Annual Reports 2015/2016 Biennial National Delegate Conference City Hall, Cork 2Nd - 5Th October, 2017

Annual Reports 2015/2016 Biennial National Delegate Conference City Hall, Cork 2nd - 5th October, 2017

Contents

Foreword by Jack O'Connor 5

Progress on BDC 2015 Resolutions 7

Membership & Organisation 27

Workers Rights Centre 29

SIPTU College 33

IDEAS Institute 37

Information Technology 39

Premises 40

Northern Ireland 41

Economic Developments 43

Wage Developments 47

Social Developments 51

Disputes Sanctioned 2015-2016 54

Changes in Sick Pay Schemes and other Working Conditions 2015-2016 58 Divisional Reports: Health 63 Manufacturing 84 Public Administration and Community 100 Services 119 Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction 138

Strategic Organising Campaigns 155

Campaigns and Equality 2015-2016 161

Communications Department 169

Retired Members 176

SIPTU Membership Services 178

Appendix 1: Financial Statements 179

Appendix 2: Staff Salaries 202

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 3 SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor unveils a plaque honouring the ICA at the Dan Shaw Centre, Navan, Co Meath, May 2016.

SIPTU General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn (left) with President Michael D Higgins at the 1916 Tapestry launch in Liberty Hall, 4 May 2016. Photo: Derek Speirs This report summarises the property crash of 2008. Much of this recent ongoing struggle for fair- growth is attributable to a strong performance in ness at work and justice in the services sector and a necessary turnaround society as conducted by in the construction industry. However, public the members, activists and sector output recorded a decrease in all but one staff of our trade union, of the eight quarters of 2015 and 2016, reflecting working with others in the the significant impact of cuts in public expendi- wider movement in Ireland, ture. The number of jobs in Northern Ireland in- throughout 2015 and 2016. creased by just over 20,000, but there was a fall of 3% in the number of public sector jobs. Overall, SIPTU General President Our work has been under- Jack O’Connor there was a reduction of almost 1% in the unem- taken against the back- ployment rate for Northern Ireland over the same ground of prolonged, period, and average wages recorded significant austerity driven, economic growth. However, in real terms, wages in North- stagnation and mass unemployment in a number ern Ireland in 2016 were still 1% below where of Eurozone countries. This has served to fuel they were 10 years previously. growing alienation among working people and particularly the young. Unfortunately, it has man- The 2016 General Election in the Republic re- ifested itself in increased support for the radical sulted in the decimation of the Labour Party, Right in countries such as France, the Nether- which was blamed for the austerity agenda, lands and in Northern and Eastern Europe. On the which had actually been drawn up by the previ- other hand, we have also witnessed the emer- ous Government and insisted on by the gence of significant left-wing parties and social- IMF/ECB/EU troika as a condition of funding the movements in some stressed areas, along the country. Whereas some parties and individuals Mediterranean in particular. However, their lead- on the Left won increased electoral support, the ers seem more preoccupied with destroying the outcome did nothing to improve the balance in traditional Social Democratic parties than forging favour of working people. The two great Centre the kind of Left unity that would be essential to Right parties which have dominated our politics win power and pursue a sustainable social and since the civil war, continue to do so in an unspo- economic agenda. Excitingly, the UK Labour ken coalition. Party appears to have bucked this trend under the leadership of the veteran socialist, Jeremy Regrettably, the outcome has also meant that Corbyn. the ambitious expansion of employment rights, envisaged in Labour’s Charter for Workers, which In statistical terms at least, the Republic of Ireland was to build on the gains in terms of strength- continued to experience a degree of ongoing ‘re- ened Collective Bargaining rights achieved in the covery’. GDP grew by an extraordinary 26.3% in Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, will 2015, driven mainly by massive balance sheet not now be realised. In Northern Ireland, assem- shifting activity by multinational companies. It bly elections took place in May 2016. The 55% grew by 5.2% in 2016. Employment grew by 2.6% turnout resulted in strong showings for the DUP in 2015 and by 2.9% in 2016, with the numbers at and Sinn F in. The region continued to suffer the work surpassing 2 million. However, there is in- effects of Toryé Government austerity, but the ex- creasing anecdotal evidence of growing existence of the devolved administration protected ploitation and the proliferation of precariousness. workers from the savage anti-union legislation This, coupled with a housing crisis and the ab- introduced in Britain. sence of any discernible improvement in the quality of public services due to the ongoing re- As the year wore on the power sharing adminis- strictions on state investment, has rendered ‘the tration was increasingly threatened by a contro- recovery’ very remote from the daily experience versy concerning a bungled green energy of the great majority of people. scheme. This resulted in its collapse earlier this year. Another election followed in March, but In 2014, the Northern Ireland economy began to thus far there has been no restoration of power experience recovery and 2015 provided the first sharing. year of consistent growth since the financial and

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 5 However, the seminal political (and ultimately eco- We have also begun to utilise the provisions of the nomic and social) event in Ireland and in Europe improved legal infrastructure for Collective Bar- was the tragic outcome of the Brexit referendum gaining in the 2015 Act, to win new recognition in the U.K. Millions of mostly older workers were agreements. seduced into embracing the race laden agenda of their deadliest enemies – the eurosceptic Right. Simultaneously, we have continued to work This was followed by the election of Donald Trump through ICTU and other civil society organisations as President of the US, again with the misguided as well as political parties who share our egalitar- support of millions of workers. The Left, riven by ian world view and outlook, to lobby and division and ego politics, failed to offer a vision of campaign for progress. Our perspective remains a socially sustainable future that works. Admit- international and we have continued to do what- tedly, this is a much more difficult task than telling ever we can to extend solidarity to those who are people what they want to hear and scapegoating struggling against oppression, particularly in Pales- minorities, but the end result is that the reac- tine and Colombia, in conjunction with trade tionary Right has been allowed to grab the fran- unionists, socialists and progressive people across chise on hope. the world.

As 2016 drew to a close, the spectre of a rampag- In order to best equip ourselves to carry on this ing right wing Tory government in the UK, com- work of organising to win, as the fourth industrial plemented by increasingly influential parallels in revolution – the age of digitalisation – unfolds, we the Netherlands and France, threatened the future embarked on the first of a series of major member- of democracy in Europe. Thankfully, they have suf- ship consultations throughout the latter half of fered significant electoral setbacks in all three 2016. This extended into the spring of this year. It countries this year, most spectacularly in the UK resulted in the adoption of a range of recommen- at the hands of, a for once united Left, under the dations to strengthen the union, at a Special leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, fighting on an un- Delegate Conference on 25th May. All of them are compromisingly traditional social democratic pro- designed to enable us to play our full part in gramme. However, the ogres of the hard Right ensuring that working people will have the indus- haven’t gone away. Unless those in power in the trial leverage and political capacity to influence key countries of Europe abandon the current par- the architecture of the future in Ireland, in accor- simonious fiscal strategy in favour of investment dance with the values of social solidarity, which infor jobs and growth, they will be back with a formed the heroic people who founded the union. vengeance and very soon. Meanwhile, the reper- cussions of the Brexit referendum and the election Jack O’Connor of Trump will continue to play out to the detriment July 2017 of working people, civil society, democracy and even the future of the ecosystem for a long time to come.

Amidst all this, the report shows that we have continued to apply ourselves determinedly to the daily task of painstakingly regaining lost ground in the industrial arena. We have been winning pay increases across the private and commercial semi- state sectors. The process of pay restoration in the public service began with the Lansdowne Road Agreement in the middle of 2015 and continued with the proposals for its extension this year. Meanwhile, we are still fighting rear guard battles in companies such as Bus Eireann to maintain jobs and conditions in the face of considerable odds.

6 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Progress Report on BDC 2015 Resolutions

Composite Motions (i) Standing Orders Report • Ensure that workers are better informed about No. 2 – to replace Motions 1, 2, 3 and 4, Zero the nature of their employment arrangements and Hours Contracts in particular on five core terms of employment within five days of commencing employment. ‘That this Conference opposes the utilisation of Currently an employer has two months to provide zero and low hour contracts in any employment an employee with terms of their employment and calls on the National Executive Council to actively lobby the Government on the urgent • Strengthen the provisions around minimum need for legislative reform to protect workers in payments to low-paid, vulnerable workers who the area of zero and low hour contracts so as to may be called in to work for a period but not prevent the possibility of such exploitative em- provided with that work. It is suggested that ployment practices.’ this will come in the form of a “floor payment” of three hours at three times the national Submitted by: The Transport Sector – Utilities & minimum wage (currently €9.25 per hour) or Construction Division, The Mayo District Council, The three times the minimum rate in an ERO (e.g. Wholesale, Retail, Distribution Section – Services the Contract Cleaning and Private Security Division, The Galway District Council. Orders) in the circumstance where an employee is called in to work but does not Progress to date receive the expected hours of work This issue has been progressed through the ICTU • Ensure that workers on low hour contracts who Private Sector Committee, particularly by the consistently work more hours each week than Services Division. The Department of Jobs, Enter- provided for in their contracts of employment, prise and Innovation agreed to a consultative talks are entitled to be placed in a band of hours that process involving ICTU and IBEC aimed at drafting reflects the reality of the hours they have new legislative proposals. The talks took place worked over an extended period between September 2016 and February 2017. The • Strengthen the anti-victimisation provisions for negotiators also made an oral submission to the employees who try to invoke their rights under Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise these proposals and Innovation. • Create a criminal offence arising from a failure On 2 May 2017, the Government approved draft to provide a statement in accordance with s.3 legislative proposals. The proposals are the Heads of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, of Bill and not the Bill itself. as amended. The implications of the proposed legislation can only be fully ascertained when a Bill is drafted. The (5) Living Wage principle objective of the Bill will be achieved by ‘That this conference calls on the National Execu- amending two existing statutes, namely, the tive Council to redouble its efforts in regard to the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 and achievement of a Living Wage and in so doing the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. How- help to tackle child poverty in this country.’ ever, we expect that the proposed legislation would: Submitted by the Sligo/Leitrim/Roscommon District • Prohibit zero hour contracts except in cases of Council genuine casual work or emergency cover or short-term relief work for that employer Progress to date Actively campaigning to implement this, along

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 7 with Congress – it is a very important aspect of our Progress to date industrial strategy going forward. Representations directly to Government and the Composite Motion (ii) Standing Orders Report ICTU. Inclusion in Pre-budget submissions. Various No. 2 – to replace Motions 6 and 7 public statements have been made. ‘Conference condemns the continued refusal of Thus far we have not been able to shift Govern- the Irish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Associa- ment policy on the issue. tion of Ireland and Retail Excellence Ireland to engage in the Joint Labour Committee process and calls on the National Executive Council to make (8) Review of the Employment Protective the strongest possible representation to lobby the Legislative Framework Government to remove the present veto against ‘Conference acknowledges that there is a signifi- the introduction of JLCs for Hotels and restaurant cant body of Employment Protective Legislation workers that was agreed with the Irish Hotel Fed- in this State, but that notwithstanding this fact, eration as part of a settlement. Tens of thousands workers in Ireland are still exposed to serious of hotel and restaurant workers in Ireland have forms of exploitation by unscrupulous employers, been driven to poverty due to the lack of a JLC particularly but not exclusively in Sectors of the which should protect against zero hours, no pre- economy where there are low levels of trade union miums, no sick pay, no pensions and minimum density and where there are low levels of collec- wage being the norm. Therefore, it is imperative tive bargaining arrangements’. that the JLC for these vulnerable workers is restored’. ‘Conference therefore calls on the National Exec- utive Council and the General Officers to under- ‘Conference affirms that the path to ‘Decent Work take a review of the Employment Protective and Decent Lives’ for the workers in these indus- Legislative Framework with a view to building a tries is through a collectively bargained process lobbying campaign to ensure that such legislation that delivers an Employment Regulation Order provides maximum protections to working peo- with fair rates of pay, fair hours of work and decent ple, is robustly enforced and that there are strong conditions of employment’. penalties for non-compliance by employers.’ ‘Conference notes that it is Government policy Submitted by the Services Divisional Committee that workers in these Sectors be covered by a Joint Labour Committee’. ‘Conference therefore calls on Government: Progress to date (a) That in the event of the continued refusal of the The main work on this issue has been conducted Irish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Association of by the Services Division which has been actively Ireland, and the Retail Employer Groups to engage involved in a number of initiatives aimed at in the Joint Labour Committee process, that the strengthening employment protective legislation approved Government policy on the reduced VAT including: rate which benefits these industries be reviewed • Drafting a submission to the Department of with a view to its removal. Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation on the Report (b) That in the event of the confirmed refusal of the and Recommendations Arising from the Irish Hotels Federation, Restaurants Association of University of Limerick Study on the Ireland, and the Retail Employer Groups to engage Prevalence of Zero Hours Contracts and Low in the JLC process that the Oireachtas introduce Hour Contracts in the Economy appropriate measures so as to guide the Labour • Lobbying the Department of Jobs, Enterprise Court to deal with the matter by passing legisla- and Innovation and subsequently involved in a tion consistent with the intent of Section 11 of the consultative talks process aimed at amending 1969 Industrial Relations Act.’ the Terms of Employment (Information) Act Submitted by: The Services Divisional Committee, The and the Organisation of Working Time Act in Hotels Catering Leisure and Print Media Sector – order to provide further and better protection Services Division. against unfair employment practices in respect of working hours and casualization

8 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 and the introduction of a statutory right for a (9) Collective Bargaining, Organising and SEOs contract of employment which reflects the (Sector Employment Orders) reality of hours worked over an extended ‘Conference notes and welcomes the publication period. of legislation which will reconstitute REA’s (Regis- • Lobbying for an amendment to the Competition tered Employment Agreements) for unions and Act. The Competition (Amendment) Act 2017 specific employments and potentially introduce was enacted into law on 7th June. It exempts SEO’s (Sector Employment Orders) for given sec- a number of named categories of workers tors and industries. The Construction industry and including session musicians, voice-over actors its workers having suffered with the collapse of the and freelance journalists from section 4 of the regime of REA’s notes the huge potential to take Competition Act 2002 thereby allowing them wages out of competition, to create a level play- to engage in collective bargaining. In addition, ing pitch in tendering for work and to recruit and the Act provides for a formal process which organise workers with the prospect of an SEO for allows trade unions apply for similar exemptions the Construction industry and indeed other indus- for certain categories of self-employed workers tries and sectors. Conference therefore calls on e.g. bogus self-employed workers, certain the NEC to ensure that this union and indeed the categories of gig economy workers. wider movement use the new legislation consistently, strategically and with the dual purpose of • Lobbied for an examination of employee recruiting and organising workers into member- protective legislation and company legislation ship and developing sector wide conditions of em- arising out of the liquidation of Clerys and ployment where appropriate.’ collective redundancy of staff. Protested at the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation Submitted by the Utilities & Construction Divisional for 11 consecutive weeks in the winter of Committee 2015 to force the Government’s hand in reviewing the legislation. In January 2016 the Department announced the Expert Examination Progress to date and Review of Laws Protecting Employee SIPTU set up an internal committee to look at the Interests to be conducted by Mr Kevin Duffy various opportunities in relation to collective bar- and Ms Nessa Cahill BL. The stated purpose of gaining and issues arising from the IR (Amend- the review was to examine the legal protection ment) Act 2015. We continue to seek available for workers’ interests where collective opportunities under the legislation to pursue SEOs redundancies arise in consequence of certain and REAs. types of corporate restructuring involving the separation of assets from the operational activity of a business. The Division made a Construction Sector: submission to Duffy and Cahill. A review of As part of Congress, the CIC made its submission the Companies Act was also announced in in response to the CIF application to the Labour January 2016 to examine matters arising from Court for a Construction SEO. THE CIC submission the Clerys closure. An Ad Hoc Committee of included a claim for statutory minimum rates the Company Law Review Group was equivalent to a minimum pay increase of 10.2% established with former head of SIPTU’s Legal (7.5% restoration of cuts imposed under the 2010 Rights Unit, Michael Halpenny, representing LCR19847 and a 2.5% increase), resulting in the the ICTU on the committee. The Ad Committee minimum craft rate increasing from €17.21 to is still examining the matter. €18.96 with retention of the relativity for General • Lobbying the Low Pay Commission on Board Operatives of 97% - A Grade, 91% - B Grade and and Lodgings deductions from workers’ 88% - C grade i.e. this being a new and vastly im- wages during the course of its review of the proved starter rate. The existing starter rate is 80% National Minimum Wage Acts provisions in - D Grade, which would be removed altogether respect of Board and Lodgings. under the CIC proposal. Other issues put forward in the CIC Submission to the Labour Court included Pension, Sick Pay, Disputes Procedures and Travel Time. The CWPS also made a submission to the Labour Court as part of this SEO process. The SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 9 Labour Court hearing took place on June 26th regulations. 2017 and the Court has issued its Recommenda- In the absence of securing a commitment to tion to the Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innova- amend and strengthen the TUPE Regulations, the tion on July 16th. While the Recommendation rests union pursued and secured enhanced protections with the Minister and is not yet available to the for workers in the Employment Regulation Order employers and Trade unions, the Minister has is- for both the security industry and the contract sued a statement confirming that the rates of pay cleaning industry. The provisions, which are legally will increase by 10% for Craft (€18.93) and General binding, afford workers a statutory entitlement to Operative (€18.36 & €17.04) with no change to the receive 30 days’ notice of a change in contractor starting rate of €13.77. While it is expected that along with a statement from the outgoing em- other matters relating to Pension, Sick Pay and ployer of their terms and conditions of employ- Travel Time will be addressed the Minister has ment, length of service and annual leave balance. made no comment about same in her statement These provisions will go some way towards pro- and the Trade union side awaits the issuance of tecting the interests of workers undergoing a the Labour Court Recommendation. transfer to a new employer. SIPTU’s Workers Rights Centre, in conjunction Aviation Sector with the Services Division, had a significant victory in a decision on applying transfer of undertakings Developments are continuing at a slow pace with in the security industry at the Employment Ap- the agreement and full support of Swissport to peals Tribunal. SIPTU, had claimed that Top Secu- bring about an SEO for 3rd Party Ground Handling rity had failed to employ the workers when it took Operatives. When achieved, this will ensure that over a contract at the Chief State Solicitor’s Office Swissport’s competitors in the Cork, Dublin and in Dublin. The Employment Appeals Tribunal Shannon Airports are no longer able to massively backed the workers’ case, which had been an ap- undercut Swissport labour costs and will greatly peal against a Rights Commissioner’s rejection of improve the chances of organising these workers. their claim. The Tribunal awarded them amounts We would argue that we are ‘substantially repre- varying from €1,800 to €6,600 for a breach of sented’ in the Sector as we would have over 33% Regulation 8 of SI 131/2003, relating to informa- density, directly through our membership right tion and consultation obligations. across Swissport. Top Security appealed to the High Court and after a hearing in December 2016, the judge in finding (10) TUPE Regulations for the workers said that there was “a fairly unique ‘Workers in contract Security and Contract Clean- situation” in that the workers had been in one lo- ing are employed in an industry that is subject to cation for a long period and there had already contractors changing on a regular basis. While been a transfer before their last employment and most Contractors do honour TUPE Regulations, the applicant had been on notice about TUPE but this is not the case in all situations leaving our “ignored” it. The High Court decision has been ap- members exposed to risks of displacement. There- pealed by Top Security to the Court of Appeal. fore, Conference calls on the National Executive Council to establish a political campaign to amend the TUPE legislation to extend the protections afforded in the legislation to workers employed in (11) Employment Regulation Orders/Cleaners’ contract services.’ Charter

Submitted by the Security, Contract Cleaning, Insurance ‘Many union Members are directly employed by & Finance Sector – Services Division the Clients who procure both Security and Con- tract Cleaning services, and in the interest of building union strength in these workplaces, this Progress to date Conference calls on the National Executive Council In a submission to the Duffy Cahill Review Group’s in conjunction with the Divisional Committees and Expert Examination and Review of Laws Protecting Sector Committees to support both Security Offi- Employee Interests in February 2016, SIPTU cers and Contract Cleaners in relation to the roll argued strongly for the amendment of the TUPE out of a campaign on the implementation of the

10 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 proposed EROs once ratified, and to further sup- the campaign will be to highlight abuses and to port the Sector’s campaign in relation to the intro- encourage workers affected, to organise so that duction of the Cleaners Charter: a Charter aimed they can assert their right to fairness and dignity at Clients, and which promotes a responsible Con- at work, through the process of Collective Bar- tractor Policy for the Cleaning industry.’ gaining and to support them in doing so.’

Submitted by the Security, Contract Cleaning, Submitted by the National Executive Council Insurance & Finance Sector – Services Division Progress to date Progress to date The campaign has been focused in the Care Sector. The Services Division undertook an information Caring work, whether in the home or in employ- campaign to highlight the provisions of the Em- ment, has always been undervalued. And it’s no ployment Regulation Orders in contract cleaning coincidence that this work is done mostly by and private security among workers. women. The Strategic Organising Department met with the We can see this clearly in the pay and conditions Head of Procurement in the HSE who agreed to of workers. Sectors like childcare and elder care support the Cleaners Charter. This was followed are rife with precarious contacts, low pay and low by engagement with management of Beaumont status. There is very littler recognition for this im- Hospital and Tallaght Hospital. portant and demanding work. The Division made a strategic decision to nomi- If we want to challenge precarious work we need nate a colleague to participate in a UNI-Global Eu- to organise workers into SIPTU so they can fight ropean Expert Group aimed at developing a for decent pay and contracts. This is why our Europe-wide guide for public and private sector union has launched the care campaign focusing on organisations procuring contract cleaning serv- childcare, home care and nursing homes. ices. The guide will incorporate recent changes in Over the past 18 months, our union has been suc- the European Public Procurement Directive. When cessfully organising childcare workers (Early Years published, it is intended to combine the guide and Educators) with the ‘Big Start’ Campaign the Cleaners Charter when engaging with Pro- curement Officers in client companies and organ- We know from countless studies that quality early isations. years has benefits for children’s development and society in general. For every €1 the state spends The Division piloted a new initiative with the Man- on quality early years it yields a return of €4 - €9. ufacturing Division the objective of which is to work in collaboration with colleagues in Manufac- But because Ireland invests about half of what it turing to organise contract services workers in should do into Early Year Care and Education, we SIPTU-organised manufacturing plants. It is in- have qualified workers, some with a Masters, on tended to broaden this approach in other divi- €10.27 per hour, 1000’s on precarious 15 hours / sions. 38 week contacts and a turnover rate of 28%. How does this support quality childcare? It does- n’t, the sector is in crisis. (12) Campaign for Decent Work The ‘Big Start’ Campaign is fighting for increased ‘Recognising the exponential growth of precarious state investment to radically transform the early employment, characterised by low pay, zero hour years sector and establish a Sectoral Employment contacts and insecurity of tenure generally, which Order to set minimum rates of pay. is diametrically at odds with the aspirations of the 1916 Proclamation, Conference resolves that SIPTU We are doing this by building a union of workers will undertake a major, properly funded and re- who can take effective action to put quality at the sourced campaign for Decent Jobs. This will be heart of the governments early years policy. conducted, along with others in the Trade union To date the Big Start Campaign has established Movement, if possible, in a sustained manner over county networks across the country and activists the medium term. The campaign will be located in are taking action such as lobbying TDs and Sena- selected economic sectors where exploitation in tors, getting motions passed at local councils, the workplace is most rampant. The objective of

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 11 holding public meeting and petition signing days Rights Unit. and presenting at Leinster House. The Labour Party produced a Charter for workers In July of this year the Dail passed an unopposed in the context of its General Election Manifesto in motion in support of greater investment in the sec- 2016 which included a pledge to legislate on the tor and the establishment of a Sectoral Employ- issue. ment Order, a key SIPTU demand.

(14) Negotiating Structure in the Community and (13) Bullying At Work Voluntary Sector ‘Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour that ‘That this conference calls on the National Execu- undermines a person’s right to dignity at work. It tive Council to seek to establish a negotiating can be done by one or more persons and it is structure with the various Government Depart- aimed at an individual or a group to make them ments and State Agencies involved in funding and feel inferior to other people. It can have a devas- policy formation in the Community and Voluntary tating effect on an employee’. Sector so that a robust and effective mechanism for dealing with the legitimate aspirations for ‘There is no formal statutory channel for resolving wage increases and pension scheme funding in- bullying complaints. The Codes of Practice cur- troductions can be established.’ rently applicable under the Health and Safety and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 and the Industrial Re- Submitted by the Community Sector, Public Admin. & lations Act 1990, are not legally enforceable. This Community Division Community Forum established. situation can be contrasted with the approach to Harassment and Sexual Harassment claims which are clearly and narrowly defined in the Employ- Progress to date ment Equality Acts. Such complaints can be Very problematic as the Government side are processed through to the Adjudicator/Equality failing to engage meaningfully. A process of con- Tribunal at the Workplace Relations Commission, sultation with the Community Sector is ongoing. and eventually to the Labour Court if necessary. In contrast, the worker making a bullying complaint has no defined formal mechanism for redress (15) Removal of the Public Service Moratorium under Employment Law’. ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Council ‘There is now a need for anti-bullying legislation to seek the full removal of the Public Service Morato- which, amongst other things, should define what rium in all areas of the Public Sector. Recognising workplace bullying is. Such legislation should also the increased flexibility and productivity being de- outline the internal procedures needed to deal livered by Public Servants, we are also seeking with bullying complaints, including mediation, and that recruitment of permanent staff be prioritised in areas such as the Local Authority sector that identify a formal route for adjudication of bullying have been disproportionally affected by the ef- complaints through to the Workplace Relations fects of the Moratorium in order to maintain those Commission’. quality frontline services to the public.’ ‘Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a cam- Submitted by the Local Authority Sector, Public Admin. paign for the introduction of such legislation and & Community Division lobby political parties with a view to them including it in their manifestos for the forthcoming general election.’ Addendum to Motion 15: ‘Conference further calls for an end to the tar- Submitted by the State Related Sector, Public Admin. & geted policy of the non-replacement and out- Community Division sourcing of non-academic jobs in the state sponsored third level colleges. Moreover that future state funding for these roles would be condi- Progress to date tional on a policy of direct employment, with the We are in the process of trying to establish best eventual aim of using anticipated growth in the practice around Dignity at Work policies. In this Sector to reverse the exaggerated effects of the regard, we are also interacting with the Legal moratorium on this group, along with the mini-

12 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 mum requirement to replace staff turnover on a Progress to date permanent like-for-like basis.’ The issue of the Service Delivery Option contained Motion 15 with Addendum to read: in the LRA is critical to dealing with this issue. In actively pursuing the Service Delivery Option con- ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- tained in the LRA, the terms of this motion are cil to seek the full removal of the Public Service being explored in direct negotiation with the var- Moratorium in all areas of the Public Sector. ious employers. The relevant sectors are also re- Recognising the increased flexibility and produc- viewing the terms of this motion. tivity being delivered by Public Servants, we are also seeking that recruitment of permanent staff An attempt by the Management side to alter the be prioritised in areas such as the Local Authority terms of the Service Delivery Option in discussions sector that have been disproportionally affected on an Extension of the Lansdowne Road Agree- by the effects of the Moratorium in order to main- ment was firmly rejected by the union side and tain those quality frontline services to the public’. was finally accepted by Management. ‘Conference further calls for an end to the targeted policy of the non-replacement and out- (17) Outsourcing in Third Level Education sourcing of non-academic jobs in the state sponsored third level colleges. Moreover that fu- ‘That this conference notes with dissatisfaction the ture state funding for these roles would be condi- outsourcing agenda of public sector managers tional on a policy of direct employment, with the and in particular the attempts to outsource work eventual aim of using anticipated growth in the done by our non-academic members in third level Sector to reverse the exaggerated effects of the education. Conference recognises this as part of moratorium on this group, along with the mini- the agenda to commercialise our HEIs and con- mum requirement to replace staff turnover on a demns this wholeheartedly. Conference further re- permanent like-for-like basis.’ solves to mandate our committees to challenge this head on at local and national level and in par- Submitted by the Education Sector, Public Admin. & ticular to directly engage with the Irish Universities Community Division Association to defend our jobs and defend decent work in our HEIs. Conference further notes the outsourcing by stealth through the use of campus Progress to date companies and mandates our committees locally Moratorium technically gone. However, restricted and nationally to campaign for standardised con- employment practices are being imposed in a tracts which do not recognise “Chinese Walls” between workers who are employed on the same number of areas in the Public Sector. campus and by the same employer.’ The union are actively pursuing the issue of work- Submitted by the Education Sector, Public Admin. force planning in a number of areas in an effort to & Community Division address this issue. To date, progress can be recorded. Progress to date The Education Sector supported by the Division, is engaging directly with employers on Workforce (16) Outsourcing of Public Services plans to ensure employers are meeting their obli- ‘Recognising the recent bad experiences of out- gation to use direct labour to the greatest possible sourced Public Services, where services to the extent. public have declined, costs have risen and workers terms and conditions have been reduced, Confer- ence calls on the National Executive Council to (18) Protecting the Rights of Performing Artists seek that a proper value for money audit on all existing outsourced services be conducted to incor- ‘The Arts & Culture Sector call on the NEC to adopt porate the full cost to the state.’ a policy that adequately protects the rights of performers in terms of working conditions and intel- Submitted by the Local Authority Sector, Public Admin. lectual property. This policy should provide that: & Community Division 1. All agreements entered into on behalf of the membership make provision for the equitable remuneration for the exploitation of the performers

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 13 work and implements fully the protections af- junction with the ICTU and its affiliate unions to forded to professional performers under the Irish achieve the required legislative change to allow Copyright Legislation. for collective bargaining for these categories of workers promised but not delivered by the then 2. An auditing clause be included in any future Government after the Decision No. E/04/002 of agreement containing royalties and residuals fees 2004.’ so as to allow for the auditing of production companies, national and international, to ensure that Submitted by the Arts & Culture Sector, Services Divi- the returns of the production companies are cor- sion rect and payments are in line with the agreements negotiated with the union 3. Irish Equity is provided with the necessary Progress to date structure to track, implement and protect our Significant movement has occurred on this issue rights nationally and internationally, when con- since the BDC. The Competition (Amendment) Bill tracts that provide for equitable remuneration for 2016 was presented by Ivana Bacik, Labour Sena- the exploitation of the performers work have been achieved. tor. The Bill had its first reading in the Dail on Tues- day February 28th where it was presented by Alan 4. The creation of an effective structure to take Kelly Labour TD and again it continued to have all any action necessary to protect and maximize the party support. The Bill provided for collective bar- rights of the performer as enshrined in any agreement negotiated by the union where those rights gaining through an exemption from Section 4 of are breached.’ the Competition Act for certain categories and for SIPTU that is specifically freelance voice over ac- Submitted by the Arts & Culture Sector, Services tors and session freelance session musicians. The Division Bill also allowed for a trade union to make an application on behalf of other categories of workers Progress to date to apply for the same exemption and it provides a definition of false self-employed. The Bill was en- This motion does not require any further action acted into law on 7th June 2017 as the Competi- other that for the Executive of Irish Equity and the tion (Amendment) Act 2017. Executive of the MUI to have continued ownership of it so that it may inform their thinking when making decisions about productions and performances. The Arts & Culture Sector has a (20) The Impact of the Regulator on Employment comprehensive policy document covering the po- in the Commercial Semi state Sector sition for future agreements and both Executives ‘Conference notes that across the commercial will have responsibility for ensuring that future semi state sectors including Energy, Transport and agreements are made in line with the Sector policy Aviation the role of the given Regulator is having and with Motion 18. an increasing impact on the environment which members’ employments operate and compete in. Whilst we have previously campaigned for and (19) Collective Bargaining Rights for Musicians fully support the principle and concept of compre- and Voiceover Artists hensive regulation in such industries and sectors, conference calls on the NEC to carry out a study ‘SIPTU is currently prevented from negotiating col- on the impact of the given Regulator and their lectively for musicians and voiceover artists as a policies in such industries may have on the condi- result of the Decision of the Competition Authority tions of employment of members, in an ever in- (No.E/04/002 of 2004). The refusal of the Com- creasing environment of market liberalisation.’ petition and Consumer Protection Commissioners to revise the Decision No.E/04/002 of 2004 hav- Submitted by the Utilities & Construction Divisional ing regard to the Court of Justice of the European Committee union (Case C-413/13) ruling on December 4th 2014 in the case of FNV Kunsten Informatie en Media v Staat der Nederlanen has significant impli- Progress to date cations for the previous Decision and the correct Awaiting implementation. interpretation of Competition Law in Ireland’. ‘Consequently, the Arts & Culture Sector, call on the NEC to commence a political campaign in con-

14 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 (21) Violence and Aggression in the Workplace (a) Our National Ambulance Service is properly resourced with staff and equipment to deliver the ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- specialised service and care to our communities. cil to support a campaign which highlights the need for a comprehensive review of policies de- (b) That the bodies and authorities with responsi- signed to protect staff from experiencing violence bility for carrying out reviews take seriously into and aggression in the workplace. Health workers account the financial deficits, geographic loca- across different disciplines of the service are par- tions, or availability of equipment and required ticularly vulnerable to experiencing violence and staffing levels when issuing their reports and any aggression in the workplace. An appropriate re- recommendations.’ view must be conducted to ensure that the nec- Submitted by the National Ambulance Sector, Health Di- essary deterrents, protections and support for vision staff are in place and suitable to meet the needs required.’ Submitted by the Nurse & Midwife Sector, Health Divi- Progress to date sion National Ambulance - Capacity Review has been Progress to date published and it recommends 461 posts plus 100 SIPTU pursued the terms of this motion with HSE vacancies – 561. Management. However, this issue remains prob- We need to interrogate the report. Likely to lead lematic for our members. to industrial action in order to achieve its implementation. We continue to support the campaign regarding (22) Full Pension Rights on Retirement the demand that the National Ambulance Service ‘That this Conference calls on the National Execu- is fully resourced in line with the terms of this mo- tive Council to confront the Department of Health tion. and the HSE on their continued failure to pay our In July 2016 we achieved, we achieved the follow- members their full pension entitlements, and all ing having served notice of strike action. outstanding pay on their confirmed retirement date. This would end the hardship currently being 1) Commitment to recruit 600 Ambulance Profes- experienced by members through non-payment of sionals over a 4-5 year period their full pension entitlements for periods exceed- 2) A 32 million euro injection of funds to resolve ing a year in some cases.’ all issues identified in National Ambulance Service Submitted by the Support Sector, Health Division Capacity Review report 3) Monies to be spent on new Ambulance fleet, technologies and other capital spending require- Progress to date ments. Following activity by the Health Division with the 4) Commitment to engage on outstanding issues Pensions Ombudsman, significant progress was form the Lansdowne Road Agreement made and the identification of the relevant areas in the Health Sector led to a resolution. However, the union continues to monitor the situation. (24) Development Plan for the union ‘Conference, recognising the onset of a new pe- (23) National Ambulance Service riod in Ireland and in Europe, in the aftermath of the greatest systemic crisis in Capitalism since the ‘That this Conference calls on the National Execu- Wall Street crash of 1929, which will be charac- tive Council to fully support our members in the terised by increasing recourse to precarious work National Ambulance Service. Our members con- and diminishing standards of employment, re- tinue to provide an excellent frontline service to solves to formulate a Development Plan to enable our communities and continue to enhance their the union to best equip members and working skills and knowledge to provide our communities people generally to meet these challenges’. with one of the best public Ambulance Services in Europe and the world’. ‘We call on Government and relevant departments ‘To this end, Conference directs the National Ex- to insure that: ecutive Council to initiate a major consultation ex-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 15 ercise throughout 2016, entailing engagement ‘This Centre would be fully resourced but not lim- with Divisional, Sector and Section Committees ited to embracing a Phone in, Phone out Bank and and District Councils as well as Shop Stewards, Know Your Rights Centre.’ union Activists and individual members’. Submitted by the Meath District Council ‘Conference also directs that upon completion and taking due account of the external advice based on the experiences of other Trade unions in Progress to date Ireland and internationally, a Development Plan be Following the BDC 2015, work commenced on de- formulated to be submitted for consideration of a veloping Workers’ Rights Centres at SIPTU offices Special Delegate Conference early in 2017.’ around the country. To date, Welcome Centres Submitted by the National Executive Council have been opened in Dublin, Cork, Navan, Tralee and Sligo, while Centres in Galway, Kilkenny and Carlow are scheduled to open in the near future. Progress to date Further Centres are being identified and prepared The membership consultation exercise has been throughout the country with an immediate focus completed. The Special Delegate Conference took on Limerick and Waterford. place on 25th May 2017 resulting in the adoption of a comprehensive Report and Recommenda- tions. (27) Organising through Social Media ‘From an organising perspective nothing can re- (25) SIPTU in the Community – Density Building place face to face interaction with potential new ‘The AIF&D Sector calls on the N.E.C. to investigate members, however social media can be an effec- the possibility of fully utilising the unions premises tive communication and organising tool. The union around the Country towards establishing local currently has an on-line presence and the use of drop in and information centres whereby the union social networking is expanding the union’s lobby- can strengthen its links with local people and ing reach to a wider audience. Many trade unions utilise the premises and facilities as organising now recognise that social media is the news and tools to enhance union influence and density in the social medium of choice for most young workers Community and local industries and enterprises.’ and the use of social networking will increase significantly into the future. A training programme for Submitted by the Agri Ingredients Food and Drink Sector activists and staff taking on board international – Manufacturing Division trade union experience with social networking as an organising tool will ensure that the union cap- tures the full organising and lobbying potential of Progress to date Social Media’. This issue was addressed in the Development Plan ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- which was adopted at the Special Delegate Confer- cil to ensure that organising through social ence on 25th May 2017, following the Membership media/networking training is provided by SIPTU Consultative Initiative. It is dealt with at Sections 5, College in conjunction with the Organising and Organising at Local Level and 6, The Workers’ Rights Campaigns departments to the staff and activists Centre/Welcome Centres. within each Division of the union.’ This provides for the re-establishment for local Submitted by the Pharmaceutical Chemical Medical democratically based structures and the extension of the Workers’ Rights/Welcome Centres Devices Sector - Manufacturing Division throughout the Country over the medium term. Progress to date Between January 2015 and December 2016, the number of followers on SIPTU’s main Facebook (26) Navan Office/Pilot Project page rose over 126%. (+10,000). Twitter page saw ‘That Conference calls on our National Executive a growth in followers of 279%. (+9000) SIPTU has Council for greater utilisation of the Navan Office seen consistent growth in followers across most as a Pilot Project to regain SIPTU lost presence in of the active social media pages run by the union. the Community. The Dan Shaw Centre would be- The number of videos SIPTU has produced for so- come a Centre which would embrace the idea of cial media has continued to increase drastically. reaching out to grass root membership and wider From approximately 12 videos produced in 2014 Community Organisations’. to over 50 videos distributed via social media in

