic recovery can beachieved through a ‘red pen’exercise that rips apart thesocial contract and places theburden on workers and themost vulnerable in oursociety.”

TECHNICAL Engineering and Electrical Union has

warned the Government it will resist any attempt

to implement the cutbacks proposed by An Bord

Snip Nua.

Giving its response to the McCarthy report, the

union claimed workers had exercised “a degree of

moderation and discipline” during the boom years

in marked contrast to the excesses of “bankers,

speculators and developers”.

General secretary Owen Wills said the TEEU

wanted to give the Government “fair warning” it

did not intend to meekly accept cuts proposed by

a group of consultants “who were themselves

cheerleaders for the boom”.

He added: “Our members have done no more

than secure increases over the past decade that

were hard earned and, as far as we are concerned,

what we have we hold.

“We are putting the Government on notice that

if it opts to follow the advice of An Bord Snip Nua

and squeeze workers and the unemployed even

harder, it will have a fight on its hands.”

TEEU: ‘What we have we hold’www.finance.gov.ie/documents/pressreleases/2009/bl100vol1.pdfDOWNLOAD THE McCARTHY REPORT AT

Vulnerable are targetedIMPACT general secretary Peter McLoonehas called on the Government to ignore rec-ommendations set out in the McCarthy re-port because it shows no understanding ofcitizensʼ needs or the challenges of deliver-ing decent public services.

He warned that if implemented such poli-cies would target the most vulnerable in Irishsociety but seek no contribution from thosewho caused the recession through theirgreed and recklessness in the first place.

Claiming the report would never commandthe support of the Irish people, Mr McLoonesaid: “This report is just one of many, setapart only by its callous disregard for thepeople who most depend on public services.

“The Government would be well advised to

ignore it and instead engage with the peoplewho manage, deliver and use public servicesto find ways to maintain and increase themduring the recession and beyond.”

Mr McLoone also warned the GovernmentIMPACT would respond with industrial actionif attempts were made to impose public serv-ice pay cuts, pension reductions or compul-sory redundancies.

He added: “There will be a reaction whichwill include sustained, widespread andpainful industrial action including strikes.

“I donʼt believe there will be many, if any,winners if the Government takes this route,least of all among the people who – morethan ever – depend on our public services.”

Picture: Dept of Finance


FIGURES

IMPACT hitsout at €8bnPIBA claimon pensions IMPACT has slammed “fantasy” claims made bythe Professional Insurance Brokers Associationabout public service pensions.

According to figures produced in a PIBA pressrelease in July, private sector workers contribute€8 billion a year towards public service pensions.

But IMPACT hit back claiming the insurers hadgot their sums wrong and pointed out that eventhe PIBA had conceded half of the €8 billion fig-ure referred to ordinary social welfare pensions.

These go to all workers, public and private, andare largely funded from employees’ PRSI contri-butions made over their working lives.

IMPACT national secretary Paddy Keating saidthe PIBA press release was littered with other in-accuracies, including the ridiculous assumptiononly private sector workers paid tax.

He added: “These are fantasy figures, which takeno account of the 6.5% of gross salary that mostpublic servants pay towards their pensions or the7.5% pension levy imposed in March.

“This interest group, whose objective is todrum up business for companies selling privatepensions, also fails to mention that the headlinefigures paid to public service pensioners includetheir social welfare entitlements, paid for out oftheir PRSI payments.”

However, Mr Keating did agree many privatesector pensions were in crisis.

He added: “The value of occupational pensionshas collapsed because of recklessness in the fi-nance sector, which caused the banking crisis andshare price collapse, and the fact that so manyprivate sector employers walked away from theirpension responsibilities to maximise profits dur-ing the boom years.”

CONGRESS has welcomed changes to regula-tions governing non-European Economic Areamigrant workers who have been made redun-dant.

The new guidelines, announced by JusticeMinister Dermot Ahern and Tanaiste MaryCouglan on August 28, double the length oftime a newly-redundant migrant worker has toseek alternative employment from three to sixmonths.

Backing the move, Congress official EstherLynch said: “There are about 13,000 workerson employment permits and given the dangerof some people blaming migrant workers forthe problems we face it’s important to be clearthat they are in no way a contributing factor tothe overall unemployment situation.

“Indeed these 13,000 workers are even morevulnerable to losing their job for reason of re-dundancy.

“That why Congress advocated a fair ap-proach to amend the permit rules to allow anadequate period to seek new employment andto be able to do so without the need for theiremployer to fulfill the labour market test.

“But it’s a real sting in the tail for workersthat they now have to pay for their permit. It’snot fair, and Congress will continue to fight fora just system that charges the employer not theworker for the permits.”

Non-EEA migrant workers who have livedand worked in Ireland for five years under thework permit system will also be granted a newpermission to live and work without the needto apply for another work permit. MigrantRights Centre Ireland deputy director BillAbom said: “This victory is as a result of a hard

fought campaign to change the unjust and cruelpolicies that were introduced by the Govern-ment back in June.

“This campaign was driven by migrant work-ers themselves together with the support oftrade unions, employer bodies, the faith com-munity and other immigrant organisations.

“While there are still several issues and barri-ers to overcome both Minister Ahern and theTánaiste have heard the collective voice of mi-grant workers and have done the right thing.”

He added: “These changes will make a signifi-cant difference in the lives of thousands of non-EEA migrant workers who have committedthemselves to Ireland , but whose lives havebeen hanging in the balance.

“These changes give migrant workers greaterequality and greater opportunity to supporttheir families and to contribute to Irish society.”

However, Mr Abom criticised a recent deci-sion by Minister Ahern to impose a new €500fee on non-EEA long-term residents in Ireland

Calling the move “shameful and under-handed”, he said: “Many migrant workers arestruggling to support themselves and their fami-lies at this moment.

“The fee places an additional burden on mi-grant workers, who already pay their taxes andnumerous other fees.”

At present as well as paying taxes non-EEAmigrants must also stump up a number of feesto the Government including €500-a-year workpermits, €100 for annual re-entry visas and€150 for GNIB registration cards.

CONGRESS HAILSMIGRANTS MOVE

Do you hear us, Mary? Migrant protestors make their feelings clear Picture: MRCI

THE TUC has warned a 10% cut in public spend-ing – the equivalent to £58.27 billion – would leadto 200,000 job losses in the public sector.

It claimed there would also be a significantknock-on effect on the UK’s private sector withtens of thousands more joining the dole queues.

In an analysis of spending figures published lastmonth, the TUC argued that because health andeducation are two of the highest spending areasand had both seen major growth since 1997, nocuts package could be implemented withouthitbting these budgets, including private sectorprocurement.

Health and education both have large procure-ment budgets (£67 billion and £16 billion in 2007-08 respectively) so private sector contractorswould also lose out from any departmental cuts.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, below,said: “A mania has gripped otherwise sensiblecommentators who are calling fordeep cuts in public spending to re-duce the budget deficit.

“They talk as if these cutswould have no effect on the pri-vate sector or the wider econ-omy, and that health, educationand front-line serviceswould hardly no-tice. But this is adelusion.”

Cuts mania‘a delusion’

�CONGRESS and theMRCI have welcomed a

new scheme to ʻregulariseʼmigrant workers whohave become undocu-mented for reasons be-yond their control.

The scheme – an-nounced on September 14by Justice Minister DermotAhern – allows non-EEAmigrant workers who havebecome undocumentedthrough workplace ex-

ploitation, deception, orunexpected redundancy toapply for a four-monthtemporary residence per-mission. Having this“bridging visa” will givethose affected the chanceof re-entering the workpermit system.

Congress official EstherLynch said: “Condemningundocumented migrantworkers to a life of fearbenefits no one but abu-

sive and exploitative em-ployers. It is a necessaryfirst step and helps pre-vent the emergence of aworking underclass that iswithout either hope or pro-tection.” MRCI directorSiobhán OʼDonoghueadded: “The Governmentis on the right path, butthis only the first step to-wards regularising the30,000 undocumented per-sons in Ireland.”


WORKING WITH YOU

CIVIL PUBLIC & SERVICES UNION

JOIN US www.cpsu.ie

DEFENDING LOWER PAID

WORKERSLEGENDARY trade union chiefKen Gill, who died in May, wasknown to be quick on the drawwhen it came to tough negotia-tions with government ministersand industry bosses.

He was also an able and per-ceptive caricaturist and a newbook Hung, Drawn And Quar-tered, which brings togethersome of his cartoons, is a fittingtribute to the Wiltshire-bornunion stalwart who was oncevoted “the trade unionist’s tradeunionist”.

A convinced Communist fromhis teens, Gill sat on the TUCGeneral Council for 18 years andwas MSF general secretary from1988 to 1992.

He had a habit of sketching dur-ing meetings and a host of politi-cians, campaigners and fellowtrade unionists were captured byhim in ink.

His caricatures were more gen-erous than cruel which reflectedthe temperament of the man him-self.

Hung,Drawn andQuartered:The Carica-tures of KenGill by JohnGreen and

Michael Boñcza Artery Publications,132 pages, paperback, £12/€12

Available at www.arterywww.arterypublications.co.ukpublications.co.uk

Trade unionist whohad the doodle bug

UNITE is to hold an evening of remembrance next month in

Belfast to honour the late Ken Gill. The trade union stalwart,

who spent time as an organiser in the city in the early 60s, is

fondly remembered by his Irish colleagues.

UNITE Irish Secretary Jimmy Kelly said: “It is fitting that Ire-

land pays its tribute to Ken who helped invigorate the union

movement throughout the island with his wit and well-known

powers of persuasion.” The event will be held at the UNITE of-

fices on Belfastʼs Antrim Road on Friday, October 16.

UNITE remembers Ken


Warning on SNA job losses

Mullen: ‘Darkest days’

IMPACT has warned childrenwill lose out following the lossof an estimated 1,200 specialneeds assistant posts from nextFebruary.

Assistant general secretaryPhilip Mullen claimed the cutswill leave the service spreadmuch thinner increasing therisk some children with specialeducation needs wonʼt have ac-cess to an SNA at all.

He said: “In the event a childis left without that support, theschool faces three very starkchoices.

“The teacher can make extratime to support the childʼsneeds, which would prove par-ticularly difficult as we expectthe pupil-teacher ratio to in-crease in the coming years.

“Alternatively, the teacher canignore the pupil and get on withteaching the rest of the class.

“In the darkest days of oureducation system this was thenorm, and a return to this ap-proach would be cruel andsenseless.

“The only other option leftopen to the school is to look toput the child in a special educa-tion school, cutting them offfrom the experience of main-stream schooling.”

The job losses follow a reviewby the National Council for Spe-cial Education of special needsassistant allocations in allschools.

Mr Mullen also claimed thedecision in the last budget tosuspend the implementation of

the Education for Persons withSpecial Education Needs acthas paved the way for the lossof 2,000 SNA jobs, as proposedin the McCarthy report.

He added:“This is as far re-moved from the idea of cherish-ing all the children equally aswe can get as a society.

“The advent of the SNA roleand bringing children with spe-cial needs into mainstream edu-cation has been one of the mostpositive developments of thelast decade in Irish education.

“To turn back the clock nowmakes no sense.

“The question is not where dowe cut jobs, the question is howdo we pay for a system of edu-cation that has ensured a faireroutcome for these children?”

Picture: IMPACT

CONGRESS chief David Begg has backed anAmnesty International call for an independent in-quiry into alleged war crimes carried out duringthe final stages of the Sri Lankan civil war.

He made his comments in a letter to ForeignAffairs Minister Michael Martin in July.

It followed the adoption of a motion at ICTU’sBiennial Delegates Conference earlier that monthasking for intensified solidarity work with Tamilsin Sri Lanka.

In the letter, Mr Begg underlined his hope thatthe Irish government would raise the inquiry callboth in Europe and internationally.

He wrote: “Two months ago the Sri Lankanarmy defeated the Tamil Tigers. But this was also awar against hundreds of thousands of innocentcivilian Tamils.

“According to witnesses up to a quarter of amillion Tamils were crammed into an area not big-ger than New York's Central Park, an area whichwas repeatedly bombarded over a four monthsperiod. The large majority of these people werecivilians.

“The UN estimates up to 8,000 were killedduring the bombardment; other sources claimthat more than 20,000 people were killed. Thereare several reports about serious war crimescommitted by the Sri Lankan army.”

He also claimed that following the end of hos-tilities some 300,000 Tamils were being held in“welfare centres... that are concentration campsin all but name” and pointed to worrying reportsthat up to 1,000 detainees were dying amid insan-itary conditions each week.

