Report of Proceedings of Biennial Delegate Conference INEC Conference Centre, Killarney, Co. Kerry 4-7 July 2011 INEC CONFERENCE CENTRE KILLARNEY, CO KERRY July 4 – 7, 2011 Monday 4 July Afternoon Session Opening of Conference 16.30 – 17.15 Jack O’Connor, President of Congress Delegates, can you take your seats and we will get proceedings underway. Take your seats delegates please. Good afternoon delegates, observers and guests to the Biennial Delegate Conference 2011. I welcome you all here to our conference in Killarney and before we proceed formally, lest we have an unforeseen development, we will invite Peter Rigney, Industrial Officer of Congress to explain the quick way out if things go otherwise than according to plan. Peter Rigney, Industrial Officer, Congress Thank you President. The emergency exist are on the left and right hand side of the hall, both on the ground floor and on the first floor. The toilets are at the back of the hall on the right hand side as you are facing now. And, finally, could you all take out your mobile phones, don’t rely on memory, and please either switch it off or silence it. Thank you very much. Jack O’Connor, President of Congress Thank you Peter. Thank you delegates. No applause. I hope the film was as good as it sounded. Now I want to declare the conference formally open and I want to call on the Mayor of Killarney Town Council, who is also the President of Killarney Trades Council, Sean Counihane to address conference. Sean is a Labour Party Councillor and is also chair of the local board of management of the Congress Centres Network, so Mayor, Sean Counihane. Sean Counihane, Mayor of Killarney/President of Killarney Trades Council Delegates, it is a great honour for me as Labour Party Mayor of Killarney to welcome the Congress of Trade Unions in to the town again. There was a particular time in Killarney’s history when we used to have conferences every other day. Unfortunately, a lot of the hotels in the town choose to disengage with us, but that is their loss, that is another story. 1 I hope that the few days that you are here amongst us, just across the way from the National Park, and weather permitting and you have a fairly full agenda, weather permitting you might get an opportunity to have a look to see what the beauty Killarney really is. It is a national park so don’t be afraid to use it – there is no charge. Delegates, I had a few words written out that I might say and I changed my mind because I felt that what I had written may be a small bit too intelligent and would sound intelligent. I think this is where we might be losing the war in relation to the rank and file people out there and that are unemployed. We need to engage with the people we represent. We don’t need to be engaging with right wing economists and pretending that we are smarter than them. We are loosing the PR war, let’s get back and represent the people that we have done so all our lives and speak the terminology that they understand. It is not right wing economist throughout the length and breath of this country, people like Patricia Callanan, who keeps on about the JLCs, ask the workers in the towns when you go into the restaurants. Ask them what about the JLCs. And, it is very worthwhile and the Taoiseach will be here later, and I had a word with him earlier today, I think it is no harm to explain to him that when you talk about JLCs, it can’t stop there. You are actually making an attack on social welfare when you are attacking the JLCs. I smile sometimes when I see the politicians at the moment and they clapping each other in the back for reducing PRSI to employers. I work with the local employment service and every day I am dealing with people who are absolutely devastated because they can’t acquire work. They are devastated because they are afraid of losing their homes; they are devastated because they won’t be able to afford to send their children to college. These are the things that the people on the street want to hear us talking about and I assure you that there is no right wing economist, whether it is Colm McCarthy, whether it is someone like Patricia Callanan, ever going to give the working class people that we represent what they desire. Delegates, I am not going to stay up here preaching to the converted. I spent many years myself, I am a member of SIPTU for over 40 something years, I spent many years sitting down there, I have every trust in you the delegates to fight the right fight and that the general public out there listen to committed trade unionists. We will turn this country around together. Thank you very much. Jack O’Connor, President of Congress Thank you Mayor, thank you Sean for that address. And now we want to proceed to the election of four Tellers and I propose the following people as Tellers, five Tellers, Annette Dolan, TUI, Paul McSweeney of the CPSU, Pat Bolger, IMPACT, Ray Rafferty, UNISON and Seamus de Paor, ASTI. Is it agreeable that those people serve as Tellers? Is that agreed? Agreed. And, now for the election of Scriutineers and I want to propose the following people as Scriutineers: Jimmy Whelan, UNITE, John Kelleher, AHCPS, Kate Farrelly, IBOA, Billy Hannigan, PSEU and Kieran Jack McGinley, SIPTU. Is agreeable that those people act as Scriutineers? Is that agreed? Agreed. And, now I want to call on the Chair of Standing Orders, Michael Sharp to move Standing Orders Reports No. 1 and 2. Michael. 2 Michael Sharpe, Chair of Standing Orders Committee Thanks President. Good afternoon Conference. Michael Sharpe, Chair of Standing Orders Committee. Standing Orders Committee Report No. 1 contained in your Agenda document, pages 34- 35, 36. Most of it, practically all of it is standard for many of you who have been at the conference before, I will just run through the provisions. Item 1 deals with the time of the session. Please note them because we have a change in conference timing this year compared to previous years so please note carefully the session. Item 2 deals with the election of officers and you will note that that there is only one nomination for President, Eugene McGloone so he is therefore deemed elected. There are only two nominations for Vice President, John Douglas and Patricia King, therefore, they are both deemed elected and only one nomination for Treasurer, Joe O’Flynn, therefore, and he is deemed elected. There were originally 34 nominations for the 30 seats on the Executive Council. That, as we can see from the Standing Orders Report, has since been reduced to 32, two people have stood down. That part deals with the method of election which is standard and you will be familiar with it from previous years. Standing Orders Committee has received only four nominations, in fact I think there is a 5th in Standing Orders Committee No. 2, there was a 5th in Standing Orders Committee and two for Trades Councils so there will be an election. The arrangement for distribution of ballot papers is there. Please note them carefully. We will come back to that in further reports. The various motions and amendments have been looked at. They are all in order so hopefully there will be no contention about that. Can I draw your attention particularly to Item 4.2. This is new. To take into account the fact that we do have different times to normal and to prevent against the possibility of having to reduce speaking times which is something we have had to do in the past to get all the motions and we don’t particularly want to do it, so for that reason we are putting in provision 4.2 where we are just asking, and I stress we are just asking, it is not an instruction, we are not in any way seeking to curtail debate, that particularly where motions are non contentious, that unions would confine themselves to just one speaker on the subject and that gives us more time to discuss those motions which are contentious and which need to be teased out and need to have both sides hears. So, I would ask you to provide for that particular provision. As usual in Item 5, there are specific measures for the suspension of Standing Orders and Item 6 deals with the conference sessions. There are also a number of fraternal guests and speakers and they are listed in Item 7. So, that, President is Standing Orders Committee Report No. 1 which I move. Jack O’Connor, SIPTU & President of Congress Thank you Michael. Is there a seconder? Formally seconded by Seamus Dooley. And, now if you move to Standing Orders Report No. 2. 3 Michael Sharpe, Chair of Standing Orders Committee Ok, Standing Orders Committee Report No. 2. Again most of it is pretty standard. Item 1 deals with the invited speakers and the various Congress speakers and identifying where on the agenda they will speak. In particular could I draw your attention to 1.1 where we will be addressed shortly by the Taoiseach and on Wednesday by An Tánaiste and if you look at the agenda you will find that An Tánaiste is due to speak immediately after lunch on Wednesday so in deference to him could I stress that people return promptly to the conference at that time.