16 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 2016. This year (2017), the union has already pro- Conference which took place on 25th May 2017 duced close to 100 quality videos. This is labour and it was adopted. intensive, however the quantity of video produc- Essentially it provides for the retention of the Po- tion has been increased almost cost neutrally litical Fund on the basis of a contribution of 2cent using our existing resources. per member per week. It will continue to be used SIPTU has grown in terms of the way it uses social to fund political campaigns. The union will also media as an organising tool, for instance, SIPTU continue to have the option of providing financial successfully utilised social media with the Big Start support to members contesting Local, National Campaign, producing video content, general so- and European elections. However, this will be cial media content and two way communication available to all members irrespective of their po- between activists and the organisation. As well as litical affiliation on condition that they sign a this, SIPTU has used Nationbuilder to develop a pledge to promote the policies of the union, as database of over 14,000 people who get regular drawn up by the National Executive Council. updates regarding the campaign in the form of social media posts and direct emails. This has helped enhance organising on the shop floor. SIPTU also (29) Political Affiliation used social media effectively in terms of commu- ‘That this conference resolves to disaffiliate from nicating with workers and the general public dur- the Irish Labour Party and instead establishes a re- ing large scale nation disputes such as those in the lationship with communities groups and parties of transport sector. left to further the interests of our members.’ Working with SIPTU College, the Campaigns & Submitted by the Education Sector Public Admin. & Equality Unit have launched a one day training Community Division course which is available to staff in each division of the union, and which will be rolled out to union members. The Campaigns and Equality Unit has Progress to date also delivered numerous presentations on best Following debate the motion was remitted for practice in social media to various committees and consideration by the National Executive Council. groups of activists within the union. This matter was the subject of a Report which was “SIPTU College has recently launched its own approved at the Special Delegate Conference on Facebook page and also will have an interactive 25th May 2017 viz; website shortly. Already the Facebook page has sparked interest in the College and its training “In the interim the Labour Party has amended a courses with over 200 visits in the first week number of aspects of its Constitution. These in- alone. “ clude the provisions which apply in respect of “Group Membership”. This concerns Trade unions, In recent times, more and more news content pro- Sections or Divisions of unions, Professional Asso- duced by the unions has become available on so- ciations, Co-operative Societies and certain other cial media using the Medium platform to quickly categories of organisation. As a result of these disperse the unions message. amendments the rules governing the participation and involvement of Trade unionists in the Labour Party have been altered. The Party Constitution re- tains the Party section known as Labour Trade (28) The Political Fund unionists, but the concept of Trade unions affiliat- ‘Conference resolves that a review of the use of ing as Institutions has been discontinued. the Political Fund be undertaken, entailing exten- Accordingly the issue of SIPTU, or any other Trade sive consultations with Divisional and Sector Com- union, affiliating to the Labour Party no longer mittees, District Councils and otherwise arises. throughout the union and that following same, a report should be prepared by the National Execu- With regard to the question of relationships with tive Council to be submitted for consideration at Community Groups and Parties of the Left, the Na- a Special Conference early in 2017.’ tional Executive Council has resolved that these matters should fall to be considered from time to Submitted by the National Executive Council time by the National Executive Council and or by Biennial (or Special) Delegate Conferences as appropriate.” Progress to date The national consultation has been completed. A report was submitted to the Special Delegate

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 17 (30) Housing Crisis control and security of tenure, the opening of “void” properties, to prevent to transfer or sale of ‘Conference welcomes the new recognition at so- public lands to private developers and a large cial, activist, media and governmental levels of a scale programme of construction of public hous- serious housing crisis in Ireland. This crisis of home- ing. lessness, mortgage arrears, home repossessions, rent rises and shortages of social housing and pri- The first action of the Coalition was a demonstra- vate rental accommodation threatens to intensify tion to make the one year anniversary of in severity’. Johnathon Corry who died in a doorway on Molesworth Street in Dublin. Several public ‘Conference calls on the government and all re- demonstrations have taken place since then, or- sponsible agencies to tackle this crisis with an ur- ganised by the Coalition to keep the issue in the gent strategy that emphasises the provision of public eye with the most recent being the May publicly-owned social housing for affordable rents Day march which was themed around the housing and new local authority house-building with direct crisis and the solutions developed by the Coali- unionised labour. Conference calls on the govern- tion. ment to front load the application of funds from the Social Housing Strategy 2020’. During 2016 the Coalition made this issue an election issue and actively lobbied politicians for sup- ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- port. In June 2016 the Coalition formally met with cil to initiate a broad-based national housing cam- the Cross Party Oireachtas Committee on housing paign around a programme of measures to include and homelessness to seek to influence the Govern- the following, and calls on all concerned with ments Rebuilding Ireland Plan. housing needs to support it: In late 2016 and early 2017 SIPTU, Impact, Unite, • No loss of principal residency due to genuine Mandate and the CWU ran a separate social media economic distress. campaign with the social media campaign group • Mortgage debt relief and write down. Uplift to influence Government policy the rental strategy. The objectives of the campaign were to • The preparation and use of suitable empty regulate rents, to prevent evections for the pur- units for social housing. pose of sale and to create indefinite leases. This • Large scale construction/regeneration/ resulted in the introduction of rent pressure zones provision of publicly owned social housing by the Government. with direct trade union labour. The Coalition continues to grow and is actively • Decent pay and conditions in construction lobbying for a local authority led public housing with as a minimum the enforcement of high building housing programme for affordable standard employment and wages regulation. homes. • Rent control in the private rental sector. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has also adopted a policy strategy called “A Local Author- • Security of tenure in the private rental sector. ity Led Response to the Housing Crisis” which out- • Rent allowance that meets actual rent costs lines the need to provide 10,000 social housing • The retention of housing assistance recipients units on an annual basis by late 2018/early 2019. on the housing waiting lists. The document also makes the very strong case for social housing provision by local authorities and • Adequate provision of emergency sets out proposals for local authorities to work to- accommodation.’ gether to implement a major social and affordable housing and construction programme on public Submitted by the Dublin District Council lands. The policy clearly outlines how such a social and affordable housing programme could be funded, its treatment under EU accounting rules, Progress to date and examines the scale of current spending on In 2015 the union became one of the founding quasi-social housing. The Congress housing com- members of the Homelessness and Housing Coali- mittee have commenced and active nationwide tion. This group is a mixture of trade unions, polit- political lobby on this issue. ical parties, NGO’s and front line volunteer groups. The aim of the Coalition is to lobby Government to deal adequately with the homeless and housing crises and to mobilise others to join and support the coalition aims of preventing evictions on mort- gaged arrears property, the introduction of rent

18 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 (31) PRSI Rates exercise in “window dressing”. Despite repeated lobbying through the Irish Congress of Trade ‘That this Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a unions, we have been unable to shift the Govern- campaign for the graduation of PRSI payment, in- ment’s position. stead of the current cut off point of €352 and then 4% after that.’ Submitted by the Electronics Engineering & Industrial Composite Motion (iii) Standing Orders Report Production Sector No. 2 - To replace Motions 33, 34, 35 and 36 - State Pension Age Progress to date ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- cil to immediately engage in discussions with the What was sought by this motion has not been in- government, with a view to ameliorating the im- troduced, but Budget 2016 (i.e. announced in Oc- pact of the raising of the State Pension Age for tober 2015) made changes that reduced PRSI for members who will retire before they are eligible low-paid workers (i.e. earning between €352 and to receive their State Pension’. €424 a week). Budget 2016 estimated that this change would reduce the amount of PRSI payable ‘Conference notes the following: for someone on €20,000 by €341 a year. The State Transitional Pension, previously available The credit amounts to a maximum of €12 a week. at age 65, was removed in January 2014 effectively It starts at income of €352.01 per week, tapering forcing workers to seek one years extra employ- out at a rate of one-sixth of income in excess of ment from their employer or existing for one year this and fully tapering out as income reaches €424 without income or living off any savings they may a week. have accrued over their working lives. Many of our members, especially those who do not have an oc- There were no further changes announced to this cupational pension scheme, are effectively being in Budget 2017. left in limbo regarding retirement and qualification for the State Pension to which they have paid into all of their working lives’. (32) State Pension Age ‘The discussions with government should focus on workers having a right, on voluntary application, ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- to the extension and continuation of their employ- cil to launch a campaign to reverse the recent in- ment beyond existing custom and practice and/or crease in State Pension age to 66 , with further their current contractual retirement date of age 65 increases to age 68 also already scheduled. This in order to realign workers retirement age with campaign should also tackle the issue of gender that of the State Pension Age.’ equality with regard to pension’s provision and entitlement.’ Submitted by the: The Kildare District Council, The Avi- ation Sector - Utilities & Construction Division, The Agri Submitted by the Limerick District Council Ingredients Food and Drink Sector – Manufacturing Di- vision, The Public Admin & Community Divisional Progress to date Committee. Immediately following BDC 2015 the then Minister Progress to date for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan As outlined in relation to Motion 32. Howlin TD established an Interdepartmental Com- mittee to bring forward proposals with a view to remedying these issues. A new Government took office in May 2016 follow- Composite Motion No. (iv) Standing Orders Re- ing the General Election in February. The Labour port No. 2 – to replace Motions 37 and 38 - Public Party was no longer in the Government. Health Service The “Interdepartmental Group on Fuller Working ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- Lives” (which was not the original title of the Com- cil to support a campaign which highlights the mittee) reported in August 2016. Instead of ad- need to tackle spiralling waiting lists within our dressing the issue and insofar as it said anything Public Health Service and draws attention to the at all, the recommendations would serve only to importance of ensuring access to a Public Health worsen the situation for older workers and their Service that is free at the point of use. We are en- families. titled to a Health Service that delivers on Primary We castigated it publicly describing it as useless Care, Universal Hospital Care, Care of Older Peo-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 19 ple, Community Care, Integrated Care and Mental Progress to date Health. The State has an obligation to provide As outlined in relation to Composite No. (iv) healthcare to those who need it. The campaign should recognise that many PRSI citizens in Ireland do not have the option of private medical care, they simple cannot afford it. The Health Service should allow workers and citizens the basic human (40) National Ambulance Service Capacity right of access to healthcare to those who need it Review most, rather than can pay most.’ ‘That This Conference calls on National Executive Submitted by: The Nurse & Midwife Sector- Health Di- Council to insist that the Department of Health vision, The Allied Health Professionals Sector - Health provide the necessary funding as required for the Division implementation of the findings of the National Am- bulance Service CAPACITY REVIEW.’ Progress to date Submitted by the National Ambulance Sector, Health Division As (23) Representations to Government directly and through the ICTU, various Pre-Budget submissions and public statements. Progress to date The union, on behalf of the National Executive Council, continues to work with the Divisions in demanding implementation of the findings of the (39) Healthcare National Service Capacity Review. It is recognised ‘Conference, notes that as part of its Secure Re- that for this to be achieved, serious investment is tirement Campaign the National Retired Members required by the relevant government depart- Section campaigns to bring about a society in ments. which, after a lifetime of work, union members A dispute was sanctioned and significant progress would be in a position to look forward to their re- was made in the area of staffing and added fleet tirement from paid work. However, conference and technology. notes that increasingly workers above a certain age are facing the prospect of approaching retirement with fear and anxiety given the sudden drop in expected income and the uncertainty about fu- (41) Universal Social Charge ture living costs and public services, particularly ‘This Conference calls on the National Executive healthcare and elder care. Conference notes that Council to campaign for the abolition of Universal retired and older people are particularly depend- Social Charge for low and middle income Health ent on the health service. The severe, unprece- Workers so as to enable them to be financially in- dented and unsustainable contraction of the dependent in order to allow for themselves and public health service due to successive years of fi- their families to participate in their local economy nancial cutbacks along with the long term harm thereby supporting and creating local employ- done by the implementation of a recruitment ment opportunities for workers in the private sec- moratorium has had a disproportionate impact on tor.’ older people. Conference calls on the National Ex- ecutive Council to mount a campaign in defense Submitted by the Health Divisional Committee of the country’s public health service, designed to ensure: a) the provision of safe and accessible care Progress to date to retired and older people in hospitals, nursing homes and other health settings as well as in the SIPTU has developed the concept of a “Social community and in the private home b) the protec- Solidarity Charge”. tion of good quality direct employment in the health service; c) the unionisation of healthcare workers and d) awareness among the general public of the essential social good arising from ac- (42) Disability Benefit cess, for all citizens, to a quality assured public health service.’ ‘That this conference calls on the NEC to initiate a campaign to reverse the government’s budgetary Submitted by the Retired Members’ Committee changes to Disability Benefits where claimants receive payment after the 6th days of illness.’ Submitted by the Cavan/Monaghan District Council

20 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Progress to date local economy as Ireland's only oil refinery.’ Representations through ICTU. Submitted by the Energy Sector – Utilities & Construc- tion Division Progress to date (43) Funding for the Community and Voluntary Sector Following the conference a vigorous campaign was conducted by SIPTU and the other unions on ‘That this conference calls on the National Execu- site, namely TEEU and Unite to ensure that the Oil tive Council to lobby Government seeking an Refinery remained open. increase in funding for the Community and Volun- tary Sector.’ The Oil Refinery was sold in September 2016 to a Canadian owned firm called Irving Oil. This should Submitted by the Community Sector, Public Admin. & secure the long-term future of the Oil Refinery. Community Division

Composite Motion (v) Standing Orders Report Progress to date No. 2 – to replace Motions 46 and 47 The Government sought submissions on the issue Privatisation in Public Transport of Commissions in the Community Sector. SIPTU was the only union which responded. To give ef- ‘Conference notes with concern the recent indus- fect to these motions (Nos. 43 & 44) the unions’ trial action that members had to pursue to protect work in the Community Sector needs to be con- conditions of employment due to the Government sidered together. led policy of privatising Public Transport Services. The transfer of provision of these services from the semi-state sector to private profiteers is not ac- (44) Privatisation in the Community Sector ceptable and will lead to a dramatic lowering of conditions of employment for workers providing ‘Conference calls on the General Officers and the these services. The public service obligation of National Executive Council to develop the building providing public transport should continue to be of a campaign against the privatisation of the vested in state owned companies as to do other- Community Sector and the consequential ‘race to wise will leave a legacy of inadequate transport the bottom’ in terms of pay and conditions of em- for the most vulnerable in society and conditions ployment that will affect workers in this Sector.’ of employment at minimal levels been set in this Submitted by the Public Admin. & Community industry, Hence conference calls on the National Divisional Committee Executive Council to lead and maintain a vigorous industrial and political campaign of opposition to further privatisation of public transport and op- Progress to date poses any cuts in services or benefits that would have an adverse effect on retired and older peo- The office of the Vice President, on behalf of the ples’ quality of life and living standards.’ NEC, is liaising with the relevant divisions and sectors in endeavouring to highlight the issue of pri- Submitted by: The Transport Sector – Utilities & Con- vatisation in this Sector. A campaign regarding struction Division, The Retired Members’ Committee. funding, privatisation and respect for workers is ongoing. The Community Sector Committee have recently established a sub-committee for the pur- Progress to date pose of developing a political and, where possible, We have “led and maintained a vigorous industrial industrial campaign on this issue. The lack of and political campaign of opposition to further pri- progress on the Community Forum has not as- vatisation of public transport and opposes any sisted the efforts of our members. Meetings have cuts in services or benefits that would have an ad- been sought with the DJSP and DHPCLG on this verse effect on retired and older peoples’ quality issue also. of life and living standards” by way of our engagement and submission on February 10th 2017 to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport Tourism (45) Whitegate Refinery and Sport 'That conference calls upon the NEC of the union Correspondence has been exchanged between to immediately commence an intensive lobbying our TEAC Division and the relevant Minister and it campaign to secure the future of Phillips 66 oil re- is expected that legislation will be brought for- finery Whitegate, Co Cork in its current capacity ward later this year on the protection for existing given it's critical importance to the national and

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 21 ‘Direct Award Services’ by way of Public Trans- and to publicly engage with all political parties port. and MEPs to ensure that TTIP does not realise the aims of those sponsoring this attempt to exploit Our members in Bus Eireann have taken 21 days of public services to make a profit and thus render Strike Action from late March through to April 13th public policy redundant’. culminating in the Labour Recommendation (LCR21438) which was accepted. This Labour ‘This campaign should also seek to collaborate Court recommendation addressed many issues in- with other unions throughout Europe to impress cluding pay, shift pay, hours of work, income con- the need for solidarity through our opposition of tinuance, etc. and in the context of this composite TTIP and to make certain that trade unions edu- motion recommended the establishment of a cate our members and wider society of its dangers ‘Stakeholders Forum’ “to work towards address- for working people.’ ing the challenges facing Bus Eireann and Public Submitted by: The Allied Health Professionals Sector – Transport generally” Health Division, The Health Divisional Committee This has resulted in an initial recent meeting with Minister Ross, wherein SIPTU through the TEAC Di- vision made a submission on Public Transport and Progress to date the need to adequately fund and preserve same The National Executive Council adopted a detailed The Stakeholders Forum will hold its first meeting policy position in June 2015 which runs to 30 in October 2017. pages of text. Also it is worth nothing that SIPTU in furtherance Basically it called for the suspension of all negoti- of this composite motion/policy was the only ations on TTIP pending satisfactory resolution of a Trade union in the Transport Sector who balloted range of issues on employment rights, public serv- Dublin Bus and Irish Rail for Industrial Action in sol- ices and environmental considerations. Since then idarity with its Bus Eireann members and achieved the union has continued to participate fully in the a strong mandate to enact same, should it have promotion of this policy through the Irish Con- been necessary to do so. gress of Trade unions and in the International Trade union Movement.

(48) Representation on Hospital Boards of Management (51) Undocumented Migrant Workers ‘That this conference calls on the National Execu- ‘Conference notes that there are an estimated tive Council to insist that the Government enact 20,000 to 26,000 undocumented migrants in Ire- legislation guaranteeing the right of workers to land; many of whom are living in the shadows representation on Boards of Management with full under tremendous stress and fear of deportation. voting rights and access to all information. This is The majority of them are working in the most pre- necessary because of the blatant breach of public carious sectors of the economy where they are pay policy by several publicly funded Hospitals open to exploitation due to their vulnerable cir- and Organisations through the application of “TOP cumstances. This exploitation by rogue employers UP” payments to senior executives.’ undermines the established wages and conditions of other workers in these sectors’. Submitted by the Support Sector, Health Division ‘The majority of undocumented workers are resi- dent in Ireland for over five years. It is time that Progress to date their position as is regularised both to protect the human rights of these workers and to prevent fur- Wrote to relevant Government Minister in line with ther erosion of conditions for all workers em- this motion. ployed in the precarious sectors’. Further communication as of yet has not elicited a ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- response. cil to support the active participation of SIPTU in a broad-based campaign aimed at convincing Government to introduce a once-off, time-bound Composite Motion (vi) Standing Orders Report regularisation scheme, with transparent and fair No 2 – to replace Motions 49 and 50 criteria, to encourage these workers out of the TTIP/CETA shadows and to enable them to enjoy the rights ‘Conference calls on the National Executive Coun- and protections secured for workers in Ireland.’ cil to support a campaign which will highlight the dangers for all workers associated with TTIP/CETA Submitted by the Equality Committee

22 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Progress to date ‘We hold that this is primarily attributable to the dominance of a value system, which reflects the • SIPTU ran a letter writing campaign in 2015 to interests of Capital and the wealthy in all aspects the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Ms. of public policy formation since 1922. Prioritisation Frances Fitzgerald T.D. union members were en- of private affluence over the interests of the com- couraged to write to the Minister setting out why mon good has resulted in the perverse incentivi- they supported a regularisation scheme for undoc- sation of speculation to the detriment of umented workers, children and adolescents. innovation and the consequent failure to develop • A sample campaign letter appeared in the No- sustainable indigenous economies. This is most vember/December 2015 edition of Liberty news- manifestly evident in the fact that uniquely in all of paper as part of a 2-page pull-out feature entitled Europe the population is lower now than it was in “Why Justice for Undocumented Workers Benefits 1840’. All”. The article set out for readers why SIPTU sup- ‘Therefore Conference resolves that as a custodian ports a regularisation scheme for the estimated of the values of social solidarity, the union must 25,000 undocumented people in Ireland and fea- focus energetically on asserting the primacy of the tured profiles of three undocumented workers common good, as the platform for all public policy who worked in the security, cleaning, restaurant development, towards the objective of the attain- and care industries. ment of an egalitarian society in which all the pub- • The union participated in the Undocumented in lic services necessary for the pursuit of a full, free Ireland: the moral and economic rationale for reg- and happy life are available equally to all, free at ularisation conference held in Trinity College the point of use, underpinned by a dynamically Dublin in May 2016. sustainable economy and fair taxation’. • SIPTU hosted a private meeting between Pres- ‘In this regard Conference resolves that the union ident of Ireland Michael D. Higgins and represen- will participate fully in the Commemoration of tatives of the Justice for Undocumented events of Easter Week 1916, with particular em- campaign, the Young Paperless and Powerful cam- phasis on the role of the Irish Citizen Army and paign and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland in Lib- Trade unionists generally and towards the objec- erty Hall in December 2016. The meeting tive of renewing the values for which they stood’. coincided with the launch of the “A Thousand Rea- ‘That this conference believes that it would be ap- sons, One Wish” art exhibition in the Liberty Hall propriate in the commemoration of the centenary auditorium. The exhibition, which was formally of the 1916 rebellion that 2016 would be desig- launched by SIPTU General Secretary Joe O’Flynn nated the year of the liberation of Palestine. The and artists Robert Ballagh and Jim Fitzpatrick, was Palestinian people’s right to statehood is an in- open to supporters of the campaign and the gen- alienable right. Conference calls upon the NEC to eral public. formulate a campaign, in cooperation with the • SIPTU Digital produced a short film featuring trade union movement and all progressive, civic undocumented workers and young people in sup- and political groups in Ireland and internationally, port of the Justice for Undocumented campaign’s to make 2016 the year for the creation of a Pales- call for a regularisation scheme to allow undocu- tinian state.’ mented migrants the chance to come forward and Submitted by: The National Executive Council, The regularise their situation. The film was circulated Equality Committee. via the union’s various online media channels and widely viewed. Progress to date Composite Motion (vii) Standing Orders Report In response to the motion on the centenary of the No. 2 – to replace Motions 52 and 53 Easter Rising: 1916 Centenary and Palestine SIPTU organised a series of events to commemo- ‘Conference respects the contrary perceptions of rate the role of union members, the Irish Citizen the 1916 Insurrection as between the different tra- Army and then acting General Secretary, James ditions on the island of Ireland. However, Confer- Connolly in the 1916 Rising. Before the Easter com- ence deplores the abject failure to realise the memorations commenced a wrap depicting egalitarian aspirations of the Proclamation in either scenes and leaders of the Rising was draped of the jurisdictions which emerged after the “decade of rebellion’. around the three sides of Liberty Hall and remained in place until the Autumn of 1916. It was the largest image of the Rising anywhere in the country during the commemoration year.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 23 Between March and May 2016, a series of major by the Iniskillings Museum, in Enniskillen after they events took place in Liberty Hall Theatre and were discovered and identified in early 2016 with included: the assistance of the Communication Workers Union and staff of the GPO, in Dublin. Following its Easter Saturday 26th March – Gala Centenary restoration, the Green Flag was presented to Pres- Concert attended by President Michael D Higgins ident Higgins in a special ceremony in Aras an with performances by Christy Moore, Damien Uachtarain on 22nd March, 2016 before it was Dempsey, Paula Meehan, Matt Molloy and others. moved to its original home in Liberty Hall. Easter Monday 28th March – Recollections of the Other events to commemorate the Easter Rising role of the ICA, the printing of the Proclamation in were organised by SIPTU members around the Liberty Hall, the Women and Children of the Rising country including in Sligo, Meath, Cork, Galway and the Flags of the Rising along with songs and and Belfast. images. Easter Tuesday 29th March – State commemora- In response to the motion on Palestine: tion of the role of the Irish Citizen Army including At the SIPTU biennale Delegate Conference in wreath laying by President Higgins at the statue 2015, a keynote speech was delivered by our in- of James Connolly, Beresford Place, and the un- ternational guest, Dr. Mona El Farra, the projects veiling of a plaque in Liberty Hall listing all men, director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance to women and young people registered as mem- the conference plenary in which she outlined the bers of the ICA in 1916. This was followed by a deteriorating situation of the Palestinian People, major speech by the President and contributions especially in Gaza. from relatives of those who fought with the ICA during the Rising. The global solidarity committee held a very successful lunchtime fringe event on SIPTU’s ‘Solidar- Wednesday 30th March – ‘Take Down the Horse- ity with Palestine’ campaign. It was held in man’ by Eugene McCabe - Performed by Dublin Connolly Hall and attended by 83 delegates. The Lyric Players event was addressed by Dr. Mona El Farra and Thursday 31st March – Women and Work – Photo- Elaine Bradley. In conjunction with the SIPTU’s So- graphic exhibition and debate cial Media Officer, the committee used the opportunity of the fringe event as a pilot for the use of Friday 1st April - Gl rtha: Traditional Irish music ‘Periscope TV’ in broadcasting the event live to with Liam O Maonlai,ó Theo Dorgan, Lynched, the public. 12th May – Commemorating the centenary of the The flags of Palestine, Ireland and the United Na- execution of James Connolly. Attended by Presi- tions flew outside Liberty Hall in Dublin on the dent Michael D Higgins with performances by Eddi weekend of the 27th-29th November to mark UN Reader, Karan Casey Niall Vallely Niamh Parsons International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian and more. People. The flags were raised during a short cere- During the year 12 plaques were unveiled in vari- mony, at lunchtime on 27th November, attended ous locations around the city where members of by the Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland, Ahmad the Irish Citizen Army lived and fought during 1916. Abdelrazek, and SIPTU General President, Jack Organised in co-operation with the Dublin District O’Connor. Council of SIPTU and local community history SIPTU Global Solidarity Committee on behalf of the groups. Irish Congress of Trade unions (ICTU) participated A number of new tapestries featuring people and in a lobby day on ‘Recognition of the Palestinian scenes of the 1916 Rising were completed and dis- State’ with Trocaire, Sadaka and the EAPPI. The played during the Easter commemorations. event was held in Buswells on the 14th June 2016. The original Green Flag of Ireland, which was The Palestinian Ambassador participated in the raised by 14 year old Molly O’Brien over Liberty lobby with the four organisations. SIPTU in collab- Hall, on the instructions of James Connolly, on oration with the ICTU Global Solidarity Committee Palm Sunday prior to the Easter Rising and other worked with other solidarity organisations in the items of significant historical interest taken by follow-up to the lobby event. members of the British Army were loaned to SIPTU In 2016, on the occasion of the 5th General Con-

24 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 gress of the Palestinian General Federation of place on the 10th June 2017. Around 1500 people Trade unions (PGFTU), a message of solidarity was from all over Ireland marched in the demonstration sent by the SIPTU General President. which marked the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation and illegal colonisation of the Palestinian In August 2016, the children of the Al-Helal football West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The Ireland- club of Gaza visited SIPTU offices in Wexford and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) organised the Tipperary as they toured the country playing local event to convey a simple message, that ‘100 years football matches. Above are the team pho- of injustice and 50 years of occupation is enough! tographed at the Mansion House with Lord Mayor It’s time for freedom, justice and equality for the Brendan Carr showing their support for SIPTU’s Palestinian people!’ ‘Stand up for Palestine’ Campaign. The trip was covered by RTE, the Irish Times and other media outlets from the Middle East. As part Emergency motion to SIPTU Biennial Delegate of our work on Palestine, the committee continued Conference Cork 6th October, 2015: to support the action of Gaza Action Ireland in ‘This Conference commends the work of SIPTU bringing a football team from Gaza to Ireland in members at NUI Galway in seeking to combat the summer of 2017. gender discrimination and related precarious In July 2017, a play the ‘Olive Tree’ by Katie O’Kelly working conditions. Conference condemns NUI was performed in Liberty Hall Theatre and hosted Galway (NUIG) university management team for its by SIPTU. Organised by Mags O’ Brien and Gaza consistent attempts to trivialise the concerns of Action Ireland the play and a raffle on the night, workers and for excluding this union from meaning- raised over €3000 euros for the initiative in bring- ful negotiations. Conference calls on the NEC to: ing the young footballers from Gaza to Ireland. 1. Initiate contact with the president of NUIG SIPTU made a donation of €500 to ‘Palfest-Arts insisting that the employer attends the LRC; Festival Supporting Palestine’ which took place in 2. Closely monitor the situation at NUIG and July 2016. Some performances including by Pales- ensure that local stewards are sufficiently tinian poet, Rafeef Ziadah, took place in Liberty resourced and supported.’ Hall. Submitted by The Education Sector, Public SIPTU’s Global Solidarity Committee members are Administration & Community Division supporting the reorganisation of the Trade union Moved in accordance with Standing Orders Friends of Palestine in Dublin. An initial meeting Report No. 3 was held in October 2016. The meeting heard from a guest speaker, Hamed Qawasmeh of the Hebron International Resources Network (HIRN) on Progress to date the work being carried out in Hebron to support The Divisional Office is working with the Sector to vulnerable Palestinian communities especially sup- support our members in this critical campaign. The porting the education of girls. substantive issue has been lodged with the WRC Mags O’Brien of the SIPTU Global Solidarity Com- at the Education Oversight Committee. mittee participated in a European Trade union SIPTU, at General Officer level, wrote to the NUIG Seminar- “Solidarity with Palestine - Ending Euro- on this issue. The Divisional Organiser met with the pean complicity with Israeli violations of interna- NUIG Committee on two occasions to ensure the tional law European Trade union Initiative for committee had in place the necessary supports Justice in Palestine” on the 18-19 November 2016 from the union’s services to assist them in their in Brussels. The aim of the seminar was to discuss work – Communications, Legal Rights, Campaign- a coordinated mobilisation of the European trade ing and Equality. Supporting the Committee in this union movement to take effective action to bring work is ongoing. an end to Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights and grave violations of international law. The seminar was also attended by representatives from SIPTU, Emergency Motions to SIPTU Biennial Delegate UNISON, Mandate and CPSU. Conference Cork, 8th October, 2015: SIPTU endorsed the National demonstration for (1) ‘In light of the unilateral announcement made Freedom and Justice for Palestine which took by Irish Water that staffing levels be reduced by

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 25 1,200 workers over the next number of years, A Bill was also introduced on the floor of the which is in breach of the Service Level Agreement Oireachtas by independent TD Joan Collins. In in- between the unions and Management, Conference troducing it, she acknowledged the lobbying cam- reaffirms the support outlined by the General Pres- paign by the union’s activists. ident to fully support our members in Irish Water. The Government established a Commission on Furthermore, we are calling on Conference to sup- Irish Water chaired by Kevin Duffy. SIPTU has port our members in the Local Authorities in their made submissions to the Commission, both di- campaign for the retention of the provision of rectly and as part of an ICTU delegation. The Com- water services within the Public Service’. mission Report supported the concept of ‘The unilateral announcement made by Irish Water constitutional change. of the reduction in water service worker numbers SIPTU also supported the members in the taking is not only a breach of the collective agreements of a ballot vote for industrial and strike action to between management and unions, but is also the resist the moves by this employer to make 1,200 commencement of a process to privatise the pro- workers compulsorily redundant. This ballot led to vision of water services in Ireland by first reducing an intervention by the WRC and engagement re- then removing public sector workers from the de- sulted in a Comprehensive Agreement that offset livery of this essential public service’. the proposed compulsory redundancies. The WRC ‘Furthermore, in line with the union's ongoing Agreement also provided for a minimum of 95% campaign, Conference is again calling for the po- permanent water service posts, as well as commit- litical parties to give a commitment ahead of the ments of no displacement of permanent posts by forthcoming General Election for a Referendum contractors. seeking to prohibit the privatisation of the provi- Arising from the Agreement, a number of further sion of Ireland's water services.’ engagements became necessary on the regulari- Submitted by the Local Authority Sector sation of posts and the Find & Fix project. Both of these initiatives resulted in greater permanent public service employment opportunities in the Progress to date delivery of the service. SIPTU was the first Trade union in Ireland to call for a referendum to amend the Constitution to prohibit the privatisation of the public water supply. It was also SIPTU that proposed that this should become the policy of the Irish Congress of Trade unions, which was duly endorsed unanimously by the Executive Council of that Body in 19th Novem- ber 2014. The Local Authority Sector, supported by the Di- vision and the Campaigns and Community Depart- ments, lobbied all political parties and all TDs seeking their support for a constitutional referendum to enshrine the provision of water services in public ownership, so as to offset the risk of privatisation. The Labour Party published a Bill providing for the Referendum.

26 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Membership & Organisation

Introduction Financial Membership by Division at the end of 2015 The Annual Reports on Health 38,697 SIPTU’s activities during 2015 and 2016 can provide only a Manufacturing 33,068 summary of key events in the Public Administration and Community 29,407 work and development of the union. While the Reports en- Services 29,071 deavour to provide as much Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction information as practicable, it 19,789 SIPTU General Secretary would not be possible to pro- Joe O’Flynn vide a comprehensive report on all the activities undertaken by the union’s members, voluntary repre- Financial Membership by Division sentatives and staff during the period. Readers at the end of 2016 seeking more detailed information are invited to Health 39,798 consult the reports of the Sections, Sectors or the Divisions concerned. Manufacturing 33,614 The work undertaken by the union during 2015 Public Administration and Community 28,593 and 2016 and its many achievements in protecting Services 28,370 and advancing the interests of its members and their families was made possible by the individual Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction commitment and collective voluntary participa- 21,163 tion of very many members of the union. Central to all of this was the day-to-day involvement of the union’s Shop Stewards, Section Committee Mem- Summary Overview of union bers and Activists in all areas of the union’s organ- Finances 2015 and 2016 isation who, with the support of the union’s staff, Contributions from members in 2016 was steered the union through a challenging period in €32,068,939 compared with €31,647,001 in 2015. the economic and social history of the island of Ire- Expenditure in 2016 was €32,975,149 compared land and through the internal organisational re- with €33,481,203 in 2015. The co-operation of the structuring of the union. While individual activists and staff in maintaining the financial re- contributions are rarely itemised in these reports, sources of the union for use in defending the in- they are nevertheless vital to the achievements of terests of the members from attacks on their pay the union and are very much appreciated. and conditions is acknowledged and appreciated.

Membership The fixed assets in the Consolidated Balance Sheet The financial membership of the union at the end Revenue Account for the year ended 31st Decem- of 2015 was 150,032 and 151,538 at the end 2016. ber 2016 were €14,475,233 compared with The increase in financial membership in 2016 was €14,834,545 in 2015. These assets are deployed at the first since 2007. It was due to the organising various locations throughout Ireland and are used initiatives undertaken by individual sectors, and for the direct benefit of the members. When cur- the work of the Strategic Organising Department. rent assets and current liabilities are accounted for, the net assets at the end of 2016 were valued at €44,684,339. The financial accounts for each of the two years reflect the attention paid by the Na- tional Trustees, the National Executive Council and SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 27 the National Executive Officers to the financial Staff Recruitment management of the union on behalf of the union’s A number of recruitment competitions were held members. The accounts also reflect the commit- during 2015 and 2016. Applications were invited ment and contribution of the Shop Stewards, from which panels for positions of Divisional Or- activists and staff to ensuring that the organising ganiser, Sectoral Organiser and Industrial Organ- and representation work of the union was under- iser were to be filled. A number of other taken as cost effectively as possible at every level competitions, including Head of SIPTU College in the union. and Campaigns and Equality Organiser were also held. The audited accounts of the union for the period under review are set out in Appendix No. 1. Staff Development Training and Development for staff continued dur- Staff ing 2015 and 2016. The development of new tech- During 2015 and 2016 the union continued to de- nology was supported by on-going training and ploy staff throughout the organisation as required familiarisation with the data and process require- to organise and support members. The commitments of the new systems. ment of the staff and their continued cooperation during this time is acknowledged with the full ap- Staff continued to update and enhance their com- preciation of the union. petencies and the National Executive Council maintained the education grants scheme to support staff in externally accredited courses consis- Staff Numbers and Grades tent with the needs of the union and the personal The number of staff and grades at the end of each development of the staff. This included supporting year was as follows: staff in pursuing a range of legal qualifications. As a result, the union now has five members of staff Grade 31/12/2015 31/12/2016 who are qualified as Barristers while the majority of advocates now hold a third level qualification in General Officers 33 employment law. Divisional Organisers/ Departmental Heads 12 12 Staff who participate in external courses in their Sector Organisers 24 28 own time are to be commended and are acknowl- Industrial Organisers/ edged with thanks by the union. Tutors/Researchers/ Industrial Engineers/ Lead Organisers/IT 45 39 Assistant Industrial Organisers/Organisers 99 105 PA 77 Location Based Organisers 96 Administrative/ Clerical Staff 91 90 Porters 98 Total 299 298

28 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Workers Rights Centre

The Workers’ Rights Centre advises and repre- empowerment of union representatives at local sents individual SIPTU members when they en- level but saw a welcome fall in cases referred to counter workplace problems. It was a product of the contentious and divisive third part stage. In the re-structuring process within the union and the Calendar years January 2015 to December commenced operating in September 2010. The 2016 the figures for activity representing concentration of individual representation in a members and compensation recovered were specialist department allows the five SIPTU Divi- as follows:1 sions to concentrate on their primary task of Col- lective Bargaining and Organising. The Centre 2015 2016 comes under the control of the Legal Rights Unit. Meetings/Consultations attended by Advocates 6127 5465 The centre has a supervisor based in Dublin and 24 Third Party Hearings 1036 846 advocates based in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Waterford, Kilkenny, Castlebar, Mullingar, Total Value of Settlements/ and Letterkenny, with responsibility for the whole Compensatory Awards island of Ireland. These advocates represent mem- for members. €5.23m €4.75m bers at local enterprise level as well as at hearings in the various employment rights adjudication and appeal bodies.