Mr Begg said it was near impossible for inde-pendent organisations or the international pressto enter the compounds to check out the re-ports. He concluded: “The Irish Congress ofTrade Unions also believe that as long as the SriLankan government rejects the calls for accessand fair treatment of the Tamils interned in thecamps, economic sanctions and an arms embargoshould be imposed against Sri Lanka.

“The extensive and systematic human rightsabuses have to stop. The camps have to close.

“We believe that Ireland, with our own historyand experience, can make an important contribu-tion to an international endeavour to find a sus-tainable peaceful solution in Sri Lanka.”

CONGRESS CALL OVERWAR CRIMES CLAIM

SRI LANKA

Living in fear: Tamil civilians displaced by the conflict Picture: Amnesty International

�HUNDREDS of thousands of Sri LankanTamils displaced by the recent war and liv-ing in camps are being denied the most

basic human rights, according to Amnesty Interna-tional.

Secretary General Irene Khan made the claimat the launch of the organisation’s Unlock TheCamps campaign in July.

Nearly four months after the end of the fight-ing, civilians are still being forced to subsist amidovercrowded and unsanitary conditions.

In addition, the camps are effectively military-run detention centres.

Amnesty claims the Sri Lankan government'sassertion that it needs to hold the Tamils to carryout a screening exercise is not a justifiable reason

to detain civilians including entire families, the eld-erly and children for an indefinite period. Humanrights activists fear with no independent monitorsable to freely visit the camps, those inside are un-protected and at risk from enforced disappear-ances, arbitrary arrest and sexual violence.

It is believed at least 280,000 people have beendisplaced from areas previously under Tamil Tigerscontrol. These people, including at least 50,000children, are being accommodated in 41 campsspread over four districts.

n When United Nations Secretary General BanKi-moon visited some of the camps in May, hesaid: "I have travelled around the world and vis-ited similar places, but this is by far the most ap-palling scene I have seen."

Begg: Fair treatment


Occupation: Thomas Cook workers during sit-in

TSSA general secretary Gerry Do-herty has hailed the determined standtaken by Thomas Cook workers fol-lowing the settlement last month oftheir dispute with management overlay-off payments.

The protesting staff, who staged afive day sit-in at the travel giant’sGrafton Street store in Dublin, ac-cepted an improved redundancy pack-age.

It followed a deal brokered betweenthe TSSA and company chiefs over 10hours at the Labour Relations Com-mittee on August 12,

Mr Doherty said: "I am extremelyproud of our members at ThomasCook who secured a better deal bytheir determination to stand up fortheir rights against a multinationalcompany."

He declined to reveal details of the

enhanced package but it is understoodthe firm agreed to increase ex gratiapayments to staff on top of the origi-nal offer of five weeks pay per year ofservice.

The dispute began in July afterThomas Cook announced it waspulling out of the Republic with imme-diate effect following a unanimousvote by staff in favour of strike action.

Gardai raided the travel agents earlyon August 5 and 27 protesters occupy-ing the premises later appeared at theHigh Court.

The workers walked free but MrJustice Michael Peart warned them therule of law "cannot be broken" as thiswould be a "recipe for anarchy".

One of the workers went intolabour after her arrest and later gavebirth to a baby girl in Coombe Hospi-tal.

THE Working Class Movement Library ismarking the 200th anniversary of thedeath of revolutionary writer and politicalthinker Thomas Paine with an exhibitionat Salford Museum and Art Gallery inManchester.

The exhibition, which runs until Novem-ber 22, tells the story of Paine's adventur-ous life, his narrow escapes from deathand his involvement in both the Americanand French Revolutions.

However, the primary focus of the exhi-bition is on the very modern ideas con-tained in Paineʼs three key publications

Common Sense, Rights of Man and Ageof Reason – early editions of which willbe on display. The exhibition will alsocontain political cartoons, radical pam-phlets and rare editions of books by andabout Paine and his followers.

Veronica Trick, a volunteer co-ordinatorat the library, said: ʻIf our library had apatron saint it'd be Thomas Paine. He'sso much the starting point, both chrono-logically and ideologically, for workingclass history.”

For details contact the library at [email protected]

WINDOW ON PAINE

Thomas Cook workers stand hailed

SUCCESS

NIPSA trafficattendantsdispute dealis brokeredNIPSA general secretary John Corey has paidtribute to a group of Belfast-based traffic atten-dants following a successful resolution to their14-week dispute,

The campaign to reinstate the 26 workers, dis-missed by employer NSL Ltd after a protest walk-out in April, had the full backing of the union’sGeneral Council.

During the dispute NIPSA staged a dailyprotest outside NSL’s offices in Belfast, as well aslobbying and making representations to MLAs andStormont ministers.

After a series of meetings with NSL at theLabour Relations Agency’s offices, the NIPSAteam led by Mr Corey secured an agreementwhich was unanimously accepted by the dis-missed traffic attendants.

One condition was the detailed terms of thesettlement were to remain confidential.

However, the core aim of the campaign was tosecure reinstatement for traffic attendants andNIPSA confirmed all those dismissed were giventhe option of accepting reinstatement.

There was also an option of leaving under acompromise agreement which a number of work-ers decided to accept.

Health and safety at work – one of the factorsthat sparked the initial walk-out – was also ad-dressed in the settlement.

Mr Corey said: “I pay tribute to the traffic at-tendants for the way they campaigned for an ac-ceptable resolution which has been achieved.

“I also wish to acknowledge and thank sincerelyall trade unions and trade unionists and manyothers who supported the traffic attendants.

“It is an important example of where both anintensive campaign and concerted negotiationswith the employer can secure justice and fairnessfor workers.

“I acknowledge too the help and assistanceprovided by the Minister Conor Murphy in ensur-ing the company accepted the imperative of nego-tiating a resolution with NIPSA.”

Picture: TSSA

Illustrations: Courtesy WCML


SHOW OF SUPPORT!

PICTURE SPECIAL: EVELINA SADUIKYTE & DARIUS KRYZEVICIUS

SIPTU general secretary Joe OʼFlynnhas slammed the “bully boy tactics”used by Peel Ports bosses againstworkers involved in the long-runningdispute at Marine Terminals.

He told protestors at a rally out-side the Dublin docklands site onAugust 24 the company had shownwhat he called a “total contempt” forthe “conflict resolution institutionsof the Irish state”.

Mr OʼFlynn said: “This companyhas consistently set its face againstserious engagement with the work-ers, steamrolling through mass re-dundancies and threatening furtherjob losses, as well as cuts in pay andconditions.”

Mr OʼFlynn reminded the severalhundred-strong protest, which in-cluded a large contingent from northof the border, that it this was thecentenary year of the founding of the

Irish Transport and General WorkersʼUnion by Jim Larkin. He added: “Itscore group was dockers and it wasset up to ensure they, and otherworkers, had decent pay and condi-tions and security of employment.

“Today Peel Ports are trying to setthe clock back a hundred years tosecure super profits for themselvesand consign dockers and their com-munities to penury.

“We are not going to let it happenand we are going to do whatever ittakes to ensure it does not happen.

“We are prepared to do businesswith any employer who is preparedto treat employers decently – evenPeel Ports – but we also know howto deal with them if they donʼt.”

Messages of support were readout at the rally from dockersʼ unionsin Australia, Belgium and the Nether-lands.


SIPTU chief Joe O’Flynn and ICTU assistant general secretary Peter Bunting, left, both addressed the protest


US nurses union chief ROSE ANN DeMORO fears time is running STATESIDE

IF THERE is one thing more dysfunctional thanthe US healthcare system, it may be thegrotesque debate over how to fix it.

On the one hand are the wild-eyed conserva-tives waving Nazi regalia, fabricating tales aboutnational health systems in the UK and Canada,and terrorising pensioners about the non-threatto their health coverage.

But the Obama administration and many of itsallies have hardly fared much better, compromis-ing from the outset on the most comprehensivereform, making concession after concession tothe right even while holding sizable majorities inCongress, and failing to deliver a message thatresonates with the public.

Prospects of broader reform were further un-dermined by some liberal constituency groupsand labour unions, who chose tomerely endorse the proposals ofthe administration and top Con-gressional Democrats, ratherthan fighting for a national systemas exists in other developedcountries, or the still highly popu-lar, government-funded USMedicare system for pensioners.

All of this lunacy must look be-

wildering to the rest of the industrial worldwhich long ago concluded that health care is afundamental right, and government does have anessential role in promoting the health of its peo-ple.

Data just released by the World Health Organ-ization re-confirms that many already knowabout the embarrassing state of the US systemwhich continues to trail other countries in along array of healthcare barometers. Both Ire-land and the UK, for example, exceed the US inlife expectancy, and have lower infant mortalityand adult mortality rates than the US thoughspending less than half per capita on health care.

Aside from spending more for less than any-one else, the US remains distinct in being theonly industrial nation that barters human life and

health for profit. The result is a big industryof insurance companies thatroutinely deny medical caresimply because they don'twant to pay for it, and engagein predatory pricing practicesthat have prompted half ofAmericans to skip neededmedical care because theycan't afford it. While health-

care CEOs enjoy record compensation, Ameri-can workers and their families have borne thebrunt of the broken system. Insurance premiumshave risen four times faster than family incomesthe past decade, and probably 90 per cent oflabour disputes are the direct result of efforts bymanagement to reduce employer-sponsoredhealth coverage.

In a recent TV interview, a Democratic Partyconsultant who worked on the failed Clinton ad-ministration reform plan of the early 1990s, con-ceded that the White House erred from thestart by paying too much heed to the propo-nents of political expediency.

Rather than propose a national system, as ex-ists in other countries, or simply expand USMedicare to cover everyone, the Obama admin-istration and Congress lowered its standardsfrom the outset, and then began negotiationswith conservatives and the healthcare industrywhich led to additional giveaways.

What was left was a proposal whose centralelement remains a requirement that all thosewithout health coverage be required to buy pri-vate insurance, with subsidies for the low in-come to purchase policies.

In sum, tens of millions of new customers for

HEALTH REFORM NEEDS


NEWSBRIEFS

FIGURES compiled by the UK-based Labour Re-search Department have revealed that onlyaround 23% of wage settlements since Januaryhave been pay freezes.

Its Payline database, which brings together in-formation on around 2,300 basic pay agreements,found the great majority of deals brokered sincethe start of the year have been positive.

Researchers came across only a small handfulof cases here pay has been actually cut but didconfirm that the average settlement had droppedsince last year.

The deals ranged from zero to more than sixper cent but averaged at about 2.5% in the firsthalf of the year.

One trend identified in the LRD research wasthe growing difference between long-term andshort-term negotiated pay deals.

Since the beginning of the year, the average forlong-term deals was 3.2% compared to just twoper cent for new deals.

LRD’s pay and conditions researcher LewisEmery said: "It is likely that employers that signlong-term deals with their unions favour stabilityand good industrial relations, and know that overtime the pay picture will probably even out underthese deals.

"Freezing pay is a short-term solution, and isnot sustainable in the long term. Many employerseven in a downturn see the benefits of a morepredictable situation where they can be sure ofrewarding their staff consistently."

LRD research: UK payfreezes in 23% of deals

ASTI have just launched a major revamp of theirwebsite which is to include a number of state-of-the-art new features.

Facilities for video and podcasts are being devel-oped while members can sign up to RSS feeds andreceive emails detailing the latest news and eventsas they appear on the site.

Every ASTI branch will have its own page acces-sible only to members.

Branches will also be able to send their photosfor inclusion in a website gallery.

Describing it as “campaigning website”, an ASTIspokesperson said: “It mirrors all of the union’sareas of activity including campaigns, teachers’terms and conditions of employment, professionaldevelopment, industrial relations and legal issuesand education policy.” Go to www.asti.ie

State-of-the-art featureson revamped ASTI site

�A NEW new code of practice on time off

for trade union duties and activities has

been published by UK industrial relations serv-

ice Acas. The new provisions will come into

force on October 1.Details of the guidelines are available onwww.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2642.

out for President Obama’s universial healthcare drive

a cut-throat private insurance industry that islargely responsible for the present crisis. And areminder for some of a massive public bailout ofthe private banks that has angered many.

In exchange, the insurers will be expected toend their indefensible practice of refusing to sellpolicies to people with prior health problems, anddropping people from coverage when they getsick.

But there will be no requirement to end theequally immoral behavior of insurance companiesdenying medical procedures or other care, evenwhen recommended by a patient's doctor, be-cause it cuts into their profits.

Further, insurers will likely continue to be ablecharge as much as they like. And, in a separatecontroversial deal with the pharmaceutical indus-try, the White House agreed to sacrifice its lever-age on drug companies to reduce theirexorbitant charges.

As of late August, the main debate was whetherprogressive legislators would resist the furtherconcessions to the right, especially as Republicanlegislators have made it clear that for politicalreasons they will vote against any reform plan, nomatter what's in it.

This retreat was clearly articulated by the for-

RESUSCITATION

Rose Ann DeMoro is executive

director of the 86,000-member

California Nurses Association/

National Nurses Organizing

Committee, the largest US union

of nurses, and a national vice

president of the AFL-CIO.

mer President, Bill Clinton, who chastised a con-ference of worried net-roots activists on August13 saying: “I want us to be mindful we may needto take less than a full loaf.”

But mobilising activists for a half loaf hasproven to be a challenge, as the White Houseand Congress have learned to their dismay in re-cent weeks as they struggle to counter thosedenouncing them from the right.

Even the grassroots network built by candi-date Obama that set new standards for cam-paign activism last year has, the New York Timesnoted on August 15, failed to produce much en-thusiasm for the current health plan, and mostliberal constituency groups have not fared muchbetter.

The nation's registered nurses and many doc-tors continue to press for real change, a nationalor single payer system based on US Medicare. Itis still possible to achieve stronger reform, buttime is running out.

Picture: Courtesy CNASIPTU has claimed the Government could havedone more to save the 1,100 jobs lost when SRTechnics closed in April.

It follows news that a new aircraft maintenancefactory is to open on the old SR Technics site atDublin Airport.Dublin Aerospace hopes to em-ploy 226 people within five years.

The company estimates it will create 150 newpositions in its first year of operation but, speak-ing at the September 2 launch, executive directorConor McCarthy said: “There’s no reason thatnumber should not be exceeded if we exceed ourinitial expectations.”

SIPTU's Pat Ward said: “While SIPTU welcomesthese jobs, we feel that the Minister [TanaisteMary Coughlan], her department and EnterpriseIreland should have done much more to save thejobs at SR Technics.”

Govt could have donemore to save SRT jobs


SIPTU has given its backing to the ratification ofthe Lisbon Treaty – though admitted it still “har-boured a number of reservations”.

Ireland’s largest union flagged up the impor-tance of Labour’s recent undertaking to legislateon collective bargaining rights if the party formspart of the next Government.

SIPTU made no recommendation during thelast referendum vote.

However, in a detailed statement issued on Sep-tember 3, the union claimed on balance theiranalysis showed the ratification of the treaty – in-cluding the Charter of Fundamental Rights –“would not make matters worse overall” butwould have “the potential to improve them”.

SIPTU pointed out that the “leave it to the mar-ket” approach had been exposed over the pastyear and “the mirage created by a decade of pri-oritising speculation over sustainable develop-ment has evaporated spectacularly with dreadfulconsequences for working people”.

Against that backdrop, it said Ireland’s expe-rience since joining the EEC in 1973 hadbeen “almost universially positive” thoughadmitted that this had changed since 2004.

However, the union claimed this was inlarge part due to Dublin rather than Brus-sels.

The statement continued: “Many of the dif-ficulties are actually due to the policies pursuedby the Government here. These issues can be ad-dressed by electing an alternative Governmentwith a strong Labour/Left component here nexttime.”

SIPTU characterised claims from the ‘No’ campthat Irish young people would be drafted into aEuropean Army or the minimum wage slashed to€1.84 as “absolute nonsense” but also attackedthe voices of doom in the ‘Yes’ camp if Irelandagain voted down the treaty.

It claimed the issues at stake were “much moresubtle” than that.

The union warned against the drift towards“strident free-marketism” in Europe in recentyears in particular the impact of some EC initia-tives and ECJ judgments.

The statement cautioned: “Unless this trend iscorrected it will sow division both between statesand within them undermining the cohesion neces-sary for the continued success of the entire EUproject itself.”

SIPTU pointed to legal guarantees to be givento Ireland over defence, neutrality, taxation, edu-cation, family and the right to life upon ratifica-tion.

“It is important to note that this does not rep-resent an amendment, merely a clarification.However, it is not without substance as it makesit absolutely clear that these matters will remainwithin the exclusive remit of the Irish people todecide for ourselves.”

UNITE has called on its 60,000members in the Republic to vote noin the October 2 Lisbon Treaty ref-erendum.

The union – one of the leadingopponents of the treaty last year –claims its continued opposition isbased on the lack of any progressin the critical area of workersʼrights.

Irish regional secretary JimmyKelly said: “We were told thatworkersʼ rights would be protectedunder Lisbon and that we werescaremongering.

“When the Irish government wentseeking legal guarantees they gotthem in areas of taxation, of moral-

ity, and in numbers of commission-ers but over workersʼ rights.

“Instead we got a ʻsolemn decla-rationʼ that is worthless given theway in which the European Courtshave interpreted workersʼ rights asbeing subservient to those of busi-ness.

“UNITE and colleagues acrossEurope sought the inclusion of asocial progress clause in the Lis-bon Treaty which would make itclear the fundamental right to or-ganise and the right to strike are inno way subordinate to the eco-nomic freedoms pursued by the EUmember states.

“This was rejected and instead

we are told to have faith in govern-mentsʼ willingness to treat workersfairly and with respect.”

Claiming the Irish governmentwas “the last we should trust tostand up for workersʼ rights”, hecontinued: “Irish workers are alonein Europe as having no legal rightto representation by a union.

“Irish workers are alone in Eu-rope as having no provision forpension protection.

“Irish workers are alone in Eu-rope as the only ones whose rightto fair pay and employment secu-rity are considered by their govern-ment as obstacles to economicrecovery.” Mr Kelly warned that

Differing positions: Original text of the Lisbon Treaty Picture: European Communities

SIPTU YES VOTE CALLLISBON TREATY

Detailed statement gives ‘qualified’ backing for treatyTurning to the social aspects of the treaty, the

union claimed it reflected a “consensus” betweenbusiness and labour borne out of the carnage ofWorld War Two and “consequently the vision ofthe trade union and socialist movements for atruly civilised world based on social solidarityglobally is reflected in it”.

The union said the right to engage in collectivebargaining and the right to take collective action –enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights –would in effect become “primary law” on thesame level as the so-called “Four Freedoms” offree movement of goods, capital, services and per-sons set out in the 1957 Treaty of Rome.

SIPTU acknowledged the Charter was not “apanacea” and admitted it would be open to chal-lenge from those who “prioritise accumulation ofprofits over the interests of working people andthe common good”.

But the statement continued: “The outcomeson all these matters are always determined

by the balance of forces in the politicaland industrial arena.”

The union claimed many trade unionists in theNo camp hoped that rejection would result in abetter treaty but claimed that this outcome,though not impossible, was “very unlikely”.

SIPTU pointed out recent successes for centreright parties in the European Parliament and sug-gested “they are not going to sit back and allow abetter treaty from the point of view of workingpeople to be formulated”.

The statement added: "It is not simply a case ofsaying 'No' this time and waiting for a better out-come. We must also take account of the possibil-ity of worse emerging.”

While calling for a Yes vote, SIPTU said it wouldnot be sharing platforms with representativesfrom Government parties.

The statement concluded: “Our agenda is notthe same as theirs. Our commitment is to thekind of Europe envisaged in the social clauses ofthe treaty and in the Charter of FundamentalRights, not in their strategy of implementing theaspects which reflect the priorities of the busi-ness lobby, while ignoring the rest.”

UNITE calls for a second

Kelly: No vote call

YES/NOdebate

The

p24/25


TEEU general secretary des-

ignate Eamon Devoy has

claimed trade unions must

demand a redrafting of the

Lisbon Treaty so that it in-

cludes fundamental rights to

workplace organisation and

representation.

He said his union was rec-

ommending a No vote on Oc-

tober 2 because of a

deterioration in employment

standards in Ireland. Pointing

to recent decisions taken by

the European Court of Jus-

tice, Mr Devoy added it was

not too late for workers to

seize the initative and reject

any treaty that failed to in-

clude a social progress pro-

tocol.

He said: “In the wake of the

ECJ decisions, the last thing

we need is to consolidate ex-

isting European institutions

any further without making

an effort to balance workersʼ

rights with the rights of busi-

ness moguls who [can] do

what they want.”

TEEU backs a No voteNo vote on Oct 2voting yes to Lisborn would allowEU institutions “to follow a busi-ness over labour ideology which istoo loaded against workers allacross Europe”.

He added: “Lisbon is not aboutIrelandʼs place in the EU. UNITEfully supports the vital role whichEurope plays in the everyday livesof Irish citizens.

“Fourteen months ago the Irishpeople stood up for the rights ofworking people all across Europe.

“We earned the right to go backto the EU and to clarify and secureelements of the workings of theUnion that are essential to get right.The Irish government emerged

from that meeting waving a paperabout the legally binding nature ofwhat they had got in some areas,despite having said prior to thevote that nothing could bechanged.”

“In the area of workersʼ rightshowever, there was a singular fail-ure to secure the clause that wouldprevent social dumping and secondclass treatment of workers.

“For that reason we are recom-mending to all of our members thatthey should reject Lisbon onceagain, and we are encouraging fel-low trade union members to dolikewise.”

DELEGATES at this month’s TUC conference in Liverpool demonstrate their abhor-rence of racism during a silent vigil to remember its victims. Hundreds carrying ‘notin my name’ placards gathered at the city’s dockside for the event which general sec-retary Brendan Barber said was a direct riposte to the racist BNP. He added: "Weare in one of the constituencies that elected a BNP member to the European Parlia-ment. But our message today is that they were not elected in our name – or in thename of the vast majority of the British people who reject the politics of hate."

Picture: Courtesy of TUC

SILENCINGTHE RACISTS


Union activists in

Colorado line up

against their “roving

billboard” during a

publicity drive

through the state to

enlist support for the

Employee Free

Choice Act. If

passed, the Act

would make it easier

for workers to set up

union structures.

IT’S WORKERSVAN-GUARD!

Victory for workers sacked by emailA GROUP of Christian bookshop workers -many sacked by fax and email - have won a sub-stantial payout at a UK Employment Tribunal.

The 32 employees worked at the SPCK chainuntil November 2006 when they were trans-ferred to a new charity called Saint Stephen theGreat Charitable Trust, controlled by Americanbrothers Mark and Philip Brewer.

The Brewers tried to force staff to sign newcontracts which gave them longer hours, fewerholidays and poorer pension rights.

Between February and June last year the work-

ers were sacked with many receiving the news byemail, breaking UK employment law.

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw launched a legalfight, lodging claims on the employees’ behalf atthe Employment Tribunal.

A deal was finally brokered after an interimmanager was appointed following the involvementof the Charity Commission in the dispute.

Heather Leather, one of the sacked workers,said: “We simply didn’t know what was happeningwhen the Brewers started all this, and we neverexpected to be treated this way, when we had

done nothing wrong. But Usdaw was behind usfrom the start and guided us round all the legalhurdles the Brewers tried to put in our way.”Usdaw general secretary John Hannett added:“Usdaw’s Legal Department has worked hard toensure that justice was achieved for these work-ers. “Because the case was so complex, affecting peo-ple in shops across the country, they would neverhave been able to get such a great result withoutthe backing of a union, and Usdaw is proud tohave been able to help them.”

�UNITE has called onStormont health min-

ister Michael McGimpseyto reverse cost-cuttingplans that will see one-person rapid responsevehicles taking over therole of emergency ambu-lances staffed by twoparamedics. The unionʼshealth officer KevinMcAdam said: “A single-manned RRV is no sub-stitute for afully-equipped frontlineambulance and replacingthem will reduce the serv-ice to the public.”

�SIPTU and the man-agement of the Gre-

sham Hotel in Dublinhave reached agreementunder the auspices of theLabour Relations Com-mission following morethan 12 hours of talks. In-dustrial action has beensuspended pending ac-ceptance of the terms bySIPTU members. Bothparties recognise the dif-ficult environment inwhich the hotel is operat-ing and are pleased that asatisfactory way forwardhas been reached

THE Irish Bank Officials Association fears5,000 finance sector jobs could go be-cause of the impact National Asset Man-agement Agency and consolidation willhave on the industry.

General secretary Larry Broderickclaimed that there was a chance of majorconsolidation among banks leading to“mergers, acquisitions or closures”.

He said that while the union gave “qual-ified support” to NAMA as “the most re-alistic option”, this backing wasconditional on a major change in bankingculture and guarantees on protecting staffwho had played no role in bad lending de-cisions. Mr Broderick said greater state

ownership of the banks was “inevitable”but claimed nationalisation would be “Ar-mageddon for the economy and the in-dustry”.

Last month, the IBOA chief called onthe Government to use its clout as amajor shareholder in the banks to ensurethey were in the long-term public inter-est.