The centre has 10 Information Assistants con- Education and Training nected through an integrated communications Given the nature of the Workers Rights Centre op- system. Information Assistants act as a first contact eration and the responsibility attached to protect- providing information on a wide range of issues to ing members’ rights and livelihoods, it is members. They log queries and grievances on the imperative that there is a consistent process of Workers’ Rights tracking system and provide a va- quality training and education. riety of supports to advocates in their representa- On-going training for advocates includes a tional work. monthly audio conference where log-in or attendance in person is mandatory. This is broadcast from Liberty Hall on a given day each month and Activity PowerPoint presentations are sent out beforehand From its inception in September 2010 to the end to participants. Active discussion is centred on de- of 2016, just over 25,155 cases were logged on velopments in employment law and the forum also the Centre’s system. Some of these cases were allows advocates to give feedback on experiences resolved through advice over the phone, and at Tribunals and other employment law bodies. others were resolved at the enterprise/employ- Developments in employment law, which happen ment level. Cases that could not be resolved at at least on a weekly basis, are communicated from local level were referred to a third party for adju- the Legal Rights Unit to the Centre’s staff. There dication. were also monthly meetings with Information As- Activity Index sistants, and bi-monthly training sessions and up- In 2016 a more efficient case filtering system was dates. put in place whereby a greater emphasis was put Most of the Advocates in the Workers Rights Cen- on shop steward participation in early resolution tre have a legal qualification. In 2016 two advo- of cases at the level of local enterprises/organi- cates were called to the Bar, which brings the sations. This initiative not alone led to greater total of qualified barristers within the Workers

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 29

Rights Centre and the Legal Rights Unit to five. Centres are staffed by Advocates, Organisers and This is not a move towards creating a more le- Information Assistants. Each Centre has had the galised environment within SIPTU. Instead, it is to local telephone number re-instated, which has ensure that SIPTU members are ensured the best proved extremely popular amongst members, as quality advice and representation when they en- well as having access to the central 1890 number. counter problems at work. This goes some way to- Details of each of the Centres are given below and wards balancing the scales on the fundamental can be found at www.workersrightscentre.ie issue of ‘inequality in arms’ at hearings, when workers face well resourced, ‘lawyered up’ em- The Centres work closely with the Divisions and ployers. the Organising Department, as well as the other departments in SIPTU, to provide the best possible service to workers accessing the Centres. Welcome Centres A decision was made by the NEC in early 2016 to Since opening in 2016 the combined total footfall expand the role of the Workers Rights Centre from of all Centres to the year end of 2016 is approxi- being solely an in-house servicing unit, to becom- mately 514, with the combined total of new mem- ing a cutting edge organising tool that will help to bers of 253. reinvigorate the union as a strong presence in the community. The emphasis was on opening Wel- While SIPTU’s Workers Rights Centre has ordinar- come Centres in local SIPTU offices that recon- ily been accessed by telephone, through the rele- nected with members. Such an initiative would vant official and online for members, we are now revitalise the role of the union office as a “go to” getting back on the High Street where our empa- place for members and other workers seeking ini- thetic, expert and confidential advice and repre- tial advice on workplace problems. sentational service for members and potential members will be properly showcased. These Centres give a localised contact point for SIPTU members and cater for potential members Cork Welcome Centre, who may be experiencing difficulties at work. Ad- Connolly Hall, vice is given in a friendly, empathetic environment Lapps Quay, Cork and, if needed, SIPTU’s expert Advocates can refer Tel: 021 4277466 cases for members on to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court if necessary. Dublin Welcome Centre, Beside Liberty Hall, As 2016 was an important year in the history of the Eden Quay, Dublin 1 union, being the 100th anniversary of the 1916 ris- Tel: 1890 747881 ing, the launch of the first Centre in Dublin was on Navan Welcome Centre, 19th, May, 2016, the week that marked the cente- Dan Shaw Road, nary of the anniversary of the execution of James Navan, Co. Meath Connolly. Cork’s Centre opened on 2nd August, Tel: 046 9023437 Navan’s opened on 15th November and Tralee on 9th December 2016. The programme of opening Tralee Welcome Centre, Workers Rights Welcome Centres will continue in Connolly Hall, 2017 as suitable SIPTU offices are identified. Upper Rock Street, Tel: 066 7121244 Each Centre has been launched in conjunction with the SIPTU District Councils, with the Chair of The Legal Rights Unit is organically linked to the each Council giving the opening address. The Workers Rights Centre but its work and responsi- Centres, along with the District Councils, have the bilities go beyond giving legal advice to the Cen- shared mission of prioritising the relationships be- tre’s Advocates in the field. It extends to advice tween local communities and the union. on Industrial Relations Law and it counsels on strategic legal issues to Officers and Divisional and Strategic Organising Staff. The Unit provides specialist legal education for staff with the cooperation of SIPTU College. While the Legal Rights Unit

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 31 specialises in employment and industrial relations pact upon working people generally. The Unit is law, it has expanded services to advise on com- part of the ICTU Legal Strategy Committee and pany law, data protection and defamation (initial has contributed to various campaigns for legisla- examination only in the latter area), where this im- tion to re-introduce REAs and JLCs, and the pacts on union activity. strengthening of Collective Bargaining legislation by the last Government. In 2015, there was a fundamental reform of the Employment Rights bodies with the EAT, the Equality Tribunal and the old LRC The Legal Rights Unit phased out to be replaced by the Workplace Re- The Legal Rights Unit does not give independent lations Commission. This created one agency with legal advice. It gives primacy to the collective in- a single adjudicator arrangement, including an ap- terests of union members. Advice will not be peal to be heard in public by the Labour Court. given, for example, in situations where there is a The Unit was active in ensuring that SIPTU staff conflict between an individual’s interest and a col- adapted efficiently to this new reality. lective agreement, particularly where the net re- In the sphere of Industrial Relations, the Unit as- sult could have a detrimental effect on the sists in the drafting of ballot papers, advises on the interests of fellow union members. All advice conduct of disputes and gives support in injunc- therefore must be filtered through an official to en- tion cases, and the running of collective bargain- sure that the collective interest is the overarching ing cases. consideration. The Legal Rights Unit has given many presenta- As well as giving general advice, the unit is tasked tions on employment law, not alone to SIPTU staff with giving advice in individual cases to Workers and activists but externally; for example, to non- Rights Centre Advocates. The advice and support union members in various third level institutions as includes assistance in the enforcement of third part of the organising mission. The Unit also drafts party determinations, company insolvencies and regular legal commentary and updates for the Lib- pension law. erty newspaper The Unit in the two-year period 2015 to 2016 assisted in preparing cases for the High Court in defence of points of law applications where SIPTU members’ awards were at stake. The Legal Rights Unit also had a broader strategic function regarding legal reform and developments which may im-

32 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 SIPTU College

SIPTU College continued to offer a range of Basic English courses to the members, activists and staff of the At least one out of every four adults in Ireland has union during 2015 and 2016. The most popular significant problems with reading and writing. Ap- courses were the Basic and Advanced pro- proximately 320 students, mostly migrant mem- grammes aimed at shop stewards. These encom- bers, attended the union’s English as a Second pass an introduction to the union and the role of Language (ESOL) and Basic English Literacy the shop steward: organising; grievance and dis- Scheme classes during the two-year period ciplinary handling; negotiating skills and conduct- 2015/2016. Several students achieved QQ1 (for- ing effective meetings. Sector specific issues were merly FETAC) level 4 certificates and many other also addressed, for example Trust in Care for ac- members continue to benefit from ongoing atten- tivists and staff in the Health Services Division. dance. Tom O’Brien teaches on this programme at Other training centred on equality issues; pen- Liberty Hall, which Jean Kennedy coordinates. The sions; health and safety, and separate organising scheme is part funded through the City of Dublin training. Education and Training Board for which we are grateful. Staff available to teach on these programmes included Sylvester Cronin (Acting Head of College); Scholarships Carmel Hogan (part-time); Mags O’Brien; Margaret The Education and Development (Scholarship) DeCourcey and Miriam McCluskey, though for Support Scheme, coordinated by Jean Kennedy, much of the period the latter two were on second- continued to be as popular as ever with the mem- ment to the Legal Rights’ Unit and the Education bership during 2015 and 2016. During 2015 the Sector respectively. In addition, Mags O’Brien re- union introduced a new annual scholarship for mi- tired on 4th November 2016. grant members for which there has been a high demand. In total the union awarded 20 Third Level Trade union Studies Certificate Programme awards for members; 48 Gaeltacht scholarships Some of the above SIPTU College courses are ac- and 60 Second level awards for the children of credited to QQI Level 5: the Advanced Activists’ members. Course and Safety Representatives’ Training. SIPTU College also offers one Level 6 accredited Educate to Organise programme leading to an NCI awarded Certificate Although originally designed, developed and de- in Trade union Studies. There are six modules in livered by the Strategic Organising Department, this programme which, during 2015/2016, was of- Educate to Organise has been partly based at fered in Dublin, Waterford, Cork and Limerick: - SIPTU College for some time and in late 2016 be- • Collective Bargaining and Negotiations came an integral component of the College’s of- • Employment Law fering. Educate to Organise grew out of a need to • Equality and Diversity politicise ourselves, to answer some of the ques- • Health and Safety tions we frequently ask but seldom get the chance • Human Resource Management to debate within the union - questions about our • Introduction to Economics society and economy; about democracy and glob- The above-named staff all play a role in the deliv- alisation; class and inequality; left and right wing ery of this programme as do several voluntary tu- politics and power – all with the aim of creating tors: - Seamus Buggle (IDEAS); Ray Mitchell and informed social activism. Denis Gormalley (Manufacturing Division); Tadhg A pilot project involving participants in three loca- Curtis (Retired Staff). Sean Heading from the TEEU tions (Dublin, Cork and Galway) concluded in 2015 also tutors and has specific responsibility for Lim- with a high approval rating and calls for its expan- erick. Administrative assistance and coordination sion. 2015 also saw the commencement of a very across all programmes is provided by Eileen Meier positive programme in Cork, under the auspices and Brigid Coakley. of ONE Cork, and which had 15 participants from 12 of the unions active in that city. In 2016 the pro-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 33 1

1. Gerry McCormack, SIPTU Manufacturing Division Organiser and Tish Gibbons, Head of SIPTU College. 2. The Educate to Organise group comprised of members of ONE Cork – Awards night – 25th April 2016. 3. A Trade Union Studies Certificate class, Waterford 2015.

34 gramme commenced in several locations: - a TUF Trade unions spearheaded by the European Trade group in Dublin; two SIPTU Dublin groups (one union Institute (ETUI). The Safety and Health Unit evening class and one day release); one night class at SIPTU College continues to be proactive in version in Galway and one day release programme Safety and Health with our OSH Advisor, Sylvester in Cork. Cronin fully participating in, inter alia, the There are three modules Educate to Organise: - o Irish Congress of Trade union’s Advisory Committee on Safety and Health Workers in Society - This module looks at workers in society in a particular way. It looks at where o National Irish Safety Organisation (NISO). workers are placed in society and at issues such o European union’s ‘Advisory Committee on as class, left and right wing politics, globalisation, Safety and Health’. inequality and how these affect us all. o European union’s ‘Occupational Safety and Workers in the Economy - As the name implies, Health Agency’ (EU-OSHA) this module explores economics from the viewpoint of workers, helping to reach an understand- Sadly, despite the efforts of trade union activists, ing of how economic decisions affect workers and work-related deaths, injuries and illnesses are all their families. too frequent when they are all too preventable.

Workers in their union - This module examines the Industrial Engineering history of the unequal relationship between work- In addition to OSH advisory, SIPTU College also of- ers and employers. It explores the need for and fers a comprehensive industrial engineering serv- contribution of unions to society and addresses ice to its members in the workplace. Industrial the potential for union renewal, with particular em- Engineer John McCarthy has worked with shop phasis on organising in Irish trade unions. stewards and staff in numerous workplaces across Once fully resourced, it is intended to expand the the Manufacturing, Services, and Transport Energy delivery of Educate to Organise. Aviation and Construction Divisions.

Safety & Health Unit From union training to labour education Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) backup sup- In Autumn 2016 the National Executive Council port continues to be provided to Safety Represen- adopted a new strategy for SIPTU College entitled tatives, activists and staff by the Safety and Health “From union training to labour education”. This Unit at SIPTU College. This includes the provision strategy starts from a recognition that the full es- of information, written and oral, advice and repre- tablishment of the Workers’ College is not immi- sentation. Occasionally, this may involve a work- nent and therefore it is necessary to revitalise place visit where direct advice is provided to SIPTU College in the interim. The strategy also safety representatives and union Organisers. recognises that among the challenges facing the union is the need to ensure that our approach to 2015 saw a serious development for occupational education and training is in line with the rapidly health and safety at European level. The EU Com- changing environment in which learning takes mission has undermined existing protective legis- place. Crucial also is the need to ensure that the lation with the publication, under the duplicitous worker perspective is given a voice that can be title of ‘Better Regulation’, of an agenda for de- heard against the din of neo-liberal economists regulation. Under the pretext of lightening the ad- and right wing educationalists. ministrative burden on smaller enterprises, ‘Better Regulation’ provides for fewer workplace inspec- Equally important for the union is the need to en- tions and no requirement to have a written risk as- sure that the type of education and training we sessment for certain small employers. These provide is appropriately connected to the elements are essential requirements for proper achievement of our objectives as an organisation, OSH standards at workplace level so that lives and particularly in the context of the challenges faced limbs can be saved. by the trade union movement over the medium to long term. The strategy leans on the experience of The Safety and Health Unit at SIPTU College con- one example of where we have taken a different tinued to work against these moves to erode ex- approach to education and training i.e., the Edu- isting safety and health protection legislation and cate to Organise programme. Educate to Organ- took part in a campaign alongside other European

35 SIPTU • Annual Report 2013/2014 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 35 ise, designed, developed and deliv- considered, for example, reading circles and ‘pop- ered by the Strategic Organising Department, is a up’ classes. political programme which takes a worker’s per- The strategy recognises that the appointment of spective on the study of society (sociology); the staff is a necessary first step: - Learning Co-ordina- economy (political economy) and union activism tors (in a Tutor+ role); Learning Representatives (industrial relations). The success of this pro- (industrial staff who will assist with training); Lec- gramme and the appetite for this approach to ed- turers (to deliver Educate to Organise) and a Head ucation and training is a clear example that of College. The last of these has been achieved through adopting an innovative approach across with the appointment in November 2016 of Tish all our education and training activity, we can Gibbons, Researcher at the Strategic Organising overcome many of the difficulties that have faced Department, as new Head of SIPTU College. Her us in recent years. remit includes the implementation of this new Thus, our new strategy proposes 19 Recommen- strategy in full and she has already commenced a dations focussing on four related areas: - review of all programmes currently delivered; an expansion of the on-line presence of SIPTU Col- o Expanding the ‘reach’ of the College’s lege, and has commenced the design and devel- training and education opment of new programmes. These will be o Designing new programmes delivered by both existing and new staff to be ap- o A more flexible delivery pointed in 2017. o Appointment of staff In planning for the coming two-year period, Rec- It is envisaged that expansion of the ‘reach’ of the ommendation No. 5 of ‘From union training to College’s training and education will involve new labour education’ bears repetition: - means of getting our message across such as film, “Critical to the success of these proposals is a shift social media, distance or e-learning programmes. in how we view education and training within the Establishing a dedicated SIPTU College website union. It is often seen as ancillary; an add-on that with links to a learning support platform is essen- operates separately from the ‘real’ work of the tial for such expansion. Among the new pro- union. It needs to be seen as an integrated part of grammes needed are those dedicated to both the union; coordinated, resourced, consistent, and staff development and the development of the in step with the direction the union is taking”. labour movement. The strategy also commits to sourcing politically sound external training programmes for staff, where necessary. Mindful that SIPTU College can no longer expect to deliver all programmes via day-release, new part-time delivery options will be examined; night classes, week- ends, etc. More novel approaches should also be

36 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 IDEAS Institute

IDEAS appointed Sylvester Cronin as the new assessment for certain small employers. These el- General Manager in 2016 with a remit for a ements are essential requirements for proper OSH complete restructuring of the Institute. standards at workplace level so that lives and limbs can be saved. SIPTU continues to lobby IDEAS supporting SIPTU policy in 2015 and 2016: against moves to erode the safety and health pro- The Institute for the Development of Employee tection legislation that already exists. However Advancement Services (IDEAS) is a company es- due to the very hard work of the European Trade tablished by SIPTU in 2001 to provide specialist unions, including Irish trade unions, the worst ex- training, engage in Workplace Innovation and par- cesses of this attempted assault on Safety and ticipate in relevant European union projects. Health Regulations have been ameliorated. IDEAS Institute provides training to SIPTU activists, Sadly, despite the efforts of trade union activists, members and staff as required, with the aims of worker-related deaths, injuries, illnesses, diseases sustaining members’ employment and union mem- are all too high when they are all preventable. bership, reducing job losses, helping to create Without the work of very dedicated trade union- new jobs, enhancing activists’ and members’ skills, ists, statistics would be even worse. and promoting union organisation while also assisting company competitiveness. IDEAS continues to provided practical support to SIPTU in the following areas. The training programmes that IDEAS provides include team-working, train-the-trainer, CV and interview skills, and computer training. Many of Services Division: these training programmes are accredited by QQI. Introduced this Division to the IDEAS ‘review’ In addition, IDEAS provides Occupational Safety process and used this approach to establish its and Health (OSH) and OSH backup support to strengths and weaknesses. This process enables a SIPTU Activists, including Safety Representatives, 360-degree perspective to be generated (‘warts Shop Stewards, and staff. This includes the provi- and all’). This in turn allows a realistic picture of the sion of information, written and oral, advice and current state-of-play to be established, and permits representation. Occasionally, this may involve a agreed corrective actions for performance im- workplace visit where direct advice is provided to provement. It assisted the Divisional Organiser in Safety Representatives and union Organisers. This developing the new Divisional Committee as a is in addition to the provision of some educational functioning unit and continues to provide support and training courses for union activists. The main as it evolves. challenge facing workplace safety and health stan- IDEAS introduced our ‘review’ process to the Trade dards is unscrupulous cost cutting in the broad union Group (TUG) in RTE. It has conducted 8 sep- area of OSH at the level of the workplace in the arate sessions and completed the initial review. Ad- mistaken belief by some employers that such cuts ditional support, as required, will be given. will amount to real savings. Many studies have shown that monies spent on the prevention of Manufacturing Division work-related accidents, illnesses and diseases saves multiples of the amounts spent. Introduced our ‘review’ process to the Manufac- turing Division and it has successfully used the One of the more serious developments in recent technique to identify and prioritise agreed correc- years is at European level under the duplicitous tive actions for performance improvement. title of ‘Better Regulation’, which is a euphemism This process involved consultations with Dele- for De-Regulation. The European Commission set- gates attending Divisional Conference, Divisional up a ‘High Level Group of Independent Stakehold- Industrial Staff and the Divisional Committee. ers on Administrative Burdens’, which produced recommendations that included less workplace inspection and no requirement to have a written risk SIPTU Membership Consultative Initiative IDEAS provided guidance and technical support to

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 37 enable our ‘review’ process to be used for this im- New work enquiries and early scoping work being portant initiative. It developed and successfully carried out in; delivered specialist training for ‘in-house’ facilita- Jannsen Pharmaceuticals tors to facilitate the consultative process with Arrabawn Dairies members and activists. Western Chicken

Workplace Innovation European Projects We all understand and appreciate the depth of ANEETs (Apprenticeship for those Not in Employ- knowledge, and the breadth of practical process ment, Education or Training) experience that every worker in all workplaces has IDEAS was involved in this European Project be- accumulated over their working lives. This informa- tween 2014 and 2016 with three other partners tion has been acquired as operators set up their from France, Belgium and Catalonia to develop machines; watch over them as they make good materials to assist young people who have strayed product; and, as the occasion demanded, sorted from the normal path through school to employ- product and/or process problems as they arose. ment – this project was co-funded by the Euro- Our approach to Workplace Innovation enables this pean Programme Erasmus+. information to be valued, and sought, as we all Materials were developed for three sectors, i.e. strive to make world-class products and provide Technology, Hospitality and Metallurgy. These ma- world-class services. terials were intended to assist policy development This ability to improve performance and fix process and be implemented by Member States to ensure problems through genuine worker involvement is a greater participation of young people in educa- now, at last, being universally recognised. tion and employment through a wide range of dif- The mental capacity of our people to solve prob- ferent initiatives. These policies often intervene at lems and improve performance, is the key to sus- different points along the pathway to employ- tained competitiveness. We need to maximise the ment, which describes young people’s journey potential of our people to deliver improved produc- through formal education and their transition into tivity using proven tools and techniques’. (Source: the labour market and employment. Link to the Applied Benchmarking for Competitiveness – A ANEETs website is http://www.aneets.eu/ Guide for SME Owner/Managers Richard Keegan and Eddie O’Kelly 2004 Oak Tree Press, Cork). European Works Councils (EWCs) Employers have realised that our unique approach IDEAS was involved in a project with our Euro- to Workplace Innovation can unlock creative po- pean Partners from Catalonia, Bulgaria and Italy, tential within the workforce and this can be a crit- which was supported by the European Commis- ical component for companies as they drive for sion. continuous improvement and on-going competitiveness. IDEAS organised training for SIPTU Industrial We currently continue to work with existing client Staff, European Works Council members and Ac- companies as they implement Workplace Innova- tivists, during the time of the project, to become tion with involvement and commitment of workers more knowledgeable on how EWCs can work in each workplace, namely; better for organised workers in multi-national Kirchhoff Automotive Letterkenny and trans-national employments. Theo Benning GmbH Wexford and Henkel in both of their Dublin plants (Tallaght and This project led to the production of a published Ballyfermot) booklet entitled Fostering Employee Involve- Fleetwood in Virginia County Cavan ment at Company Level by Training the Main Bord Na M na, Derrygreenagh, and players dealing with the European Multinationals. Boliden Taraó Mines in Navan.

38 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Information Technology

There have been developments in SIPTU’s Infor- Network Infrastructure – We have continued to mation, Communication and Technology infra- improve the network infrastructure across all loca- structure in the last two years: tions, with major upgrades in the Navan and SIPTU College locations. In the context of developing The Cloud - The most significant development has Welcome Centres and rebuilding our connection been a move to the ‘the cloud’ which allows for with local communities, we have commenced a greater security, greater access to our information programme of reinstating local office phone num- systems and ease of use for staff. The facility to bers. store our information on cloud-based systems gives us greater flexibility, it is device independ- Network Security – We are currently in the ent, allows for a more mobile work space and process of reviewing the security of our infrastruc- gives users an automatic updates facility. It en- ture specifically in relation to cyber security and ables staff to work more collaboratively with information flow processes. greater ease. The Microsoft cloud-based software system, Office365, installed in 2015, has allowed SIPTU Health App – the Health Division created an users the facility to work from anywhere, has en- App which enables them to communicate with abled greater security, and in terms of document members using push notifications on a weekly management and storage it has replaced the Al- basis or when required. fresco system with the new SharePoint cloud- based system. Further development, including extensive training, is planned for the coming year in order to fully utilise the facilities included in the Office365 system. It also provides improved disas- ter recovery without the need for further capital expenditure.

Telephony – We continue to work with our telecommunications company Vodafone and have extended the contract through to September 2017.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 39 Premises

Property State Event to commemorate the role of The number of premises, including Liberty Hall, is the Irish Citizen Army 36, of which 33 are owned by the union. During the As part of the National series of events to com- period under review work has been ongoing to memorate the 1916 Easter Rising, a number of maximise the use of our premises and in particular State Events were held throughout the Country to reinstate a local presence and connection with during 2016. One such event took place on Easter members and communities. Consequently, a deci- Tuesday, 29th March 2016 at Liberty Hall. The sion was made to create Workers’ Rights Wel- event was attended by President Michael D. Hig- come Centres in collaboration with the Workers’ gins and his wife, Sabina, the T naiste, Lord Mayor Rights Centre and the Strategic Organising De- of Dublin, union members andá staff, members of partment. The first Welcome Centre was officially the Oireachtas, representatives from national and opened in Liberty Hall in May 2016 and further cen- international trade unions as well as members of tres have been opened in Cork, Tralee and Navan the public. The event took place in Beresford Place with plans to open a further ten centres in 2017. and the SIPTU Liberty Hall Theatre, with a wreath The property stock requires constant manage- laying ceremony at the James Connolly memorial, ment and maintenance, and investment in the raising of the ICA flag by Molly O’Reilly’s daughter, union’s infrastructure is undertaken in line with Constance Cowley, the unveiling of a plaque list- available resources. During the period under re- ing all those ICA members who died in the Easter view maintenance and minor refurbishment works Rising, as well as a commemorative event in the were undertaken at a number of our premises. Theatre.

Goods and Services As part of the Centenary commemorations the The union continued to monitor contracts and union also commissioned the design and produc- arrangements for goods and services to ensure tion of six new tapestries. The tapestries were de- value for money was achieved, while at the same signed by Robert Ballagh and produced by time supporting suppliers who provide decent volunteers from the arts and crafts community jobs in unionised employments. who had participated in the 1913 Lockout Tapes- tries. Liberty Hall Project Following the decision of An Bord Pleanala to Other commemorative events included a project overturn the decision of Dublin City Council to in collaboration with the Dublin District Council to grant planning permission, a number of options erect 12 plaques at various locations in Dublin are being considered in terms of the refurbish- where ICA members were based. ment/redevelopment of the building. However, such works will be considered in the context of the other demands on the union’s finances and supports to the members.

1916 -2016 Centenary Commemorative Events Liberty Hall Banners During the period under review, a variety of banners was placed on the facade of Liberty Hall. This included a three-sided banner commemorating the 1916 Easter Rising. The banner was placed in March 2016 and remained on the building until Oc- tober 2016 in line with the planning permission that had been granted. The banner received very positive feedback.

40 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Northern Ireland

Political Overview the parties reflected in lower voter turnout. Many The political realties in Northern Ireland have been voters feel there is a lack of political choice. over shadowed by the major political earthquake represented by Brexit, which will have dramatic Interestingly, for our movement, there is a positive implications for our members and their families. correlation between voter turnout and trade union NI is going to be the region most affected by the density. Many studies showing that the greater UK’s exit from the EU. It is the most peripheral re- number of workers represented by unions the gion of the UK, both geographically and politically, higher the voter turnout. Without unions, many and it is also the only region to share a land border voters become uninterested, uninformed and po- with the EU. litically inactive. This illustrates the central role we play in the maintenance of a healthy democratic As of yet we are still uncertain as to the long-term society. impact of what Brexit will entail as we have no way of determining what trading relationships will re- As in the 2007 and 2011 elections, the Democratic sult from the negotiations. This situation has been unionist Party and Sinn Fein won the most seats. compounded by the ongoing political crisis at The DUP won 38 and Sinn Fein 28 out of the 108 Stormont, which means that NI economic and po- available. The Ulster unionist Party won 16 seats, litical interests have essentially been off the polit- the Social Democratic and Labour Party 12 and the ical radar. Alliance 8, while two seats each were won by the Green Party and People Before Profit. The Tradi- We have worked and campaigned actively along- tional unionist Voice and an independent candi- side NIC-ICTU to mitigate against the potentially date each won one seat. damaging impact of Brexit. The three key areas that we campaigned on were: Sinn Fein and the DUP are the effective joint deci- i) Low pay/decent work sions makers. The political heat generated by the ii) The lack of adequate public investment Renewable Heating Initiative threatens both iii) The treasury cap on public sector pay. power sharing and the stability of the Govern- ment. If the Assembly was to fall and direct rule We know that the potential for a negative impact imposed NI would face a critical reduction in em- on major sectors of the NI economy is huge. Of ployment rights. particular concern to SIPTU is the potential impact on the Wholesale and Retail sectors, which are the Economic Overview biggest employers in NI, where we have substan- The Northern Ireland economy reached an impor- tial membership. tant milestone in 2016 with the number of people in work returning to pre-crisis level. It is testament Private sector employers have already attempted to the scale of the crisis that it has taken nearly a to use Brexit as an excuse to curtail wage claims. decade to achieve this position. The 2016 election to the Northern Ireland Assem- bly was held on 5 May 2016. It was the fifth elec- Wages also rose in real terms over this period tion to take place since the devolved assembly largely due to the introduction of the National Liv- was established in 1998. Turnout in the 2016 As- ing Wage. However, this illustrates the very large sembly election was (54.9%), down 15 percentage number of workers on low-pay within the Northern points from the first election to the Assembly held Ireland economy. in 1998. The low voter turnout, although not restricted to Northern Ireland, is indicative of an in- Although this is welcome news it hides underlying creasing lack of political differentiation between structural weaknesses exhibited by the Northern

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 41 Ireland economy with one study showing that GDP Local Authorities growth per head in Northern Ireland has flat lined The process of RPA (Review of Public Administra- since 2009. tion, reducing 26 District Councils to 11) continues to present challenges to our key activists in Local Consolidating the union Authorities as we address issues revolving around Due to the organisational efforts spearheaded by harmonisation. We are also seeking to protect our activists, membership has grown over the pe- members from potential redundancy as a process riod in question. This is despite the closure of two of reduction in duplication of services is carried major employers, Brinks Ireland and Lakeland out across Council areas. Diaries, as well as ongoing re-structuring in North- ern Ireland Railways. Since 2014 union member- NIR ship has increased by 15.79% bringing current The public sector financial squeeze has affected membership up to 2,100. NIR, with constraints on capital spending. The removal of the fuel duty rebate of over £10 million Strike Action two years ago may result in the potential closure River Ridge Recycling is the leading company for of rural services. waste and bio-fuel export in Northern Ireland. We gained recognition for this largely migrant work- Despite this our activists secured a 2% pay force in 2015. After protracted negotiations failed increase for members, with improvements to our members in this employment were compelled Bereavement and Special Leave entitlements. to ballot for strike action. The result of their action was to secure a 9% increase for the lowest paid members of the workforce.

Strike action was undertaken by our members in Glen Electric, taking the form of one day stoppages on 18th August 2017 and 1st September 2016. Activists and Full-time Officials negotiated a return to work after a satisfactory pay deal was obtained. This consisted of a 2.76% increase from April 2016 with a further and 3% to be paid from April 2017.

Debenhams After a focused organising campaign by dedicated activists we sought trade union recognition with this large high street retail employer. We have membership in the Belfast, Derry, Newry and Rush- mere stores.

RMS Cash Solutions Ltd After a long and protracted struggle with this employer over Trade union recognition we are well placed to secure our goal. Our members struggle in this employment has been particularly bruising, with strike action narrowly averted. It is a testament to the resolve of our members that they continue to struggle for recognition during this very difficult period.

42 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 42 Economic Developments 2015-16

Overview low interest rate policy and the ‘quantitative easing’, or Notwithstanding the distortions to the headline national asset buying programme it began in March 2015. accounts arising from the activities of certain multinationals, the ‘real’ economy grew strongly in 2015 and 2016, In contrast to the early stages of Ireland’s economic re- with total employment rising by over 110,000, while un- covery, which was mainly export-led, growth since 2014 employment fell from 10.2% to 6.9%. Brexit, particularly has been much more broadly-based. Domestic demand the possibility of an extreme or ‘hard’ Brexit, emerged as (i.e. consumption and investment) expanded by 9.9% in a major risk to Ireland, north and south in 2016, and one 2015 and by 16.8% in 2016. Personal consumption rose that is likely to give rise to considerable uncertainty for by 4.5% in 2015 and by 3% in 2016. Retail sales grew by many years. 8.6% in 2015 and by 5.9% in 2016; and the volume of retail sales (excluding motor trades) was back at pre-crisis Distorted national accounts levels by the end of 2016. Monthly indicators of retail Central Statistics Office (CSO) national accounts data in- sales, consumer confidence and business prospects have dicate that real GDP in the Republic grew by 26.3% in 2015 all been close to or above pre-crash levels since 2014. and by 5.2% in 2016. As the Nevin Economic Research In- stitute and others have pointed out, while statistically ac- curate, the headline national accounts were heavily Employment rose but still below pre-crash levels distorted, particularly in 2015, by the activities of certain Total employment (seasonally-adjusted) stood at multinationals, and have consequently become less rele- 2,160,300 in the first quarter of 2008, with construction vant as measurements of economic activity and of trading employment (95% male) accounting for 258,000 or one relationships with other countries. For example, while in eight of all jobs in that quarter. total investment grew by more than 30% in 2015 and by 70% since 2010, much of this can be explained by the ‘re- Over the following four years or so, 325,000 of all jobs, or domiciliation’ of intangible assets such as patents by one in seven, were lost, reducing employment to multinationals, and by aircraft imports by aircraft leasing 1,832,800 by the third quarter of 2012, with construction firms based in Ireland, who now account for one quarter employment falling by almost two-thirds to 100,000. of all global aircraft leasings. Employment has been recovering since late 2012, stand- In December 2016, the Economic Statistics Review Group ing at 1,933,300 in the last quarter of 2014. It rose by a (ESRG) issued recommendations aimed at the ‘decompo- further 111,000 in 2015 and 2016, to reach 2,044,600 by sition’ or breakdown of existing indicators and the devel- the end of 2016. While total employment at the end of opment of new indicators to provide a better 2016 was thus over 210,000 above the 2012 low point, it understanding of underlying economic activity, so as to was still 115,000 below the pre-crash peak. However, em- enable more informed analysis and policy-making. A pro- ployment outside of construction was marginally above gramme of work arising from these recommendations is the pre-crash peak by the end of 2016 (i.e. 1,904,800 in now being implemented by the CSO. late 2016 compared to 1,902,300 in early 2008).

Despite the distortions, domestic economic activity over The main economic sectors in terms of employment by 2015 and 2016 was strong, driven by positive develop- the end of 2016 were Wholesale and Retail (13.8% of total ments in employment, consumption and construction. employment), Industry (12.7%) and Human Health and Social Work activities (12.5%).

A broad-based recovery underway Over the 2015-2016 period, employment rose in all eco- As a small open economy, the Republic of Ireland is de- nomic sectors bar Financial, Insurance and Real Estate ac- pendent on developments in its main trading partners, tivities (which saw a marginal decline of 0.3%, from the UK, the US and the Euro Area. The IMF estimates that 102,100 to 101,900). The largest percentage increase was real GDP grew by 2.2% in 2015 and by 1.8% in 2016 in the in Construction, which rose by 18.9%, from 117,100 to UK, by 2.6% in 2015 and by 1.6% in the US, and by 2% in 139,200, (or to just over half pre-crash levels). 2015 and by 1.7% in 2016 in the Euro area. Ireland bene- fited over this period from the European Central Bank’s The increase in total employment (unadjusted) over this

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 43 two-year period was represented by a rise in full-time em- tion or training (so-called ‘NEETS’) remained above the EU ployment of 7.4%, from 1,492,600 to 1,603,300, and a fall average. in part-time employment of 0.4%, from 446,400 to 444,800. The number of under-employed part-time work- In the last quarter of 2014, the unemployment rate (un- ers employed part-time, who wanted to and were able to adjusted) ranged from 13.2% in the Midlands (i.e. Laois, work more hours, the majority of them women, fell by Offaly, Longford and Westmeath) to 8.5% in the Mid-East 20%, from 115,500 in the last quarter of 2014 to 92,000 (i.e. Kildare, Meath, Wicklow). In the last quarter of 2016, by the end of 2016. it ranged from 9.4% in the South-East (i.e. Carlow, Kilkenny, south Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford) to 5.3% in the Mid-East. Occupations At the end of 2016, the three largest occupational The numbers on ‘labour activation’ programmes such as groups were Professionals (18%), Skilled Trades (15.6%) the Community Employment Schemes and Tús, the Com- and Associate Professional and Technical occupations munity Work Placement Initiative, fell by 16,600 (18.8%), from 88,400 in December 2014 to 71,800 in December (11.8%). 2016. However, the largest percentage increase in occupations over this two year period was in Caring, Leisure and other Prices service occupations, up 12.4%, from 154,100 to 173,200, Prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), while the smallest increase was in Sales and Customer declined by 0.3% in 2015 and were unchanged (0%) in Service occupations, up 0.3%, from 210,400 to 211,000. 2016. However, there were wide variation in prices by commodity groups. Transport declined by 4.8% in 2015 Female employment in Caring, Leisure and other service and by 3.2% in 2016 (reflecting the fall in oil prices), Food occupations rose by 16% over this period. Male employ- and Non-Alcoholic Beverages fell by 2.1% in 2015 and by ment in these occupations fell by 5%, while females ac- 1.3% in 2016. Clothing and Footwear fell by 3.7% in 2015 counted for 85% of all employment in these occupations and by 2.5% in 2016. At the same time, Education prices by the end of 2016. rose by 4.75% in 2015 and by 3.4% in 2016, Restaurants and Hotels rose by 1.6% in 2015 and by 2.1% in 2016, and Male employment in Process, Plant and Machine Opera- Miscellaneous Goods and Services (e.g. home insurance) tives rose by 12.4%, while female employment in these rose by 1.5% in 2015 and by 4.2% in 2016. occupations fell by 3%. Males accounted for 86% of all employment in these occupations by the end of 2016. Household debt declining but still high Household debt stood at €143.8 billion (or €30,200 per Unemployment continued to fall household) in the last quarter of 2016, or just over 140% The seasonally-adjusted monthly unemployment rate fell of disposable income. While this is down from its peak of from 219,600 (10.2%) in December 2014 to 152,000 €203.7 billion in the third quarter of 2008, when it (6.9%) in December 2016. It fell from 11.7% to 7.6% for equated to almost 220% of disposable income, Irish males and from 8.4% to 6.2% for females over this period. households are still among the most indebted in Europe.

Long-term unemployment (i.e. those out of work for a 7.7% of all private residential mortgage accounts were in year or longer) fell from 123,400 (6.0%) in the fourth quar- arrears for more than 90 days by the end of 2016, down ter of 2014 to 79,700 (3.6%) in the last quarter of 2016. from a peak of 12.9% in the second quarter of 2013. The Central Bank estimated that 2% of all loans for Principal Despite the reduction in long-term unemployment over Dwelling Homes (PDHs) in arrears in mid-2016 were in recent years, the long-term unemployment rate at the negative equity. Arrears were the lowest in the large end of 2016 was still almost three-times higher than the urban centres and highest in the Border and Midlands repre-crash average. Furthermore, the unemployment rate gions. for individuals out of work for more than four years has fallen at a much slower pace than the overall unemployment rate. Of the almost 40,000 workers unemployed for Public finances improve but spending constrained more than four years by the end of 2016, almost 80% Following the elimination of the ‘excessive deficit’ in 2015 were males and one-third of these were aged 50-64. (i.e. a deficit of no more than 3% of GDP, as required under domestic and EU rules), Ireland formally moved Youth unemployment (15-24 year olds) fell from 41,500 from the ‘corrective’ to the ‘preventative’ arm of the EU (21.4%) in December 2014 to 31,200 (15.3%) in December Stability and Growth Pact in mid-2016. This still imposed 2016. Youth unemployment fell below the EU average by tight constraints over the period under review. Within late 2016, almost halving from its 2012 peak. However, these constraints, Budget 2015 was the first expansionary the number of young people not in employment, educa- budget in over eight years, amounting to a fiscal expan-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 45 sion of €1 billion (with substantial additional spending an- that the most exposed manufacturing sectors would be nounced immediately beforehand) while Budget 2016 pharma and chemicals, food and beverages, traditional saw an expansion of €1.3 billion. Substantial amounts in manufacturing (e.g. wood and paper products), materials both budgets were allocated to tax cuts, benefiting the manufacturing and electrical equipment. The most ex- better off in particular. posed services sectors would be transport, insurance and financial services, and computer services. The Economic The Department of Finance estimates that the general government balance fell to -1.9% of GDP in 2015 and to - and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in turn estimates that 0.5% of GDP in 2016, down from 12.6% in 2012. The aside from pharma and chemicals, the most exposed debt/GDP ratio fell to 79% of GDP in 2015 and to 75% of manufacturers are mostly Irish-owned small and medium- GDP in 2016, down from 120% in 2013. It is of course the sized enterprises, regionally-based (i.e. outside the main case that the distortions of the national accounts dis- urban areas), with relatively low-profit levels, a high mul- cussed above played an important part in improving the tiplier or knock-on economic impact and a high share of public finances over this period, particularly in 2015. regional employment.

The Housing Crisis It is difficult to gauge the immediate impact of the June The lack of sufficient housing emerged not just as a major 2016 decision on Ireland over the period under review. To social crisis but also a barrier to future economic progress the end of 2016, the impact was mainly experienced over 2015 and 2016. The Republic’s housing output needs through the sizeable decline in sterling against the euro are estimated as between 25,000 and 35,000 per annum. (a fall of 10% between June and December 2016), which Output was estimated at just 11,000 in 2015 and 15,000 encouraged cross-border shopping as well as greater vol- in 2016, and doubts have been expressed about the reli- ume of online purchases from UK-based websites. Enter- ability of these estimates. Property prices by the end of prise Ireland reported that while total exports by domestic 2016 were around 50% above the trough in prices firms grew by 6% to reach €21.6 billion in 2016, the reached in 2013 while rents were above pre-crash levels by early 2017. Social housing suffered from spending cuts growth in exports to the UK slowed from 12% in 2015 to after 2008 with output falling from 5,000 units in that year 2% in 2016, largely due to a decline in food exports, and to just 75 in 2015. Arising from inadequate output and ris- it suggested that the impact of Brexit on Irish companies ing prices and rent, the number of households on social had already started. housing waiting lists, which had doubled between 2005 and 2011, remained high and stood at 91,600 in autumn Given that the UK only formally notified its intention to 2016, while homelessness levels shot up, with 1,250 fam- leave the EU (‘triggered Article 50’) in March 2017, that ilies, including 2,600 children, homeless by early 2017, up the withdrawal process is expected to take at least two nearly 90% on 2014 levels. years and that negotiations on future EU-UK relationships are expected to take much longer, Brexit uncertainty is Brexit likely to continue for some time. Ireland is widely considered to be the EU member state (aside from the UK itself) that would be most negatively affected by Brexit, particularly if the UK Government opted for an extreme or ‘hard’ Brexit (i.e. to fully sever the UK from the Single Market and the Customs union).