He said ordinary bank staff had not par-ticipated in the “culture of greed” thathad caused the financial crisis but warned:“They could be scapegoated by the samemanagement philosophy which was be-hind the current crisis unless the Govern-ment takes steps to prevent it.”

IBOA: 5,000 jobs could go

COMMUNICATION Workers Union regionalsecretary Lawrence Huston has slammed theRoyal Mail’s “chaos management” style of cut-ting jobs while imposing unachievable produc-tivity targets on its workforce.

His comments came as the CWU issued astrike ballot to its members in a bid to end thelong-running dispute over terms and condi-tions, pensions and the introduction of newtechnology.

Mr Huston said: “This is without doubt a lastresort for our postal members.

“No one wants a strike but the ‘chaos man-agement’ style of Royal Mail, where they havecontinued to cut jobs and hours, in every officeacross Northern Ireland, while at the sametime putting further and further pressure on

our members to continually improve on un-achievable productivity targets, is at the heartof this dispute.”

He claimed the Royal Mail and the Labourgovernment - as a major shareholder - couldnot ignore the worsening situation.

Mr Huston added: “We need an agreementwhich addresses pay and modernisation, thegrowing pensions’ deficit, and sets out a strat-egy for growth in new areas of business oppor-tunity for Royal Mail.

“Our members do not want to lose moneyor disrupt services by taking strike action.

However, while Royal Mail refuses to ac-knowledge the serious issues facing its ownemployees, then the CWU has no alternative.”

NO ALTERNATIVE AS ROYALMAIL WORKERS BALLOTED



AT THIS time of deep eco-nomic recession andgrowing unemployment, ithas never been more im-portant for Ireland to bea respected and fully-par-ticipating member of anEU equipped to deliversustainable investment,

employment and economic recovery.Equally, workers and their unions are con-

cerned that some employers and politicianswant to exploit the recession to drive downwages and erode hard-won workplace rights.Some Lisbon opponents have tried to exploitthis fear and have misrepresented the treaty,claiming it would erode existing workplacerights.

Nobody argues that Lisbon is a panacea forworking people or their unions. Trade unionswill continue to campaign for a “social Europe”,which recognises the importance of marketsand cross-border trade but insists that protec-

tion of workers, citizens, communities and theenvironment are just as important.

This social Europe approach has already deliv-ered many benefits and protections for Irish andEuropean workers, including most of our lawsgoverning equal opportunities, gender pay equal-ity, paid maternity leave, parental and adoptiveleave, health and safety protection, and workingtime limits including legal entitlements to paidholidays.

These progressive measures provide strongevidence of the long European tradition of soli-darity, which informed the post-war formationand development of the EU.

And, although it’s far from perfect, mostunions believe Lisbon ratification would immedi-ately give supporters of a social Europe someimportant new tools to help win improvedrights for workers, consumers and citizens.

This is because it would establish the Euro-pean Charter of Fundamental Rights as primaryEU law for the first time, giving the same legalstatus to a wide range of human and civil rights

as existing EU laws and treaties that govern in-ternal trade and the free market.

Among other things, the charter’s 50 specificarticles include workers’ rights to representa-tion, collective bargaining and collective action,including strike action.

Irish opponents of the treaty point to four re-cent European Court of Justice rulings – Lavel,Viking, Ruffert and Luxembourg – as proof thatLisbon ratification would be bad for workers.

This is a strange argument, not least becausethese decisions were based on EU law as it ex-ists now, prior to Lisbon ratification.

Furthermore, the four cases were lost prima-rily for reasons that stem from the inadequatetransposition of EU laws or other inadequaciesin domestic law, which would not be directly af-fected by the treaty.

On the basis of these cases, some in the Nocamp have also argued that the ECJ is funda-mentally anti-worker and consistently favoursbusiness interests.

This argument completely ignores other

OCT2

LISBONDIFFERING UNION VIEWS ON TREATY DEBATE

YES!TO TREATY

THE issue of workersrights has been centralto the debate on Lis-bon. It was a key factorin the rejection of thetreaty by the Irish peo-ple in 2008.

It is again an area ofweakness for the polit-ical elite who have ig-nored the will of the

people and seek once more to railroad thepeople of Europe into a more centralised andless democratic European project.

Yes, the institutions of the European Unionneed to be reformed to encompass the grow-ing number of member states. Yes, member-ship of the European Union has been goodfor the people of Ireland. But let us be clear,this is not a referendum on Irelandʼs mem-bership and central place within Europe.

That will remain on October 3 when the peo-ple have rejected Lisbon for a second time.

We were told ahead of the last referendumthat rejection would leave us on the fringes.We were told that nothing in Lisbon could bechanged or amended. Neither was true.

We remain an influential and importantcontributor and benefactor from Europe. Ourgovernment went to their colleagues and se-cured legal guarantees in areas of morality,neutrality, taxation policy and on the numberof commissioners. All these things thatcould not be changed were changed.

The one area, however, where no guaran-tee was secured was in the area of workersʼrights. Instead we got a solemn declaration.Meaningless and an insult to those who havepledged to stand up for rights of workingpeople.

European law has been steered by the Eu-ropean Court of Justice. In the most recent

cases, of Viking, Ruffert, Laval and Luxem-bourg the drift in employment rulings hasbeen towards the primacy of the rights ofbusiness as opposed to workers.

Voting Yes to Lisbon will applaud the deci-sion that allows companies from one countryto bring their own national workers to a proj-ect in Dublin, Cork or Limerick and pay themthe rates prevalent in their home state, ignor-ing the laws of Ireland.

This is how our minimum wage legislationcan be undermined. This is not scaremon-gering. Our own Labour Court has said onLaval: “It seems reasonably if not absolutelyclear to the Court that in the absence of aRegistered Employment Agreement, contrac-tors from other Member States could exer-cise their freedom to provide services in thisjurisdiction under the EC Treaty at the samerates and conditions of employment as applyin their country of origin. Much has been

NO!TO TREATY

IMPACT’s BERNARD HARBOR argues that ratification is an important step in

laying the groundwork for a social vision of Europe, while JIMMY KELLY of

UNITE believes voting No again will force our leaders to go back to the EU and this

time secure meaningful guarantees on workers’ rights

Giving workplace rightsequal standing in EU law

It’s time to make another


Picture: European Communities

highly positive ECJ rulings – many of them recent– concerning gender equality, equal pay, fixed-term workers’ rights and carers’ rights.

Lisbon ratification would most likely havestrengthened the trade unions’ hand in thesecases. The first and immediate benefit of achiev-ing full legal status for the charter is that the ECJwould have to place as much weight on the char-ter as it does on other EU laws and treaties.

Although it would not give workplace rightsprecedence over market rules, it would for thefirst time give them equivalence when the ECJmakes its rulings.

Trade unionists, including ETUC general secre-tary John Monks, have said this could have beensignificant in recent controversial judgments.

Secondly, Lisbon ratification could be very sig-nificant on the controversial issue of Irish collec-tive bargaining rights.

If the treaty is ratified, and the charter is givenfull legal force, unions would be free to take asuitable Irish case on collective bargaining rights

to the Labour Court, which could then refer itto the ECJ under Article 28 of the charter(which enshrines rights to collective bargaining).If successful, such a case would automaticallyoverride Irish case law, including that decided inthe Supreme Court.

Thirdly, establishing the charter’s 50 provisionsas primary EU law would prevent Ireland andother member states from rowing back on exist-ing legal rights where they relate to EU laws,treaties or regulations.

This would effectively strengthen worker pro-tections at a time when employers, politiciansand others are calling for deregulation as part ofthe Government’s response to the recession.

Finally, achieving full legal status for the charterwould strengthen trade union campaigns for en-hanced Irish legal protections for workers.

Although the charter’s provisions would notautomatically apply to all domestic Irish law, therights it enshrines would have to apply when theEU is legislating, when its member states were

implementing or transposing EU law, and whenthe Irish courts and the ECJ were interpretingEU legislation.

Irish unions would continue to campaign tohave the charter enshrined in Irish legislation too.This won’t be easy, but it will never happen if thecharter has not first been adopted as primary EUlaw.

Bernard Harbor is aninformation officer atIMPACT, the largest publicsector trade union in theRepublic, and a member of

the Charter Group, which has published ‘Lisbonand Your Rights at Work: Why the Lisbon Treatyis good for workers and their unions’. The book-let can be downloaded at www.thechartergroup.ie.

made of the Fundamental Charter and in manyways it is a good thing but it must be givenstronger effect across Europe but especiallyin Ireland.

Working people in Ireland are the only onesin the developed world who do not have alegal right to collective bargaining. Only inIreland do employers have no obligation torecognise a trade union chosen to representtheir interests by the workers themselves.

Labour and Fine Gael have made promisesabout ʻafter the next electionʼ. We have beenwaiting for legislation ever since 1951 whenthe state signed the ILO Convention guaran-teeing collective bargaining rights.

We've been waiting since social partnershipbegan in the late 1980s and successive gov-ernments promised to address the issue. Inthe last referendum we were told by theTaoiseach to wait until the next social partner-

ship negotiations. Those among our ownmovement who urge us to wait again are fail-ing to see the pattern of denial in which this isthe latest chapter.

Voting No to Lisbon again will be our standfor workersʼ rights.

The rights which have been gained acrossthe continent have not been earned throughwaiting for others to grant us what is ours byright. Across Europe workers and the tradeunions they represent have stood up, takenaction and reaped the rewards.

The political and corporate elite within Ire-land will not give up voluntarily what they donot feel they have to. If they have held outagainst such a basic right of workers fornearly 60 years, then why stop there.

Let us now make our stand on October 2.Let us say no more waiting. Let us stand to-gether and send our political leaders back to

secure proper guarantees for workers and theinclusion of a social progress clause in the re-form legislation that will then have to be prop-erly and democratically addressed acrossEurope.

We are in the spotlight once more. Workingpeople across Ireland must stand up for ourrights as workers, as equal partners in enter-prise and as citizens of Europe.

We have a duty to vote no.

Jimmy Kelly is the Irish Regional Secretary ofUNITE the union

stand for workers’ rights


A EUROPEAN Union fund that supports workersmade redundant as a result of globalisation hashelped nearly seven out of 10 applicants back intoemployment last year, it has been claimed.

Figures revealed that 69% of 10,000 employeeswho received backing from the European Globali-sation Fund found new jobs in 2008.

Set up in 2007 and with an annual budget of€500 million, the EGF provides assistance in jobsearching, retraining, mobility support and furthereducation.

In June, Tanaiste Mary Coughlan applied to theEGF to help 1,900 workers laid off at Dell’s Ra-heen plant in Co Limerick after production wasshifted at the start of the year to Poland.

The application also covered employees in local

support industries such as Banta Global Turnkey.At the time, she said: “I am making this applica-

tion to support the training and other activelabour market measures for the many of workersaffected in the region and to ensure that theybenefit in a way that meets their individual needsand gives them well-grounded hope for futureemployment through training opportunities.”

The move to access EGF funding was wel-comed by SIPTU’s Karan O’Loughlin who had of-fered advice to some of the workforce at Dell.

She told The Union Post: “I would totally sup-port the bid to get this funding.

“This is especially important as the Mid-Westhas taken quite a battering this year with at least5,000 jobs lost across the region.”

Euro fund bid for Dell workers

CHEMICALS giant Union Carbide has de-fended a former chief executive, claimingmanagers could not have foreseen the gasleak that claimed thousands of lives closeto its Bhopal plant 25 years ago.

Last month an Indian court issued a war-rant for ex-CEO Warren Andersonʼs arrestand ordered its own government to pressWashington for his extradition.

Anderson had been arrested shortly afterthe December 1984 disaster but then leftthe jurisdiction and now lives in New YorkState.

Several thousand people died followingthe release of 42 tonnes of toxic compoundmethyl isocyanate into the air around theplant.

More than half a million others who sur-vived the initial disaster in the Indian stateof Madhya Pradesh are thought to havesuffered sometimes deadly after-effects inthe years since.

However, Union Carbide – owned by Dow

Chemical since 2001 – last month rolledonce again what its critics allege is a con-spiracy theory that has been repeatedlydebunked by investigators.

A spokesperson said: “Overwhelmingevidence has established that the Bhopalgas release was caused by an act of em-ployee sabotage that could not have beenforeseen or prevented by the plant's man-agement.”

But UK-based campaign group FamiliesAgainst Corporate Killers hit back at thesabotage claim and said survivors refutedthe allegation “as an outright lie” that hasbeen “utterly discredited”.

A report by an international trade unionfact-finding mission to Bhopal found thatthe disaster was caused by “insufficient at-tention to safety in the process design,dangerous operating procedures, lack ofproper maintenance, faulty equipment, anddeep cuts in manning levels, crew sizes,worker training and skilled supervision”.

Disaster site: The now rusting Union Carbide works at Bhopal, India

BHOPAL GROUPS RUBBISHWORKER SABOTAGE CLAIM

INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan hascalled on ministers not to target primaryeducation in forthcoming public expendi-ture cuts.

She said: “Ireland must do better for chil-dren. The Government must not try tomake short-term savings on primary educa-tion. In purely economic terms early child-hood education is one of the bestinvestments our country can make.”

Ms Nunan claimed research carried outin the US showed young people who re-ceived pre-school education were lesslikely to repeat classes or need special edu-cation and more likely to complete second-level education.

They werealso less likely toget into futuretrouble with thelaw, were morelikely to owntheir own homesand even havelonger marriages.

Ms Nunanadded: “Rep-utable studiessuch as theHigh/Scope Perry Preschool Project havefound children who got a quality earlychildhood education ultimately earned upto $2,000 more per month than those whodid not.

“We know attempting to repair readingskills in fourth or fifth class is far more ex-pensive and risky than guaranteeing goodpre-reading skills in the early years.”

Ms Nunan also claimed a recent OECDreport, Doing Better for Children, backedup INTO’s call for increased investment inprimary education.

The report, which looked at child well-being in 30 countries, said governmentsshould invest more in children in the firstsix years of their lives in a bid to reducesocial inequality.

Early yearseducationmust not behit by cuts

Nunan: Research

�SIXTY five Aer Lingus cabin crewworking on temporary contracts are to

be made redundant.IMPACT official Christina Carney said

many of the workers – who received thenews by telephone – had been left devas-tated by the development.

Most of those affected had worked forthe carrier for more than two years withmost being employed on the airlineʼsshort-haul routes.

Ms Carney added: “There is a lot ofshock and anger at how they have beentreated by the company, and the manner inwhich the news was broken to them hasonly added to the shock and anger theyare feeling. They have worked very hardfor the company over the last number ofyears in order to ensure that passengersreturn to Aer Lingus.

“Many of them have mortgages and nowfacing a very uncertain future.”

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FRENCH workers who threatened toblow up their factory in a bitter disputeover lay-off payments have accepted animproved compensation offer.

During the dispute - which last sev-eral weeks - angry employees piled updozens of gas cylinders, above, aroundthe New Fabris car components plant

in Chatellerault, central France. Thenew deal brokered at the end of Julymeans that each worker will walk awaywith a tax-free sum of €12,000.

Force Ouvriere union spokespersonDominique Duval said:"It was €12,000or nothing, and at this stage nothingwas not an option for us."

GAS WORKS AT FABRIS

UNITE regional secretary Jimmy Kelly has calledon the Stormont Executive to put in place a pub-lic works programme aimed at the long-term un-employed.

His comments follow the release of new figuresthat show the number of people drawing the dolenorth of the border rose by 1,600 last month to52,700.

Mr Kelly said: “New work schemes haveproven successful in the past and Stormont needsto do all it can to reduce the awful impact of therecession and ensure that Northern Ireland ispoised to make the most of opportunities for re-covery."

Figures also revealed youth unemployment in-creased by 6.5% over the last 12 months with therate standing at 18.6% for those aged between 18and 24.

Works programme call asNI dole figure hits 52,700

FOUR teachers unions have insisted they will re-sist any attempt to cut their members’ pay.

In a joint statement issued on September 22,the general secretaries and presidents of ASTI,IFUT, INTO and TUI said: “We want to send acrystal clear message to An Taoiseach and hisministers we will not accept the scapegoating ofour members to pay for a financial crisis we didnot cause.

“We are dismayed that, all of a sudden, theGovernment seems to have come to the beliefthat cutting the pay of teachers and other publicservants is an easy and readily available option.

“Our national crisis can only be resolved by anational consensus and a shared sense of pur-pose. If more pain is necessary, it must be spreadfairly and evenly over those who can most affordit. Singling out public servants for special treat-ment is nothing more than an ill-thought outrecipe for social division.”

Teachers unions vow toresist any cuts in pay

�THE TUC has claimed UK taxpayersare paying £2.50 for subsidising the

pensions of the richest one per cent ofthe population. Thatʼs more than twice theamount for every pound spent on payingfor retired public servants such as nursesand teachers and is because tax relief onpensions is heavily skewed towards thebetter off. Treasury figures revealed 60%of the total goes to higher rate taxpayerswith 25% going to the top one per cent –representing nearly £10 billion a year.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese at the official openingof Mandate’s state-of-the-art Organising andTraining Centre in Dublin on September 21. The union’s national training coordinator Aileen Morrissey said: “This investment in the trainingcentre by Mandate is a huge commitment to ourmembers in terms of helping them to reach theirfull potential in their personal lives and in their careers.” At the ceremony 30 workers receivedFETAC awards for completing courses provided byMandate and FAS. Picture: Moya Nolan

New Mandate for President!


MANY of Ireland’s leading trade unions andNGOs have joined forces to launch a drive tomobilise opposition to proposed cuts to basicsocial welfare payments and the minimum wage.

The Poor Can’t Pay campaign is backed by arange of organisations including Mandate, SIPTUand Unite as well as Age Action, Barnardos,CORI Justice, EAPN, Focus Ireland, SVP, the Na-tional Women’s Council of Ireland and INOU.

Campaigners claim the Government must liveup to its word to protect the most vulnerable insociety from the impact of the recession.

John Mark McCafferty, head of social justiceand policy at the Society of St Vincent de Paul,said at the campaign launch on August 3: “Wehear all the time from many commentators whosay it is inevitable that basic social welfare pay-ments and the minimum wage must be cut.

“This campaign aims to highlight that mostpeople in Ireland do not accept this view andthey actually believe that we must do all we canto protect the most vulnerable people in oursociety.

“The reality is that cuts to welfare paymentswill mean people going without food, essentialhealthcare, children getting no presents atChristmas and pensioners wondering if they canafford to keep the heat on.

“We all need to ask ourselves as a nation arethese the people who should be forced to paythe cost of the economic crisis?”

Campaign organisers point out that those liv-ing on the minimum wage just can’t afford totake any cut in their income.

Having a job offers no protection from hard-ship to people on low incomes as it is estimated

THE Establishment clarion cry for a cut inthe minimum wage is based on an "analy-sis" which, if it exists it all, is decidedlyfaulty.

The minimum wage was equivalent to€5.59 per hour when first introduced inApril 2000. In the meantime, average in-dustrial earnings for manual workers in-creased by 60 per cent up to the finalquarter of last year. If there had been a prorata adjustment in the minimum wage, itwould have been set at a level of €8.95from this January.

But the hard fact is that the minimumwage has actually been frozen at level of€8.65 for the past two years - since July2007.

Furthermore, in May of this year, it expe-rienced a de facto cut, when the Ministerfor Finance subjected it to a two per centincome levy, thereby reducing the take-home minimum wage to €8.48 per hour.On top of that, the Harmonised Index of

Consumer Prices in June 2009 remainshigher by 1.8 per cent than its level in July2007. Minimum wage earners have, accord-ingly, already suffered a four per cent cut intheir living standards.

The Minister for Finance admitted on June25 that "the availability of cheap labour after2004" had been a key factor in bringingabout our current economic crisis. Why,then, suggest curing the disease by overdos-ing on the same virus?

While the minimum wage has remainedfrozen at its July 2007 level, there have alsobeen above average increases in some basicfoodstuffs in te two years since then.

The price of lamb has soared by 10 percent, bread by 15 percent and milk by 23 per

cent. Butter prices have also risen by 15per cent. But there is little point in seek-ing refuge in margarine, which is dearerby 12 percent.

Admittedly, potato prices have fallen by11 percent. So perhaps we should viewthe Establishment message as a pack-age: cut the minimum wage, switch lowpaid workers to a pre-Famine diet ofspuds, and at the same time expect themto show gratitude for the fact that potatoblight seems under control!

There is no evidence that a single jobhas been lost because of the minimumwage, and small wonder.

The latest CSO data shows that the per-centage of industrial workers restrictedto that minimum rate fell from 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2007 to 1.6 percent in the final quarter of last year.

Any call for still further minimum wagecuts is, accordingly, as economically ig-norant as it is ethically indecent.

VIEWPOINTManus O’Riordan SIPTU

Hard facts about the minimum wage

The Poor Can’t Pay

NGOs JOIN UNIONS INDRIVE AGAINST CUTS

THE Poor Canʼt Pay campaign group has

called on Social Welfare Minister Mary

Hanafin to reveal her departmentʼs analysis

of proposed welfare cuts.

It follows a comment Ms Hanafin made dur-

ing a RTE interview last month in which she

promised to have officials in the newly estab-

lished Social Inclusion Division probe the im-

pact the cuts will have.

Campaign spokesperson Dr Mary Murphy

said: “Everyone should know what the con-

sequences of cutting the income of the poor-

est will be.

“We welcome the Ministerʼs statement that

this analysis is being carried out and we are

calling on her to publish the findings of this

work so that it can lead and inform public de-

bate. We also believe she should assess the

impact of the announced withdrawal of the

Christmas payment and the deflationary im-

pact cutting welfare payments would

have.

“The debate on welfare payments has been

dominated by people who know very little

about the welfare system or about what it is

like to live on a low income.”

Dr Murphy added: “We in The Poor Canʼt

Pay believe that the Government must pro-

tect the most vulnerable during this reces-

sion.

“If the Government refuses to publish this

analysis we can only conclude that they want

to hide the consequences of the decisions

they are making.”

FOR MORE CAMPAIGN NEWS GO TO www.thepoorcantpay.ie

nearly a third of all households at risk of povertyare headed by a person who is in employment.Meanwhile, the Poor Can’t Pay campaign alsocalled on the Government to reverse its decisionto cut the Christmas welfare payment.

The payment – widely dubbed the “Christmasbonus” – went to 1.3 million people last year andSocial and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafinsaid at the time this was “a clear sign that helping

those most in need of support remains a key pri-ority for the Government.” Mr McCafferty added:“It's important to stress the Christmas welfarepayment is not a ‘bonus’. It is a key part of the in-come of the poorest households.

“If it the Government does not make this pay-ment it represents a real cut in income to thefamilies and single people who can least afford it,adding to their hardships.”

Give us cuts data, Mary


THE Poor Can’t Pay campaign held an “alterna-tive Cabinet meeting” earlier this month tolaunch its online drive targeting politicians in therun-up to the Budget at the end of the year.

The campaign organisers are urging people tolog on to www.thepoorcantpay.ie andemail their local TDs calling on them to do all intheir power to protect the most vulnerable fromBudget cuts.

The coalition of trade unions, community or-ganisations and voluntary groups have joinedforces to defend basic welfare payments, opposeany cut to the minimum wage and to ensure thetraditional Christmas payment is continued.

Representatives from Age Action, Barnardos,CORI Justice, EAPN Ireland, Focus Ireland, IrishNational Organisation of the Unemployed, Man-date, the National Women’s Council of Ireland,SIPTU and Saint Vincent de Paul took a seataround the “Cabinet table” on MolesworthStreet in the shadow of Dail Eireann.

Mandate national co-ordinator Brian Forbes, amember of the “alternative Cabinet”, told TheUnion Post: “Having a job does not mean peopleare immune to poverty as 30 per cent of allhouseholds at risk of poverty are headed by aperson who has a job.

“Failure to protect the wages of those on low

pay relative to those on the minimum wage maymean that the statutory minimum wage effec-tively sets a ceiling for wages in lower paid sec-tors like retail, rather than providing a floor.

“Any subsequent reduction therefore in theminimum wage may see tens of thousandsof low paid workers already at risk ofpoverty sink deeper into thepoverty trap.

“Attacking low paid workersis not the way we see a fairand just society acting. Wewill not stand idly by andallow the vulnerable in soci-ety to pay for the mistakesof others.”

John Mark McCafferty ofthe SVP, who was also at theevent, said: “We are holding thiscabinet meeting to appeal directlyto the Taoiseach and every singleminister to bring the key issue of pro-tecting the most vulnerable to the real cabinettable when they are making decisions on budgetcuts.

“These decisions cannot be taken purely on aneconomic basis without taking account of theterrible impact some cuts will have on the most

vulnerable. Cuts to welfare payments will meanpeople going without food, heating and essentialhealthcare.

“It will be grossly unfair if the most vulnerableare forced to pay the cost of the economic crisis

in this way and will have a very negative im-pact on our society.”