The Central Bank estimates that under such a scenario, the Republic could lose 40,000 jobs in the 10 years following a UK departure. The Department of Finance estimates

46 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Wage Developments

Overview In the last quarter of 2016, average weekly paid The recovery in wages was much more modest hours (seasonally-adjusted) ranged (Education ex- tham the growth in the economy and in employ- cluded) from 40.3 in Mining and Quarrying to 26.7 ment over 2015-2016. Average weekly earnings in Accommodation and Food services. The largest across the entire economy rose by 2% during this increase was in Mining and Quarrying, from 38 to period. This was due to an increase in average 40.3 hours, while the largest decrease was in Con- weekly paid hours and to an increase in average struction, from 37.9 to 36.8 hours. They rose from hourly earnings (+1%). In-work poverty remains a 31.8 hours to 32.2 in the private sector and from major challenge. The proportion of workers expe- 32.1 to 32.5 in the public sector. riencing enforced deprivation, though falling, was three times pre-crash levels, and the number of Average hourly earnings up 1% over 2015-2016 low-paid workers with children in receipt of Family The increase in average weekly earnings was also Income Supplement more than doubled between due to an increase in average hourly earnings (sea- 2007 and 2015. sonally-adjusted), up 22c (1%) from €22.91 in the last quarter of 2014 to €22.13 in the last quarter of Average weekly earnings up 2% over 2015-2016 2016. In the last quarter of 2016, they ranged from Central Statistics Office (CSO) data indicates that €33.74 in Education and €30.46 in Information and average weekly earnings (seasonally-adjusted) Communication to €12.60 in Accommodation and were €713.75 in the last quarter of 2016, up €14.21 food service activities. Over this two year period, (2%) on €699.54 in the last quarter of 2014. These average hourly earnings rose in nine economic averages mask wide variations between sectors sectors - Construction, Wholesale and Retail and wide changes over the period. In the last quar- Trade, Accommodation and Food services, Infor- ter of 2016, they ranged from €1,101 in Financial mation and Communication, Real Estate activities, Services and Insurance to €338 in Accommodation Professional, Scientific and Technical, Administra- and food services. Over this two year period, av- tive and Support services, and Human Health and erage weekly earnings rose in 13 economic sectors Social Work – and fell in seven – Mining and quar- – Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing, Wholesale rying, Manufacturing, Financial and Insurance, Pub- and Retail Trade, Transportation and Storage, Ac- lic Administration and Defence, Education, Arts, commodation and Food Services, Information and Entertainment and Recreation and other service Communication, Financial and Insurance activities, activities. Real Estate activities, Professional, Scientific and The largest percentage increase in average hourly Technical activities, Administrative and Support earnings was in Information and Communication Services, Education, Human Health and Social (+17.9%), while the largest percentage decrease Work, and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation – was in Financial and insurance activities (-8.3%). and fell in three – Construction, Public Administra- Manufacturing saw a decline of 2 cent (-0.01%). tion and Defence, and other service activities. The largest percentage increase was in Real Estate ac- Average hourly earnings rose by 2.3% in firms with tivities, up 22.9%, while the largest percentage de- fewer than 50 employees, by 1% in firms with be- crease was in Other Services activities, down tween 50 and 250 employees and by 0.7% in firms 0.9%. with more than 250 employees. Average hourly earnings in the private sector rose Rise in average weekly paid hours by 1.7% and by 1.6% in the public sector. The CSO The increase in average weekly earnings was makes the point that since many public sector em- partly due to an increase in average weekly paid ployees are paid on the basis of incremental hours, which rose from 31.9 hours to 32.4 hours scales, recruitment to the public sector, particu- (un-adjusted). larly at the lower paid levels, generally depresses average hourly earnings.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 47

CSO data does indicate that total public sector quarters of 2016, 54% of all those earning the employment, including semi-states, rose by 3.3% NMW or less were females while 46% were males. from 374,000 in the last quarter of 2014 to In total, 11% of all female employees and 9% of all 386,300 in the last quarter of 2016. The largest male employees earned the NMW or less. Overall, percentage increase in employment was in the the Services sector accounted for more than four Civil Service, which was up 4.5% from 38,200 in out of five (82%) of all those earning the NMW or the last quarter of 2014 to 39,900 in the last quar- less. Specifically, while the Wholesale and Retail ter of 2016. The only sub-sector to record a fall Trade and Accommodation and Food services ac- was the Defence Forces, down 3% from 9,800 to counted for 14% and 8% respectively of all em- 9,500 over this period. It should also be recalled ployees, they each accounted for around one that 427,300 were employed in the public sector, quarter of all employees earning the NMW or less. including in the semi-states, in the last quarter of Employees aged between 15-24 accounted for 2008. This was reduced by more than 55,000 (- less than one in ten (9%) of all employees, but 13%) over the following six years, to 371,900 by nearly two in five (38%) of all those earning the the third quarter of 2014. It has been rising since NMW or less. Employees working on a part-time then, though not necessarily in the areas that saw basis accounted for just over one-fifth (23%) of all the greatest reductions. employees, but almost three in five (59%) of all those earning the NMW or less. Just over a quarter One in five low paid in 2014 (27%) of all employees who worked part-time Data published by the EU’s statistical agency Eu- earned the NMW or less. The proportion of Irish rostat in December 2016 indicated that over one nationals who reported earning the NMW or less in five employees (21.6%) were low-wage earners. was 9%, compared to 17% for all non-nationals. In This meant that they earned two-thirds or less of total, while non-nationals accounted for 16% of all median gross hourly earnings, the gross hourly employees, they accounted for 28% of all employ- earnings that divide the top half of gross hourly ees earning the NMW or less. earnings from the bottom half, in 2014, the most recent year for which Europe-wide data was avail- The Low Pay Commission and the Minimum Wage able. Eurostat estimated median gross hourly earn- The National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commis- ings at €20.2 an hour, putting Ireland’s low-wage sion) Act 2015 established the Low Pay Commis- threshold at €13.40 an hour. Ireland’s 21.6% low sion as the statutory body to examine the NMW wage earners, which included 25.6% of women hourly rate of pay and to make annual recommen- and 16.8% of men, was the seventh highest of the dations to the Government. 26 EU member states for which data was available In 2015, ICTU had proposed that the NMW be and was above the EU-26 average of 17.2%. raised by €1.35 to €10 an hour. In 2016 it recommended that it be aligned with the Living Wage, One in 12 on or below the minimum wage at end estimated at €11.50 an hour in July 2016. of 2016 Prior to 2016, the last change to the national min- The Low Pay Commission submitted its first report imum wage (NMW) had been in July 2011, when in July 2015, recommending an 50c increase from the €1 cut imposed in early 2011, which had re- €8.65 to €9.15. This came into effect in January duced it from €8.65 to €7.65, was reversed. 2016. The Commission’s second report was sub- CSO data, published in April 2017, indicated that mitted in July 2016, recommending a 10c increase the proportion of employees (for whom earnings to €9.25 an hour. This came into effect in January data was reported), earning the NMW or less fell 2017. from 11.4% (173,200) in the second quarter of It should be noted that while the Programme for a 2016, to 10.3% (157,600) in the third quarter, and Partnership Government (May 2016) includes com- to 8.6% (134,500) in the last quarter of 2016. The mitments to strengthen the role of the Low Pay questions upon which these results were based Commission in relation to in-work poverty and to were added to CSO surveys only in the second ‘review’ the lower pay of women, it also appears quarter of 2016, so it is not possible to compare to set a cap on possible increases with the com- these results with early data. It does appear how- mitment to raise the NMW to €10.50 an hour by ever that the numbers earning the NMW or less is 2021. greater than previously thought. Ireland’s minimum wage compared to other Euro- Taking the average of the results for the last three pean countries

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 49 In February 2017, Eurostat estimated that in pur- but for all those living in consistent poverty in chasing power standards terms, which eliminate 2015, the three most common forms were being price differentials, Ireland’s NMW in January 2017 unable to afford to replace worn-out furniture (i.e. €9.25 an hour) was the sixth highest of the 22 (74%), a morning, afternoon or evening out in the EU member states for which data was available – last fortnight for entertainment (68%), and having after Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, the Nether- family or friends for a drink or a meal once a month lands and France - and was just above the UK. (62%).

In-work poverty, though falling, was above pre- Over 50,000 low-paid families receive Family In- crisis levels come Supplement The CSO Survey of Income and Living Conditions The extent of in-work poverty is also revealed by (SILC) data indicates that extreme in-work the rise in spending on the Family Income Supple- poverty, though declining, remained above pre- ment (FIS), which is paid to low-paid employees crisis levels over this period. with children up to the age of 18 (or 22 if in fulltime education), and who work at least 19 hours a The CSO firstly defines the ‘at risk of poverty rate’ week. In 2007, 22,800 families, including 47,000 as the proportion of persons with an equivalised children, received the FIS. income below 60% of the national median income While the FIS is now paid to families who previ- (i.e. the income dividing the top half from the bot- ously may have received other supports the num- tom half). ber of families in receipt of the FIS in 2015 had It then defines enforced deprivation as the propor- risen to 55,000, including 120,000 children, at an tion of persons who are excluded and margin- estimated cost of €349 million, and to over 57,000 alised from consuming or availing of at least two families, including almost 127,000 children, by of 11 basic goods and services that are considered early 2017, at an estimated cost of €422 million. the norm for other people in society, due to not being able to afford them. These include not being Expectations for the future able to afford two pairs of strong shoes; a meal EU Eurobarometer public opinion surveys indicate with meat, chicken or fish, or a vegetarian equiva- that 31% of all Irish respondents (note, not just of lent every second day; to keep one’s home ade- those at work) in autumn 2016 felt their house- quately warm; to replace worn out furniture; or a hold’s financial situation would improve over the morning, afternoon or evening out in the last fort- following year, marginally up on the 30% who felt night for entertainment. it would improve in autumn 2014. 61% felt it would And it defines an individual who is at risk of stay the same, up from 53% in autumn 2014, and poverty and who is experiencing enforced depri- 6% felt it would worsen, down from 15% two years vation as being in ‘consistent poverty’. previously. It should be noted that the proportion who felt their household’s financial situation would CSO SILC data for 2015 (2016 data not available) improve over the following year fell after late indicates that 5.8% of those at work were at risk 2015, possibly reflecting concern about Brexit. of poverty, down from 6.0% in 2014 and 6.7% in 2007. 16.4% of those at work experienced enforced deprivation in 2015. While this is down from 19.9% in 2014 it is still over three times 2007’s rate of 4.9%. And 2.1% of those at work were living in consistent poverty in 2015, down from 2.6% in 2014, but still above the 1.2% in 2007. The CSO does not indicate the most common forms of enforced deprivation being experienced by people at work who were in consistent poverty

50 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Social Developments

A number of momentous events occurred during In November 2016 Donald Trump won the US Pres- this period which shaped a volatile period not idential election on the back of promises to return alone in Ireland and Europe but across the world. jobs and investment to America, particularly in the so-called ‘Rust Belt’; to curb immigration and to February 2015 saw the election of Alexis Tsipras, shake up the Washington ‘establishment’. His leader of Syrizia in Greece, as Prime Minister with election as President was followed by mass a strong mandate to reject the previously agreed protests in cities across the United States, though Troika debt deal. Public agitation, which bubbled the defeated Democrat, Hilary Clinton urged her over into street riots, took centre stage and pro- supporters to accept the result. Trump had never voked questions about the unity and future of the before held political office and his election was European union itself. viewed with widespread concern internationally.

Tsipras, was re-elected in September 2015 follow- In the European union, the Commission’s consul- ing a snap General Election, which was essentially tation on an ‘EU Pillar of Social Rights’ concluded a referendum on a re-negotiated deal agreed with at the end of 2016. Launched in March, the aim the EU/IMF/ECB in July 2015. It proved impossible was to improve the functioning of labour market to resist deep austerity measures, including the and social security systems across Europe, partic- privatisation of public assets which Syrizia had ularly in the light of technological changes and in- hoped to prevent. The party avoided the country’s novation, by providing a set of principles against outright bankruptcy, but the scale of the challenge which to benchmark the performance of Members to re-establish Greece as a functioning economy, States, primarily in the Eurozone. The plan was first and to restore hope and opportunity for the Greek put forward in Commission President, Jean-Claude people remained immense. Junker’s maiden ‘State of the European union’ address delivered in September 2015. It was part of In the United Kingdom, a General Election took an attempt to respond to popular disengagement place in May 2015, resulting in a Conservative ma- and disaffection with the EU project in the wake jority government under Prime Minister, David of the international financial and economic crisis. Cameron. Labour’s Ed Miliband subsequently resigned as Leader. Jeremy Corbyn took over in Sep- At home, 24th May 2015, marked an historic day tember having won the party’s leadership contest as Ireland voted Yes to marriage equality by 62.1%. with 59.5% of the votes. Under pressure from SIPTU was very active in the referendum cam- backbench Tory MPs, Cameron called a referen- paign, based on a recommendation to support the dum on membership of the European union in June proposition from the National Executive Council. 2016. After a campaign marked by fears about im- District Council meetings in Cork, Kilkenny, Water- migration, loss of sovereignty and a myriad of ford, Wexford, Cavan, Kildare and Dublin dis- other concerns stoked by UKIP, the Brexit decision cussed the topic and mobilised support. The was carried by 52% to 48%. Cameron resigned and union’s position was also promulgated through the Theresa May became leader of the Conservative Liberty newspaper, highlighting equality as a core party and Prime Minister. value for our union, whether in relation to fair pay and conditions of employment, securing the rights While Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to re- of lesbian and gay people or advancing social jus- main in Europe, Westminster ruled out the tice generally. prospect of any special deals for the devolved governments and took an early ‘hard’ Brexit ap- SIPTU also played a pivotal role at Irish Congress proach. In the aftermath of the referendum Jeremy of Trade unions level, with Ethel Buckley acting as Corbyn faced a challenge to his leadership within Convenor of ‘Trade unionists for Civil Marriage the parliamentary Labour party but he secured an Equality’, which was established as an umbrella increased mandate of 61.8% from the Labour Party group drawn from across the trade union move- membership. ment. The group launched on the eve of St Valen- SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 51 tine’s Day amid music, song and a special screen- make recommendations on the national minimum ing of the film PRIDE in Liberty Hall. wage. In July 2015, the Commission recommended an increase of 50 cents in the rate to €9.15 and this Opposition to water charges in 2015 took the form was implemented from 1 January 2016. of rallies and other protest action through the Right2Water campaign. SIPTU argued for an ade- In early 2015 the issue of precarious work moved quate allocation to meet all the domestic needs of up the political agenda. Minister of State for householders with a tariff only to apply for any ad- Labour Affairs, Gerald Nash, commissioned a study ditional excessive usage and pledged to work with into the prevalence of zero hours contracts in the other trade unions and civil society groups to Irish economy and a report was issued in Novem- achieve these objectives. SIPTU also pushed for a ber containing a series of policy and legislative Referendum to enshrine the supply of water in recommendations to tackle the abuse of irregular public ownership. working arrangements.

In July 2015, a determined lobby by SIPTU, sup- The 31st D il was dissolved in February 2016 and ported by other unions, finally bore fruit with the a General áElection held on 26th. SIPTU issued a resurrection of collective bargaining rights that statement urging members to vote for candidates had previously been struck down by the Supreme on the Left and help the Labour Party deny right Court. Former SIPTU Vice-President, Patricia King, wing parties a majority in government. The people worked particularly closely on the issue with the spoke and the resultant composition of the D il Labour party in government to overcome resist- was Fine Gael 50, Fianna Fail 44, Sinn Fein 23, In-á ance from some quarters within Fine Gael and dependents 12, Labour 7, Independent Alliance 6, from employers. The Industrial Relations (Amend- AAA-PBP 6, Independents for Change 4, Social De- ment) Act 2015 gave workers an enhanced ability mocrats 3 and Green Party 2. The election was par- to engage in collective bargaining, even if a trade ticularly bruising for Labour while Fianna Fail and union was not recognised in the workplace. It al- Sinn Fein made considerable gains. lowed for Registered Employment Agreements in enterprises and made provision for new Sectoral The outgoing Fine Gael/Labour administration re- Employment Orders. mained in place in a care-taker capacity while discussions on the formation of a new government In June 2015 SIPTU’s National Executive recom- took place. Given the fragmented political scene, mended that members support the ‘Lansdowne it was not until the 6th May 2016 that Enda Kenny Road Agreement’ on public service pay, in order had sufficient support to become Taoiseach, with to follow a pathway towards pay recovery and to the votes of Fine Gael, nine Independent deputies secure safeguards against outsourcing. A ballot and, crucially, a minority government agreement was conducted and members voted to back the with Fianna Fail. deal. In the meantime, a programme of events to com- On the 12th June 2015, Clerys workers received memorate the centenary of the 1916 Rising took the sudden and devastating news that the depart- place, cumulating in a march through Dublin on ment store was to close immediately with the loss Easter Sunday. Given that James Connolly and Lib- of 460 jobs. The business had been split into sep- erty Hall had a prominent place in the Rising, SIPTU arate operating and property companies. The was heavily involved in the commemorations, building was sold to Natrium Ltd, while the trading hosting a series of cultural events. arm went into liquidation. The Justice for Clerys Workers campaign began to achieve a fair out- While SIPTU was supportive of initiatives to extend come for former employees and secure legislation the apprenticeship model into new areas such as to ensure other workers could not be left high- hospitality and transport, as signalled by the Ap- and-dry in a similar manner. prenticeship Council in mid 2015, concerns emerged in 2016 about the way in which this was Upon taking over leadership of the Labour party, happening. SIPTU criticised the lack of consulta- T inaiste Joan Burton secured an agreement with tion in respect of two proposed apprenticeships, Fineá Gael to establish a Low Pay Commission to one for commis chefs and the other for drivers of

52 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). The concern was From the start of 2016 SIPTU worked closely with to ensure genuine training, proper supervision, ac- the Labour party to advance a Private Members’ ceptable terms and conditions, career progression Bill, introduced to the Seanad by Ivana Bacik, to and measures to prevent abuse were put in place. give collective bargaining rights to freelance workers and by November it had passed all stages In July 2016, the Low Pay Commission issued its of the Upper House, with the support of the Gov- second report, recommending an increase of 10c ernment. However, the next phase of securing its in the minimum wage to €9.25. SIPTU criticised it passage through the Dail was not completed by as wholly inadequate since a Living Wage rate of the end of the year. €11.50 is required as the basis for a dignified life. It underlined the need for collective bargaining as the key to decent work, achieving adequate working hours and establishing safeguards such as sick pay and pension provisions.

In August 2016, SIPTU called for an end to the Job Bridge internship scheme, because it was no longer needed in the context of a more buoyant economy and steeply declining rates of unemployment.

On 11th October, 2016, the new Fine Gael/Inde- pendents coalition announced Budget 2017. Hav- ing argued for no tax cuts, SIPTU regretted that the government favoured this approach over more substantial investment, notably in housing, infrastructure and childcare. SIPTU had argued in Budget 2016 that an increased share of resources should be allocated to public services and that tax measures should be concentrated on low to middle income earners, in the ratio of 2:1. It was dis- couraged by the government opting for a 50:50 split.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 53 Disputes sanctioned in 2015

54 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Disputes sanctioned in 2016

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 55 Disputes sanctioned in 2016 (continued)

56 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Disputes sanctioned in 2016 (continued)

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 57 Changes in Sick Pay Schemes and other Working Conditions 2015-2016

58 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 59 60 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 61 62 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Health Division

Biennial Delegate Conference Sally Corr Mary Dolan McLoughlin The SIPTU Health Divisional Conference was held Ciaran Sheridan on 13 October and 14 October, 2016, in Liberty Padraig Heverin Hall, Dublin. Rebecca Donohue Brendan Fagan Eamon Cluskey SIPTU 2015 2016 Ambulance 1124 1158 Allied Health Support Staff Sector Committee Professionals 3388 3257 Peter Behan Nursing 3689 3707 Brian Condra Support Grade 30496 31676 Jacqueline Cooke Totals 38697 39798 Broc Delaney Martina Gilmartin William Mc Guinness Denis Murphy Speakers at the conference included: Marion O'Donnell Jack O’Connor, General President, SIPTU Des Reilly Noel Warde Joe O’Flynn, General Secretary, SIPTU Pat Lalor Gene Mealy, Vice-President, SIPTU John Hally Joe Cunningham, National Organiser, SIPTU Bernadette Murphy Paul Bell, Divisional Organiser, SIPTU Anne Rochford Christina Tryrell Paddy Moran, Honorary National Secretary Billy Walsh of SIPTU Retired Members Section Paul Ryan Patricia King, General Secretary, ICTU, on the Tuture of Health Care in Ireland Federica Pipolo, Calais Jungle Volunteer Ambulance Sector Committee Ilias Kondylis, Senior Lecturer, The London Seamus Blanc School of Medicine on the impact of austerity John O’Leary and privatisation in Greece Colleen Wheelan Terry Devine Mathias Maucher, EPSU Policy Officer, Health Ciran Sheridan and Social Services on TTIP/CETA agreements Declan Duffy and their potential impact on public health serv- Declan O’Farrell ices Robert Fitzgerald Dr Guillermo Ruben, La Federaci n de Tommy Scales Asociaciones de Trabajadores deó la Sanidad Argentina on multinationalisation of health services in South America Allied Health Professionals Sector Committee Professor Karen Spilsbury, Investment Chair Brendan Fagan in Nursing Research, University of Leeds Gerard Noone David Noone Marie Barry Divisional Committee Sally Corr Julie Bissett Colette Regan Alan Burke Jonathan Woods Joe Casey Michelle Monaghan Cathal Flood Sean MacGabhann Colette Regan Liz Fahy Matt Reilly Rory Hawkins

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 63 Nursing and Midwifery Sector Committee OVERVIEW OF SIPTU HEALTH Anne Burke DIVISION 2015-2017 Eamonn Cluskey Rebecca Donohue Donie Doody Pat Murphy SIPTU’s Health Division consists of five distinct sec- Padraig Peyton tors catering for the broad spectrum of our mem- Paul Boyle bers serving our National Health Service: Bernie Heneghan Ambulance Sector Simon Gibbons Allied Health Professional Sector Padraig Heverin Nursing Sector Support Staff Sector Care Sector (Health Care Assistants) Divisional Staff

Paul Bell Divisional Organiser During this period the Health Division extended its Kevin Figgis Sector Organiser work in organising members by creating a dedi- Sean Nolan Sector Organiser cated sector for Health Care Assistants and related grades. Mari Butler Sector Organiser Tony Kenny Sector Organiser Our Division also concentrated on developing the structures necessary to establish an additional sec- Declan Ferry Industrial Organiser tor to serve members working in the Intellectual Pat Condon Industrial Organiser Disability Sector in response to growing demands Pat Flannery Industrial Organiser for such services and additional staff being em- Sharon Cregan Industrial Organiser ployed in it after a period of enforced recruitment stagnation. Ted Kenny Industrial Organiser Liam Allen Assistant Industrial Organiser The period was dominated by two specific events: the General election of February 2016, which led Aideen Carberry Assistant Industrial Organiser to a Fine Gael Government and dismissal of the David Field Assistant Industrial Organiser Labour Party from Government; and the negotiat- Sandra Flanagan Assistant Industrial Organiser ing of a successor agreement to the Haddington Road Agreement. Daminan Ginley Assistant Industrial Organiser John Hubbard Assistant Industrial Organiser The Lansdowne Road Agreement succeeded in Mark Lohan Assistant Industrial Organiser ensuring members on low and middle incomes could begin a journey forward in the process of John McCamley Assistant Industrial Organiser unwinding the FEMPI legislation. The first conces- Dave Morris Assistant Industrial Organiser sions on pay increases for the lower paid were Mark Quinn Assistant Industrial Organiser achieved, as well as the introduction of a threshold which allowed thousands of low paid Health Ray Stanley Assistant Industrial Organiser Workers to be exempted from levies applied Ben Weathers Assistant Industrial Organiser, under the FEMPI legislation. Ben retired last year. Mary Holmes Administrative Assistant With the assistance of the SIPTU Campaigns De- partment, the ‘Better Health Care Better Jobs’ Celine O’Connor Administrative Assistant campaign continued and a ‘national conversation’ Laura Tucker Administrative Assistant was organised with shop stewards and activists Kathleen throughout the country. O’Shaughnessy Administrative Assistant However, what was different about the Lans- downe Road Agreement was the Government’s determination to undermine the terms of the agreement for one of the Nursing and Midwifery

64 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 unions, and, at the latter end of 2016, its commit- Motion 2 ment to a game changing agreement with An Long Term Organising Strategy Garda Siochana. That SIPTU invest in a Long Term Organising Strat- egy to build Collective Strength through organis- These actions led to claims from the ICTU Public ing new and existing Health Care Assistant’s so we Sector Committee for engagement on the anom- can become the leading contributor to the profes- alies generated by the Garda concessions. Gov- sionalisation of their role in a National European ernment committed to engagement on the crisis and International Context. in the first quarter of 2017. SIPTU cannot rely on the organised public sector The Better Healthcare Better Jobs campaign con- alone to create density among Health Care Assis- tinued to give ownership of the recovery agenda tants, and with the potential for new types of serv- to our shop stewards and members which, in turn, ices to spring up, run and staffed by the private empowered our Division in the creation of a strate- sector we need to meet the Health Care assistants gic plan for future public sector national negotia- where they are educated and trained. tions. Our national conversation with members continued to concentrate on political goals in We believe we should have a core group of spe- areas concerning pay justice and, in particular, the cially trained Organisers to visit each HealthCare rigid application of the Pension Related Levy (PRD) training /education facility to create a data base and the Universal Social Charge (USC). of student members, with appropriate follow up and support, so we can build long term SIPTU as- The main focus of our campaign was to encourage sociation with HealthCare assistants – increasing and reinvigorate our Stewards and Activists to collective strength and ensuring density and influ- pursue the elimination of the FEMPI legislation, re- ence in the SIPTU HealthCare Sector for years to sist outsourcing, achieve increases in pay and se- come. cure a commitment to employ more staff.

All the issues identified as core to our members were endorsed by way of motions presented and Organising, Recruitment and Communications debated at the 2016 Health Division Biennial Dele- The Health Division continued to increase mem- gate Conference. bership in 2015 and 2016. It has now reached Much of the Health Division’s daily work involved 40,000. engagement with the HSE and Voluntary Hospitals This momentum was made possible by the con- on issues concerning implementation of the certed effort of our colleagues in SIPTU’s Organis- Haddington Road and Lansdowne Road agreeing Department and by the collaborative focus of ments. All sectors in the Health Division engaged our Officials, Shop Stewards and Activists. with employers on issues concerning payment of compensation, redeployment, recruitment, the The Health Division has invested heavily in a ded- Support Staff Intern programme, recruitment and icated communications programme, led by a com- other issues concerning the interpretation and im- mitted and experienced colleague. (Name) Details plementation of the agreements. of the Health Division communications project is available in the health section of this report.

MOTIONS PASSED Two other significant developments in developing our membership potential has been the creation of the Health Care Assistant and Care Assistant Motion 1 Sector, strategically initiated in recognition of the Mandatory registration for Healthcare Assistants growing number of members working in this SIPTU calls on government to give priority to the grade, ensuring that Government and HSE initia- regulation of Health Care assistants supported by tives focussed on this grade are maximised for the necessary investment in ongoing education benefit our membership.1 and training, in recognition of the role and responsibilities they carry out in the various healthcare Our Division has also been actively developing a settings. Sector for members working in the Intellectual Dis-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 65 ability area and it is anticipated that this Sector will which will be further elaborated on in this report. become a reality in 2017. However, Support Staff voiced their determination Under the heading of Communications it is impor- to see the Lansdowne Road Agreement revisited tant to note that the lead up to the SIPTU Health and negotiations brought forward from the expiry Division Biennial Delegate Conference in 2016 pro- date of the national agreement due in 2018 to vided for very successful interaction between 2017. This followed the Government’s decision to Shop Stewards and Activists. This, in turn, led to a breach the pay terms of the agreement to give very successful conference with all motions pre- one group of public servants, namely members of sented outlining our members objectives in any fu- An Garda Siochana a pay award than that ex- ture negotiations for a successor agreement of the ceeded the terms of the LRA. LRA. The campaign at the latter end 2016, driven by It is fair to say that what emerged from our inter- that determination to secure fair play, led to the action and conference was a manifesto for making agreement that all public servants would have the things betters for the thousands of SIPTU members €1,000 payment due on 1st October 2017 brought employed in the Health Service, as well as the cit- forward April 1st, 2017, along with negotiations for izens of our nation who depend on the public pro- a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement. vision of properly staffed and resourced health services.

Disputes of Note within the Health Division Support Sector Membership SUPPORT SERVICES SECTOR While there have been numerous sanctions for 1st January 2015 to 31st December 2016 has wit- strikes and industrial action approved in local dis- nessed increased membership in the Support Staff putes, the following three stand out as all arose Sector through dedicated Organising Activity and from the non-application of the Lansdowne Road Campaigning. Agreement, or an attack by a single employer which had the potential to undermine our terms In our Sector’s last report in 2015 we were in a po- and conditions throughout the Health Services. sition to report that Support Staff would enjoy the These included: reintroduction of their Job Evaluation process and that all Support Staff Interns would be offered per- Non-implementation of Health Service Support manent employment on completion of 18 months Staff Job Evaluation service. This will benefit 1,500 members. Both of Failure to address anomalies which impacted on these initiatives were achieved within the terms of incremental credits and, or pay and conditions of the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA). But, as members employed as interns with any agreement, the implementation depends on the will of Activists and members as both of A unilateral decision by the management of St these initiatives were frustrated and challenged by James Hospital to enforce an extremely high pay the HSE, the Department of Health and the Depart- parking regime on members which would have re- ment of Public Expenditure and Reform. sulted in all monetary gains made by our union under the Lansdowne Road Agreement being The Lansdowne Road Agreement also delivered wiped out. on the first steps in delivering for our members on low pay from the impact of the Pension Related The decision of the HSE and Department of Health Deduction (PRD) imposed through the Financial to breach the terms of the Lansdowne Road Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 1 Agreement by making concessions to one group and 2 (FEMPI). Members on wages or salaries of workers in the Acute Hospital Network’s Emer- under E28,500 were declared exempt from the gency Department. levy, with effect on 1st January, 2015. At the cut-off date for this report, 31st December, Members on pay below the FEMPI threshold also 2016, with the exception of the issue concerning secured a pay increase over the period of the parking fees in St James’s Hospital, which was fully Lansdowne Road Agreement. resolved to our members’ satisfaction, the remaining issues were heading for requests for strike ac- The period of the report was not without conflict 66 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 tion. This was because the employer either frus- would contain a social clause committing organi- trated or totally dismissed our members’ rights to sations in this sector, and especially those provid- the benefit of these agreements and our exclusion ing community services such as home help or from negotiations on the Emergency Department home care, not to apply zero hour contracts; and issue which placed SIPTU members working in the also to recognise collective bargaining and utilisa- area at an unfair disadvantage. tion of the state’s dispute resolution institutions in order to protect the lowest paid and most vulner- Outsourcing Support Staff Services able workers in the Health Service. SIPTU successfully negotiated significant amend- The issue of zero hour contracts, precarious work ments to the outsourcing clause in the Haddington and low pay in the Section 39 Community Care Road Agreement when it entered the Lansdowne sector featured in the University of Limerick’s Road negotiations. These strengthened the pro- study, specially commissioned by the Fine Gael tection of members’s jobs. It also successfully and Labour Government, into this area, to which pushed the Government in Budget 2016 to aban- SIPTU Health Division made a major contribution. don the Health Service moratorium on staff recruitment introduced under FEMPI.

HSE expenditure on Agency costs continued to Intellectual Disability grow at alarming rates through 2015 and 2016. The past two years have been very challenging for This situation was compounded by the HSE’s uni- the Intellectual Disability Sub Sector. The contin- lateral decision in 2015 to apply a “recruitment ued cuts in HSE funding, coupled with the ongoing pause” for the sole purpose of balancing the ac- effects of previous cuts, has left the service counts. starved of resources. In many instances, the developmental work that was being done with clients It has become increasingly apparent that SIPTU has been curtailed, or has ceased altogether, and other public sector unions operating in health being replaced by basic maintenance pro- need a formal agreement on workforce planning grammes. At meetings with Government officials, for the next five years in order to ensure that the SIPTU has continually raised these cuts and the expected high level of retirements at the latter issue of future funding of Section 38 and Section end of this period does not give rise to our agree- 39 agencies involved in this sector. The cuts have ment on ‘Outsourcing’ being undermined through meant that many of these agencies have seriously a manufactured crisis created by a deliberate fail- depleted financial resources as they have tried to ure on the employers’ part to address manpower bridge the funding gap themselves. We are now planning. in a situation where the viability of entire organisations is in jeopardy. This, in turn, has resulted in Section 39 Organisations Institutional Care and continued pressure on members’ terms and con- Community ditions, leading to a number of disputes on non- Over the past two years we have been forced into payment of increments, or deferrals of payments balloting for strike or industrial action in the Intel- due on consolidated pay scales, fuelling the race lectual Disability area of the Health Service oper- to the bottom. The focus going forward has to be ated by Section 39 organisations. on securing proper funding, the re-introduction of The ongoing disquiet has been because employ- meaningful supports for service users, and a na- ers in the non-acute and community sectors are tional approach to the resolution of disputes. not in in a position to pay our members incre- They are all part of the one process. The third ments, or arrears accruing from non-application of party hearing process involving the WRC and increments. These Section 39 employers have laid Labour Court into the issue of Sleepover Al- the blame on the HSE, as they claim that cuts in lowances has created an opportunity to finally put funding have led to this progressively worsening in place a workable solution that adequately re- crisis. wards the efforts of our members, along with their The other significant issue since the Lansdowne colleagues elsewhere in the Health family. These Road Agreement was adopted by our members is negotiations on the implementation of the recent the HSE’s and the DPER’s failure to honour com- Labour Court Recommendation (LCR 203837), will mitments that Service Level Agreements(SLA) shape the future of night work in the ID Sector. It

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 67 Graduate Nurses protest outside D il ireann, on 27th September, 2016 overá É payments that nurses and midwives who graduated between 2011 and 2015 did not receive. is important that we resolve this issue to our mem- residents from care centres to individual housing bers’ satisfaction, and ensure that all retrospection locations, that ensures adequate resources are put owing is paid within HSE, Section 38 and Section in place to respect the rights of service users and 39 organisations. employees. This will pose new challenges for SIPTU in organising a more dispersed workforce. Following on from recent negotiations with some Section 39 Agencies in this sub-sector, it has be- The provision of realistic and adequate funding for come more apparent that the protections afforded all ID services to avoid the race to the bottom. by the Lansdowne Road Agreement are vital to As the wider economy improves, we need to en- stem the diminution of hard won entitlements. Our sure that extra resources for those with Intellectual policy is to encourage these agencies to apply its Disabilities are put at the forefront of health policy. terms as a means of ending the erosion of mem- Too often in the past, their needs have been for- bers’ earnings. Strengthening the link between gotten in the face of wider health issues. We now these agencies and the HSE as the key source of have an opportunity to reclaim much of the their funding is another priority. This is, of course, ground lost during the past decade of cuts. In against a background where the HSE, as the main keeping with these developments, the union will funder, tries to distance itself from these employ- be building on the work of the past two years to ers on industrial relations issues, abdicating its re- create a vibrant full Sectoral structure during the sponsibilities to ensure compliance with the coming year that is representative of all the work- provisions of national agreements and best indus- ers involved in ID. Now is the time to focus in a trial relations practice. positive manner on delivering on our five agreed Media reports of some very disappointing happen- objectives. ings has put a new focus on support services for people with Intellectual Disabilities. As a union, Health Care Assistants SIPTU strives to achieve a well resourced and pro- Over 100 HCAs attended the launch of the SIPTU fessional ID service. It does not condone unprofes- Health Care Sector Assistant (HCA) Sector in the sional behaviour. Many of these problems stem Royal College of Physicians on 26th March 2015. from the service being under resourced over a Together with Leo Varadkar, Minister for Health, long period. We must ensure that greater public and key decision makers and influencers, we con- awareness of the problems leads to more re- firmed SIPTU’s status as the excepted Trade union sources and improved standards to address these body for Health Care Assistants. SIPTU also called issues. on the Department of Health and the HSE to es- An important new development has been SIPTU’s tablish a National Forum for HCAs and related decision to establish an interim ID Sectoral Com- grades, where we could pursue the sectors mittee, representative of the many grades and cat- agenda with the employer. The launch was at- egories of workers that we represent on a daily tended by Jack O’Connor, General President of basis within the ID community. This committee is SIPTU, Patricia King, General Secretary of ICTU, working through a programme based on five key keynote speakers and invited guests. objectives with a view to formally launching the Sector in its own right in 2017. These objectives The objective was to establish SIPTU as the ‘Go to are: union’ for Health Care Assistants and related Grades. The union organized a campaign to: A joint review of the operation with the employer of the Trust in Care policy 1. Establish SIPTU as the only union with A joint review of the Assault at Work scheme with negotiation rights for HCAs and related grades the provision of proper protections for Support 2. Organise and build a strong collective base Staff in the workplace so that we can represent the grades collectively An evaluation of the work carried out by Support 3. Call on the Dept of Health and the HSE to Staff within the sector, together with agreement establish a permanent National Forum for on registration and minimum standards, and edu- HCAs and related grades so that, as the cational opportunities for those employed within leading trade union in Ireland, SIPTU would the sector have a forum in which we can influence the An agreed protocol for the ‘decongregation’ of future development of the grade and deliver SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 69 SIPTU members and activists joined with colleagues from the European Public Services Union (EPSU) on World Health Day 2016 (Thursday, 7th April) to protest outside the European Commission, Brussels, to highlight the threat of the increasing privatisation of health services across Europe. the SIPTU Care Sector’s five point agenda, the National Ambulance Service. They are Ted with its twin objectives of recognition and Kenny who assists with the National committees development, including the negotiation of and in national discussions with the employer. Pat pay and conditions. Flannery, Declan Ferry and John McCamley have responsibility for the NAS regionally and myself, Five Point Agenda Sean Nolan, as the Sector Organiser. 1. Registration and recognition Our Divisional Organiser Paul Bell provides valued 2. National Job Description and appropriate assistance and support on national issues as re- workplace uniform. quired. 3. Ongoing Education Training, Development and Progression. We have over 70 committed Representatives 4. Permanency and incremental credit across the country with a number sitting on the for Interns. National Committee’s Irish Ambulance Represen- 5. SIPTU Negotiated pay and conditions. tative Council and the National Ambulance Sector Committee. I wish to thank our Shop Stewards for The first AGM of the SIPTU HealthCare Sector was their commitment and for all the time they put in held in the Oak Room, Mansion House, Dublin, on on a voluntary basis on behalf of members across 30th March 2016. Significant developments in- the country. cluded: In 2015 the 10% restoration of basic pay to our In- termediate Care operatives was raised in the con- • The establishment of a National Forum for text of the Haddington Road Agreement and how HCAs and related grades in November 2016. it was to be applied. It was applied on the basis of A review of the grade across all disciplines is a new ten point formula that replaced the old envisaged. This will provide a platform for eight points with a long service increment, thus al- the SIPTU Healthcare sector (HCA) to lowing members to catch up and enjoy the full progress its agenda. benefit of the 10% restoration.