Aaron Kirkham from the IrishNational Organisation of the

Unemployed added: “I think alot of the people who are call-ing for cuts in the minimumpayments should live on thatkind of payment first and seehow they get on."

Sharon Kirkpatrick, whoalso took a seat around the

“ministers’ table”, said peoplewho did not cause the economic

crisis should not be forced to payfor it through Government cutbacks.

She said: "I am going to college andbringing up my son and already in debt as we arestruggling to get by on lone parents allowanceand child benefit. If there are cuts to welfarepayments I couldn't pay for childcare and wouldnot be able to continue in college.”

Turning the table on the Govt

Picture: Patrick Bolger PhotographyGovernment by the people for the people: The ‘alternative Cabinet’ outside the Dail

Having a job does not

mean people areimmune from

poverty– Brian Forbes

Mandate


PSEU General Secretary TOM GERAGHTY claims public servants are

being scapegoated and vilified in a concerted campaign of media distortion

VIEWPOINT

Facts to thwart the myth makersIN RECENT times public servants have becomeused to being attacked and scapegoated. The lat-est manifestation is a concerted attempt to mis-represent their pay situation relative to the restof the community.

The publication of Central Statistics Office fig-ures which appear to suggest that the pay of pub-lic servants is significantly ahead of the rest of theeconomy and subsequent ESRI comments thatthere is scope for cutting their pay, have gener-ated an impression that public servants are paidmore than private sector counterparts.

The McCarthy group even felt emboldened tostray beyond their terms of reference to lendweight to this growing campaign. However, theentire proposition has no basis in fact.

The ESRI comments relate to 2006 data. This issignificant because, ironically, the second report ofthe benchmarking body – a report based on com-parison techniques designed to do public servantsno favours – dealt with some of the mythologysurrounding these figures at around that time.

That body commissioned outside expertise and,among other tasks, asked the experts to examineclaims based on a CSO survey, the National Em-ployment Survey, that public servants earnedabout 40 per cent more than private sectorcounterparts.

The benchmarking report noted “. . . the NESdoes not allow comparisons to be made betweenpublic service and private sector jobs on a like-for-like basis . . .”

It then went on to conduct such a comparisonitself and while finding that there was what itcalled a “public service premium” in some cases,(and in some instances, this was on a significantscale), it also found that some occupations didnot have one “or are below the private sector”and concluded that “there is little or no publicservice premium if comparison is made with pri-vate sector employees in large establishments”which, they noted, “account for a significant ma-jority of public service employment”.

Unfortunately, this has not prevented the mythfrom gaining ground through constant repetition.

The ESRI’s Alan Barrett referred to it so it waspicked up by Jim O’Leary and then by Dr GarretFitzGerald and so on.

The fact that it does not stand up to objectivescrutiny gets lost.

The benchmarking body’s report is the only re-port that actually made like-for-like comparisonsthat identified types of work performed by publicservants, searched for and identified outside com-parators doing like work and then compared

rates of pay, having regard to other benefits. Noother body, including the CSO, uses that level ofdetailed job comparison data.

Also, in view of the fact that 100 per cent ofpublic servants now pay a pension levy whichrises to 10.5 per cent of pay, while, as the recentreport by Mercer reveals, only nine per cent ofprivate sector employees have had cuts applied totheir pay, the position of public servants’ actualtake home pay has disimproved significantly rela-tive to private sector counterparts.

This is not to argue for cuts to be applied tothe remaining 91 per cent of private sector em-ployees, but, rather, to inject some factual infor-mation into a debate that has been skewed by themisuse of statistical data.

As SIPTU’s Manus O’Riordan has pointed out,public service workers’ pay increased in the threeyears to 2008 at virtually the same rate as the in-crease in pay for manual industrial workers.

In the full decade up to 2008, the difference inthe increases for public service workers and man-ual industrial workers was a mere 0.3 per centper year, even though this period includes awardsfrom the first benchmarking exercise designed tohelp public servants’ pay to “catch-up” with paymovements in the private sector.

Furthermore, in the six months since Decem-ber 2008, the Consumer Price Index has fallen by3.6 per cent, but with the application of the PublicService Pension Levy, there has been a de factopay cut for public servants of an average of 6.8per cent in that time. It is also worth pointing out

that at 10 per cent of GDP, our public sector pay-roll costs are below the EU average of 12 percent.

While the McCarthy agenda is driven by thecountry’s fiscal position, others argue that weneed to cut pay rates generally.

Dr FitzGerald in a recent column in The IrishTimes suggested, again incorrectly, that pay ratesin the private sector were falling.

In fact, the Mercer report, the Hay Group andIbec all suggest that this is not the case for mostprivate sector workers.

Those who argue for a general cut in pay ratesmight also be asked to consider that according tothe OECD, Ireland has the 11th highest wagerates in the EU – 22 per cent below the averageof the top 10 countries.

None of this is put forward to suggest thatthere are no difficulties with our public finances.However, two complementary agendas threatento undermine our efforts to haul ourselves out ofrecession.

One seeks, as a matter of policy, to deflate oureconomy further through the advocacy of paycuts; even though our current pay rates put us inthe middle range of EU countries. The other is tosuggest that public servants should bear the bulkof the burden for rectifying the public` finances.

Our economic history in the last 20 years or soshould have taught us that we can climb out ofrecession through consensus and a commitmentto share any burden that arises.

Scapegoating public servants will make any con-sensus impossible. Public servants, two-thirds ofwhom earn less than €60,000 per year, have beensoftened up as a target by a campaign of misinter-pretation of statistics.

However, they have borne their share of tar-geted “pain” already in the form of the pensionlevy.

Attempts to victimise them further in the formof yet more pay cuts are, simply, unjustifiable, byany measure.

An alternative within which public serviceunions will work with Government to restructureour public service organisations and to assist inthe deployment of staff to areas of greatest need,in light of changed economic circumstances andreducing staff numbers, is on offer to Govern-ment, but not if pay and conditions are to be sub-jected to further attack.

We can turn our economy around together in aspirit of consensus or conflict will result from at-tacks on perceived soft targets.

ESRI gloss on publicservice pay relates

to 2006 dataTaken over a decadedifferences in wage

hikes work out at 0.3per cent per year

Pension levy defacto pay cut of 6.8

per cent

�

�

�

Public servants – two thirds of whom earn less than €60k – have been softened up as a target by a campaign of misinterpretation of statistics‘

‘

July 2008 � THE BRAZIER 33

THE UK Government has launched a consultationinto recognising Workers’ Memorial Day.

The global trade union event, held on April 28each year, commemorates those who have losttheir lives in workplace accidents.

It is also an opportunity for trade unionists to“remember the dead and fight for the living”.

Yvette Cooper, secretary of state for work andpensions, confirmed the consultation would lookat how the day could be marked officially in theUK.

She said: “It is a tragedy that some people goout to work and then never return home to theirfamilies. I want to look at what the UK can do toremember the thousands of workers who havelost their lives.”

Welcoming the move, TUC chief Brendan Bar-ber added: “Official recognition of the day wouldacknowledge the terrible toll that work hasplaced on many families whose loved ones havebeen killed at work or more slowly through a dis-ease caused by their work.

“It will also act as a reminder of the need toensure that action is taken to ensure that suchdeaths are prevented in the future.”

Workers Memorial Dayconsultation launched

SA union chief calls forend to mines ‘carnage’CONGRESS of South African Trade Unions chiefZwelinzima Vavi has branded the appalling safetyrecord in the country’s mining industry “a na-tional disgrace”.

He made his comments at a memorial servicefor nine miners who died at Impala Platinum’sRustenburg works in July.

Calling for an end to the “carnage”, Mr Vavi toldmourners: “Such fatalities are personal tragediesfor bereaved families, but are also a national dis-grace.”

A total of 244 work-related deaths were re-ported in South African mines per year between1997 and 2007.

Mr Vavi added: “We want an efficient industrythat continues to create wealth for the nation butuses the profits to pay workers a living wage, paystaxes to improve the lives of the workers and thepoor, in conditions that are safe, healthy and envi-ronmentally friendly.”

�THE TUC has said new research has

rubbished claims workers are taking

swine flu sickies.

It follows a study of 450 companies car-

ried out by the British Chambers of Com-

merce which found that most UK firms

have not been affected by swine flu.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber

said: “This shows that, contrary to what

some have been claiming, workers are not

using swine flu as an excuse to take time

off work.'

SUBSCRIBEFREEAT UNION POST

[email protected]

A MOTION put forward by actors’union Equity and passed at this month’sTUC conference could sound a finan-cial bum note for the producers of lu-crative talent shows such as The XFactor.

The union wants contestants whowin through to the final rounds of suchentertainment programmes to be giventhe same legal status as workers withaccompanying employment rights.

Equity also called for a competitionsloophole in the UK’s National Mini-mum Wage Act to be closed off.

The motion continues: "These pro-grammes may be very popular with thepublic but are based on exploitationand humiliation of vulnerable people,which cannot be acceptable.

"The public's demand for high-qualityentertainment should be met by pro-fessional drama and light entertainment

which has been replaced by this cheapexploitation."

The union wants independent pro-duction companies to follow BBC bestpractice. Finalists on Beeb shows HowDo You Solve A Problem Like Maria?,Any Dream Will Do and I'd Do Any-thing are paid Equity rates.

In March last year, French broad-caster TF1 was forced to pay a total of€27,000 to three participants in the re-ality show I’lle de la Tentation (Tempta-tion Island).

The award granted by an AppealCourt in Paris gave Anthony Bro-cheton, Marie Adamiak and Arno Laizé€8,176 in overtime, a further €817 forthe time spent there not being a holi-day, €500 for unfair dismissal, €1,500for wrongful termination of their con-tracts and €16,000 for being employedillegally.

Equity talent shows bid

PRIDE OFBELFAST

Regent’s place: Prince Albert’s statue clocks this year’s gay pride paradeas it winds its way through central Belfast. Thousands took to the streetson August 3 for the culmination of a weekend of festivities in the city

Picture: Amnesty


Big hike in workplace bullying�FRANCE Telecomworkers held

protests on September15 after a spate of sui-cides at the firm. TheCGT union blames thecompany for its failurein helping staff dealwith stress caused by amassive restructuringexercise. France Tele-comʼs HR chief OlivierBarberot told one na-tional daily the com-pany was stepping upsuicide awarenesstraining for its 20,000managers. He said: “Iam confident we canimprove the situation”.

AN Irish-based suicide prevention charity has claimed therehas been a huge increase in the number of people contact-ing them about workplace bullying.

The Awareness Education Office, a collaborative ministryinvolving the Holy Ghost Fathers and Presentation Sisters,believes the economic downturn has led to increasing pres-sures on vulnerable workers.

Spiritan priest Dr Tony Byrne said: “It is unbelievable howmany people are calling for help.

“We deal with suicide prevention and so look at all formsof bullying, but in recent times problems in the workplacehave far surpassed others.”

He warned that some bosses were taking advantage of

the recession and piling pressure on workers fearful of los-ing their jobs. Meanwhile, the slump may be playing a majorrole in a suicide hike at workplaces in the US, according tonew research. Statistics released by the US Bureau of LaborStatistics showed the number of people who killed them-selves at work in the States rose 28 per cent to an all-timehigh last year.

“Self-inflicted” deaths on the shopfloor rose from 196 to251. A BLS spokesperson claimed anecdotal evidencepointed to the financial crisis and job insecurity as con-tributing factors.

An American expert on suicide said: “When people dosomething in a public place, it tends to imply a suicide rela-tive to something going on in that place.”

THE International Trade Union Confederation haslaunched a global petition calling on the UN toabolish nuclear weapons.

The petition – being jointly run by the Mayorsfor Peace group – will be handed over to UNSecretary General Ban Ki-Moon next May asworld leaders gather in New York to discuss theNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

A letter accompanying the petition states: “Webelieve the world needs to take urgent action tostop the spread of nuclear weapons, and to makethe world free of nuclear weapons, as part of theoverall drive for worldwide peace and the trans-fer of military spending to socially-useful ends.”

It goes on to list a series of demands:�A call on those countries that have not

joined the NPT to do so, and for all nations tocomply with its provisions,�The enforcing of the Comprehensive Nuclear

Test Ban Treaty as soon as possible,�An immediate start to and rapid progress on

the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, and � International agreements to support nuclear-

weapon-free zones.There are almost 24,000 nuclear weapons and

it is estimated these arsenals combined have thesame destructive power as 400,000 Hiroshimabombs.

www.ituc-csi.org/peace

ITUC launches petitionfor UN nukes conference

NEWSBRIEFSASTI chief reminds Govtyoung ‘greatest resource’ASTI president Joe Moran has reminded the IrishGovernment young people are “our greatest re-source”.

He made his comments as he expressed pridein the accomplishments of the 55,000 LeavingCert students who received their exam resultslast month.

He said: “Many teachers have spent five or sixyears working with these young people, watchingtheir personalities and potential develop.

“As a teacher, I know how proud teachers feelwhen they see another group complete their sec-ond-level education and leave the school as youngadults.”

Mr Moran added he was also proud of the com-mitment shown by teachers but admitted that the“challenging” economic climate was an “inauspi-cious” backdrop to the results.

He said: “It is also a timely moment to remindour Government and policy makers that ouryoung people are our greatest resource.

“Our school leavers and young people must notbe the casualties of the banking excesses and theMcCarthy Report proposals.

“Investment in education and first-time employ-ment for our young people must be major priori-ties.

“Looking after the future of our young people islooking after the future of our country.”

A NEW study has revealed family responsibili-ties constitute the single greatest factor in sus-taining the wage gap between the sexes inIreland.

Economic and Social Research Institute re-search – based on data collated in 2003 – foundthat males’ average hourly rates were the stilleight per cent higher than their fe-male counterparts.

The study, commissioned by theEquality Authority, showed the differ-ential was greatest among those em-ployed in construction, sales andprofessional occupations.

Reearchers, who looked at figurestaken from the National EmploymentSurvey, believe the primary reason isthe loss of experience caused whenwomen leave the shopfloor or officefor family reasons.

Women tended to have higher levels of edu-cation, but men had more job experience as theyhad not taken time out for “care duties”.

Dr Sean McGuinness, who co-authored thereport, claimed taking time out had a dual im-pact on a woman’s earning potential.

He said: “Her skills get degraded while she’sout of the labour market, and then when she re-

enters after a number of years she tends not togo back in at the level she left.”

This also had knock-on implications for pen-sions as these were linked to life-time earnings.

The Equality Authority called for the govern-ment to introduce new policies that would allowboth sexes to take on care work with being pe-

nalised.Dr McGuinness added: “Career

breaks, which allow people to main-tain their position while away fromthe formal labour market, would ap-pear to be the most effective way ofdoing this.’

Responding to the findings,UNITE equality officer Taryn Trainortold The Union Post: “If caring du-ties are having a negative financialimpact on women, measures need

to be taken to ensure that men take on a greatershare of family responsibilities.

“However, such measures need to be accom-panied by a change of culture and a change tooutdated stereotypes about the roles and abili-ties of men and women before females can com-pete effectively with males.”

http://www.equality.ie/index.asp?locID=105&docID=817

MOTHERHOOD has a “profound impact”on womenʼs pay and work prospects, theauthors of a new report have claimed.

Drawing on the latest UK research, gen-der equality body the Fawcett Society re-vealed that before becoming parents, menand women are equally likely to be em-ployed but following childbirth “a great di-vide” develops which continues even afterchildren have left home.

A total of 57% of mums with kids underfive are in paid work compared with nine inevery 10 dads.

When these mothers do return to work,many of them opt for part-time employmentto fit in with their childcare responsibilities.

While the authors acknowledge this maybe viewed as a positive choice by some,for many others this is a compromise “aris-ing from the lack of shared responsibilityfor children, the lack of appropriate child-

care, and the lack of decent child-friendlyjobs”. This in turn creates a cycle “whereincreased caring roles lead to a decreasein work status due to absence from work orpart-time work”.

According to data presented in the re-port, partnered women in full-time workwithout children earn nine per cent lessthan men on average.

But that pay gap shoots up to 21.6% forfull-time women workers with two children.

The Fawcett Society wants to see bettersupport for mothers returning to jobs attheir previous skills levels, an enforcementof the law to protect pregnant women andwomen on maternity leave from discrimina-tion, more part-time work in higher-paid oc-cupations and action on low pay in thosesectors primarily employing women.

www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/NotHavingItAll.pdf

Mums’ job prospects hit

DUTIES AT HOME‘CAUSE PAY GAP’

EQUALITY

AWARENESS EDUCATION OFFICE (00 353) 1 838 8888 or (00 353) 87 918 0777SAMARITANS 08457 90 90 90 (UK) or 1850 60 90 90 (Irish Republic), email: [email protected]


Visteon pensions vowUNITE joint general secretary Tony Wood-ley has vowed the union will do all in itspower to secure pension justice for for-mer Visteon workers in Belfast.

He said: “Unite stood by Northern Ire-land Visteon workers in the fight for fairredundancy payments when the companywent into administration and the unionwill not abandon Visteon workers fightingfor pensions justice.

"Ford made copper-bottomed promisesto the workers before they were trans-ferred to Visteon and we intend to holdthem to those promises.

"Unite is calling for an urgent meetingwith the Chairman of Ford and has alreadyasked the Government’s pensions regula-tor to investigate whether there was inap-

propriate behaviour that sees thousands ofworkers having to go into the PensionsProtection Fund."

Earlier this year, Visteon went into ad-ministration with nearly 1,000 workers atBelfast, Basildon and Enfield losing theirjobs. Following a sustained campaign andsit-ins a fair redundancy settlement wasreached.

Now Unite is fighting for pensions jus-tice for 3,000 former workers affected.

But the UK government’s Pension Pro-tection Fund will only cover a proportionof these workers' pensions with the unioninsisting that the taxpayer should not haveto pick up the bill when Ford made firmcommitments to protect terms and condi-tions before the transfer to Visteon. Woodley: Pensions bid

Pictures: Courtesy ACTU

UNIONS have staged a series ofmassive rallies across Australiaas part of a major drive forstronger national health andsafety laws.

More than 15,000 workers tookto the streets of Melbourne onSeptember 1 while thousandsmore attended large events inCanberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Ho-bart, Perth and Brisbane.

Protesting workers fearful ofthe watering down of workplacesafety standards under proposednew legislation were joined byrelatives of victims of work-re-lated illness and accidents.

Jeff Lawrence, secretary of thenational union federation ACTU,said: “Workers and the broadercommunity are saying they wantstronger health and safety lawsand we are calling on govern-ments to deliver that – not wa-

tered down standards

“Unions stand up for workersand their families, and an over-whelming number of people wantus to have a central role in healthand safety – as we have done forover 150 years.'”

A poll of 1,013 people releasedearlier this month showed overthree quarters (78 per cent) ofthose questioned believe em-ployers should do more to pro-tect health and safety, even if itmeans more costs or red tape.

More than four in five (81 percent) want to be able to call in aunion to help with occupationalhealth and safety issues at theirworkplace and nearly three quar-ters (73 per cent) said safety rep-resentatives in workplacesshould be elected or chosen bytheir colleagues, not by manage-ment.

OZ UNIONS ON THE MARCH

�NEW research hasrevealed than more

than one in 11 workersin the European Unionhas suffered from awork-related healthproblem in the lastyear.

According to EULabour Force Surveydata an average of 8.6per cent of employeeswere affected with 3.2per cent suffering awork-related injury.

Industries with par-ticular high incidencesof work-related ill-health included agricul-ture and forestry.


AT eight o clock in the morning on the 8th ofAugust last, while most of the world’s attentionwas on the opening ceremony of the OlympicGames, Luis Prada was walking to work. Luisworked in a clothes shop in the town of Sar-avena in the east of Colombia where he livedwith his wife and five children.

As he neared his shop a man walked up toLuis and shot him 17 times in broad daylight be-fore fleeing on a motorcycle with an accomplice.

Luis was the third member of his family to beassassinated. He had spent most of his life livingunder death threats, forced to move home onnumerous occasions.

In the minds of his killers, Luis’ crime was thathe was a member of the Colombian Trade UnionFederation.

Luz Maria Diaz Lopez was a teacher at a ruralschool in Putumayo. She was seven months preg-nant when she and her colleague Emerson Ru-ales were shot dead as they made their way towork. Both victims were members of the localteacher’s union.

Jose Martinez sold lottery tickets for a living.At ten o clock on the night of the 23rd of Au-gust he was shot dead by unknown gunmen.

Jose was also President of the Colombian Na-tional Lottery Worker’s Federation and a leadingcampaigner against proposals to privatiseColombia’s national lottery.

He was the 38th trade union member to beassassinated in Colombia this year and the thirdin the month of August.

Colombia is the most dangerous country in

the world to carry a union card. Oscar Arangostarted working in a Coca-cola bottling plant inCarepa in 1984. It was a good job. The union hadsecured bonuses, overtime and health benefitsfor employees.

But in 1994 paramilitaries began to organise inthe area. Backed by the Colombian securityforces they have targeted human rights activistsand trade union members with impunity.

Research carried out by Amnesty Internationalindicates a co-ordinated strategy between theColombia military and paramilitary death squadsto undermine the work of trade unioniststhrough assassination and intimidation.

The second Coca-Cola worker and unionmember to be killed at the Carepa plant wasOscar’s brother, his body left by the side of theroad.

For two years Oscar and his colleagues wereattacked and intimidated, their offices fire-bombed, their officials hunted through thestreets of Carepa by paramilitaries.

In December 1996 when paramilitaries walkedinto the factory and murdered a union memberat his place of work, it was the final straw.

The next day the workers were all assembledat the plant and forced to sign letters resigningfrom the union.

Managers at the plant immediately imposed apay cut with wages being reduced from around$400 a month to $130 a month, Colombia’s min-imum wage.

The International Trade Union Confederationputs the conviction rate for the murders of

trade union members in Colombia at one percent and as Oscar puts it, “To be a trade unionistin Colombia is to walk with a gravestone onyour back.”

While Colombia is the most dangerous coun-try in the world to be in a union, the right to bepart of a trade union, to join with your co-work-ers to negotiate better wages and safer workingconditions is one that is under threat around theworld.

A total of 144 trade union activists were killedin 2006. Nearly 5,000 men and women were ar-rested for trade union activity with hundredssuffering beatings or torture. Almost ten thou-sand people lost their jobs for trying to organ-ise.

In the mid-80s 12 Dunnes Stores workers inDublin’s Henry Street went on strike for two-and-a-half years.

They refused to handle goods from ApartheidSouth Africa. Nelson Mandela later said thattheir stand helped keep him going during his im-prisonment.

Trade union activists are human rights ac-tivists. They work to ensure that our right to adecent wage, to a safe and secure working envi-ronment, to be treated with respect by our em-ployers are protected and enhanced. They oftendo so at great personal risk.

There is an old trade union slogan that de-clares an injury to one is an injury to all. It is asgood a summation of the notion of human rightsas I have heard.

To be a trade unionist in Colombia is to walkwith a gravestone onyour back Oscar Arango

LIVING IN FEAR OF THEKNOCK ON THE DOOR...

COLM O’GORMAN on terrible price paid for organising in ColombiaAGENDA

Colm OʼGorman is Executive Directorof Amnesty International Ireland

Pictures: Courtesy of Amnesty IrelandCommitment: Colombian Trade Union Confederation march

Protest against the September 2006 murder of miners chiefAlejandro Uribe Chacón. Local activists claimed his killerswere regulars in the Colombian army


THE Universal Declaration of Human Rightswas adopted and proclaimed by the General As-sembly of the United Nations in December1948.

Like many great historic documents, it re-flected fundamental human aspirations but didso within a specific historical context. 1948 wasa turbulent time. It witnessed the Berlin block-ade which led to the onset of the Cold War inearnest, the assassination of Mahatma Ghandiand the partition of the Indian sub–continent,the first Arab–Israeli war, the Communist vic-tory in the decades-long Chinese civil war andthe outbreak of wars of liberation across aswathe of south-east Asia.

In Europe, we saw the first tentative steps to-wards greater cooperation between states. TheBrussels Treaty pledged Britain, France, Belgium,Luxembourg and the Netherlands to a fifty-yearalliance aimed at social and economic progress,as well as opposition to war as a means of re-solving differences. All of these states called forthe rehabilitation of Germany within the familyof European nations and the Movement for Eu-ropean Unity was launched in The Hague.

It was a time of great material hardshipcaused by the devastation of war, but it was alsoa time of great hope for ordinary working peo-ple and their representative organisations. Therewas widespread recognition of the tremendousrole that the labour movement had played inthe struggle against fascism and the defeat ofHitler. This is implicit in many articles of theUDHR, but none more so than Article 23, whichguarantees everyone ‘the right to work’ and ‘tojust and favourable conditions of work’, as wellas ‘protection against unemployment’.