• As part of the Lansdowne Road Agreement A Rapid Response Vehicles Group and Subcom- (LRA), a Job Evaluation exercise was secured mittee was set up with an independent chair fol- for Support Grades. HCAs and related grades lowing conciliation conferences. This group dealt will be part of this exercise, and it will allow with the protocol regarding the use of this service. the expanded role carried out by Health Although a document was agreed by group man- Care assistants to be captured in all its agement the protocol has yet to be implemented. various guises. Retention of cardiac allowances in the North East • The SIPTU Healthcare (HCA) sector for members in patient transport services who succeeded in gaining permanency after 18 moved to Intermediate Care Vehicles (ICV) was re- months for staff recruited under the HSE ferred to the Workplace Relations Commission. intern scheme, instead of the previously The case was successful for this group. Unfortu- agreed 24 months. nately, the overall claim for those members who did not receive the allowance since 2012 was re- • Other aspects of pay and conditions of HCAs jected on the grounds that it was a cost increasing and related grades were addressed under claim under the Haddington Road agreement and the LRA, including the Pension levy thresh- was also precluded under the FEMPI legislation. old, which was increased – removing all We held our National Ambulance Service Strategy those earning under €28.000 from its conference in Dublin in March 2016. Representa- application. tives from all around the country attended. We identified several outstanding issues and a deci- NATIONAL AMBULANCE SECTOR sion was taken to seek sanction to ballot for industrial/strike action due to the failure of The financial membership within the Sector cur- Management and the HSE to resolve several out- rently stands at 1,157 members and is increasing standing matters. each year. The main issues were: We have five fulltime SIPTU organisers assigned to

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 71 • Publication of the long-awaited Capacity ing huge profits at the expense of the tax payer. Review on the National Ambulance Service. Approval was sought for an additional 150 posts between now and the end of 2018 to provide over • Full implementation of Labour Court 300 posts for the ICS service. If the engagement Recommendation LCR20313 covering of acute hospitals currently underway results in compensation for loss of earnings. earlier extra resources the figure of 150 will be re- • Full implementation of LCR20313 on staffing alised sooner. Continuous dialogue will take place the intermediate care service. to link capacity with demand for this service. • Meaningful engagement and discussions on an annualised hours system as allowed for under PSA agreements. National Transfer Policy We agreed in 2015 on a national transfer policy • Review of the roles and responsibilities of all following several years of discussions. grades within the Ambulance Service. We have a small group dealing with this matter Briefings of members on our campaign took place with management, including Peter Ray, Chairper- all over the country and they fully supported a call son/Shop Steward of the IARC and Ted Kenny infor a national strike ballot. dustrial organiser. It is a slow process, compounded by the fact that no local manager will agree to re- Capacity Review lease staff until they are back filled by other staff, in- The first success for our national campaign was the cluding those coming out of training. On the matter publication of the long-awaited Capacity Review of un-rostered staff, management are looking at a following the decision to hold a national strike bal- proposal where they may be able to get them back lot of all members. to their Health Board area. We are awaiting their Our campaign started off in 2014 with our col- proposal which will be discussed by the IARC. We leagues in the Dublin Fire Brigade making a sub- have also raised the matter of the National Ambu- mission to a hearing of the Joint Oireachtas lance Service hiring staff locally rather than nation- Committee on Health. Our submission outlined ally, as at present. what was required for a properly staffed service Management has confirmed it has received fund- with the resources needed to meet its responsibil- ing for an additional 96 paramedics and 36 ICO ities, including issues such as response times in staff for 2016. rural and urban areas. HIQA issued its own report before the National Capacity review and report was issued by the Minister. Maternity Policy within the Service A sub group was set up to look at the difficulties posed for female members within the service dur- Intermediate care service ing pregnancy. The group concluded a policy in Agreement was reached on the introduction of conformity with HSE policy. this important service, which dealt with inter hospital transfers and other issues, to free up ambulance crews to deal with emergency calls. Filling of Leading Emergency Medical Technician (LEMT) positions This was the subject of Labour Court Recommen- Over 70 positions on LEMT panels remained va- dation LCR20313. The Court stated that, due to cant. These panels are in place since the embargo savings made by the removal of specific overtime and the FEMPI legislation. We referred the matter and work practices, management should have the to the Work Place Relations Commission and service fully operational within two years of the agreement was reached on filling them. Despite date of the recommendation, which was issued in that agreement, management informed the union July 2012. Despite ongoing discussions since then that it cannot obtain funding to fill these positions. management only put in place resources allowing The matter was referred to the WRC under out- for approximately 150 staff to be employed. This standing national issues, as was allowed for in our was depleted when members in the Intermediate August 2016 WRC agreement. Care Vehicle service went for training as Para- medics. The numbers required to run the service Loss of Earnings following LCR 20313, LCR20002 should be over 440. Lack of funding and staff and LCR20456: means that private ambulance companies are mak- • Payments for loss of earnings will be made 72 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 in line with figures as per the National Shift Pay while on sick leave Ambulance Service validation process. The This matter was the subject of dispute between HSE and NAS committed to address the the union and management in the South. The mat- remaining outstanding areas throughout the ter was referred to the WRC, where no progress country and these payments will be was made and then on to the Labour Court. The completed in August/ September 2016 in matter is now back in the WRC as it has national line with payroll schedules. implications. Some areas pay the shift when staff are out sick and others do not. Different criteria • In regard to Naas, due to the absence of appear to apply to the payment in different areas. information on loss of earnings, the parties We are awaiting a date for the WRC meeting. agreed to a method for calculating them.

• A joint review process to clarify loss of Core rostering earnings parameters was set up and a first At present core rostering exists in the North West meeting has taken place. and the North East. Management decided to extend the system to the Midlands, South and the • Independent adjudication was agreed for East. Management met with the various groups of matters in dispute. Regarding other actual representatives and officials in the above areas. loss claims under LCR 20002 and LCR20456, Members were conscious of the fact that the management committed to payments being North-East system created serious problems for finalised in October/ November 2016. Again, staff as it was badly managed. In the North West issues in dispute would be the subject of ad dedicated persons were assigned to the manage- judication. Unfortunately, management did ment of the system which proved to be a very not meet the deadline and these issues good system. remained unresolved in 2016 The matter of core rostering was the subject of a Given the slow progress since the issuing of the conciliation conference at the WRC for the three above recommendation we put management on areas above. SIPTU wants one system, properly notice in the summer of 2016 that we were going managed and resourced across these areas. to ballot members for industrial/strike action.

Only after this did management start to engage is Officers Grades NAS a serious manner. A sub group was set up to over- There were two issues referred to the WRC: see the claims from our members. Its recommen- • National Recruitment decided to stand down dation was issued in July 2012. panels that were in place to fill officers’ positions. The parties agreed to appoint Mr Ray McGee as an At conciliation in the WRC, it was agreed that adjudicator for both individual cases and general posts would be filled by local and national com- matters concerning what exactly was covered by petition by May 2017. It was also agreed to con- the Labour Court Recommendations. tinue utilising the transfer policy to allow existing grade holders move location if required as part of the process to fill posts. Rest Periods This matter is at IARC level and, following several • The North East area unilaterally changed work meetings with management nationally, no agree- practices which we believe should be dealt with ment was reached. at national level. SIPTU is still awaiting the publication of the Mazars report regarding change to Management stated that the 11 hours’ compensa- management structures within the NAS. Our mem- tory rest periods must be agreed with the em- bers feel that management is trying to implement ployer. Management proposed the following change before the report is released. options: • We also met Management and HR on various na- • Owe hours back. tional issues which will be part of our agenda for • Offset hours from O/T paid. This meant that the discussions when the national report (Mazars?) is hours members would owe management could be released. taken from the hours they worked over their shift Members voted by over 92% to take strike action finishing times, which would be paid at over time over management’s failure to implement the WRC rates.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 73 brokered agreement and this was served on the recommendations in the capacity and 2014 management for August 2016. A working group HIQA reviews. was established to deal with matters of national A forum is to be set up comprising NAS manage- interest involving the National Ambulance serv- ment, SIPTU, and the HSE to oversee the imple- ice. mentation of the capacity review report. Terms It was agreed that a representative of the WRC of reference were to be agreed and a target date would chair this working group. In light of this of September 2016. The forum had yet to be es- proposal, SIPTU agreed to suspend its strike ac- tablished at the end of 2016. tion indefinitely. The proposals were agreed by As the forum had yet to be established, the pro- a ballot of members. We again had to threaten a posed progress report for the WRC was not ballot for action to get various matters moving completed by the agreed deadline of 30 Sep- and the WRC agreement of August 2016 imple- tember 2016. mented.

Numerous meetings took place with the national Non-Rostered staff committees, management and human resources. Management committed to engaging in a pro- SIPTU organisers, including our Divisional Organ- gramme of action to address outstanding issues iser Paul Bell, addressed the issues in dispute. Lit- from a short term and long term perspective to tle or no progress was reported and the parties improve engagement processes between the were invited to attend the WRC. Following in- parties. As part of this process the management tense discussions, a proposal was tabled by Anna of rostering arrangements in the case of non-ros- Perry, Director of Conciliation Services. tered staff was identified as a priority matter with the ambition of addressing the issue by Decem- The proposals addressed all the issues in dispute ber 2016, but agreement had not been reached as follows: by the end of 2016.

Annualised Hours National Issues The parties agreed to establish a specific work- A working group was established to deal with ing group to scope out and explore the concept matters of national interest involving the National of annualised hours as a potential future option Ambulance service. for the National Ambulance Service rostering arrangements, in line with the provisions of the A representative of the WRC would chair this Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2016 working group. and Haddington Road Agreement. It was agreed that an independent chairperson would facilitate The WRC is currently dealing with the following the work of this group, that the NAS annualised outstanding issues: hours working group would have formal terms of • Filling of LEMT panels which were referred to reference which provided the framework and Ray McGee as facilitator. time lines within which the group would operate, and that the process would commence on the 1 • Filling of officer positions referred to concilia- October, 2016, to be finalised no later than the tion on which a proposal letter issued. end of February 2017. • Core rostering discussions continued and a bes t practice document from management is Capacity Review awaited. This review recognised the requirements over the coming years for 461 additional posts to Green Hours meet service demands. It is recognised that • Despite numerous meetings, the matter of our meeting staffing deficits will be addressed on a members paying back hours if they were ros- phased basis up to December 2021. NAS man- tered properly by management ended up in the agement is to seek dedicated funding as part of WRC on two occasions and remained unre- the estimates processes with the relevant par- solved. ties, including the HSE and the Department of • Rest periods Health. The HSE confirmed its commitment to im- • Deployment points. plement the capacity review and to implement the action plan published in May 2016, including 74 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONALS CORU It is important at the outset of this report to recog- 2015 represented a significant year for our mem- nise the important contribution of our members bers in radiography and radiation therapy as all within the local workplace and indeed the local professionals were subject to compulsory registra- representatives who support them on a daily tion with CORU as of the 1st November 2015. The basis. While it is not possible to reflect the full rate of registration is €100 per year under the amount of work undertaken by colleagues at terms of the Lansdowne Road Agreement. In ad- workplace level, it is important that this work is dition, given the CPD requirements for continued recognised and greatly acknowledged as essential registration, SIPTU initiated a review of options to to the success of the Division. ensure support for members in attaining it. Regis- trant professions with CORU currently include ra- I would also like to take the opportunity of thank- diographers, radiation therapists, dieticians, ing our national Allied Health Professional sector occupational therapists, speech and language committee and national executive committee for therapists, social workers, dispensing opticians radiographers and radiation therapists for their and optometrists. continued support. Eligibility Criteria SIPTU has engaged with the HSE at national level Haddington Road/Lansdowne Road Agreements to revise eligibility criteria for all grades within ra- At the outset of this report, it is important to note diography and radiation therapy to ensure that the role of our members and shop stewards in the they are adapted to include all state registration continued implementation of the Haddington requirements. Road and Lansdowne Road Agreements. Issues such as revised rosters, extended day working, re- Department of Health deployment and the impact of the development SIPTU corresponded with the Minister for Health’s of hospital groups and community care areas office to progress the proposed advancement of (CHO) are just some examples of the significant role development within radiography and radia- work undertaken. In addition, SIPTU played a tion therapy as provided for within the Emergency major role in seeking to assist dispute resolution Department Taskforce Report April 2015. An initial through Joint Review Groups (JRG), independent response was received from the Minister’s office arbitration, the Health Service and referrals to the and this remains a key target for our sector. Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and Labour Court. National Radiography Review (LCR 20232) Following the completion of a national question- National Joint Council (NJC)/Joint Information naire in 2016 reviewing the implementation of Consultation Forum (JICF) LCR20232, SIPTU and the HSE have engaged to SIPTU continued to participate at the highest level agree a document which will confirm the findings of industrial relations within the health service of the review undertaken and challenges to be ad- through the National Joint Council and Joint Infor- dressed. The review identified that the provision mation Consultation Forum. National issues of dis- of CT on-call services was coming under increas- pute are referred to the National Joint Council and ing pressure throughout the country due to the ef- SIPTU has an effective track record in securing pro- fects of the revised pay rates. It also identified that gression of issues to the satisfaction of our mem- a number of hospitals had negotiated localised bers. deals in excess of the Labour Court recommendation. Time off in recognition of the commitment to Policies and Procedures (Sub-committee of the meet the demand for on-call services was the main National Joint Council) basis of localised deals being made. SIPTU maintained its role on the Policies and Pro- cedures sub-committee of the National Joint Radiography Management Structures Council. In line with agreed procedures, all pro- SIPTU and the HSE initiated a process to review posed policies or indeed those subject to review Management Structures within radiology to ensure are referred to the national sub-committee for that they are fit for purpose, given the formation consultation with the health service staff panel. of hospital groups. SIPTU found that some hospital groups were seeking to install new Management Structures without any additional remuneration or SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 75 negotiated Terms and Conditions of employment. through the national joint council to confirm the These were subsequently withdrawn. need for secured funding to be allocated for this important course. Approximately 60 phle- Radiation Therapy Compensation Process botomists are trained through the college each The compensation process for radiation therapists year and are predominantly employed through the LCR20545 was progressed under the independent acute hospital network. Following an extensive chairmanship of Mr Ciaran Ryan. Out of approxi- campaign by SIPTU, the HSE established a national mately 200 radiation therapists nationally, 21 working group to review the training needs for sought final binding arbitration appeals. 19 were phlebotomy services within the public health sys- members of SIPTU and were supported by the tem. SIPTU was a member of this national group Health Division. and sought to ensure that sufficient resources are provided to meet the needs of the service. This Private Hospitals group met on a number of occasions and devel- Given the significant challenges arising within the oped a national questionnaire which sought to private healthcare system, SIPTU Health was to the identify existing and future needs for phlebotomy fore in seeking to support our members through a training within the public health system. Arising variety of issues raised. Matters such as the imple- from the completion of the information gathering mentation of the Haddington and Lansdowne exercise, a national report was prepared which in- Road Agreements were progressed within a num- cluded recommendations on the need to develop ber of private hospital groups. Equally, the review and protect a structured training programme to of defined benefit pension schemes within some provide for the needs of phlebotomy training serv- of the private healthcare employments were ad- ices in the future. The report was presented to the vanced. Chair of the National CEOs Committee, Colette Cowan and the National Director of Acute Hospital Job Evaluation Services, Liam Woods. It is expected that each In line with the public service agreement, the re- hospital group or groups will now co-ordinate instatement of the job evaluation scheme for cler- their own needs for the training of phlebotomists ical/admin grades is provided for within the within their service. Lansdowne Road Agreement to be restarted. Par- ties confirmed priority would be afforded to those SIPTU Health CPD Day who have outstanding claims, arbitration recom- SIPTU sponsored a very successful Continuous mendations or who lost out as a result of the pre- Professional Development course for radiogra- vious closure of the scheme. The scheme will be phers and radiation therapists in June 2016. This subject to a similar process as was undertaken in course is designed to assist members meet the the previous scheme in 2007. challenges of attaining CPD in order to meet the demands of their professional registration. Holiday Premium SIPTU attended conciliation on the dispute relat- Public Analyst Laboratories ing to the formula to calculate holiday premium. Conciliation on a disputed pay anomaly within the SIPTU identified that an incorrect formula was same grade of the three public analyst laboratories being used and staff were not receiving their enti- in Dublin, Cork and Galway concluded in late 2015. tlement as a result with a reduction of up to a third This arose from a Labour Court recommendation likely. The HSE subsequently corrected the formula which recommended direct engagement to ad- but the issue of retrospection remained outstand- dress the pay anomaly through which staff working. ing for the same employer, at the same grade, may be on different pay scales depending on your lo- Phlebotomy Training Course cation. Agreement was reached which afforded The SIPTU Health and Social Care Sector was to full support for senior technicians to undertake a the fore at highlighting the threat to funding of the funded master degree qualification with paid phlebotomy training course for 2014/2015. This leave included. The proposals were accepted by course has been traditionally provided through the our members by secret ballot. national ambulance service training college and is funded by the HSE. SIPTU raised our concerns

76 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Agency Staff Regularisation of Long Term Acting SIPTU engaged with the HSE to ensure that any In line with commitments within the HRA, the identified issues of concern re parity of pay for process of binding arbitration for claims of regu- agency staff are addressed. Separately, a number larisation of long term acting were concluded of regions within the HSE have conducted a pro- under the independent chairmanship of Mr John gramme to convert existing long term agency Doherty. SIPTU understands that this process was posts to directly employed contracts. completed with over 800 individual cases processed. National Recruitment Service SIPTU challenged the HSE proposal to conduct na- Standardisation of Annual Leave tional interviews for radiographers in the first SIPTU engaged with a number of hospitals who months of 2015 without a recruitment mechanism were applying the national standardised annual for the timeframe when graduates are leaving their leave agreement incorrectly. The standardisation studies. SIPTU stated that we believe this is a of annual leave is provided for within HSE Circular detrimental step against securing viable employ- 05/2009 and 05A/2009. Within each of the ex- ment for our graduates in the public health serv- amples received, members were not receiving the ice. Following a meeting, the HSE confirmed its appropriate level of annual leave and were entitled intent that annual recruitment campaigns would to a rise in leave and arrears for days owing. All is- be initiated by the national recruitment service to sues identified were subsequently addressed to ensure that all graduates would be afforded an op- the satisfaction of members. portunity of applying for work within our health system. Separately, SIPTU corresponded with the Pathology Technicians national recruitment service to highlight the use of A number of issues were progressed for members incorrect eligibility criteria for various posts within including regularisation of long term acting and our represented grades. On notice of same, the seeking minimum staffing levels in order to ad- national recruitment service re-commenced the dress health & safety concerns. campaigns with the nationally agreed criteria for the post advertised. PRSI Misclassification A national protocol was agreed to address out- Radiation Therapy Management Structure standing issues relating to the misclassification of Management within the St Luke’s Hospital Net- PRSI within the health service. work proposed to introduce a revised management structure within radiation therapy services. Dignity at Work SIPTU sought to ensure that any proposed change A national review on the dignity at work policy to existing management structures would maintain within the health service was initiated. The specific the need for a recognised radiation therapy quali- target of the review is to look at measures which fication. This matter was concluded successfully. will assist in the addressing of concerns at as local and as low level as possible, without recourse for Community Health Organisations (CHO) formal intervention. Following a national tendering SIPTU partook in a WRC facilitated process to process, specialist training was initiated in a num- voice our concerns at the failure of the HSE to en- ber of pilot sites for staff with a view to a further gage all unions in the formation of CHO areas. This roll out within the health service. is a major issue as CHO areas will be all services within health, outside of the acute hospital net- Safeguarding Policy works. SIPTU met with the HSE at national level in order to progress concerns of our members relating to Injury at Work Grant the implementation of the Safeguarding Vulnera- SIPTU was party to a national review of the injury ble Persons policy. It is important to state that at work grant within the HSE. The review is con- concerns expressed are not in relation to the pur- tinuing and will look at the mechanism of ‘degree pose of the policy but more that the HSE did not of impairment’ which is used by the HSE in deter- engage with the group of trade unions in advance mining the level of an allowance to be paid. In ad- of publishing it. This is a significant issue in that dition, focus will be applied to the provision of the there is a distinct misunderstanding within the sys- grant to members of the Single Pension Scheme tem of the intent of the policy and indeed issues for New Entrants.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 77 arising for staff from same, such as line management Recruitment Policy (HSE) responsibilities and the continued use of the ‘Trust in A dispute relating to the policy of the HSE on recruit- Care’ policy. The matter was subsequently referred ment was referred to the Workplace Relations Com- to the Workplace Relations Commission. mission (WRC). This dispute arose given the failure of the HSE to engage with trade unions on a decision Performance Achievement to cease recruitment and in effect mandatorily As to the drafting of this report, SIPTU has suspended enforce a recruitment pause. SIPTU had maintained its co-operation with the proposed performance its opposition to this initiative and highlighted the achievement policy for the health services. This sus- increasing reliance on the use of agency staff. pension is in line with other colleague trade unions from the staff panel of unions within the health serv- Garda Vetting ice. This suspension arises from the failure of the HSE SIPTU attended a national meeting regarding the to advance important outstanding commitments to mechanism for Garda Vetting within the health the trade unions as provided for within the national service. The HSE advised that, due to pending agreement (PSA). legislative changes, the process for Garda Vetting may become more complex. Existing staff may be Local Reviews subject to Garda Vetting in light of pending changes Through agreement with the HSE, a number of inde- being introduced by legislation. pendent appointed expert reviews of radiology services within the HSE were initiated. The reviews Performance Achievement examined existing staffing levels and the growing SIPTU suspended its co-operation with the proposed service demand expected of staff within the nomi- performance achievement policy for the health serv- nated facilities. Following each independent review, ices. This suspension is in line with other trade unions appointed experts presented their findings and rec- from the staff panel of unions within the health serv- ommendations within a comprehensive report. ice. This suspension arises from the failure of the HSE to advance important outstanding commitments to National Radiology Rates for On-Call the trade unions as provided for within the national SIPTU identified a number of locations within the agreement (PSA). health service which were not affording the correct rates to Radiographers providing on-call service and Assimilation Rule on Temporary Assignment who were either on parental leave or reduced hour Arising from the implementation of an agreement contracts. National HSE agreed with SIPTU the cor- under Haddington Roadt, the use of ‘acting’ arrange- rect interpretation of the rates to be applied and ments within the Health Service has been removed. each location identified was assessed to ensure com- Instead, temporary contracts on the higher pay scale pliance with the national rates for service, with any should be used for the filling of temporary vacancies. arrears owing. An issue of dispute arose at national level re the appropriate rule to use upon assimilation to the higher Code of Conduct grade. This could not be resolved through direct en- SIPTU received a draft Code of Conduct from the De- gagement or through conciliation and was referred partment of Health and was intended to apply to all to the Labour Court. The Labour Court issued its rec- staff. SIPTU undertook a review of the draft to ensure ommendation to confirm that the pre-existing that there is no conflict arising for staff who are sub- arrangement for temporary assignments should be ject to state registration, including existing regula- re-instated. tory conduct policies. Relevant HSE HR Circulars National Sick Leave Review SIPTU Health is a key member of the national review SIPTU partook in the national review of the sick leave committee for policies and procedures within the scheme within the public service. Representatives of health service. Amongst the circulars introduced/re- all sectors of the public service are involved with viewed, they included: SIPTU as a key member of the ICTU Public Service Committee delegation. Matters focused on the ap- 2015 plication of Temporary Rehabilitation Pay and the 02/2015: Supervision Guidelines for HSCP Critical Illness Protocol. 05/2015: New Entrant Salary Recognising Previous EU Service

78 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 018/2015: Subsistence Allowance community care areas (CHO) are just some examples of the significant work being undertaken. In 024/2015: Pregnancy Related Sick Leave addition, SIPTU has played a major role in seeking Provisions to assist dispute resolution through Joint Review 028/2015: FEMPI and Lansdowne Road Groups (JRG), independent arbitration, the Health Agreement Provisions Service Oversight Body and referrals to the Work- place Relations Commission (WRC) and Labour 029/2015: Extension of Grace Period Court. Superannuation Pension Scheme National Joint Council (NJC)/Joint Information 2016 Consultation Forum (JICF) 001/2016: Increase in State Pension SIPTU Health has continued to participate at the 002/2016: Expiry of Increment Measures highest level of industrial relations within the under HRA health service through the National Joint Council and Joint Information Consultation Forum. National 008/2016: Assimilation for Temporary issues of dispute are referred to the National Joint Assignment Council and SIPTU has an effective track record in 009/2016: New restriction re calculation securing progression of issues to the satisfaction of pension benefits of our members.

014/2016: Job Evaluation Scheme 2016 Policies and Procedures (Sub-committee of the National Joint Council) 017/2018: Increase in 1st point of trainee SIPTU Health has maintained its role on the Policies phlebotomist scale arising from increase and Procedures sub-committee of the National in Minimum Wage Joint Council. In line with agreed procedures, all 018/2016: Temporary Contracts for posts proposed policies or indeed those subject to re- of a higher grade view are referred to the national sub-committee for consultation with the health service staff panel.

NURSE AND MIDWIFE SECTOR Student Nurse Midwife Pay Approval was received from the Department of We would like to take this opportunity to thank Public Expenditure and Reform to increase the pay our national nurse and midwife sector committee during the 36 week placement for nurses and mid- and local representative committees for their con- wives to 70% of starting salary. It was 53% follow- tinued support. While it is not always possible to ing the cuts imposed by the Department of Public acknowledge adequately the tremendous amount Expenditure and Reform. In addition, from March of work undertaken by our colleagues at work- 2016, incremental credit was awarded to ap- place level, it is important that it be recognised in pointed staff nurses and midwives for the 36 week the report for our Biennial Conference, 2017. We placement. This placement is undertaken during are very grateful for their vital contribution to the the 4th year of study. The student works on the union and welcome the opportunity to do so pub- ward for the 36 week placement and is a full mem- licly. ber of the nursing team. This report will highlight some of the key initiatives undertaken on behalf of our nurse and midwife NMBI Registration members. Following our successful campaign, SIPTU secured a reversal of a proposed annual retention fee in- Haddington Road/Lansdowne Road Agreements crease to €150 for nurses and midwives. The cur- At the outset, it is important to note the role of our rent rate of €100 was maintained. This rate has members and shop stewards through the contin- also been protected under the terms of the Lans- ued implementation of the Haddington Road downe Road Agreement until 2018. Agreement. Issues such as revised rosters, extended day working, redeployment and the im- NMBI Projects pact of the development of hospital groups and The Nurse Midwife Board of Ireland advised SIPTU

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 79 of its intent to pursue a revised policy for safe Measurement of Nursing Hours medication management. The Board also advised In line with commitments recorded within the Pub- that other projects would include, review of the lic Service Agreement, SIPTU is engaging with the scope of nursing and midwifery practice frame- HSE in agreeing a process to ensure all working work, review of the standards and requirements hours are measured for nursing grades. This is a for nurse registration education programmes, restated commitment within the HRA. This is a sig- view of the standards and requirements for the nificant issue given that the unions believe not all midwife registration programme, review of the working hours are counted, yet the employer de- practice standards for midwives and review of mands evidence of nurses and midwives working standards and requirements for advanced prac- 39hours per week. tice. The SIPTU Nurse and Midwife Sector actively Nurse Medical Interface engaged with the regulator on all of these an- SIPTU Nursing and Midwifery played a full role at nounced review projects. local and national level with the implementation of the national nursing medical interface agreement Taskforce Staffing Skill-Mix between nursing and medical staff. Arising from Approval was received for the initiation of a pilot the agreement, reinstatement of the unsocial re the national taskforce for staffing and skill-mix. hours premium was secured from 1st January 2016 A fund of €2million was given to the pilot and was for the acute hospital sector. This allowance trialled in three locations: Beaumont, St Colum- equates to approximately two per cent of income. cille’s Hospital and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Immediate engagement took place, and this initia- The pilot was envisaged to take approximately tive is to be extended to other sectors of the one year from early 2016. The purpose of the pilot health service. is to identify the effects of the recommendations of the report from the taskforce prior to a national roll out. Full costings from this exercise will go to- Nurse Midwife Board of Ireland (NMBI) wards a full funding model for the 2018 estimates. In Mid-2016, SIPTU was invited to meet with the It is envisaged that other areas of service, such as President of the NMBI in order to read the inde- mental health, will be progressed after this initia- pendently appointed review on governance of the tive. nursing board. The review was conducted by Crowe Horwarth. The report was scathing on the failure to have proper governance within the Private Health Service Board. It highlighted improper tender processes, SIPTU has continued to support our members broken down relationships at board level and re- within all areas of the private health sector. This sources spent on questionable advisory services. includes private hospitals and nursing homes as an example. The major issue has been protection of defined benefit pension schemes and the parallel Graduate Nurse/Midwife Incremental implementation of the Haddington Road/Lans- Credit 2011-2015 downe Road Agreements. Following our campaign against the decision of DPER to refuse to reinstate incremental credit for Community Health Organisations (CHO) graduate nurse/midwives 2011-2015, SIPTU SIPTU has partaken in a WRC facilitated process to Health Division met with the Minister for Health voice our concerns at the failure of the HSE to en- Simon Harris TD in March 2016 who confirmed that gage all unions in the formation of CHO areas. This he would reinstate same from 1st January 2017. is a major issue as CHO areas will involve all serv- This benefitted approximately 4000 nurses/mid- ices within health, outside of the acute hospital wives who graduated during this period at a cost networks. SIPTU was the first union to formally of approximately €4million. raise our concerns, in early 2015, with the failure of the HSE to engage in advance of the change to Mental Health Nursing structures being implemented. The WRC has Following extensive engagement at national level, agreed to chair a consultative forum in which a comprehensive set of proposals were negoti- SIPTU will be a major stakeholder. ated in the summer of 2016 to address a number of issues arising within mental health nursing re:

80 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 retention and recruitment. Within the proposals Mental Health Management Structures there was an agreement to restore a payment to SIPTU met with the HSE at national level in order replace the community allowance formally paid to advance an engagement on a proposed review within the service. This was removed, for new ben- of nurse management structures within mental eficiaries, as part of a review of allowances within health services. Our members were keen for this the HSE in 2010. The allowance is worth nearly review to be progressed given that the CHO areas €5,500 per annum per qualifying nurse. In addi- are being developed and reporting relationships tion, there are other proposals which are designed being reviewed. In addition, the current structure to support the recruitment and retention of nurses was put in place in 2012 and members believe the within mental health services. existing agreement was severely restrictive due to the economic climate. Injury at Work Grant SIPTU was party to a national review of the injury Care of the Older Person at work grant within the HSE. While the review is Engagement at national level continued with the ongoing, it will look at the mechanism of ‘degree HSE re staffing/skill-mix in a care of the older per- of impairment’ which is used by the HSE in deter- son setting. No agreement has been reached and mining the level of an allowance to be paid, and a referral back to the Workplace Relations Com- also the application of this benefit to staff who are mission was made. members of the new Single Pension Scheme.

Maternity Services Review (Midland Regional Dignity at Work Hospital Portlaoise) A national review of the dignity at work policy Terms of Reference were agreed in 2016 between within the health service was initiated. The specific the HSE and the Group of Trade unions in regard target of the review was to look at measures to a proposed investigation into maternity serv- which will assist in the addressing of concerns at ices within the Midland Regional Hospital, Port- as local and low a level as possible, without re- laoise. The investigation is being conducted by course for formal intervention. A pilot training pro- clinical experts and chaired by legal counsel. gramme was initiated in a number of sites and was provided by an independent external company Safeguarding Policy through a tendering process. SIPTU met with the HSE at national level in order to progress concerns of our members relating to Emergency Department the implementation of the Safeguarding of Vulner- SIPTU participated in the parallel emergency de- able Persons policy. It is important to state that partment process which was established under concerns expressed are not in relation to the pur- the terms of the Workplace Relations Commission pose of the policy but more that the HSE did not proposals. engage with the group of trade unions in advance of publishing it. This is a significant issue in that Peer Support Workers there is distinct misunderstanding within the sys- SIPTU was invited to a meeting with HSE nationally tem of the intent of the policy and indeed issues to discuss the proposed introduction of Peer arising for staff from same, such as line manage- Workers within mental health services. A peer ment responsibilities and the continued use of the worker is someone who has successfully been ‘Trust in Care’ policy. The matter was referred to treated within the service and can provide a pos- the Workplace Relations Commission. itive support to patients. It was originally proposed that this worker would be part of the National Taskforces (Nursing/Midwifery) nursing team, however, SIPTU was informed that SIPTU Nursing nominated representatives to a the role is likely to fall under the remit of Social number of national taskforces established to re- Care Professionals. view existing skill mix within the sectors. These include palliative care, care of the older person, Performance Achievement theatre, maternity and acute/surgical. SIPTU suspended its co-operation with the proposed performance achievement policy for the health services. This suspension is in line with

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 81 other colleague trade unions from the staff panel were reluctant to accept the responsibility for val- of unions within the health service. This suspension idating same. Following an extensive process of arises from the failure of the HSE to advance im- negotiation, the HSE nationally has written to con- portant outstanding commitments to the trade firm that the responsibility for Garda Vetting is not unions as provided for within the national agree- the responsibility of work-placement co-ordina- ment (PSA). tors and should fall to the local HR office.

Long Term Acting Appeals Process Holiday Premium Arising from commitments under the terms of the SIPTU attended conciliation on the dispute relat- Haddington Road Agreement, an appeal process ing to the formula to calculate holiday premium. for those who believed they are encompassed by SIPTU identified that an incorrect formula was the terms for regularisation but have been denied being used and staff were not receiving their enti- same by the employer was initiated. These ap- tlement. As a result, a reduction of up to a third on peals were heard by a nationally agreed independ- correct rates were likely. The HSE subsequently ent chairman during late 2015 and early 2016. The corrected the formula but the issue of retrospec- HSE and Group of Trade unions met with the inde- tion remained outstanding. pendent chairman to discuss relevant criteria applicable to the appeal process. Outcomes were Code of Conduct binding as per the terms of the public service SIPTU received a draft Code of Conduct from the agreement. Department of Health which is intended to apply to all staff. SIPTU reviewed the draft to ensure that Return to Practice Circular there is no conflict arising for staff who are subject SIPTU partook in a national review of the existing to state registration, including existing regulatory Return to Practice Circular within the health serv- conduct policies. ice. This service commits to provide financial support to nurses/midwives who are interested in National Sick Leave Review returning to practice. The revised circular re-com- SIPTU Health is partaking in the national review of mits to the financial supports available and also the sick leave scheme within the public service. seeks to underpin the need for firmer commitment Representatives of all sectors of the public service from those who complete the course. are involved with SIPTU, a key member of the ICTU Public Service Committee delegation. SIPTU raised Assimilation Rule on Temporary Assignment a number of issues such as inconsistency of ap- Arising from the implementation of an agreement proach regarding the application of Temporary under the Haddington Road Agreement, the use Rehabilitation Pay and Critical Illness Protocol. We of ‘acting’ arrangements within the Health Service have also sought to ensure that protected meas- has been removed. Instead, temporary contracts ures for pregnancy related illness are maintained. on the higher pay scale should be used for the filling of temporary vacancies. An issue arose at na- Eligibility Criteria tional level regarding the appropriate rule to use Revised eligibility criteria for the post of Area Di- for assimilation to the higher grade. This could not rector of Nursing, Group Director, Director and As- be resolved through direct engagement or sistant Directors of nursing have been agreed. The through conciliation and was referred to the revised criteria places an essential need for quali- Labour Court. The Labour Court issued its recom- fications/experience in management as well as in mendation to confirm that the pre-existing nursing. These criteria were forwarded for consid- arrangement for temporary assignments should be eration of our sector committee and were unani- re-instated. mously approved.

Work-Placement Co-Ordinators Garda Vetting Engagement was progressed to review the re- SIPTU attended a national meeting regarding the sponsibility of Garda Vetting for the placement of mechanism for Garda Vetting within the health student nurse and midwives within the service. service. The HSE advised that, due to pending leg- The HSE had proposed that our members within islative changes, the process for Garda Vetting Student Placement provide for this. However, they may become more complex. The new legislation

82 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 will provide for the need of Garda Vetting for ex- 2015 isting staff who are working with some categories 005/2015: New entrant salary scale following of service user. previous EU experience International Nurse Recruitment (UK) 006/2015: Extension of Grace Period for SIPTU was invited to partake in a group to payment of pension recommend a package which would assist in high- 008/2015: Sponsorship of Student Public lighting the benefit of retention of nurse/midwifes Health Nurses within our health system and also terms which could 009/2015: New Public Health Nurse be applied to nurses/midwives returning from over- Transfer Policy seas. Upon completion of the process, SIPTU main- 010/2015: Amended Compliance tained our concern that the campaign would not NMBI Registration succeed in securing a return of nurses and midwives to Ireland given it remained uncompetitive against 024/2015: Pregnancy Related Sick Leave UK employers, or indeed private hospitals in Ireland. 026/2015: Return to Practice Financial Support The return from the campaign was poor as was ex- 028/2015: Implementation of Lansdowne Road pected and highlighted by SIPTU. Agreement 029/2015: Further Extension of Grace Period for Payment of Pension Nurse Management Structures SIPTU has continued to engage on proposed changes to nurse management structures within a 2016 number of settings within the health service. 001/2016: Increase in State Pension

Theatre on Call 002/2016: Expiry of Increment Measures under The HSE/Dept. of Health proposed significant HRA changes to the existing pay arrangements for The- 003/2016: Transfer of Tasks atre on Call. SIPTU rejected the proposals received on the basis that a national agreement for the pro- 005/2016: Revised salary scales for student vision of the service is already in place. nurses

Agency Staff 008/2016: Assimilation for Temporary Assign- SIPTU engaged with the HSE to ensure that any ment identified issues of concern re parity of pay for agency staff are addressed. Separately, a number 009/2016: New restriction re calculation of pen- of regions within the HSE have conducted a pro- sion benefits gramme to convert existing long term agency 012/2016: Allowance re Working in the Commu- posts to directly employed contracts. nity Nursing Mental Health

Linking Service and Safety 013/2016: Return to Work: Mental Health SIPTU Nursing and Midwifery contributed to the work of this national group to review the Linking 015/2016: Transfer of Tasks II Service & Safety Policy within the health service. 016/2016: Incremental Credit 36 week place- HSE HR Circulars ment SIPTU Health is a key member of the national re- 018/2016: Temporary Contracts for posts of a view committee for policies and procedures higher grade within the health service. Amongst the circulars introduced/reviewed, they included: 1 More information in HCA Sector report

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 83 Manufacturing Division

The Biennial Delegate Conference took place in Motion No. 2 Liberty Hall, Dublin on Thursday, 3rd and Friday, Income for a Surviving Spouse 4th November 2016. Conference notes that moving from two pensions to one after the death of a spouse creates financial A total of 220 accredited Delegates attended, difficulty for the surviving spouse as income is re- representing the three Sectors within the Division. duced but bills and financial obligations mostly remain the same. The Retired Members Section of Financial Membership SIPTU therefore calls on conference to recognise this and to support a call for the following for surviving spouses: SECTORS 2016 2015 Inc/Dec Agriculture, For all means test and medical card assessments Ingredients, to be carried out based on the income of the sur- Food & Drink 11,964 11,912 52 viving spouse. This would mean the introduction of a decent threshold of savings for exclusion from Electronics, the means test to enable the surviving spouse to Engineering & live with some financial security. Industrial The exclusion from Water Charges and Property Production 9,885 9,932 -47 Tax on the family home following the death of a spouse. Pharmaceuticals, Submitted by the Retired Members Section Chemicals & Medical Devices 11,765 11,224 541 Motion No. 3 33,614 33,068 546 Unfair Dismissals Act That Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a campaign to amend the Unfair Dismissal Act to provide The following nine Motions were considered at the the same protection for Shop Stewards in cases of Conference and passed by the delegates present. unfair dismissal as is provided under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act (2015). A more severe penalty should be provided where workers’ Motion No. 1 elected representatives are found by a third party European Office to have been unfairly dismissed. In view of the changes facing the European union and considering the treatment of workers’ rights Submitted by the Executive Divisional Committee and terms and conditions across the EU this Con- ference calls on the National Executive Council to open serious discussions through the ICTU on the Motion No. 4 feasibility of a permanent presence being estab- Parental Leave Act lished by the Irish Trade union Movement in Brus- That this Conference calls on the National Execu- sels at the heart of the EU in order to adequately tive to initiate a campaign to raise the age limit in represent Irish workers at the Commission and the the Parental Leave Act from eight years of age to other institutions. 13 years of age. Submitted by the Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drinks Sector. Submitted by the Executive Divisional Committee.