Thirty years before we managed to pass ourfirst employment equality legislation, the UDHRproclaimed ‘the right to equal pay for equalwork’ and the right of all ‘to just and favourableremuneration ensuring for himself [sic] and hisfamily an existence worthy of human dignity’.Since 1948, we have made some stutteringprogress towards implementing the latter rightbut, even during our recent and unprecedentedboom, 18 per cent of the population remainedat risk of living in poverty, two per cent abovethe EU average, and seven per cent of peopleactually lived in poverty. The figure was muchhigher for those who were unemployed and, aswe all know, unemployment is currently rising atan accelerating rate (CSO Measuring Ireland’sProgress 2007).

Unfortunately, when it comes to the fourthand most fundamental right asserted in Article23 – that: ‘Everyone has the right to form and tojoin trade unions for the protection of his [sic]interests’ – we have actually retreated in recentyears. Individualised rights have been used quiteskilfully by the neo-liberals in both political andbusiness manifestations, to undermine collectiverights, such as the right to collective bargaining.

This is not just an Irish phenomenon, we haveseen it right across Europe and it is a process, Iregret to say, which has been aided and abettedby the courts. Recent judgments of our ownSupreme Court and of the European Court ofJustice have effectively put the freedom to pro-

vide goods and services under EU law ahead ofthe freedom to protect the workers who supplythose goods and services.

All of this has been done in the name of theconsumer, conveniently forgetting that the vastmajority of consumers must also work for a liv-ing in order to avail of all these goods and serv-ices. In Ireland, the impact of this hijacking bythe individual rights agenda has been evengreater than elsewhere in Europe because weare virtually alone in having no right to collec-tive bargaining enshrined in domestic law.

The consequences can be seen everywhereand are borne most heavily by the most vulnera-ble producers of goods and services – migrantworkers. Many of them are casualised agencyworkers often physically and socially isolatedfrom the wider community. They include peoplesuch as Latvian women picking mushrooms forless than €3 an hour or Serbian electricians on€4 an hour.

This phenomenon can affect whole sectors.Take, for example, provincial hotels where 37per cent of the workforce is made up of mi-grants – and the figure is over 60 per cent insome parts of the country – and where onlyeight per cent of such workers are ina union.

This sector used to be ahighly unionisedand one legacy ofthat era is the ex-istence of an Em-ployment RightsOrder (ERO) that laysdown minimum conditionsfor many hotel workers.While the wage rates inthat sector are not muchabove the national minimumwage the ERO provides otherimportant entitlements, such asoccupational pensions, sick leave andholidays.

A similar threat has been posed to the Regis-tered Employment Agreement (REA) in thehighly unionised, and much better paid, electricalcontracting industry. REAs provide similar pro-tection concerning pay and conditions to EROsand are negotiated between unions and employ-ers before being registered with the LabourCourt. REAs have existed for sev-enty years and have served bothsides of industry well.

Between them these two mech-anisms have provided basic protec-tions for hundreds of thousandsof workers in this country. With-out a legal right of collective bar-gaining to fall back on, manyworkers will face even greaterlevels of exploitation in the fu-ture, especially from companiesthat refuse to recognise unionsand seek to use the courts as aweapon to deny people rightsenshrined in the spirit and let-ter of the UDHR.

Ironically, one of the great

truths on which the UDHR is founded is thatrights enshrined in law are necessary to protectthe weak against the strong. Regrettably, the lawis a lot more accessible to the rich than thepoor. For almost 200 years, successive govern-ments of all political persuasions in Britain andIreland have recognised this and accepted thatcollective bargaining is a far more desirable wayof resolving disputes between employers andemployees than the prohibitively expensive, andhighly combative alternative of contract law.

Contract law is based on the notion that bothparties are roughly equal in resources as well asrights. This has always been patently untruewhen an individual worker has been in disputewith his employer. Today the unions that repre-sent workers are themselves constantly de-picted as vested interest groups on a par withbusiness enterprises. In fact, union leaders areoften referred to as union ‘bosses’, a term rarelyused any more in relation to real bosses, whotend to be described with less pejorative termi-nology, such as ‘chief executives’, ‘directors’ orbusiness ‘leaders’.

But it is no more realistic to equate even alarge trade union and its economic resources

with the business organisations with whichit must contend. The legalcolonisation of industrialrelations under the guiseof championing individualrights is one of the great

injustices of our time. Workersdo not want the ‘right’ to hirea lawyer at ruinously expen-sive rates to fight their cornerfor them. They want the rightto fight their own corner and

to do so through their own or-ganisations, led by people they

elect and who are answerable tothem.

To achieve this basic freedom, which isso central to the lives of over 75 per cent ofour workforce, we need Article 23.4 of theUDHR, which recognises the right to collectivebargaining, enacted into law by the Irish govern-ment – and we need it now!

The world that gave birth to the UniversalDeclaration had learned through over 30 yearsof war and revolution that a historic compro-mise was needed between capital and labour to

make the planet a safe place forhuman beings to live and pursuetheir dreams. As that collectivememory recedes, corporate greed,marching under the banner of con-sumer-based and individualisedrights, is trying to turn the clockback. The champions of such an ap-proach must not succeed or we willhave to learn the lessons of history allover again.

Congress President and SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor calls on the IrishGovernment to enact into law Article 23.4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

FUNDAMENTALHUMAN RIGHT

60 Years, 30 Perspectives: Ireland and the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights is available in mostbookshops. You can also order direct online atwww.amnesty.ie/60years. Price €23.50/£17.50including €3.50/£3 post & packaging.

ARTICLE 23.4Everyone has the

right to form and to

join trade unions for

the protection of his

or her interests


A GROUP of tutors and co-ordinators from theCongress Centres Network had first-hand expe-rience earlier this year of how the Swedes dealwith vocational education and training.

The 15-strong party visited the city of Vasterasin central Sweden on a fact-finding mission inApril.

Their brief was to gain an insight into theSwedish approach and identify possible innova-tions in service provision and delivery in the com-munity services relevant to unemployed people inIreland.

The five-day visit, funded by Leargas under theVocational Training Professionals category, waspartnered by Vasteras group ProAros which haslocal involvement in schools, pre-schools, home-care for older and disabled people, social supportand culture.

Group members visited community-based un-employment centres as well as a childcare facilityand attended various workshops including onethat outlined the Swedish flexicurity system forhelping unemployed people return to

education. The visitors were told unemployedSwedes are given the opportunity to train inwhatever field of employment they’d like to enter.

Also any 16 to 20 year olds who drop out ofsecondary school are offered individual coachingon how to find employment. The group came

away with a positive attitude towards theSwedish approach.

One participant said: “In short, nobody fallsthrough the net, everybody is offered a chanceand for every problem it seems there is a “A verygood basis to start with back home.”

Picture: CCNNordic approach: Congress Centres Network group on visit to Vasteras

IMPRESSEDBY SWEDES

Blacklister’s fine was ‘slap on wrist’UCATT chief Alan Ritchie has de-scribed as “a slap on the wrist” a£5,000 plus costs fine handed outto a business consultant forbreaching the UKʼs Data Protec-tion Act in compiling a blacklist ofworkers.

Knutsford Crown Court wastold Ian Kerrʼs firm the ConsultingAssociation kept files on morethan 3,200 workers that were ac-cessed by dozens of companiesin the building industry to vet po-tential employees.

The 66-year-old had built upthis information - stored on acard index system - over at least15 years.

Kerr, who pleaded guilty to thecharge, was fined £5,000 with£1,187 in costs after judgeStephen Clarke heard he had fewassets and a small pension.

Outside the court there were

angry scenes as Kerr left in theback of car, his face hidden be-hind a newspaper, while some ofthose blacklisted yelled andbanged on the vehicle.

Many outside the court saidthey were disappointed both atthe small fine and because build-ing firms that had used the data-base were not also in the dock.

Mr Ritchie said: “This is notjustice. The fine imposed was nomore then could have been im-posed by the Magistrates Courtwho recognised their powerswere ʻinadequateʼ.

“Ian Kerr wrecked the lives ofhundreds of construction work-ers, many of whom were forcedout of the industry. This fine is aslap on the wrist to Mr Kerr and aslap in the face to our memberswho were denied work because ofhis actions.”Union members outside court for Kerr’s sentencing Picture: UCATT

Produced in association with Congress

POSTEDWE’RE HERE TO KEEP YOU


Each month The Union Post features stories about prisoners of conscience taken from Amnesty International files...

Death threats issued to Colombian trade unionists

GUSTAVO Gomez, of the

Colombian food workers’ trade

union SINALTRAINAL, was gunned

down in his home on 21 August this

year. His death comes against a

backdrop of threats and attacks

against leaders of the union that co-

incide with labour disputes against

major multinational corporations.

On 12 February last year JoséDomingo Flórez, another local

leader of SINALTRAINAL, received

a letter containing death threats

from a paramilitary group called the

Black Eagles Front. That evening, his

colleague Luis Eduardo García

was stopped by two men on a mo-

torcycle who told him: ‘Now you

are going to die, trade unionist son-

of-a-bitch.’ The next day, José

Domingo Flórez received another

death threat, giving him eight days

to leave the area. The threat men-

tioned his daughter, saying that she

was very nice and they would “take

her for a ride”.

The men knew that these were

not idle threats. In September 2005

Luciano Enrique RomeroMolina, leader of another local

branch of SINALTRAINAL, was

killed. He had been planning a trip

to Switzerland to testify about

death threats against trade unionists

representing workers in Nestlé

plants in Colombia. His body, bear-

ing 40 stab wounds, was found in an

area reported to be under paramili-

tary control.

Amnesty International believes

that leaders of SINALTRAINAL, and

their families, are in real danger. The

union has been in dispute with sev-

eral large national and multinational

companies in recent years, and re-

ports of human rights violations

against its members tend to coin-

cide with these disputes. Amnesty is

asking people to write to the

Colombian authorities, urging them

to protect these trade unionists and

to bring to justice those who are

threatening to kill them.

Death squad victim: Luciano Enrique Romero Molina Picture: Private

Find out more and take action on www.amnesty.org.uk/tradeunions

UNISON warning overmarginalising the young

NEWSBRIEFSIndustrial relations rulesbinned by some bossesA NUMBER of firms have “torn up the rule book”when it comes to industrial relations, it has beenclaimed.

SIPTU national industrial officer Christy McQuillan said unions would have been “pillo-ried” if they had taken part in “unilateral industrialaction” yet some employers had forged ahead andeven “flouted” employment law.

He said: “They have unilaterally imposed redun-dancies on workers without any consultation, ex-planation or selection process.”

Mr McQuillan added that others were using theslump “to change hours of work, slash pay andslow down pension schemes”.

He also pinpointed areas were employment lawhad been flouted including the transfer of under-takings, where employees are entitled to thesame terms and conditions with a new employerwhen a business is taken over or merged.

�FEARS over the break-up of the ESB with

the threat of privatisation will be the main

theme at next month’s linesmen conference.

The event, which is being held at the Clarion

Hotel Liffey Vally on October 17 and 18, will be

attended by UNITE assistant general secretary

Len McCluskey - hotly tipped to be the union’s

next general secretary. Energy Minister Eamon

Ryan has also been invited.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis haswarned the UK faces dealing with a generation ofmarginalised young people unless the Govern-ment takes action to improve their employmentprospects.

He said: “Unless more is done to find youngpeople work, we risk creating an underclass whoare discriminated in the workplace, and by adultswho misjudge their involvement in crime andanti-social behaviour.

"The Government has set up a number of proj-ects to help get the under-25s into work.

“Private companies and individuals must exam-ine their own attitudes and look at what they cando to create apprenticeships to help young peo-ple into the jobs market.”

FILMMAKER Michael Moore, banner inhand, marches through the centre of Pitts-burgh in support of “single payer health-care” earlier this month.

The Bowling For Columbine directorwas leading a crowd of 1,500 union dele-gates and nurses to the premiere of hisnew documentary Capitalism: ALove Story.

He choose to forgo a Broad-way or LA debut to release themovie and instead opted todebut in the heartland of work-ing class Pennsylvania.

Speaking before the screeningat the AFL-CIO convention on

September 15, Mr Moore said: "I have putevery bit of my heart and soul into thismovie.

“It is a culmination of 20 years of mak-ing movies and this is the big one."

He also slammed the excesses of UScapitalism and told the audience: "The

fight in front of us isn't going to beeasy. The richest one per centhave more financial wealth thanthe bottom 95 per cent combined.”

The crowd roared back: "Take itaway from them!"

Watch trailer of the movie atwww.youtube.com/ watch?v=IhydyxRjujU

A SYSTEM MIKELOVES TO HATE

Picture: michaelmoore.com

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BRAZIER MEDIATRADE UNION NEWS SPECIALISTS

[email protected] Bob Miller 07894305173 Joe Mitchell 07703055302

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Union Post - September 2009