84 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Motion No. 5 Motion No. 8 Precarious Work Seasonal Workers – Hours of Work That this Conference calls on the National Execu- That Conference calls on the NEC to initiate a cam- tive Council and the Manufacturing Division to im- paign for the introduction of flexi-security for part plement an All-Ireland campaign with the intention time or seasonal workers who work less than 39 of eliminating all forms of precarious work such as hours over the normal (five day) working week, Zero Hours contracts and “If and When” contracts. thereby entitling them to sign on for jobseekers The campaign should have a dual focus of regular- benefit based on their hours rather than days ising and improving conditions of employment for when they may work for 4/5 days but less than 39 workers on such contracts and organising younger hours. workers into the union. Submitted by the Executive Divisional Submitted by the Pharmaceutical, Chemical & Committee. Medical Devices Sector.

Motion No. 9 Motion No. 6 Redundancy Payments Act Living Wage That this conference calls on the NEC to initiate a That this Conference calls on the Manufacturing Di- campaign to have the Redundancy Payments Acts vision to undertake a comprehensive review of 1967-2001 amended in order to allow workers rates of pay in the Division with a view to identify- who are on short time for over 1 year to claim their ing sections of workers that are not currently on statutory redundancy and move on with their lives the living wage of €11.50 per hour and to com- rather than be forced to live in penury and stay in mence a campaign to bring these workers rates of a company for up to 8 years on short time as is the pay up to the living wage. case currently. Submitted by the Pharmaceutical, Chemical & Submitted by the Electronics, Engineering & Medical Devices Sector. Industrial Production Sector.

Motion No. 7 The Conference was addressed by a number of Food Workers Apprentice Scheme Speakers including – That this Conference calls on the National Execu- Jack O’Connor, SIPTU General President. tive council to campaign on the establishment of a Food Workers Apprentice Scheme Gene Mealy, SIPTU Vice President. Joe O’Flynn, SIPTU General Secretary. This Conference highlights the importance of the Food and Drink Industry to Ireland. This industry is Patricia King, ICTU General Secretary. located in the Regions of Ireland and could be the Tish Gibbons, Head of SIPTU College. engine of real economic development and recovery across Ireland. To that end SIPTU believes that Tony Murphy, IDEAS Institute. the creation of good quality jobs with built in sus- Orlagh Fawl, Sector Organiser, Strategic Organis- tainability and security is the best route for creating Department. ing a sound economic basis for job creation and job retention in the regions of Ireland. We see the Delegates attending the Conference took part in establishment of Food Workers Apprenticeships breakout sessions to discuss and consider the as an initiative that will create real careers for our ‘Membership Consultation Initiative’. young people, who will be the inheritors of our tradition of organised workers with good terms and conditions in this industry. Submitted by the Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drinks Sector.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 85 DIVISIONAL COMMITTEE DIVISIONAL COMMITTEE 2015-2016 (elected November 2016)

The following were the elected Divisional The following were the elected Divisional Committee Members. Committee Members.

President President Noel Finn (Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Noel Finn (Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production Sector) Production Sector) Vice President Vice President Jemma Mackey (Pharmaceutical, Chemicals & Rose O’Reilly (Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Medical Devices Sector) Drink Sector) Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink Sector Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink Sector Liz O’Donohoe John Montgomery Marija Smaizyte John Mortell John Mortell Michael Toolan Karl Spellacy Pat O’Flynn James Kennedy Tim O’Connor Tom Fox Tom Fox Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Tony Hogan Production Sector Paudie Power Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Production John Lenihan Sector Bridget Burrows Bridget Burrows Fiona Doherty Fiona Doherty Paul Kelly John Lenihan Mary Mullin Paudie Power Anja Boeger Paul Kelly Bridget Burrows Seamus Califf Sean Clarke Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Devices Sector Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Devices Pat Daly Sector Gale Prince Brendan Cremin Brian Keating Enda McDaid Enda McDaid Jemma Mackey Pat Dineen Margaret McNulty Pat Perry Retired Member Retired Member Jerry O’Callaghan Jerry O’ Callaghan Standing Orders Tony Byrne Eamonn Thornton Pat O’Flynn Michael Toolan National Executive Council Elizabeth O’Donohoe John Montgomery Jemma Mackey Ray Thompson National Trustee Bridget Burrows

86 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Equality Committee Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Sean Clarke Production Sector Committee Members for Rose O’Reilly 2015-2016

Paul Kelly, Ex Officio Member SECTOR COMMITTEES RayThompson John Delaney Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drink Sector Sean Clarke Committee Members for 2015-2016 Noel Finn (Chairperson) Catherine Noonan Walsh Tony Hogan (Chairperson) Bridget Burrows (Vice Chairperson) Liz O’Donohoe (Vice Chairperson) Tom Healy Jack O’Donohue Fiona Doherty Tom Fox Anja Boeger James Kennedy Raymond Humphries John Montgomery Mary Mullin John Mortell Paul McGee Tim O’Connor Gerry Byrne Tom McPartlin Shane O’Brien (*) In arrears removed from Pat O’Flynn Committee Rose O’Reilly Leonard Tobin Michael Toolan DIVISIONAL STAFF (currently) Karl Spellacy Eamonn Helferty Divisional Head Office Arita Viskontaite Divisional Organiser: Gerry McCormack Noeleen O’Connell Administrative Assistant: Tina Maguire Smith Tommy Naughton Assistant Industrial Organiser: Rhonda Donaghey Marija Smaizyte Assistant Industrial Organiser: Colm Casserley John C Walsh Agriculture, Ingredients, Food & Drinks Sector Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Devices Sector Organisers: Michael Browne. Sector Committee Members for 2015-2016 Administrative Assistants: Pauline Gilmartin, Joan McClean. Jemma Mackey (Chairperson) Industrial Organisers: John Cooney, Frank Jones. Enda McDaid (Vice Chairperson) Assistant Industrial Organisers: Terry Bryan, Aidan McDonnell Denis Gormalley, Jim McVeigh. Brendan Cremin Brendan O’Leary Electronics, Engineering & Industrial Brian Keating Production Sector Christopher Crowley Sector Organiser: John McCarrick. Cormac Griffin Administrative Assistant: Pat O’Malley. Eamon Thornton Assistant Industrial Organisers: Denis Sheridan, Gale Prince Mark Flynn, Ray Mitchell, Evelina Saduikyte, Jim Fuery Joe Kelly. Kieran O’Connor Michael O’Sullivan Pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Medical Pat Perry Devices Sector Pat Daly Sector Organiser: Alan O’Leary. Pat Dineen Administrative Assistant: Maire Sheehan. Industrial Organisers: Michelle Quinn. Assistant Industrial Organisers: Paul dePuis, Allen Dillon, Jim Fuery, Asling Dunne.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 87 Northern Ireland ditions of employment for all sections across the Lead Organiser: Martin O’Rourke Division. This information is necessary in develop- Evelyn McGuinness, Location Based Organiser ing claims under the new Collective Bargaining retired in November 2015. legislation, and when pursuing claims in ongoing bargaining. John Dunne, Sector Organiser took up the position of General Secretary of the Guinness We continue to work with the Ideas Institute in re- Staff union. gard to Workplace Innovation. The work of Tony Jim Finnegan, Industrial Organiser retired in Murphy has been extremely important in protect- November 2016. ing jobs and enhancing workplace involvement by Marie Kearney, Assistant Industrial Organiser members. retired in 2015. The Division has developed strategies to support Obituaries members when their pension schemes are at- The Manufacturing Divisional Committee wishes tacked by employers. The support structure is to extend its deepest sympathies to the family available to shop stewards and staff and allows a and friends of deceased activists and members in team to be established to work through the issues the Division, and to all union members who | involved suffered bereavements during 2015 and 2016. In 2015 the Division identified the organisation of migrant workers and their integration into the DIVISIONAL DEVELOPMENTS union structures as a critical development. During 2015-2016 2015/2016 a number of conferences were held of key stakeholders, including our migrant activists. The two years 2015 to 2016 were marked by sig- The Division, in conjunction with the Services Di- nificant successes across the manufacturing divi- vision, has established a Migrants Network which sion in terms of the level and number of pay is designed to organise migrant workers and de- increases secured on behalf of our members. Mem- velop a structure for their representation in SIPTU. bership numbers stabilised during 2015 and increased during 2016 with the financial We have also established a European Works membership increasing by 546 and the paying Council and a Health & Safety Network throughout membership increasing by 1,200 at the end of the division in support of our members. 2016. The success of the Division is due to excellent staff and the calibre of our activists and shop stewards. SECTOR DEVELOPMENTS At the end of 2015 new legislation on Collective PHARMACEUTICALS, CHEMICALS Bargaining was enacted and the Manufacturing Di- vision had the very first case taken under the In- AND MEDICAL DEVICES SECTOR dustrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015. The Greenfield Organising in the Pharmaceutical Division won a very important, and precedent set- Chemical and Medical Devices Sector ting recommendation on behalf of our members in Freshways Food Company. The Division has Over the past number of years, activists and staff recorded 225 pay agreements during the period of the Sector have been involved in an organising under review. Special mention is due to all our staff campaign in a large non-union US Multi-National and activists for their work in improving the pay Corporation (MNC) - GE Healthcare in Cork. This and conditions of members. These agreements are subsidiary is part of the General Electric Corpora- a great tribute to their professionalism and tenac- tion which is one of the top global MNC’s. The ity. As part of our pay strategy, SIPTU has devel- union in November 2010 won a Labour Court rec- oped a centralised data-base recording all these ommendation which granted SIPTU the right to agreements. This information is critical for officials represent our members on individual and collec- and activists entering negotiations with employ- tive issues, however the employer refused to ac- ers. We are also collecting details of pay and concept this recommendation. In 2016 following a

88 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 1

1. Participants at the training of the SIPTU Migrant Workers Support Network. 2. Picket Line at Glen Electric, Newry. 3. The SIPTU Manufacturing Divisional Conference, 2016. 2

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 89 referral to the Labour Court under the new Indus- a brighter future for all SIPTU members. union trial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 and a sub- membership is increasing steadily in the GE sequent threatened dispute, GE Healthcare senior Healthcare Section. A new Greenfield organising management agreed to engage in talks with the campaign commenced in 2016 in Boston Scien- union. The union in October 2016 negotiated an tific, Clonmel. Orderly Dispute Resolution Framework which recognises SIPTU. Following a long and often dif- Industrial Dispute Activity ficult campaign the breakthrough on the Orderly Throughout 2015 and 2016 the Sector was in- Dispute Resolution Framework agreement is a tes- volved in a series of six industrial disputes on a tament to the perseverance, commitment and sol- wide range of industrial relations issues such as idarity of the workers in GE Healthcare and their Pensions, Pay Restoration, and Employer Breaches wish for the union to strive for decent wages and of Collective Agreements in Pfizer, GE Healthcare, Pay Agreements negotiated during 2015 & 2016 Average % increase = 5.3585% Average months = 26.2174

90 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Coty, Uniphar, Avara and Bausch & Lomb. All dis- ELECTRONICS, ENGINEERING & putes were fully supported and sanctioned by the INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION union and all disputes were subsequently resolved to the satisfaction of the members. SECTOR

Much, if not all of the Sector members work in In Bausch & Lomb, Waterford members voted what can now be described as old indigenous in- overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action and dustries with a minority fitting into the multi-na- strike action in a major dispute on Pay Restoration tional criteria. which stemmed from major cuts to members’ pay, terms and conditions. Our members in Bausch & The Electronics side of the Sector has progressed Lomb in December 2016 overwhelmingly ac- with most of the work being done for the car in- cepted WRC proposals on a 9.5% pay increase dustry. along with improvements to annual leave, sick pay benefit and €500 lump sum. The WRC proposals There has been a significant squeeze on prices in fully restored the cuts sacrificed by members in this industry with many of the major manufacturers 2014 and they were accepted by over 82% of the demanding year on year reductions in the prices membership. charged by the components manufacturers. Since the acceptance of the WRC agreement, the This has led to major efficiencies in the Sector with 11,000 square foot extension of the Waterford site many adopting the lean principles. We have used was opened and over 200 new jobs have been the expertise of Tony Murphy, from IDEAS, to help created. and advise in regard to these companies with varying degrees of success. Sector Collaboration agreements with Universities We have managed to achieve pay increases on av- The Sector had concluded a collaboration agree- erage of 2% in these companies. ment with the University of Limerick and in 2016 we engaged in negotiations with Waterford Insti- Engineering - this area has been badly hit by the tute of Technology (WIT). Under these agree- collapse in the building industry and the economy ments, Sector representatives are invited to make generally over the last two years concerned. presentations to college students to share the Many of these companies have not had pay in- positive industrial activities of the union and the creases and some have not even recovered the Sector such as the Sector Stability and Pay agree- cuts that were imposed during the crisis, the ex- ments. ception being Liebherr, where a successful campaign brought significant pay increases. We also One Site One union - PCMD Sector & Services managed to retrieve the cuts imposed in Turmec Division Agreement Teo.Steel and transport costs were a major issue The PCMD Sector Committee has agreed a collab- until the recent reduction in fuel costs, which oration agreement with the Services Division of should be of some assistance to our members in the union where our shop stewards and officials in the Sector, but this did not help us in Geith, where the Sector will collaborate with the Services Divi- all our members were made redundant. sion activists and staff in recruiting new members in contract catering and other grades employed We are seeing some movement on pay in this area in PCMD Sector union sites. as a result of the oil price reduction and some recovery in the building industry. Many of these workers are paid low wages by the contractor and are often too afraid to join the Industrial Production –This is a very large and dis- union. The One Site One union initiative supports parate Sector, most of it traditional, we have dif- union solidarity across all grades in the workplace ferent experiences to tell, many of them difficult. and the PCMD Sector Committee fully supports this collaboration agreement. The traditional weaving industry is now a small part of our Sector but one which has not yielded

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 91 Pay Agreements negotiated during 2015 & 2016 Average % increase = 3.7325% Average months = 20.7550

92 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 any growth in membership and indeed less in programme outlined from the Sub-Committee for terms of pay rises, until 2016, where we managed 2015/2016 was agreed and supported by the Sec- increases in Donegal Yarns, Towney Bay and tor Committee. Progress was made on the follow- Botany Weaving. ing points:

All in all, the last two years have been difficult with • New user friendly application and signs of improvement /recovery coming along the recruitment form and leaflet east coast in 2016, which we expect to see con- • Increased co-operation with the tinuing into 2017 and spreading to the rest of the District Committees country slowly afterwards. • Training – ensuring that density building and organising is a major part of any new activists training AGRICULTURE, INGREDIENTS, • Motion to the Biennial Conference 2015 in FOOD AND DRINK SECTOR Cork

Meat Sector INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATIONS A Strategy was adopted to try and make progress Our Sector continues to be affiliated to EFFAT (the on organising new members on a plant by plant European Federation of Food Agriculture and basis. We continued with that strategy and the Tourism Trade unions) which represents workers campaign in Dawn/Meadow Meats secured a suc- in 38 European countries and defends the interests cessful Labour Court Recommendation. of over 2.6 million members through the food processing chain in Europe. Dairy Sub Sector This now established Sector is a very busy one. Dairy Sub Sector Terms and conditions of employment in the com- A Dairy Sub Sector was established during the panies in this sector have been collated in our year. This was agreed at a Seminar on the Dairy database and are available to all Industrial staff in Sector held in July 2015. At this Seminar a presen- our sector. tation was given to members by Tom Beresford of Migrant Workers TEAGASC on where the Dairy Sector in Ireland was What has shown up is a very high proportion of going in terms of development of the business. migrant and international workers employed and in membership e.g. We had discussions with TEAGASC which is examining a joint training and accreditation system for Meat Industry the Dairy Sector. This initiative is aimed at securing Product Total Membership % and enhancing jobs in the Dairy Sector and pre- International venting the operative grades from being replaced Red Meat 2,487 1,215 49% by higher qualified or lower paid workers. We be- Poultry 1,196 439 37% lieve that as a result of our discussions with TEA- Pork & Bacon 517 354 68% GASC and others this initiative will result in a win win for all the parties concerned and could prom- Organising ise to be a very exciting prospect for the Section The work for 2016 continued with a series of staff and the union members involved. meetings to update and focus again on any housekeeping issues. Density was addressed at these 2015 Sector Committee Plan meetings as per previous practice. The practice of The plan implemented during 2015 undertook to density building is now well established with each improve the Sector Committee through organiser and admin staff alike, and we are all well aware of its importance. This was developed - better involvement of the wider membership within the Sector Committee and the newly estab- - building the Sub Sector Committees in lished Sub Committee on Organising. This Sub- areaswhere we identify the need for them Committee has an agreed programme which - involving all members in the necessary includes a 12 point plan to develop improved or- rejuvenation of the union increasing density ganisation and recruitment within the Sector. The and member involvement and

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 93 Pay Agreements negotiated during 2015 & 2016 Average % increase = 3.7062% Average months = 23.0780

94 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 - taking the points made at the Manufacturing ment (a pay freeze has been in force since Division Workshops on board and using them 2012), these negotiations were referred to to develop the Sector the Workplace Relations Commission a conciliation conference ended without ORGANISING CAMPAIGNS agreement but a further conciliation con- As part of a strategic organising initiative between ference is planned. the Manufacturing Division and the Strategic Or- ganising Unit the employment was identified as a Taking a large number of individual griev- possible target for backfilling in an attempt to ance cases and referring those that have build the union density. Evelina Saduikyte Assistant not been resolved internally to the Rights Industrial Organiser Manufacturing Division was as- Commissioner/Adjudicator service. signed to aid the project due to her expertise in Over the period since the approval of the strategic organising migrant workers. Annette Carpenter organising plan we have built our membership Lead Organiser from the Strategic Organising Unit from 171 paying members to 232 paying members. was assigned to the project, a number of scoping This equates to a growth in density from 45% to meetings were held to produce a plan. On Octo- 61%. ber 24th, 2014 Annette Carpenter and Denis Gor- malley met with the then AIFD Sector Organiser John Dunne and Manufacturing Division Organiser Gerry McCormack where a plan was approved. MIGRANT and INTERNATIONAL WORKERS NETWORK An immediate concern was that the company had experienced rapid growth from approximately 150 It is clear from the statistics that a new round of employees to in excess of 350 employees and, al- job displacement is taking place in Irish industry though we had improved our structures by creat- and with the economic upturn this is likely to ining a Section Committee to liaise with the Shop crease as labour shortages begin to emerge. Sta- Steward and Assistant Shop Steward, we decided tistics tell us that even workers from established that we needed a much wider representative migrant countries are being displaced by migrants Committee and that all members of the Commit- from Southern Europe as they are easier for em- tee would be Shop Stewards. ployers to exploit. SIPTU research on density clearly indicates that industries with high levels of Over the period from November 2014 to March migrants have a correspondingly low level of 2015 a series of organising meetings were held union density with potential members; a new enlarged Section Committee was elected and 8 training sessions The Food & Hotels sector is a perfect example of were conducted outside of working hours in the this displacement and the destruction of a well- Shop Stewards own time; the section was paid and heavily unionised industry. In the early mapped by the Section Committee; a survey of 2000s, the Red Meat industry had rates of pay of members was conducted to identify the main is- between €12 and €15 per hour with good bonuses sues and opinions sought of how members viewed and high union density. At the height of the boom the union. Actions, goals and targets were set, many workers left the industry for better employ- based on the survey. ment opportunities. These jobs were filled by migrant workers, allowing employers to exploit the A number of collective and individual issues/griev- situation and drive down pay levels across the in- ances was pursued from March of 2015. Ownership dustry. The same can be said for the Hotel Industry of these actions were given to the Shop stewards where reasonably well paid union jobs were (advised by the officials) to raise the profile of the displaced by migrants on minimum wage. SIPTU union in the section. We were successful in: has so far failed to organise Migrant Workers as separate category of worker, thus migrants have Achieving equal pay for the evening shift little or no interaction with the union. whose members were previously paid the minimum wage;

Initiating pay discussions with manage-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 95 Background to the setting up of the Migrant Net- To create a union Support Network to enable mi- work grant workers to support themselves and their communities. The Manufacturing Division completed a report on the research that was carried out into the organ- To work in collaboration with like-minded progres- ising of migrant workers within SIPTU. The Division sive groups and organisations across the commu- has 4,859 (17%) known migrant members in the Di- nity sector and civil society to organise and vision. Within the Agri/Food sector almost 40% of campaign for a just, inclusive and equal society for the membership are migrants. Following a consul- people to live and work. tation process with migrant activists and staff, a set of recommendations was developed and these were considered by the Manufacturing Division Training and Education of Migrant Activists Committee. Following endorsement of the strat- The provision of English lessons to activists and, egy and structure, a Steering Committee invited where possible, to migrant members is a priority representatives from the Services Division to par- and is now achieved through collaboration with ticipate, given the high number of migrants in that Failte Isteach. Activists who require to learn Eng- Division. A Conference for all migrant activists with lish should have courses provided by the union. key divisional and sector staff from both divisions was held to formally launch the SIPTU Migrant & In- Training of Migrant activists began in 2016. The ternational Workers Support Network on January training was well attended and well received. It is 29th/30th 2016 in Dublin. on-going on employment rights, employment law, organising techniques and what are trade unions? A dedicated Facebook page was launched for the It explains how SIPTU works, how it is structured, Network on December 18th 2016 and marked In- political and cultural aspects of Irish life and, most ternational Migrants day. important, it facilitates migrant activists and staff to get to know each other through the Network. The main function of the SIPTU Migrant & Interna- The training is residential. So far three training tional Workers Network is to assist the union in or- modules have been held in Dublin, Portlaoise and ganising migrant workers effectively and ensuring Galway. It is carried out by Industrial Staff and that migrant activists are engaged in all aspects of WRC staff. union structures. Members of the network will be trained to organise workers, give advice on employment rights’ issues, provide representation EUROPEAN WORKS COUNCILS NETWORK and translation where required, and engage with (EWC’s) migrant local communities. Members will also be Since establishing this Network in late 2015, with part of the union structures, participate on District four EWC Reps from within the Manufacturing Di- Councils and develop a process of Community Or- vision, real progress has been made. By late 2016 ganising. we had identified and included 25 Reps in the Net- The most important role of the Network is to or- work from across the Manufacturing and the Serv- ganise workers internally and externally within the ices divisions. We have delivered training with union. Proper structures in each employment are some interesting guest speakers and we are plan- needed to coordinate the work of the section ning to follow this up with a further two day train- committee and shop stewards. This is reflected in ing course in June. The Network is still in its infancy the revised Joint Manufacturing & Services Division and we have yet to tap into the organising poten- Strategy Objectives - tial that is available to our EWC Reps. At this stage, the resources being provided are direct supports to the EWC Representatives themselves. They are To organise and support migrant workers effec- given in relation to promoting EWCs within each tively and to ensure migrant workers fully partici- workplace where one already exists, supporting pate in union activity Reps in reporting back to members and supporting Reps who are entering into new agreements. To educate ALL workers, regardless of their coun- We have yet to take advantage of the legislative try of origin, that workers have a shared objective protections that are available to our Reps ensuring in sustaining and improving working conditions

96 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 that they can report back to all workers in their have begun working with the Irish paint manufac- employments regardless of the union status of turer, Fleetwood in Virginia, County Cavan; Bord these workers. In the coming months, as the Net- Na Mona, Derrygreenagh; and Boliden Tara Mines work matures, it is expected that we will, if and in Navan. We are scheduled to resume work with when the requirement arises, tap into this provi- Bausch & Lomb in Waterford in May. We are cur- sion allowing us onto some non-union sites to ex- rently in exploratory discussions with Celtic Linen plain the role of EWC’s and introducing these and a large pharmaceutical manufacturer in Cork. non-union workers to SIPTU. Both have expressed serious interest in learning The Network Coordinator, Frank Jones, is working more about how we have successfully imple- closely with EFFAT and IndustriALL (two of the Eu- mented Workplace Innovation in the Irish manu- ropean Federations to which SIPTU is affiliated) facturing sector. with a view to ensuring that our participation on EWCs are used to maximum value for all workers we represent in Ireland. SUPPORTING QUALITY The Supporting Quality Campaign continues to promote quality brands manufactured and pro- WORKPLACE INNOVATION duced in Ireland, helping to protect quality jobs We all understand and appreciate the depth of here. Since our last report membership has in- knowledge, and the breadth of practical process creased to 73 brands and Pfizer Ireland has re- experience that every worker in the manufactur- newed as a sponsorship partner opening up the ing sector has accumulated over their working Pharmaceutical Sector to the campaign. lives. This information has been acquired as operators set up their machines; watch over them as The Services Division has joined the campaign and they make good products; and, as occasion de- we are actively working with organisers and shop mands, sorting out product and/or process prob- stewards there to bring awareness of the cam- lems as they arise. Our approach to Workplace paign to their companies, encouraging them to Innovation enables this information to be valued, join. and accessed, as we strive to make world-class products and provide world-class services. All existing companies continue to support the campaign and have renewed their membership This ability to improve performance and fix this year, which bears testimony to the relevance process problems through genuine worker in- of the campaign. In a survey of member compa- volvement is now, at last, being universally recog- nies, we found that they appreciate the value of nised. “The mental capacity of our people to solve promoting their brands amongst the union mem- problems and improve performance is the key to bership, seeing it as key to differentiating them as sustained competitiveness. We need to maximise quality employers and, most importantly, the ben- the potential of our people to deliver improved efit of strengthening their relationship with union productivity, using proven tools and techniques”. members in the workplace. The campaign contin- (Source: “Applied Benchmarking for Competitive- ues with shop stewards and organisers approach- ness – A Guide for SME Owner/Managers”, by ing companies in order to continually increase Richard Keegan and Eddie O’Kelly, 2004, Oak membership. Tree Press, Cork). Employers have realised that our unique approach to Workplace Innovation can UNITE and TEEU, through our joint initiative, are unlock this creative potential within the workforce actively promoting the campaign through their - and this can be a critical component for compa- own networks of officials and organisers. The nies as they drive for continuous improvement TEEU has a dedicated page on its website featur- and on-going competitiveness. ing a full page ad in their annual magazine. Mem- bers from both unions participated in the latest We continue to work with existing client compa- Supporting Quality film. Communications packs nies as they implement Workplace Innovation, have been sent to all shop stewards and officials namely, Kirchhoff Automotive Letterkenny, Theo in UNITE. Some joint approaches have already Benning GmbH Wexford and Henkel in both of begun to companies who have employees in their Dublin plants (Tallaght and Ballyfermot). We SIPTU, TEEU and UNITE, inviting them on board

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 97 and strengthening the remit of the campaign. HEALTH and SAFETY NETWORK SIPTU is currently represented on the Irish Con- A milestone was achieved with the endorsement gress of Trade union’s Health and Safety Commit- by Congress of the Supporting Quality Campaign. tee by Sylvester Cronin, Michelle Quinn. Kevin Over the coming years we will be working with Figgis and Chris Rowland are on the board of the member unions, aiding them to create awareness Health and Safety Authority. of the campaign, its goals and aims amongst their membership. In May, 2016, Liam Doran introduced In October 2016 we held a very successful seminar the campaign at the INMO annual conference and on the theme of healthy workplaces for all ages. information packs were handed out to delegates. We had a number of guest speakers including Kieran Sludds, HSA, Biddy O’Neill, Department of Other activities included monthly ads in Liberty Health, and Sylvester Cronin and Gerry Mc Cor- paper, Liberty Online and the Supporting Quality mack of SIPTU. The Seminar was attended by ap- Christmas E-zine. Our banner featuring members proximately 60 delegates. The attendees were of SIPTU was hung on Liberty Hall during Decem- from a number of different unions, but SIPTU ber 2016. Its message of “Chose & Support Work- Safety Reps were the predominant grouping on ers in Ireland this Christmas” garnered publicity in the day. the national newspapers, which featured this strong, positive message from the unions. At this event we also launched the SIPTU health and safety network, and we are currently in the The campaign visited a number of companies, in- process of establishing a database of Safety Reps. cluding Standard Brands and Newbridge Silver- We continue to forge ongoing relationships with ware, Chef, Bord na Mona, Odlums, Pfizer Ireland the Health and Safety Authority, and we continue and Britvic, and produced articles for Liberty. It to raise Health and safety concerns at Congress featured a joint interview in Liberty with Joe level. O’Flynn, General Secretary of SIPTU and Ingrid Vandervorst, HR Director, Heineken, Ireland. We are currently working with a number of unions on Health and Safety issues of common concern. One of the major achievements of the campaign in 2016 was the production of the second Sup- The Manufacturing Division has been particularly porting Quality film featuring a number of compa- successful in highlighting Workers Memorial Day, nies – Zip, Bord na Mona, Chef, Bachelors, and which occurs on 28 April each year. It is an inter- Britvic. The film was made in conjunction with national day of remembrance for those killed or in- members and shop stewards explaining in their jured at work. own words the impact of the campaign and why it’s so important for fellow members to support Many of our members participate on the day with them and their quality jobs. The film was screened Worker’s Memorial activities in their local employ- at the SIPTU Divisional Conferences, TEEU and ments. These activities include toolbox talks, UNITE’s annual conferences and numerous other health and safety talks, poster campaigns on events. To view the film go to www.support- health and safety, the placing of commemoration ingquality.ie and click the film link on the home plaques in their workplaces and, in a limited num- page. ber of locations, the creation of memorial gardens.

Supporting Quality also paid tribute to John Dunne SIPTU College continues to provide health and who took up the post of General Secretary of the safety training to our elected Safety Reps. Mem- GSU. John was instrumental in the conception and bers wishing to become involved in the Health and implementation of the campaign. His generous Safety network please notify the Manufacturing Di- support and enthusiasm helped ensure its success. vision of your interest.

98 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 PENSIONS The Divisional Executive Committee agreed to provide support procedures for SIPTU representatives, pension trustees and officials negotiating major changes to members’ pension schemes. In 2015/2016, as in previous years, there was an upsurge in attempts by employers to dismantle Defined Benefit Schemes. Major changes, some involving serious disputes, took place during the period under review with many companies’ pension schemes experiencing funding issues. However, many of these schemes are fully funded and have little or no funding issues. The division produced booklets on pensions for use by both activists and staff.

INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES The Division had 17 Industrial disputes during the period under review, in seven of these In- dustrial/Strike Action took place. All of them were resolved successfully on behalf of our members. The number, frequency and length of disputes has increased dramatically and most particularly during 2016 when 11 industrial disputes were recorded.

The most protracted dispute occurred in Glen Electric, Newry, Co Down, where workers were on strike for improved pay terms for several weeks. The dispute was concluded successfully on behalf of our members. Other notable disputes took place at Bausch & Lomb in Water- ford, Coty in Nenagh, Uniphar in Dublin, Pfizer in Ringaskiddy, Kerry Foods in Charleville, Ele- ment Six in Shannon, Arva Ltd in Shannon, C&C (Glessons) and Mondelez (Cadburys) in Dublin, GE Healthcare in Clonmel, Meadow Meats in Laois, Dawn Meats in Waterford, Kerry Spring Water in Tralee, Leo Pharma in Dublin and Medite Europe Ltd in Clonmel.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 99 Public Adminstration and Community Division

This is a review of the main developments in the All of the Motions will form the basis of the Public Administration and Community Division Divisions’ Work Plan over the next two years. from January 2015 to December 2016. The Delegates in break-out Sessions also Financial Financial participated in a discussion on the Membership Membership Membership Consultative Initiative. 2015 2016 Community 8,043 7,798 Divisional Committee 2015 – 2016 Education 6,188 6,072 Sector: Name: Local Authority 11,638 11,617 Education Maurice O’Donoghue, State Related 3,538 3,106 President Community Suzanna Griffin, 29,407 28,370 Vice-President Local Authority David Breen DIVISIONAL CONFERENCE 2016 Local Authority Denis Cooke The Public Administration and Community Local Authority Stephen Kelly Division Conference took place in Liberty Hall on Local Authority Willie Bagnall the 10th and 11th November 2016. A total of 177 Local Authority Jim Byrne Delegates were entitled to attend representing the Local Authority Jerry Crowley Four Sectors within the Division, and the Local Authority Gabrielle Magee** Divisional Committee. Local Authority Conor O’Toole** State Related Thomas Walsh The Conference was addressed by a number of State Related Alan Lindley key Speakers including – State Related Sandra Darley Jack O’Connor SIPTU General President Education Tommy Murtagh Education Grainne Morahan Joe O’Flynn SIPTU General Secretary Education Rachel Matthews Mc Kay Gene Mealy SIPTU Vice-President Community Teresa Collins Hinchey* Community Linda Scully John King SIPTU Divisional Community Derek Mulcahy Organiser Community Donie O’Leary Ivan Cooper The Wheel Community Community Gra nne Griffin* Organisation Retired member Johní James Mc Loughlin Christine Jakob European Public Services *Gra nne Griffin replaced Teresa Collins Hinchey Union on theí Committee Tom McDonnell Nevin Economic **Gabrillle Magee and Conor O’Toole Research Institute nominated July, 2016.

Delegates to the Conference debated and passed a wide range of Motions covering Community Sector Committee 2016 issues such as the need for: Elaine Harvey Sector President Helena Mc Neill Vice-President • A Community Campaign Anne Carr • Public Sector Pay Restoration Donal Coffey Martin Collins • Public Sector Recruitment David Connolly

100 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Ray Corcoran Matthew O’Malley Grainne Griffin (Co-opted to Committee) Denis Reen Suzanne Griffin Damien Stirrat Teresa Collins-Hinchey Jason Leigh James Mannion Nigel Dalton Caroline Mc Donagh Pat McCane Brendan Mc Nulty Phelim Jennings Sian Muldowney Patrick McCormack Kevin O’Connor Paul Delaney Peter O’Connor Donie O’Leary State Related Sector Committee 2016 Orlaith Rowe Alan Lindley Sector President Lynda Scully Caroline Curraoin Vice-President Charlie Ashe Education Sector Committee 2016 Sandra Darley Jack Mc Ginley Sector President Tom Gill Owen Doherty Vice-President Jack Kehoe Kieran Allen Aideen Kelly Brian Bugler George Kiely Michael Geoghegan Peter O’Sullivan Matt Hatton Vivion Spain Ciaran Mc Kenna Tom Walsh Grainne Morohan Tommy Murtagh Standing Orders Committee Deirdre O’Connor Jack Mc Ginley Diarmuid O’Dwyer David Curtin Paul Shields Nigel Dalton James Mannion Local Authority Sector Committee 2016 Tom Walsh Matt Henry Sector President Willie Bagnall Vice-President Paddy Beirne Representation from Division on Martin Burke National Executive Council and National Trustee Jim Byrne Eugene Caherly National Executive Council Tony Collier Matt Henry Gerry Concannon David Connolly Denis Cooke Jack Mc Ginley Dave Curtin Tom Gill Alan Daly Eugene Devlin National Trustee Gerard Falsey Annette Donlon Eddie Goldrick Gerry Harris Representation from Division on National Willie Horrigan Campaigns and Equality Committee Frank Lee Ms Maureen Ryan Liam Maher Ms Suzanne Griffin Eamon Mc Auley James Mc Loughlin Staff in the Division Brian Mc Namara John King Divisional Organiser Leslie Mc Namara Brendan O’Brien Sector Organiser – Emmanuel Millar Local Authority Sector

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 101 Eddie Mullins Sector Organiser – Joiners 2015 Joiners 2016 Community Sector Community 1,836 1,287 Jane Boushell Sector Organiser – Education 414 472 State Related Sector Louise O’Reilly* Sector Organiser – Local Authority 684 596 Education Sector State Related 142 225 Karl Byrne Sector Organiser – Education Sector 3,076 2,580 Linda Murphy Administration Mary Smith Administration DIVISIONAL REVIEW Bina Harte Administration During the period under review, members of the Eleanor Walsh Administration Public Administration and Community Division in Anthony Community/ the Local Authority State Related and Education Mc Cormack Local Authority Sectors were governed by the Terms of the Sector Haddington Road Agreement 2013 – 2016, and Michael Kiely Community/ Lansdowne Road Agreement 2016 – 2018. Local Authority Sector The Community Sector, which is not covered by Karen Smollen Community Sector provisions of the Haddington Road Agreement Noreen Parker Community Sector and the Landsdowne Road Agreement, continued Kevin Mc Kinney Community/ to be subjected to budgetary constraints Local Authority Sector imposed during the crisis in the Public Finances. Ramon O’Reilly Local Authority Sector Con Casey Local Authority Sector In the period under review SIPTU’s Public Sector Declan Ferry* Local Authority Sector members continued to be afforded the protec- Jason Palmer Local Authority/ tions of the Public Sector Agreements against State Related Sector compulsory redundancies, redeployment in John Judge Local Authority/ excess of 45km and enhanced protections State Related Sector against outsourcing. The Haddington Road Maurice Hearne Local Authority/ Agreement continued to guarantee a level of State Related Sector security of income, and the Landsdowne Road Gerry Flanagan Local Authority/ Agreement commenced the process of pay Community Sector restoration. Noel Maguire Education Sector Over 2015 and 2016 SIPTU’s Public Administration Bill Mulcahy Education Sector and Community Division members were involved Geoff McEvoy* Education Sector in a number of campaigns and disputes aimed at not only ensuring the protection of our members’ *Louise O’Reilly on Special Leave interests, but also ensuring the delivery of *Karl Byrne Appointed August, 2016 services remained in public ownership, and that *Geoff McEvoy Appointed, September, 2016 they were delivered in a high quality, efficient *Declan Ferry - Not full-time employed in the and safe manner. Division Local Authority members were to the fore in INDUSTRIAL ISSUES many of these cases. For instance, the Retained The Public Administration and Community and Full-time Fire Services had to engage in both Division is made up of four Sectors, representing industrial and political campaigns to defend the members as follows: service from being decimated in the ‘Keeping Communities Safe’ proposals. The Dublin Fire During the period under review the Sectors, in Brigade had to continue its’ campaign to ensure collaboration with our colleagues in the Strategic its role in delivering Emergency Services in Organising Department, organised and recruited: Dublin was maintained. Local Authority members working under the Service Level Agreement with Irish Water also had to engage in an industrial and political cam-

102 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 paign to ensure this essential service remained in conditions cut unilaterally by the Government on public ownership, employing direct labour. Public Service workers in 2009 and 2010. SIPTU and the Public Services Committee of ICTU were SIPTU’s public sector members are to be com- able to use these improved economic conditions mended for playing their part in ensuring the de- in the negotiations that took place in 2015 on the livery of Public Services was maintained in an Lansdowne Road Agreement, an extension of the environment where pay and conditions have Public Sector Stability Agreements, the Croke Park been reduced, and less staff are employed due and Haddington Road Agreements. to the effect of the Public Service Moratorium. Although not due to formally commence until 1st Some of the best examples of this were seen June 2016, the improved economic circumstances during the now annual flooding crisis when the allowed the union side to bring forward pay role of public sector workers in the Fire and elements to 1st January 2016, that would benefit Emergency Services, Local Authorities, OPW members. and other State Organisations was essential to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our citizens The Agreement provides for an alleviation to the and their communities. Pension Related Deduction, a pay increase on salary scales up to €65,000 and the re-enforce- SIPTU members in the Community Sector ment of the Agreement that the higher earners continued to be the cornerstone of support for who suffered additional pay cuts in the Hadding- the delivery of essential services to the marginalised ton Road Agreement will have them restored on and the less well off in our society. the agreed dates. During the period under review, the effects of the The Agreement also continues to provide for economic crisis and imposition of austerity meas- protections against Compulsory Redundancy and ures saw thousands more families driven into Redeployment in excess of 45km. poverty and despair. Workers in the Community Sector are to be commended for the role they On the question of outsourcing, SIPTU ensured played in providing essential services to these that the Agreement continued to build on the citizens, despite the fact that the Sector continued protective measures necessary to assist our to suffer funding cuts, job losses and threats to members in the fight to maintain direct privatisation. employment in the delivery of Public Services. In late 2015, the Government announced that it SIPTU Public Sector members voted to accept the was seeking submissions from stakeholders agreement in a secret ballot held over the summer involved in the Community and Voluntary Sector of 2015. on the question of commissioning services. While the Community Sector is not covered by the SIPTU made a submission to the Department of Public Terms of the Public Services Agreement, SIPTU Expenditure and Reform, highlighting the concerns and IMPACT used the talks process to engage with union members had in relation to funding, and the the Officials in the Department of Public Expenditure provision of proper contracts with decent pay and and Reform. This has resulted in the creation of a conditions for workers in the Sector. High Level Forum to enable the issues and challenges for the Sector to be addressed. The union also expressed its opposition to this commissioning process, which arose from con- SIPTU during 2016 continued to call for the earlier cerns that it would lead to the widespread transfer implementation of restoration measures provided of Community and Voluntary Sector functions to for in the Lansdowne Road Agreement. the Private for Profit Sector, with very negative This was due to improvements in the economy consequences, not just for the employees in the and at the Public Administration and Community Sector, but for the State’s most vulnerable citizens Divisional Conference held on the 10th and 11th who depend on them. November 2016, SIPTU President Jack O’Connor announced that a ballot of our Public Sector Mem- bership for Strike Action would be held if the Gov- Economic Recovery ernment did not agree to enter early talks on this The Irish economy continued to show signs of issue. strong growth in 2015 and 2016, and SIPTU initi- As a result of this announcement by SIPTU the ated a campaign for the restoration of the pay and SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 103 Genevieve Mooney, Early Years Educator Government conceded a talks process to com- infancy, it could significantly impact on the recruit- mence in early 2017. ment process in CE, T S, LES and Job Clubs, leading to further redundanciesÚ in the Sector. The JobPath programme effectively privatises labour INDUSTRIAL OVERVIEW activation within the community sector and needs BY SECTOR to be monitored closely.

The Sector has had a significant number of redun- COMMUNITY SECTOR dancies from Local Development Companies arising from the SICAP programme. SIPTU is now Overview: entering a phase where it is expected more redun- The Community Sector has suffered more than dancies will arise resulting from reduced LEADER most through the recession years. It is primarily budgets and the potential loss of contracts for made up of private not for profit companies, de- some companies. pendent almost solely on state funding to survive. Sectional issues within the Community Sector: There are approximately 35,000 workers employed across the Sector, including Community T S: Ú Employment Schemes, Local Development Com- In view of the significant changes in the role of panies, Childcare and Social Care. T S, a claim has been lodged for (1) An incremen- talÚ pay scale (2) An increase in annual leave enti- Funding has reduced significantly across all pro- tlement (3) An improvement to sick leave, and (4) grams. As a result, workers have had their hours Moves to bring the retirement age in line with the reduced, wages cut, terms and conditions eroded 2011 Social Welfare Pension Act. and a significant number of workers have been made redundant. The biggest problem for the RSS: Sector was the almost absolute refusal of the In view of the significant changes in its the role, a State’s funding agencies to engage in relation to claim has been lodged for (1) An incremental pay the effects of the reduced funding. scale (2) An increase in annual leave entitlement Workers in the Community and Voluntary Sector (3) An improvement to sick leave, and (4) to have a right to expect more from funding agencies bring retirement age in line with Social Welfare dealing with tax payers’ money. Pension Act 2011.

In this context, workers felt optimistic that discus- CTC: sions on the Lansdowne Road Agreement led to a A number of Community Training Centers have Chairman’s Note setting out a pathway for dealing closed after going into liquidation. We were able with matters of concern. That is, funding, policy, to achieve enhanced redundancy entitlements for pay, terms and conditions of employment and, in staff, even though the Centers; were liquidated. light of the improving economic climate, an ex- The Sector also had the Employee Handbook as pectation of some improvement to terms and con- revised in 2012, adopted by the Education and ditions of employment. Training Board, which is now responsible for the CTC. There are still significant issues to be addressed and hopefully the High Level Forum envisaged in the Chairman’s Note will provide that avenue. CE: Among the items that remain to be resolved are The Sector is hopeful that the High Level Forum outstanding Labour Court recommendations, gov- can begin to resolve the outstanding claim for a ernment departments attitudes to formal agree- Pension Scheme. There are a number of schemes ments with us, where they exist, and agreeing engaged in mergers, with the loss of Supervisors’ pathways for resolving issues of concern to the roles through natural wastage. Sector. LES: The introduction of JobPath is of considerable con- Staff members have many concerns in relation to cern to SIPTU. While this new programme is in its the documentation now being forced upon them

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 105 by Department of Social Protection. They believe key demands in the event of any new funding confidentiality and data protection could be com- model being developed. promised. They are preparing a proposal to deal with these concerns. Organising: Specific organising campaigns in the sector run in Community Services Programme: conjunction with the Strategic Organising Depart- Arising from an increase in the minimum wage, ment are continuing. These include the IWA, LDCs, staff have enjoyed a wage increase to €19.50 per T S, RSS and FRC, and now the focus is being week, or 5 ½%'. extendedÚ to Childcare, where the “Big Start” campaign has commenced. Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) The IWA provides personal assistance to people with disabilities. It operates on a not for profit EDUCATION SECTOR basis. There is concern that contracts are being lost to private providers whose staff have terms Overview and conditions of employment that would not be During the period under review the Sector was cov- as good as those applying to IWA staff. Workers ered by the provisions of the Haddington Road in the IWA have had their wages cut by agreement Agreement 2013 – 2016. The members continued to in the hope that this will stave off the threat posed be protected by the provisions of the agreement in by privatisation of the disability service. relation to Compulsory Redundancy, Re-deployment, Outsourcing and Income Protection. Citizens Information Services The Sector engaged at the Education Oversight It has been a busy period for the section commit- Body to deal with any matters arising for members tee and members in this employment, with a num- under the provisions of the agreement. ber of matters referred to the Workplace Relations Commission. These include the issue of how the In non-public service areas the Sector continued committee can collectively bargain with the par- to represent members through direct collective ent board of the CIC’s so as to be able to repre- bargaining with the employers. sent workers’ interests effectively. Of particular Pay concern is a decision by the employer to only offer Pay increases were achieved in the following promotional manager/senior positions on a two employments. year fixed term basis. Cistercian College, Roscrea. Increase from mini- Commissioning mum wage to Living Wage, equivalent to a 25.6% In mid-2015 the Department of Public Expenditure pay increase, phased in from Jan 2016 to Jan 2017. and Reform announced that it was conducting a Rockwell College, Cashel. Increase to Living Wage consultation on Commissioning for the Community equivalent to 18.5% pay increase, phased in from and Voluntary Sector. July 2016 to Oct 2017. SIPTU’s Community Sector Committee and mem- Kilkenny College. Increase of 7% in Sept 2015 as bers raised very serious concerns over this devel- move to Living wage. opment as it represents a radical change in how Newtown College, Waterford. Increase of 5% in the State funds Community and Voluntary organi- Sept 2015 as phase one of move to living Wage. sations. As outlined above, this presents a very real Negotiations on-going on final phase due this year. possibility of Private for Profit Sector firms impact- ing negatively on employees’ conditions and on University College Cork, Tyndall Institute the citizens who depend on these committed The last two years have seen Tyndall pay inequity workers to provide them with services. discussed at several conciliation conferences at the WRC. Due to an unacceptable evaluation The SIPTU PAC Division, Community Sector, in col- process carried out by PwC, industrial action was laboration with the Strategic Organising Depart- re-instated in May 2015 (with picketing on May 1st, ment Community Campaign, made a submission 6th and 7th) and notice was served on UCC for the to this consultation process outlining a number of escalation of the picket on 13th May 2015 to the

106 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 university’s main campus. College management University College Cork. sought and achieved a High Court injunction to Agreement was reached at University College prevent SIPTU placing the picket. The High Court Cork in early 2016 for making a round of promo- ruled on 11th May 2015 granting the injunction for tions open to 460 SIPTU members employed as 13th of May only, stating that SIPTU was free to administrative staff. The union had won a Labour prosecute its dispute thereafter. Court case for these staff to be treated “no less favourably” than lecturers and technical staff in re- Following further negotiations at the WRC the dis- gard to promotions. Following a ballot for indus- pute is now back in process and is expected to be trial action, agreement was reached on promotion concluded successfully by year end 2016. The Job for up to 70 administration staff. The internal pro- evaluation process has so far shown that almost motions process is currently underway. 70% of SIPTU members at Tyndall UCC are under paid vis a vis their UCC main campus counterparts. SIPTU Education Sector members at University The evaluation process indicates a requirement for College Cork have begun a campaign in conjunc- pay adjustments ranging from 1% to 65% across tion with the SIPTU Services Sector to have all con- the group of employees. tract staff at UCC paid the Living Wage (€11.50/hr) as a minimum. Some 200 catering and St Leo’s College, Carlow cleaning contract workers stand to benefit as the SIPTU pickets were placed at this secondary majority are paid at legal minimum levels. school on 13th March 2015, in pursuit of the reversal of cuts imposed on staff without agreement. A National College of Ireland successful outcome was achieved and the cuts Following industrial action, we reached agreement were reversed. at the LRC on the reinstatement of the pension scheme and the restoration of pay cuts/freezes. A Cork Institute of Technology new system of incremental credits was agreed 23 SIPTU members employed as cleaning staff at and accepted by members. This will mean that the Institute had been excluded from the public members at the top of their scale can now access sector sick pay scheme since its inception in the pay increases on top of cost of living increases, and late 1970’s. Staff were using annual leave to cover staff who were previously excluded from the incre- sickness. SIPTU became aware of this injustice in mental credit system have been included in it. July 2015 and approached management immediately. Staff were put on the scheme at that point DCU and, following several months of negotiation, com- Incorporation: The work on incorporating three pensation was paid to each staff member. The teacher training colleges into DCU is ongoing. On total compensation figure exceeded €100,000. the insistence of SIPTU a Central Negotiating Com- mittee chaired by Janet Hughes assisted with the Cistercian College, Roscrea resolution of some long outstanding Industrial Re- Attempts by College management to outsource lations issues for members. The work on Incorpo- Catering and Cleaning work were successfully re- ration and related matters is anticipated to be sisted. Following a ballot for industrial action finalised in the 2nd/3rd quarter of 2016. This work agreement was reached on maintaining direct is continuing. It is anticipated that permanent jobs labour. will be offered to staff in the library and other areas. Newtown School, Waterford. The management agenda to outsource the cater- Discussions on the issue of increased shift al- ing and housekeeping function was resisted by lowance for security staff are ongoing. SIPTU and agreement was reached on maintaining A claim for improvement of the wages of Technical direct labour. Officer staff in DCU was lodged and rejected by management. This was referred to the WRC. Carlow College. Following two years of efforts by SIPTU and mem- UCD bers at Carlow College, agreement was reached This was a busy period for the section and mem- with the new College President resulting in trade bers in UCD, with some claims resolved locally and union recognition. others through the WRC and Labour Court.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 107 Biomedical Facility - Labour Court Recommenda- NUI Galway tion on the retention of agreement on rostered Arising from the outcome of two cases taken to overtime. the Equality Tribunal successfully establishing that gender discrimination existed at NUI Galway, Small Group Teachers - Labour Court Recommen- SIPTU launched a campaign to address institu- dation on Terms and Conditions of Employment. tional discrimination at the university. The cam- Media Services - Labour Court Recommendation paign found a wide range of precarious on Relocation. employment practices that exploited the vulnera- Car parking - Labour Court Recommendation. bility of workers not on permanent contracts. These resulted in the fragmentation and casualisa- Applied Language Centre - Labour Court Recom- tion of contracts of employment that not only re- mendation. sulted in inferior terms, but limited future prospects for progression or promotion, or in- TCD deed, continuity of employment. While these The section committee was active on a number of practices affected both women and men, women disputes and grievances on behalf of members, in- constituted a significant majority. The campaign cluding: raised considerably the profile SIPTU, successfully Grounds Staff – Regrading for General Operatives. connecting with organising and activism objectives. In addition to advancing a considerable Academic Registry – Agreement secured on number of individual cases, the SIPTU is pursuing arrangements in relation to office relocation. a number of collective claims. These include the Chefs – Claim in respect of overtime arrange- reclassification of women as academics, who con- ments. tinue to be paid as administrators, and an industrial The section also organised a specific workplace relations campaign to address inferior terms and training course for new activists and basic training conditions for those on precarious contracts, infor shop stewards. cluding those who experience discrimination on Contracts of Indefinite Duration. QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland) Following a ballot for industrial action, engage- ETB Training Centres ment locally and with the LRC, and the interven- Staff in the ETB Training Centres (formerly SOLAS) tion of the Department of Education, the Sector completed their legal transfer into their respective secured an agreement which will see the recogni- Education and Training Boards (formerly VECs). This tion of the grading structure. This has put an end followed extensive work by the Sub Sector Commit- to the campaign by management to create their tee in negotiating red circled terms and conditions own structure separate from the public service. It and preserving relevant policies and procedures has also seen an increase in the number of annual supporting them. The adjustment into the ETB cul- leave days for our members. New job descriptions ture has presented a number of difficult challenges were finalised and members are working in jobs both from the staff transferring and from the receiv- appropriate to their grades. ing ETBs in adapting to the training centre model. Through the expert assistance of local representa- NCAD tives SIPTU managed to preserve its recognition The Sector engaged extensively with manage- structures and successfully established a new rela- ment locally and under the auspices of the Work- tionship with the ETB representative body (ETBi) on place Relations Commission in relation to issues operational and industrial relations matters. Addi- concerning pay, hours of work and proper con- tionally, the Sub-Sector Committee representatives tracts of employment for part time lecturing staff. established an Industrial Relations Forum with the Department of Education and Skills (DES) which en- We also passed a motion of No Confidence in the sures that SIPTU has an industrial relations process senior management team and the Sector sup- at the highest level. A range of issues concerning all ported the students in their protest against the grades: instructors, clerical/administration and gen- manner in which the college was being run. eral operatives, have been the subject of negotiation and agreement. Among the issues covered are new apprenticeships, a new curriculum for apprentices, annual leave entitlements, staffing resources and grading issues. 108 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 SIPTU • Annual Report 2013/2014 1

1. Sarah Anne Buckley and Maggie Ronanyne mark Trade Union Day at NUI Galway. 2. Dublin Fire Brigade Emergency Medical Service campaign. 3. OPW Tour Guides 3 workshop in SIPTU College. GMIT LOCAL AUTHORITY SECTOR The union successfully secured a Labour Court Recommendation recognising 29 women canteen Overview workers as public servants, and acknowledging In the period under review the major industrial their entitlement to public sector pension rights. activity within the Sector fell under the provisions The workers concerned were being denied recog- Haddington Road Agreement 2013 - 2016. Sector nition as public servants due to the establishment membership is currently around 12,000. Numbers of a campus company which segregated them in the Sector have been depleted by 30% as a con- from their comparators within the Institute. The sequence non-recruitment arising from the Public process of implementation is now under way. Sector Moratorium. Significant restructuring in the Sector has taken Caretaking and Cleaning Staff (ETBs, National and place over the period of the report through the Secondary Schools) Local Government Efficiency Review, which has Caretaking and Cleaning staff continued to come seen a number of Local Authorities merged. under considerable pressure to meet additional workloads arising from the non-replacement of Major issues in the Sector affecting our members staff. The issue is compounded in schools where included the ongoing situation concerning Irish student numbers are rising and new buildings Water, as well as a number of disputes in the Fire erected. Outsourcing and the use of agency staff Services. is on the increase. The philosophy driving this approach can be traced all the way to the Depart- Union Organisation ment Education and Skills. Members have had to The Sector Committee meets on a regular basis threaten industrial action to thwart plans to out- and has established the following national source them with private contractors on several Committees: occasions. Thanks to support from this Division National Water Services Committee and the provisions of the Public Sector Agree- ments, attempts to transfer members have largely National Retained Fire Service Committee been averted. National Fulltime Fire Service Committee National Wardens Committee St. Angela’s College, Sligo The college is to transfer to NUI Galway under a Procurement Committee TUPE. This transfer has been controversial for both Supervisors Committee academics and support staff alike. Strike action taken by TUI members and SIPTU members bal- Northern Ireland - Local Authority Rationalisation loted in support. Management has resisted nego- During the period coved by this report the process tiations on the terms of the transfer, however of reducing the 26 District Councils to 11 District SIPTU has secured commitments from both HR de- Councils concluded. SIPTU represents members in partments that negotiations will begin in good 4 of the 11 Councils. Our key activists remain en- time prior to the move. gaged in a process of ensuring that members are protected during this process, especially in situa- Shannon College tions where new Councils are seeking to merge The situation is similar to that proposed for St. An- departments and services following amalgama- gela’s College. Shannon College members have tion. transferred into the employment of NUI Galway. A number of issues not covered by NUI Galway Ongoing issues include harmonisation upwards of terms and conditions are the subject of a referral pay for members who are now working for the to LRC. same employer and undertaking identical work on different pay structures. Belfast City Council transferred our members, who were previously employed directly by them to an arm’s length body. Our local representatives however ensured they were able to transfer with a TUPE Plus agreement, including the right to transfer back to Belfast City Council in the event of redundancies.

110 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Northern Ireland - Local Authority Pay Where a permanent post becomes vacant in the Following national negotiations on behalf of course of a multi annual service plan, it will be re- members working in local authorities and schools placed as permanent unless there’s a rationale for covered by the National Joint Council, the pay offer its non-filling on this basis under the following covering the 2016 and 2017 pay round involved a 1% Multi Annual Service Plan. increase for most people in 2016 and again in 2017, The fleet to be maintained, as well as €800,000 with higher amounts for the lowest paid. to be provided for staff training/upgrading.

Water Services: A commitment by management to engage on the Our Local Authority members employed in water Design Build and Operate strategy. services operate under the terms of a Service SIPTU’s Local Authority Sector Committee and Level Agreement negotiated with the Local Au- National Water were also highly active during the thorities. Negotiations and discussions concerning period in relation to the campaign against the our water service members take place under the privatisation of our water services. In March 2015, auspices of the Irish Water Consultative Group. our members participated in the Right2Water Our Local Authority members employed in water Citizens Initiative protest outside the European services operate under the terms of the Service Parliament in Brussels, which called upon the EU Level Agreement which provides for the Local Au- nations to halt the drive to privatise public water thorities to provide a public water service to the services. state. Negotiations and discussions concerning In late 2015, the Local Authority Water Committee our water service members employed by Local organised the ‘Water Guarantee’ campaign, which Authorities working under the provisions of the called elected representatives, including General Service Level Agreement take place under the aus- Election candidates to sign a pledge to protect pices of the Irish Water Consultative Group. our water service by: The major issue arising in 2014 concerned the fail- Re-designating Irish Water from a commercial ure of Local Authorities to maintain the agreed semi-state to a non-commercial state agency. water services headcount. This remained problem- Holding a referendum to keep water services atic throughout the year despite repeated assur- in public ownership and control. ances that, where vacancies arose, these would be addressed by management. In October 2015, Irish Water unilaterally an- Fire Services nounced that it had presented a business plan to the Government to dramatically reduce Local Au- Keeping Communities Safe (KCS) Dispute thority staff numbers over the next number of Following a circular issued in January 2015 seeking years. SIPTU was concerned that this would lead to implement disputed measures under the KCS to the eventual privatisation of the service by re- programme, members in the Retained Fire Service moving the ability of local Authorities to provide balloted for industrial and strike action, which was the service. overwhelmingly supported. This was followed by a march and demonstration by both Retained and Members in the Sector balloted for Industrial and Fulltime Fire Service members outside the Dail. Strike action which was supported overwhelmingly. Arising from the dispute, discussions were The campaign led to a meeting with Minister Alan convened under the auspices of the Workplace Kelly who, having heard our members concerns, Relations Commission. This led to an agreement proposed new discussions to seek a resolution to that included the following: the KCS dispute. A process involving the parties No reductions in staff unless it can be demon- was established and chaired by former SIPTU Gen- strated that the service can be maintained to the eral President Des Geraghty. Following discussions required standard and that Local Authority staff over the next number of months, agreement was will not be displaced by contractors. reached for the establishment of a new consultative forum titled the Fire Services National Over- No transition from a permanent to a temporary sight and Implementation Group (FSNOIG), which workforce. To this end, an independently chaired provides for the issues of concern to be discussed process was agreed to maintain the 2017 head- through Joint Working Committees. Where agree- count figure at 95% permanent. SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 111 ment is not arrived at through the JWCs, then op- Gateway erational issues will be adjudicated on by an inde- The Sector notified management of the cessation pendently chaired expert panel, or industrial of our co-operation with the Gateway job activa- relations issues will be referred through the normal tion scheme in light of the improving economic sit- IR channels. uation, and also the requirement for proper recruitment to be recommenced in the Sector. Dublin Fire Brigade Staffing Dispute Following the reneging of an agreement by Dublin Workforce Planning The Sector has been actively engaged in seeking City Council to begin recruitment to address the the recommencement of normal recruitment serious firefighter staffing shortages, members bal- across the grades SIPTU represents throughout loted for industrial/strike notice. Notice of the the Local Authorities. While many Local Authorities commencement of industrial action was served. cite ongoing financial difficulties, we have Following an invitation from the Workplace Rela- nonetheless secured agreements in a number of tions Commission, discussions took place leading counties for the recruitment of Outdoor and Tech- to a proposal which provided for a time-lined re- nical/Engineering grades. The Sector has also cruitment process to fully restore staffing numbers campaigned for the recruitment of apprentices. in the Brigade. The agreement also provided for a Agreements have been reached in a number of ‘trigger mechanism’ to provides for automatic re- counties. cruitment should vacancies arise. Retirement Age Following the loss of the Transitional Pension, Dublin Fire Brigade Ambulance Service Dispute many retiring members face serious financial hard- In early 2015, Dublin City Council announced that, ship by being placed on jobseekers’ benefit pend- in consort with the HSE, it would commission a re- ing their pension commencing at age 65. Arising view of the DFB’s Ambulance service. The union from this concern, the union has successfully cam- was concerned that this was a prelude to the out- paigned in the majority of counties for the option sourcing of this critical emergency service. Follow- of members staying in work till age 66. The Sector ing a campaign by members in DFB, SIPTU secured is continuing its’ campaign with the remaining two agreement for an independently chaired process or three Local Authorities in an effort to resolve this to see could a model of delivery be agreed by the matter. parties that also addressed the recent HIQA report into ambulance services in the state. Dublin General Operative Rate Discussions began under the Public Service Agree- Following a series of discussions, the process en- ment, on including travel time for low paid work- gaged an expert panel who took submissions from ers in Dublin (City?) in their pension. the parties and published their report in late 2015. This was accepted by the union side and later by management, pending resolution of a number of points. STATE RELATED SECTOR Outdoor Grade Annual Leave Following a campaign by SIPTU, the Sector se- Overview cured agreement on the extension of the standard During the period under review members of the 25 annual leave days to our members in the out- State Related Sector were covered by the provi- door grades in the Local Authorities. Members in sions of the Haddington Road Agreement 2013 – the outdoor grades currently above 25 days per 2016. The Sector continued to be active on the annum will retain them on a ‘red-circled’ basis. State Sector Oversight Body. It continued to be af- This agreement falls in line with, and restores the fected by the imposition of the moratorium and historic relativity link between the craft and out- with ongoing mergers of state agencies, including door grades in respect of annual leave. Members those being subsumed into the Civil Service. in the Sector are benefitting on average by rwo additional days’ leave per annum.

112 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 F S Court decided it did not have jurisdiction to hear Its’Á break-up was finalised in 2014. Agreement was the case. Subsequently, we referred the matter to reached for the transfer of members in the Training the Pensions Ombudsman as a Test Case. The mat- Centres to the various Education and Training ter is on-going. Boards on their existing terms and conditions of Sanction to fill Advisory Posts of Responsibility employment. The Department agreed that SIPTU funded by the PCW 1% productivity clause was re- would continue to represent these members at ceived and a competition for 18 permanent and 5 local and national discussions with the employer temporary posts took place. and the Department of Education and Skills. Contracts of Indefinite Duration were successfully Apprenticeships pursued through the Labour Relations Commission SIPTU made a comprehensive submission to the and Labour Court for a number of members who Review Body. The published Report contained had Fixed-Term and Specific Purpose Contracts for most of the recommendations made in our Sub- work on funded Joint Programmes. mission. The organisation received its Delegated Sanction The Department of Education and Skills engaged in October 2015, albeit with a number of caveats. in discussions with SIPTU on the implementation Outline Management proposals were given to the of the revised delivery of Apprenticeships follow- union, which included recruitment of new staff and ing the outcome of the Review. SOLAS was also promotions. Negotiations on how these were to represented. apply fairly across all grades and categories began.

Teagasc A major dispute arose following the transfer of Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine members from fortnightly to monthly pay, when it Our dispute regarding the application of al- appeared there was a shortfall due to fortnightly lowances in Castletownbere Harbour was referred pay being operated on an 11 year cycle. No to the Labour Relations Commission. Subsequently progress was made locally with Finance Manage- an agreed Job Evaluation exercise was carried out ment. Eventually, following discussions with the which resulted in the upgrade of two members. Director in December 2015, Teagasc agreed to engage Grant Thornton to carry out an examination Department of Defence – Haulbowline of the issues raised by the unions to establish if in Following the discovery of asbestos in two naval fact any member had been underpaid. This vessels on which our members work, a HSE inves- process is on-going. tigation took place and a procedure for removal was put in place. All members received health An improved consultation mechanism has been es- screening and a programme for on-going screen- tablished to address proposals on outsourcing ing was put in place for both serving and retired contained in the organisation’s “Change Pro- staff. gramme 3” produced in 2014. State Agencies Oversight Body Farm Staff Review Following concession of the claim for the exten- Discussions have continued throughout 2014 and sion of craft workers additional annual leave in the 2015 on future working requirements and pat- Local Authorities, SIPTU again tabled its original terns. These include the possibility of an annu- claim for its extension to General Operatives in alised hours’ arrangement and a new promotional State Agencies and State Industrial Grades at the outlet for those with a particular Agricultural qual- State Agencies Oversight Body. ification. The DPER said the claim could not be conceded. Advisory Section The union side referred the matter to the LRC and A Labour Court Hearing was held into our claim for subsequently to the Labour Court, which found in access to pension added years from members favour of our claim. Agreement was reached that who had been temporary employees of the additional days would be conceded from the County Committees of Agriculture before transfer- 2016/2017 leave year and one additional day ring to ACOT. This failed to deliver a result as the would be added to the 2015/2016 leave year. The

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 113 written agreement further states that whatever system in the RPA was different to the public serv- agreement is reached in respect of overtime work- ice and an initial exercise carried out by RPA man- ing on Good Friday in the Local Authorities will agement was rejected by SIPTU. Subsequently, also apply in the State Agencies/State Industrial the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport Sector. rejected the Management findings. The assistance of the LRC was sought to address Forf s separate issues of concern to members in the RPA The álegislation providing for the dissolution of For- and the NRA. After discussions with officials from f s and the integration of its functions into the De- the Department of Transport and the Department partmentá of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation was of Public Expenditure and Reform, it was agreed published just before Christmas 2013. A revised to enter into a facilitation process with Ray departmental structure was approved in order to McGee, former Deputy Chairperson of the Labour maximise the benefits of integration. Negotiations Court as the independent facilitator. took place with the Secretary General of DJEI and the CEO of Forf s on the transfer of responsibilities The final document was overwhelmingly accepted and accompanyingá staff. by the members in separate ballots in each organisation. Included as part of the Protocol Agree- Agreement was reached between the DPER and ment was a job evaluation, to be carried out by ICTU on the wording of the paragraphs dealing Towers Watson, to allocate public service grades with terms and conditions of employment and to RPA staff. An internal appeals process was in- pensions, which were inserted into the legislation cluded in this process. However, management re- dissolving Forf s and dividing its responsibilities fused to agree a process to deal with any grading among other stateá bodies. This wording will form disputes that remained following the internal ap- the generic to be inserted in all future legislation peals process, only being prepared to go through regarding mergers of State bodies/transfers of “normal industrial relations procedures”. functions. 17 members remained dissatisfied following the in- Shannon Development ternal process and the matter was referred to the The agreed Facilitator, Mr Brendan Duffy presided Workplace Relations Commission. over a final meeting to identify outstanding problems and agree a resolution mechanism. At the A voluntary redundancy scheme was introduced end of this lengthy process he drew up an adden- in the RPA during the early months of the negoti- dum to the original agreement which was agreed ations and was re-opened for a couple of months by all parties and gave a number of improvements prior to the merger. The Minister designated 1st to our members in relation to continued member- August 2015 as Vesting Day. ship of the public service pension scheme, and NRA staff relocated to Parkgate Street to the ex- public service terms and conditions, unless pro- panded location of the RPA. moted in the new Shannon Commercial Enter- prises company. The Voluntary Severance Scheme was reopened F ilte Ireland for a short period and a small number of members 43á people availed of the voluntary severance availed of it. Remaining members relocated to the scheme and the majority finished on 31st March Airport. 2014, with a small number remaining on until June to carry out specific duties. In 2015 management outlined details of major investment plans in respect of the Shannon Free Management decided to close the Print Unit as the Zone. It is hoped that this will bring new employ- majority of printing was being carried out exter- ment to the area. This will be private rather than nally. Staff members in the Unit were offered republic sector. deployment, but opted for voluntary redundancy. This has led to continuing discussions on the issue Transport Infrastructure Ireland (merged body for- of outsourcing. merly the Railway Procurement Agency and Na- tional Roads Authority) A dispute arose in relation to the provision of an Major difficulties were experienced during negoti- Income Continuance Scheme for members rede- ations to merge a public service body with a com- ployed from Shannon Development. This was part mercial semi-state. In particular, the grading of their terms and conditions. The dispute was re-

114 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 solved following discussions at the State Related Waterways Ireland Oversight Body. The DPER and DJEI instructed Agreement was reached on Management’s pro- F ilte Ireland to reinstate the provision as it was posal to change the working arrangements/con- coveredá by TUPE. ditions for Lock keepers in the Eastern Region. There were some financial losses as a result, two North South Pension Scheme members took voluntary redundancy and one re- The British government tasked a former MP, Lord deployed to a different section. Hutton, with a review of the British Civil and Public Service. His report included a number of proposals National Gallery of Ireland to increase pension contributions and reduce ben- Ballots for industrial action and strike action were efits by imposing career averaging on existing held as a result of a Labour Court Recommenda- scheme members. The North South Pension tion which reduced our members’ annual leave en- Scheme operates under the rules of the Northern titlements. Ireland Civil Service Scheme and therefore we Following ballots in favour of both, sanction was were informed that the proposals in the Hutton given for a series of one day stoppages. The first Report would be implemented from 1st April 2014 took place on 5th June 2014 and the picket was (having been implemented in the UK in 2012). The respected by all union members, including those Chief Executive’s Group, which acts as the Pen- not involved in the dispute. The construction crew sions Committee, wrote to Minister Howlin, then working on the redevelopment also refused to Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, stating pass the picket. Further stoppages were planned that they believed the proposals contravened the for 7th and 21st July. An intervention by the Chair- Haddington Road Agreement. However Minister person of the Internal Industrial Relations Forum, Howlin’s Private Secretary responded on his behalf John White, resulted in a settlement proposal to the effect that implementing the changes which was rejected on a ballot of the members. would not contravene the HRA. Management requested a further meeting on 4th The unions involved met with the Chair of the July and, following lengthy negotiations, a pro- CEOs Committee and Officials from the relevant posal emerged which involved management sus- civil service departments. SIPTU and IMPACT then pending any attempt to implement the Labour jointly referred the matter to the State Agencies Court Recommendation, the union suspending its Oversight Body and discussions took place. Fol- strike action, and an agreement being made to lowing these the DPER tabled a proposal to the enter into intense negotiations over three weeks union side. Under this service already accrued was on changes to the roster system. This would in- ring-fenced and only future service would be sub- clude a number of the days which the Court had ject to career averaging. Those close to retirement recommended should be abolished, being re- were exempted from any change. stored. Implementation of the changes to contributions The dispute was satisfactorily resolved with the was postponed until April 2015. Our members settlement proposals including a new roster and were given the option to revert back to their orig- methods of working, as well as compensation for inal schemes rather than remain in the North South the loss of annual leave as per the HRA formula. Pension Scheme. A further problem arose when The ballot was overwhelmingly in favour of the our members were informed that Revenue Rules final proposals and the new agreement was imple- meant the lump sum conversion rate agreed as mented across all areas over a period of months. part of the changed scheme (ratio of 12:1) could not apply in the South. Our members may only There was further engagement with management convert at a rate of 9:1. Following further discus- and a submission was made to the Department of sions with the DPER, it consulted with Revenue Public Expenditure and Reform for sanction to fill and the original conversion rate was accepted by a number of essential posts, and to regularise a Revenue. number of posts currently filled by members on an acting basis, but without an acting allowance. The majority of members chose to remain in the Sanction to fill these was granted. NSPS with only a handful opting to revert to their former public service scheme.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 115 OPW Government decided that the Radiological Protec- Sanction to take on 20 apprentices was received tion Institution of Ireland would be subsumed into in 2014, with a view to this continuing for the fore- the EPA. The union engaged in discussions with seeable future. They are in the areas of stone ma- management on the merger with the RPII. It was sonry, stone cutting and carpentry. A number of agreed that EPA terms and conditions would Adult Apprenticeships have been facilitated. apply, except in a small number of cases where the RPII had slightly better arrangements (e.g. flex- Dublin Castle: Agreement was reached on Consta- itime). In these cases the RPII terms were adopted. ble manning levels with the assistance of the LRC. The EPA is taking over the functions of the RPII and Workforce Planning: The union continued to press the merger resulted in a fourth Directorate of Ra- for vacant posts to be filled. During the period diological Protection being established. covered by this Report the OPW carried out a ‘Value Loughs Agency for Money’ audit and as a result has con- Following discussions with the DPER on the assim- cluded that direct labour gives better value, better ilation of our members onto Southern public serv- quality of work and more control over work and ice grades, (they were previously on Northern costs than using external providers. This has as- Ireland scales/grades), the members, who are sisted us in our discussions. Southern-based were placed on standard public A number of competitions have taken place for service scales. We disputed these grades as they both promotional positions and external recruit- appear to under-grade some of our members ment for intake level posts during 2015. when compared to their counterparts in other state agencies. An Organising campaign, focused on the OPW Seasonal Guides, commenced during the Summer Our members are also now part of the North-South of 2015 with the assistance of the Organising Unit. Pension Scheme. Site meetings took place around the country. The The DPER said it would not be willing to allow a National Guides Committee is actively involved job evaluation exercise until the end of the Public and we have had a large increase in local union Service Agreement. The union has been consider- Representatives. ing options. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Legal Aid Board Discussions continued in relation to our long- The Minister for Justice and Equality re-designated running dispute on the integration of technician Legal Aid Board solicitors as civil servants in June grades A, B and C into the standard EPA grading 2014, despite submissions from both SIPTU and structure, culminating in a proposal from Manage- UNITE raising a number of issues important to our ment that was slightly different for Technician B members. We had a meeting with the Board to grade and Technician C grade. There is no longer discuss various practical and technical matters re- anyone employed as Technician A. lated to this change in status. We were informed On legal advice two separate ballots were held on that within the civil service IMPACT is the union management’s proposals. recognised for negotiating purposes on behalf of these grades and that SIPTU (and UNITE) will not The ballot results were be recognised for collective bargaining purposes. Former AFF Staff For 2 Against 8 National Joint Industrial Council Non AFF Staff For 12 Against 0 A circular was issued in 2015 on the standardisa- Lengthy discussions ensued and the union sought tion of overnight and subsistence rates for all staff. implementation for the group, which had voted in Unfortunately, we discovered that the grades of favour of the proposals. Eventually the matter was General Operative, Craftsperson and Apprentice returned to the LRC and Management agreed to were excluded. We have been pursuing the mat- seek sanction from the Department of the Environ- ter through the NJIC seeking equal treatment for ment, Community and Local Government to imple- our affected members. ment the Technical C proposal. The union’s intention following that would be to refer the Technician B issue to the Labour Court.

116 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Housing Agency ing twelve months in return for the introduction of The Labour Court found in favour of the union’s a new shift pattern which included the option of claim that the so-called ‘Bonus’ of 7% paid in the 24/7 running. There would also be a requirement National Building Agency was in fact part of basic to use an electronic time-recording system. Our salary and should be paid post transfer. The Court members rejected the proposal initially on the instructed the parties to discuss implementation. grounds that they were not prepared to use an electronic clocking system, but subsequently A memorandum of understanding was agreed be- stated they were seeking a higher premium when tween the union and the DPER in relation to the working night shift, and also sought that overtime implementation of the Recommendation and for- be paid after an eight hour day, rather than after malised with the assistance of the LRC as a Chair- 39 hours have been worked in a week. man’s note in side conference during the talks on the Lansdowne Road Agreement. The implemen- The matter was referred to the Labour Court, tation of full salary is to commence on 1st January which found in favour of the union on shift pay and 2016 for all former NBA staff, whether remaining in payment of overtime, and recommended the in- the Housing Agency or redeploying to other pub- troduction of electronic clocking on a Pilot lic service bodies. Scheme basis. The Recommendation, with clarifi- cation on the implementation of the new working Moorepark Technology Limited practices, was narrowly accepted at the end of This organisation was transferred into the State 2015. Related Sector in December 2014 as the members had been designated public sector workers for Irish Museum of Modern Art pension purposes. The organisation is a subsidiary Discussions took place in relation to restructuring of Teagasc, which serves as a Pilot Plant for the in 2015. Management committed to full consulta- Dairy Food Industry. An investment of €10m was tion and a flexible time scale. We established joint sanctioned by the Department of Agriculture, sub-committees to examine the different areas Food and the Marine, €6m to be funded by Tea- and related needs. The new structure has been put gasc and €4m funded by the industry. This invest- in place and we are continuing to monitor it ment is predicated on increased production, jointly. which required a new working arrangement based on continuous running, and also required an increase in staffing numbers. Local negotiations being exhausted, the matter was referred to the Labour Relations Commission. Following a number of conciliation conferences, a proposal was made by management which would give our members a 7% increase over the follow-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 117

Services Division

The Biennial Delegate Conference themed ‘Fight- Global Co-ordinator ing for the Future of Work’ took place in Liberty Dr Fintan Sheerin, TCD School of Nursing and Hall, Dublin, on Thursday 24 November and Friday Midwifery 25 November 2016. It was chaired by Divisional President Christy Waters. A total of 178 accredited The following motions were debated and adopted delegates attended. by conference:

Financial Membership by Sector at year end Freelance musicians 2015 2016 The Arts and Culture Sector values the member- Arts and Culture 1,750 1,802 ship and participation of musicians within the Mu- Hotels Catering, Leisure sicians union of Ireland and recognises the Print and Media 6,862 6,661 difficulties in organising freelance musicians in the Security & Contract union. Accordingly, conference calls on the Divi- Cleaning. Insurance and sional Committee to support the sector in reinvig- Finance 11,785 11,362 orating their efforts to develop the Musicians union Wholesale Retail & of Ireland with particular emphasis on organising Distribution 9,088 8,545 freelance musicians. TOTAL 29,285 28,370 Submitted by: Arts and Culture Sector

Approximately two thirds of the members are male Royalties and one third are female. Approximately 75% are of Conference notes the precariousness of the work Irish nationality and 25% non-Irish nationality. of artists and in particular those engaged as freelance actors and musicians. Consequently, ac- Conference was addressed by the following knowledges that it is imperative that all industry speakers: agreements entered into on behalf of the membership make provision for the equitable remunera- Jack O’Connor, SIPTU General President tion for the exploitation of the performers work Joe O’Flynn, SIPTU General Secretary Irish Copyright Legislation so as to ensure the cor- Gene Mealy, SIPTU Vice President rect payment of royalties and usage fees. Confer- ence recognises the difficulties associated with Frank Connolly, SIPTU Head of Communications the Competition legislation in pursuing these ob- Paddy Moran, SIPTU Retired Members jectives and pledges to continue high level of ac- Section Secretary tivity in challenging this barrier to progress so as Niamh Parsons, SIPTU Musicians union of Ireland to achieve better outcomes for members on the Viktorjia Nikitina, SIPTU Migrant Worker Arts and Culture Sector. Support Network Submitted by: Arts and Culture Sector Graham Seely, Arts and Culture Sector/ Gansee Films Transfer of undertakings Patricia King, ICTU General Secretary Conference recognises that thousands of mem- Michael Crosby, Change to Win bers and potential members of SIPTU Services Di- Ged Nash, Senator vision work in industries in which competitive Kerstin Howald, EFFAT Tourism Sector Secretary tendering and change of contractor is the norm. Workers in industries such as security, cleaning, Eddy Stam, UNI Property Services, catering, wholesaling and distribution frequently Global Co-ordinator experience a change in employer when contracts Javier Carles, UNI Graphical and Packaging, transfer from one contractor to another. The

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 119 Transfer of Undertakings Regulations are designed Given the present situation that the Irish Hotels to safeguard workers in the event of a transfer and Federation, Restaurants Association of Ireland and to establish the responsibilities of both the trans- catering employers have effectively vetoed the es- feror and transferee employers. While most tablishment of Joint Labour Committees to set unionised employers honour the Transfer of Under- statutory minimum wages and conditions for takings Regulations, many employers do not apply workers and, in addition, given the low density of TUPE, leaving workers in a vulnerable situation. trade union labour within the hospitality sector, it Conference calls on the incoming Divisional Com- is imperative that work be done to secure a Living mittee to work in conjunction with the National Ex- Wage for these workers. Accordingly, Conference ecutive Council to prioritise a campaign that calls on the Services Divisional Committee in con- would exert the necessary political pressure to junction with the National Executive Council to put strengthen the TUPE regulations to provide for the together a strong and organised campaign for a automatic transfer of employees where a contract collectively bargained Living Wage for vulnerable is lost, and to broaden their scope to include pen- workers with a guarantee of sufficient hours to sions as a transferrable condition of employment. earn a living income. Submitted by: Services Divisional Committee Submitted by the Hotels, Catering, Print, Leisure and Media Sector

Zero hour / low hour contracts Duffy Cahill Report - Clerys Conference notes the recommendations con- That this Conference calls on the National Executive tained in the University of Limerick Study of zero Council to lobby the Government for the implemen- hours/low hours contracts, a study which was tation of the recommended changes to legislation commissioned by the Department of Jobs, Enter- contained in the Duffy/Cahill report. prise and Innovation under the previous govern- The Government must be reminded of their comment. These recommendations, if implemented, mitment to legislate to ensure what happened to would give much needed security of hours and the Clerys workers can never happen again. The earnings to tens of thousands of workers who con- Duffy/Cahill report recommends changes to the law tinue to suffer exploitation as a consequence of to ensure that there are severe penalties for employ- these contracts. Conference calls on the National ers who do not adhere to the minimum 30 day con- Executive Council to establish a political campaign sultation period before implementing collective to seek the implementation of these recommen- redundancies. The report also calls for the introduc- dations tion of a mechanism for recovering assets trans- Submitted by: Security and Contract Cleaning, ferred out of a business in certain circumstances. Insurance and Finance Sector Submitted by: Wholesale Retail and Distribution Sector Make My Workplace Safe campaign Conference notes that over the last number of Living wage years there has been an organised campaign led Conference notes that within the hospitality, by the Irish Hotels Federation within the hospital- catering and leisure industries the vast majority of ity sector to drive down wages and to increase employees are not in receipt of a Living Wage. A work volumes and pace. As a result, employers put Living Wage is a wage which makes possible a pressure on accommodation staff to increase the minimum acceptable standard of living. It is evi- number of rooms that are normally cleaned on a dence based and grounded in social consensus shift causing major concerns for the health, safety based on the concept that work should provide an and well-being of accommodation workers, the adequate income to enable individuals to afford a majority of whom are women and migrant work- socially acceptable standard of living. The Living ers. Hospitality workers are incurring injuries and Wage Technical Group set out the average gross fatigue at an alarming rate yet strangely there is salary, which will enable full time employed adults no systematic inspection of the industry by the (without dependents) across Ireland to afford a so- Health and Safety Authority. cially acceptable standard of living. The current Conference calls on the incoming Divisional Com- rate is set at €11.50 per hour. mittee and the National Executive Council to sup- 120 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Members of the Justice for Clerys Workers campaign and supporters protest outside Clerys Department Store. Photo: RollingNews

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 121121 port the Sector’s Make My Workplace Safe Cam- from the elimination of the Transitional Pension. paign by lobbying Government and using what- Conference further calls on the National Executive ever means necessary to ensure that the Health Council to develop and implement a programme and Safety Authority conduct random inspections for a proper, fully comprehensive, universally ap- of hotels. plicable second pillar mandatory occupational Submitted by the Hotels, Catering, Print, Leisure pension scheme through the establishment of a and Media Sector National Superannuation Fund involving contributions from employers, workers and Government which could be mandatory for those workers and Controls on the cost of medicines employers who are not already making second pil- That this Conference condemns the extremely lar contributions. high cost of medicines which pharmacies charge Submitted by the Services Divisional Committee in this country compared to other countries and calls for an inquiry into the profits being made by The Division commissioned graphic artist Declan pharmacies on all prescribed drugs. Conference Pierce to create an art piece live at conference also calls for the development of a price ceiling on which would act as a record of the main themes prescribed drugs and for the abolition of prescrip- debated by delegates and addressed by speakers. tion charges for medical card holders Awards for Outstanding Contributions to union Ac- Submitted by: Retired Members Section tivism were made to the activists who are leading the Division’s Justice for Clerys Workers Cam- Safety in the home paign, John Crowe, John Finn, Gerry Markey and In recognising that retired workers, particularly Alan O’Brien, who are all Shop Stewards and to those living alone or in rural areas, have legitimate Susie McGowan who is a campaign activist. A security concerns, the retired members section re- demonstration was held outside Clerys Depart- quest that the incoming Divisional Committee, in ment Store on the second day of conference. conjunction with the District Councils, support a union campaign to strongly impress on the De- Delegate workshops were held on the following partment of Justice the need to ensure older peo- themes: 1) Fighting for a Living Wage and 2) Pro- ple are safe and secure in their homes. tecting Workers in a Transfer (TUPE). The Living Submitted by: Retired Members Section Wage workshop was addressed by Marie Sher- lock, SIPTU Policy Research Unit and chaired by Margaret Coffey, Divisional Vice President. The Pensions TUPE workshop was addressed by Rachel Ryan, That this conference notes that occupational pen- SIPTU Legal Rights Unit and chaired by Christy sion scheme coverage is low amongst workers in Hughes, Divisional Committee member. Rappor- private sector services industries. Many workers in teurs Garret O’Brien and Margaret Coffey reported the services sector are entirely dependent upon on the debate and outcomes to the plenary ses- the State Pension for their retirement income. sion. Conference further notes that among workers who do have the benefit of an occupational pension A highly enjoyable social for delegates and union scheme, there has been a dramatic collapse in the staff was held on the first night of conference in overall number of Defined Benefit schemes and an the Cois Life Bar in Liberty Hall. union band Indus- increasing lack of confidence in Defined Contribu- trial Dispute entertained everyone on the night in tion schemes. what was their first public performance. Service sector workers now face even greater challenges with the elimination of the Transitional Divisional Committee Pension from 65 years of age and the increase in The following served on the Divisional Committee Pension Age to 67 in 2021 and 68 in 2028. Confer- for the period January 2015 – November 2016: ences calls on the National Executive Council and the General Officers to sustain a campaign that will Christy Waters (President) highlight the difficulties workers are facing, re- Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and verse the increase in pension age and put in place Finance measures that will address the problem arising

122 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Margaret Coffey (Vice President) Wholesale Retail Distribution Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Ian Black Shirley Bradshaw Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Arts and Culture Maureen Brady Tim Herlihy Northern Ireland Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Larry Duggan Mary McBride Retired Members Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance John Fitzgerald and Finance Wholesale Retail Distribution Sean McNamara James Flynn Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media and Finance Pat Fox Brendan McNamee Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Christy Hughes Wholesale Retail Distribution Malcolm Moran Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Mary McBride Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Padraig Murray Arts and Culture Padraig Murray Arts and Culture Edel O’Neill Wholesale Retail Distribution Garret O’Brien Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Mary O’Sullivan Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance Christine Quinn and Finance Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Eddie Reid Eddie Reid Wholesale Retail Distribution Wholesale Retail Distribution Trevor Skelton Rosaleen Ryan Wholesale Retail Distribution Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Maureen Stewart Catherine Smith Wholesale Retail Distribution Wholesale Retail Distribution Gary Ronaghan Gary Smith Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Vincent Tynan Christy Waters Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Ethel Woods Ethel Woods Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media

The following were elected as the incoming National Executive Council Divisional Committee 2017 – 2023 in November The following served on the National Executive 2016: Council 2015 – 2016: Margaret Coffey (President) Bernie Casey Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Gary Smith (Vice President) Margaret Egan Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Wholesale Retail Distribution Liam Ahern Christy Waters

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 123 Republic of Ireland women’s team make a stand for equal treatment.

124124 SIPTUSIPTU • • AnnualAnnual Report Report 2015/2016 2015/2016 Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Hotels Catering Print Leisure & Media Sector Ethel Woods Committee as and from March 2016 Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Margaret Coffey, President Ethel Woods, Vice President Tim Daly (Trustee) Pat Fox Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Gerald Gill The following were elected by secret ballot vote Mary Golden to serve on the National Executive Council 2017 – Tony Kelly 2023 at the Division’s Biennial Delegate Confer- Jurate Norvaisiene ence in November 2016: James Flynn Tim Herlihy Brendan McNamee Hotels, Catering, Leisure Print and Media Vincent Tynan Mary O’Sullivan Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Security Contract Cleaning Insurance & Finance Sector Committee as and from March 2016 Catherine Smith Christy Waters, President Wholesale Retail Distribution Teresa Thompson, Vice President Christy Waters Mary McBride Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Christine Quinn Trevor Skelton (Trustee) Wholesale Retail Rosaleen Ryan Distribution Eugene Ryan Peter Fox Standing Orders Committee Tony Prior John Fitzgerald (Chair) Ian Black Wholesale Retail Distribution Malcolm Moran Ian Black Garret O’Brien Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance Mary Murray and Finance Balazs Sandor John Keegan Jason Owens Hotels Catering Print Leisure Media Michael Whyte Ann Russell Viktorija Nikitina Arts and Culture Malcolm Moran Rachel Keane National Equality Committee Colm O’Malley Ann Russell Romeo Dragomir Arts and Culture Cynthia White Mary Van Gelder Derek Heffernan Security Contract Cleaning and Insurance and Finance Martin Vanecek ex-officio Gary Smith ex-officio Arts & Culture Sector Committee as and from March 2016 Wholesale Retail & Distribution Sector Commit- Padraig Murray – President tee as and from March 2016 Shirley Bradshaw – Vice President John Finn, President Ann Russell Susie Gaynor, Vice President Eamon Murray Catherine Smith Eoin Stapleton Liam Ahern Marguerite Sheridan Noel Durack Diarmuid O Ruiseal John Fitzgerald Naimh Parsons Christy Hughes Liam Kennedy – non voting Eamon Murtagh Alan Moran – non voting James Dunphy Patrick Sweeney Olive Connolly Emma Keane

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 125 !""#$%&'()*+,-).$-)/-$2-)/*-'*'3*#1-(#*-'(+*-(40-$4*-)/�-(#*-2*'(+*5-!""#$%&'()*+,-678- (#*-$2-9#&1/-4()&$4(+&),-(40-:78-4$4;9#&1/-4()&$4(+&),5-- - !"#$"%&'(&)*"&+$#$,$'-& - !""#$%&'()*+,-).$-)/-$2-)/*-'*'3*#1-(#*-'(+*-(40-$4*-)/�-(#*-2*'(+*5-!""#$%&'()*+,-678- Susan Roper (#*-$2-9#&1/-4()&$4(+&),-(40-:78-4$4;9#&1/-4()&$4(+&),5--A report on the outcomes was presented to the &1&$4(+-?$''&))**-@$''&11&$4*0-(-#*>&*.-$2-)/*-=&>&1&$4-&4-A*")*'3*#-:BC75--!-#*>&*.-.(1- Darren Murtagh - biennial delegate conference by the Divisional @$40D@)*0-3*).**4-E@)$3*#-:BC7-(40-F$>*'3*#-:BCG-3,-)/*-90*(1-941)&)D)*5-$>*#1**4-3,-)/*-!"#$"%&'(&)*"&+$#$,$'-& =&>&1&$4(+-?$''&))**5--H$#I&4J-.&)/-)/*-=&>&1&$4K-)/*-90*(1-941)&)D)*-0*1&J4*0-(-1)#D@)D#*0-- Organiser in November 2016. The Divisional Com- Division Staff @$41D+)()&>*-"#$@*11-./&@/-&4>$+>*0-.&0*-1@(+*-@$41D+)()&$4-.&)/-*+*@)*0-#*"#*1*4)()&>*1-$4-AD3;&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-@$''&11&$4*0-(-#*>&*.-$2-)/*-=&>&1&$4-&4-A*")*'3*#-:BC75--!-#*>&*.-.(1-mittee elected in November 2016 to serve from Ethel Buckley Divisional Organiser A*@)$#-?$''&))**1K-A*@)$#-?$''&))**1K-)/*-=&>&1&$4(+-?$''&))**K-)/*-F()&$4(+-L%*@D)&>*-?$D4@&+-@$40D@)*0-3*).**4-E@)$3*#-:BC7-(40-F$>*'3*#-:BCG-3,-)/*-90*(1-941)&)D)*5-$>*#1**4-3,-)/*-2017 to 2023 held a 2-day strategy meeting on 5 =&>&1&$4(+-?$''&))**5--H$#I&4J-.&)/-)/*-=&>&1&$4K-)/*-90*(1-941)&)D)*-0*1&J4*0-(-1)#D@)D#*0- Teresa Hannick Sector Organiser, (40-(++-=&>&1&$4(+-1)(225-@$41D+)()&>*-"#$@*11-./&@/-&4>$+>*0-.&0*-1@(+*-@$41D+)()&$4-.&)/-*+*@)*0-#*"#*1*4)()&>*1-$4-AD3;and 6 December 2016 the purpose of which was Wholesale Retail Distribution A*@)$#-?$''&))**1K-A*@)$#-?$''&))**1K-)/*-=&>&1&$4(+-?$''&))**K-)/*-F()&$4(+-L%*@D)&>*-?$D4@&+-to examine the outcomes of the consultation and !-#*"$#)-$4-)/*-$D)@$'*1-.(1-"#*1*4)*0-)$-)/*-3&*44&(+-0*+*J()*-@$42*#*4@*-3,-)/*-=&>&1&$4(+-(40-(++-=&>&1&$4(+-1)(225- Denis Hynes Sector Organiser, Arts and E#J(4&1*#-&4-F$>*'3*#-:BCG5-&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-*+*@)*0-&4-F$>*'3*#-:BCG-)$-1*#>*-2#$'-to devise a developmental programme aimed at !-#*"$#)-$4-)/*-$D)@$'*1-.(1-"#*1*4)*0-)$-)/*-3&*44&(+-0*+*J()*-@$42*#*4@*-3,-)/*-=&>&1&$4(+- Culture :BC6-)$-:B:M-/*+0-(-:;0(,-1)#()*J,-'**)&4J-$4-7-(40-G-=*@*'3*#-:BCG-)/*-"D#"$1*-$2-./&@/-.(1-)$-E#J(4&1*#-&4-F$>*'3*#-:BCG5-&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-*+*@)*0-&4-F$>*'3*#-:BCG-)$-1*#>*-2#$'-improving the Division. The Divisional Committee Diane Jackson Sector Organiser, Security *%('&4*-)/*-$D)@$'*1-$2-)/*-@$41D+)()&$4-(40-)$-0*>&1*-(-0*>*+$"'*4)(+-"#$J#(''*-(&'*0-()-:BC6-)$-:B:M-/*+0-(-:;0(,-1)#()*J,-'**)&4J-$4-7-(40-G-=*@*'3*#-:BCG-)/*-"D#"$1*-$2-./&@/-.(1-)$-decided by majority vote to apply to the National &'"#$>&4J-)/*-=&>&1&$45-&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-0*@&0*0-3,-'(N$#&),->$)*-)$-(""+,-)$-)/*-F()&$4(+-*%('&4*-)/*-$D)@$'*1-$2-)/*-@$41D+)()&$4-(40-)$-0*>&1*-(-0*>*+$"'*4)(+-"#$J#(''*-(&'*0-()- and Contract Cleaning, &'"#$>&4J-)/*-=&>&1&$45-&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-0*@&0*0-3,-'(N$#&),->$)*-)$-(""+,-)$-)/*-F()&$4(+-Executive Council for approval to introduce a re- L%*@D)&>*-?$D4@&+-2$#-(""#$>(+-)$-&4)#$0D@*-(-#*>&1*0-A*@)$#(+-1)#D@)D#*-2$#-)/*-=&>&1&$4-(1-2$++$.1O-- Insurance and Finance L%*@D)&>*-?$D4@&+-2$#-(""#$>(+-)$-&4)#$0D@*-(-#*>&1*0-A*@)$#(+-1)#D@)D#*-2$#-)/*-=&>&1&$4-(1-2$++$.1O--vised Sectoral structure for the Division as follows: Ed Kenny Sector Organiser, Hotels - - Catering Print Leisure Media L%&1)&4J-A)#D@)D#*--L%&1)&4J-A)#D@)D#*-- - - - P#$"$1*0-A)#D@)D#*- P#$"$1*0-A)#D@)D#*- - Kieron Connolly Industrial Organiser - Peadar Nolan Assistant Organiser A*@D#&),K-?$4)#(@)-?+*(4&4J- (40-941D#(4@*-(40-Q&4(4@*- ?$4)#(@)-A*#>&@*1-A*@)$#- @5-CBKBBB- Jerry Browne Assistant Organiser CCKRBS--- Brendan Carr Assistant Organiser H/$+*1(+*K-T*)(&+-(40- H/$+*1(+*-T*)(&+-(40- =&1)#&3DU$4-- =&1)#&3DU$4-A*@)$#- Derek Casserly Assistant Organiser RKR7B- RKR7B- Aisling Dunne* Assistant Organiser V$)*+1K-?()*#&4JK-P#&4)- V$1"&)(+&),-(40-- W*&1D#*-(40-X*0&(-- Q&4(4@&(+-A*@)$#- Sandra Flanagan* Assistant Organiser GKGR7- @5-7K:BB- =&>&1&$4-- A*#>&@*1- Paul Hansard Assistant Organiser !#)1-?D+)D#*-P#&4)-- !#)1-(40-?D+)D#*- (40-X*0&(-A*@)$#- CKRY:- Graham Macken Assistant Organiser @5-7KBBB- -- Barney Maguire Assistant Organiser -

Pearse McCarthy Assistant Organiser 94-(00&)&$4-)$-#*1)#D@)D#&4J-)/*-A*@)$#1K-)/*-=&>&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-0*@&0*0-)$-(""+,-)$-)/*-F()&$4(+- Andrew McGuinness Assistant Organiser L%*@D)&>*-2$#-(""#$>(+-)$-&4)#$0D@*-(-#*J&$4(+&1*0-1)#D@)D#*-)/*-$3N*@)&>*-$2-./&@/-.$D+0-3*-)$-Existing Structure - Proposed Structure @$44*@)-3*))*#-.&)/-'*'3*#1-$4-)/*-J#$D40K-(40-)$-&'"#$>*-$#J(4&1&4J-@("(@&),-)(I&4J-(@@$D4)-$2--- Martin Mannion Assistant Organiser )/*-"(#)&@D+(#-@/(#(@)*#&1)&@1-$2-.$#I*#1-&4-)/*-1*#>&@*1-&40D1)#&*15--In addition to restructuring the Sectors, the Divi- Paula O’Loughlin Assistant Organiser - sional Committee decided to apply to the National Cara O’Neill Assistant Organiser 94-(00&)&$4-)$-#*1)#D@)D#&4J-)/*-A*@)$#1K-)/*-=&>&1&$4(+-?$''&))**-0*@&0*0-)$-(""+,-)$-)/*-F()&$4(+-Executive for approval to introduce a regionalised Joanna Ozdarska Assistant Organiser L%*@D)&>*-2$#-(""#$>(+-)$-&4)#$0D@*-(-#*J&$4(+&1*0-1)#D@)D#*-)/*-$3N*@)&>*-$2-./&@/-.$D+0-3*-)$-structure the objective of which would be to con- @$44*@)-3*))*#-.&)/-'*'3*#1-$4-)/*-J#$D40K-(40-)$-&'"#$>*-$#J(4&1&4J-@("(@&),-)(I&4J-(@@$D4)-$2- ./),&0-1&234)3/"&5"6)'/& Robbie Purfield Assistant Organiser )/*-"(#)&@D+(#-@/(#(@)*#&1)&@1-$2-.$#I*#1-&4-)/*-1*#>&@*1-&40D1)#&*15--nect better with members on the ground, and to Trevor Quinn Assistant Organiser improve organising capacity taking account of the Myles Worth Assistant Organiser particular characteristics of workers in the services Catherine Critchley Administrative Assistant industries. Silvana Finn Administrative Assistant Aileen Graham Administrative Assistant ./),&0-1&234)3/"&5"6)'/& Andrea Holmes Administrative Assistant ARTS AND CULTURE SECTOR Peggy Rafter Administrative Assistant The Sector comprises the following sub-sectors: *Does not work permanently in the Services Broadcasting Division Cinemas Film and Entertainment Irish Equity REVIEW OF THE DIVISION Irish Film Board The Divisional Committee commissioned a review of Musicians union of Ireland the Division in September 2015. A review was conducted between October 2015 and November 2016 The greatest challenge facing members is the pre- by the Ideas Institute. overseen by the Divisional carious nature of working as a performer and earn- Committee. Working with the Division, the Ideas In- ing a living in the arts and culture sector. A stitute designed a structured consultative process creeping trend of ‘pay to play’ whereby perform- which involved wide scale consultation with elected ers are required to pay for auditions is exacerbat- representatives on Sub-Sector Committees, Sector ing the challenges which our members are facing. Committees, the Divisional Committee, the National The inability of the union to collectively bargain for Executive Council and all Divisional staff. certain categories of freelance workers such as

126 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 musicians and voice-over actors has been an ad- beginner and advanced levels. ditional on-going and fundamental challenge. The Sector has a large and active membership em- In 2004 the Competition Authority ruled that a col- ployed in public broadcasting. Public broadcast- lective agreement between Irish Equity and the In- ing faces a number of challenges which cannot be stitute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland in dealt with without direct Government interven- respect of voice-overs by freelance actors was in tion. The continued decline in funding for RTE has breach of competition law on the basis that each led to reductions in the service and created insta- actor was a self-employed contractor – a separate bility in employment. The sector believes that undertaking, in effect – and therefore it was unlaw- there needs to be a more stable funding model ful for any group to collectively fix prices for voice and is actively developing a campaign which will over services. The ruling had a very detrimental address this issue. impact on the livelihoods of actors and other workers such as musicians, journalists and photog- In RTE, pay restoration remains the Sector’s prior- raphers in freelance trades upon whose behalf ity along with ending the overuse by the employer SIPTU and the NUJ had traditionally bargained. of self-employed and freelance contracts. In RTE and TG4 agreement was reached on pay restora- The Sector, supported by the Division, the General tion following pay cuts in 2007. Officers and other SIPTU departments, has cam- Priority was given to progressing the negotiations paigned since the ruling for a reversal of its chilling of the Indigenous Irish TV Drama Agreement for effect by way of an exemption for certain cate- Actors to provide for Royalties and Use Fees. An gories of freelance workers from the Competition agreement that included Use Fees was also Act. A breakthrough came in the campaign in De- reached for the new TV3 soap Red Rock. New cember 2015 when the Competition (Amendment) scheduling terms were agreed for the actors in Bill was introduced by Senator Ivana Bacik, Labour Fair City and improved terms for the TV player Party, as a Private Member’s Bill in the Seanad. The were agreed. Bill proposes to amend the Competition Act 2002 to give effect to a previous Government commitment given in “Towards 2016 Review and Transi- FIA World Live Performance Conference tional Agreement 2008-2009 - Amendment of the The flagship event for the Sector in the period Competition Act 2002” to exempt actors engaged under review was the highly successful four-day as voice-over actors, musicians engaged as ses- conference which took place in Liberty Hall in Au- sion musicians and journalists engaged as free- gust 2015. In conjunction with Equity UK, Irish Eq- lance journalists from Section 4 of the Competition uity hosted this event, along with an International Act 2002. Federation of Actors executive meeting and with meetings of the North American and English Throughout 2016 the union, working in conjunc- Speaking Groups. Over 200 performers and their tion with the NUJ, has been undertaking a political representatives attended the conference, which lobbying campaign in support of the passage of was formally opened by the President of Ireland the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas. By Michael D. Higgins. The event greatly enhanced November 2016, the Competition (Amendment) the profile and reputation of Equity and SIPTU in Bill 2016 had passed through Seanad ireann with the international community of trade unions in the all party support following the acceptanceÉ of arts and culture sector. amendments proposed by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor. International activity The Sector continued to engage with the leading The Sector is a very active participant in interna- producers in the country in order to maintain a ditional trade union activity, participating in the In- alogue on the major challenges at an industry level ternational Federation of Actors, the International and to find potential industry issues of common Federation of Musicians and on the two EU Social concern, as well as engaging the performers’ Dialogue Committees for Live Performance and for agents. The Sector collaborated with Screen Train- Audio Visual work. The Sector continues to ac- ing Ireland to offer two training courses for mem- tively engage with Equity UK through the Ire- bers in the Film and Entertainment sub-sector land/UK Action Group. In conjunction with Equity covering make-up artist skills and prosthetics at UK, the Sector organised a series of workshops for members and agents on contracts and residual

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 127 rights. A total of 45 members participated over a Membership two day period. The Sector enjoyed a growth in membership in the period under review. In 2015 the Sector saw 165 In order to address the issue of collective bar- new members join the union and 124 members gaining rights for atypical workers in the arts and leave. 246 new members joined in 2016 and 117 culture industries internationally, the Sector par- left. Sector membership stood at 1,802 at year end ticipated in a European project on atypical work- in 2016, which was an increase of 52 over the ers which comprised four workshops which were previous year. jointly organised by three international federations to which SIPTU is affiliated (the Interna-

tional Federation of Musicians, the International Federation of Actors and UNI’s Media, Entertain- HOTELS CATERING PRINT ment and Arts Sector), along with the Interna- LEISURE MEDIA SECTOR tional Federation of Journalists. Workshop It is evident that the employers in the hospitality themes include: industry are now pursuing an industrial strategy of low wages and large scale casualisation. Following Lobbying for social rights of atypical workers and the collapse of the Joint Labour Committee sys- providing services to atypical workers tem in 2011, due to the High Court decision in Collective bargaining for atypical workers the John Grace case, the Sector has been engaged Fighting bogus self-employment and in numerous battles to protect members from at- Organising strategies of unions to reach out to tacks on wages and conditions. atypical workers. Despite the fact that the legislative framework is SIPTU and the NUJ hosted the collective bargain- in place for Joint Labour Committees in both the ing workshop in Dublin on 8 September 2016. hotel and the catering industries, and that there are functioning JLCs in other industries, the em- Health and safety ployer bodies in hotels and catering refuse to es- In 2016 Equity published guidelines for dealing tablish a JLC for these industries. The effective with bullying and harassment in the arts. These fol- veto of the employer bodies on a national statu- lowed on from a survey that demonstrated that tory wage setting mechanism is having an ex- more than half of workers who responded had ei- tremely detrimental impact on the livelihoods of ther experienced or witnessed bullying and/or ha- workers in the hospitality industry. rassment, including sexual harassment, in the For most workers, the national minimum wage is course of their work. The Sector also engaged on now the norm and work is becoming increasingly the issue with a number of stakeholders including: casual in nature. Workers in both industries are the Arts Council, the Irish Film Board, Dublin City subjected to involuntary low working hours and Arts Office and Screen Training Ireland. zero hours contracts are a regular feature. One of the largest contract catering companies in Ireland, Organising a global corporation, uses zero hours contracts as The Sector’s main organising activities were units standard employment contract for Catering As- dertaken by way of theatre visits, set visits and re- sistants. newed focus on cinemas. Priority was also given to density building and organising broadcast pro- While refusing to co-operate with the Joint Labour fessionals. Regular visits to drama schools were Committee system, and at a time of record tourist undertaken to inform students of the work and ac- revenues and hotel bedroom rates, the hospitality tivities of the union and to impress upon them the industry continues to enjoy a preferential VAT rate. benefits of union membership, as well as increas- The reduced VAT rate in the tourism and hospital- ing their understanding of the nature of contracts ity sector of 9% (from 12.5%) was originally intro- in the Sector and the need for them to know their duced in 2011. The annual cost in lost revenue to rights as professional performers. The Executive of the State of the reduced VAT rate is €350 million. the Musicians union of Ireland set about working A staggering €1.4 billion has been lost to the on a set of objectives to promote the growth of State’s coffers between the introduction of the the MUI under the campaign theme ‘Fair Play for subsidy in 2011 and 2016. This cost has been met Musicians’. directly by workers. The private sector pension levy was introduced in the same budget as the re-

128 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 duced VAT rate and the finances generated by the Fair Hotels Campaign levy imposed on private sector workers were used In 2016 the Sector decided to review the Fair Ho- to offset the cost of the tourism and hospitality tels campaign. A new Fair Hotels agreement is subsidy. being devised and plans are underway to bring an international dimension to the campaign. The Throughout 2015 and 2016 SIPTU continued to global hotels federation, the IUF, sought SIPTU’s campaign for an end to the reduced VAT rate as permission to use the Fair Hotels logo and brand- long as the employers vetoed the JLC system. The ing for a global consumer campaign to encourage continuing hostility, and lack of engagement from consumers to use unionised hotels. SIPTU agreed employers in this sector with a mechanism that and the IUF commenced work on an online portal could provide a living wage and acceptable con- which would feature unionised hotels around the ditions of employment to their employees, is to- world. The largest hotels union in the world, UNITE tally incompatible with the maintenance of state HERE which operates in the USA and Canada, sub- subsidies. The Sector has argued that a state subsequently adopted the strategy and is actively sidy implies a social contract. In other words, an running a Fair Hotels campaign. industry which receives benefits from the state on the one hand, cannot ignore state policy in relation to wage setting on the other. Health and Safety Since 2014, the Sector has been lodging pay In 2015 the Sector launched its ‘Make my Work- claims at local level in the hotels and catering place Safe’ campaign to address serious issues in companies that recognise the union for collective relation to health and safety for hotel housekeep- bargaining. Steady progress is being made with ers. The Sector is aware of numerous workers who the Sector achieving basic pay increases of 2% - have sustained muscular skeletal injuries at work 3% over 12 months. Details can be found in the pay that prevent them from working. In the main, this agreements table on page? is attributable to a trend in the industry of increased productivity which the union refers to as In December 2016 it was announced that the Low ‘speed up.’ Managements in certain hotels have Pay Commission was going to undertake a review unilaterally increased the number of rooms to be of the deductions allowable under the Minimum cleaned by workers during a shift to a level which Wage Act for board and lodgings. The Division im- is unsafe. It is notable that the increase in produc- mediately came out and said it would oppose any tivity demanded by the employers coincided with increase in the deductions. a modest increase in the national minimum wage.

Zero hours contracts/if and when contracts Contract Catering The issue of involuntary low working hours and the The contract catering industry is growing at a proliferation of zero hours, and ‘if and when’ con- rapid pace in Ireland, with more and more clients tracts is a major issue for the Sector as it is in other in both the public and private sector outsourcing sectors of the Division and the union. SIPTU was the preparation and serving of food in their can- invited to make a submission in response to a Uni- teens and restaurants. SIPTU presently represents versity of Limerick ‘Study on the Prevalence of workers in the 6 major companies. Together they Zero Hours Contracts.’ The Department of Jobs, employ over 80% of workers in the industry. They Enterprise and Innovation subsequently indicated are Aramark, Sodexo, Compass, Kylemore, Corpo- that it wished to address some of the recommen- rate Catering and Baxter Storey. In 2015 the Divi- dations in the study and that this would require sion entered into a pilot collaborative initiative in legislative change. In October 2016 an engage- Munster with the Pharmaceutical, Chemicals and ment between representatives of the ICTU Private Medical Devices Sector to jointly organise contract Sector Committee and senior officials in the De- caterers where the direct staff are organised in the partment of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation com- Manufacturing Division. The ‘One Site One union’ menced on the issue of working hours. The initiative is achieving modest membership growth Department is engaging with IBEC on the em- and is very successful in putting in place organisa- ployer side. tion and developing Shop Stewards. This is of great value because our organisation has tended to be weak in contract catering. The plan is to ex-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 129 tend the One Site One union approach beyond satisfactory and the employer was oversub- Munster and to collaborate with other Sectors in scribed for the package. In Golden Pages, follow- the union along the same lines. ing local negotiations and third party intervention, the Sector lost over 12 members who were engaged in sales. Brexit is a major concern to com- Sport panies involved in the packaging business. The golf club industry was very badly hit by the The Sector participates in the Dublin Print Group economic collapse and has been slower to re- of unions. Bringing about a new registered em- bound than other industries. We continue to see ployment agreement for the industry is a focus of a large number of redundancies in the sector. We the DPGU. Since the loss of the REA in the print in- have experienced job losses at Waterford Golf dustry following the Supreme Court decision in Club, Limerick Golf Club, Lahinch Golf Club and the McGowan case, unionised employments have Kilkenny Golf Club. In the horse racing industry, been under threat from non-union competitors at- our members employed in the Curragh Race- tempting to undercut them. course underwent a Transfer of Undertakings in 2015. In the bookmakers and betting sector, our In the Central Bank the employer presented a plan members employed in Ladbrokes have been in- regarding the possible restructuring of the print volved in a major restructuring following the com- department. The Sector engaged the services of pany going into receivership. This resulted in the Mazars to assist us in defending our members’ po- Sector losing over 70 members due to redundan- sition. cies in 2015. International activity The Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland The Sector participates in the European Social Di- is affiliated to the Sector. Throughout 2016 we alogue Committee for the Hospitality Industry and have been running an organising campaign in the is an active affiliate of both the IUF and EFFAT. In League of Ireland clubs and have seen a steady in- 2016 the Sector connected with UNI’s Graphical crease in membership. The national women’s foot- and Packaging Sector. ball team has decided to unionise but to date the FAI has refused to recognise the PFAI/SIPTU for collective bargaining purposes. Sector Membership The number of members leaving union membership continued to exceed the number of workers Leisure joining the Sector in the period under review. Betting shops have been very badly affected by 1,084 workers joined and 1,442 left in 2015. In 2016 the growth in popularity of online betting. As well 1,082 joined and 1,417 left. Sector financial mem- as redundancies, our betting shop members are bership at year end 2016 was 6,661. confronting concerns in relation to single person Membership decline is primarily attributable to the manning, with concerns in relation to theft and very large number of redundancies endured by stand offs in the shops. Following extensive nego- workers in the Sector. tiations with Shannon Heritage, our members secured two increments that were outstanding. In Malahide Castle SIPTU has organised the employ- SECURITY CONTRACT CLEANING ment and achieved improvements to salary. AND INSURANCE AND FINANCE SECTOR Print and Media The print industry continues to face challenging Security and Contract Cleaning times. Many problems are caused by the decline The inaugural meetings of the newly established in newspaper circulation and the growth of online Joint Labour Committees for Contract Cleaning and platforms and social media. However, the Sector Security Officers took place in the summer of 2014. has secured pay increases averaging 2% per With the support of the Policy Research Unit, the annum for a number of employments. In Virgin Sector then engaged in extensive research and pol- Media the Sector was involved in a major restruc- icy work with the objective of formulating propos- turing which resulted with the loss of over 120 als for a new Employment Regulation Order in both SIPTU members’ jobs. The redundancy terms were

130 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 industries. SIPTU Shop Stewards and Organisers future ERO negotiations was the message of the representing the workers side on the JLCs engaged campaign. The Sector also engaged in an exten- in extensive negotiations with the employer side of sive drive to police the application of the ERO and the JLC over many months. Employment Regulation despite some initial issues, in the main, employers Orders were finally signed off for both industries on have been compliant. A small number of com- 1 October 2015 by the Minister for Employment and plaints were referred to the Workplace Relations Small Business, Ged Nash. The Contact Cleaning Commission on behalf of our members by the ERO applies to somewhere in the region of 30,000 Workers’ Rights Centre with a few other cases contract cleaners. The Security ERO applies to being notified to NERA. somewhere in the region of 17,000 Security During the course of 2015 both JLCs reconvened Officers. to discuss the provisions of the next ERO. Work on The main provisions of the EROs which became the next security ERO was well advanced by year- legally effective from that date were as follows: end in 2016, SIPTU negotiators focussed on an industrial agenda that included an increase in the minimum rates of pay to the level of the Living Contract Cleaning Wage during the course of a new ERO, along with A minimum rate of pay of €9.75 a statutory guarantee of minimum hours and an im- Trade union representation rights provement in sick pay benefit. Overtime rates On 27 October 2016, a new ERO was signed off by Death in service benefit the Minister for Employment and Small Business, Pat Breen. The cumulative pay increase over the Good Friday treated as a Public Holiday for clean- 36 months of the agreement is in excess of 10%. ers employed before August 2012 (and those em- The main provisions of the new ERO are as follows: ployed after 2012 who have contractual provisions for Good Friday) Minimum pay rate of €10.05 from 26 December 2016 Minimum pay rate of €10.40 from 1 December 2017 Certificate showing length of service Minimum pay rate of €10.80 from 1 December 2018 30-day notice of change of contractor An end to deductions for uniforms Advance notice of rosters Security Statement of terms and conditions in a TUPE situation A minimum pay rate of €10.75 A new and improved sick pay scheme New policy on wage shortages An end to workers paying for uniforms The Sector has also been working on advancing Personal attack benefit if attacked on duty – up to the pay of our members in both the Cleaning and 26 weeks basic pay plus physical and psychologi- Security industries whose pay rate is in excess of cal support the minimum ERO terms. These workers have not received any increase in their wages since at least Death in service benefit 2008. Pay claims were lodged and were progress- On-site facilities guaranteed ing through the Industrial Relations procedures. A certificate of length of service In STT security members balloted on a Labour Court Recommendation regarding pay and the re- All existing terms and conditions secured classification of the role of Security Guard on the Luas. Members rejected the Labour Court recom- The Sector immediately rolled out a ground cam- mendation and talks are ongoing with the com- paign of engagement with members and potential pany on the matter. members on the terms of the EROs. The need to In IRMS Security (Seneca) on the Shell pipeline build density among contract cleaners and secu- contract in Mayo there was industrial unrest as a rity officers to provide the union with strong lever- consequence of the company’s proposal to re- age to make bigger and better gains for members’ duce the number of Security Officers on site due pay and terms and conditions of employment in to the downsizing of a construction project. Our

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 131 members engaged in official industrial action (a Resource Cleaning and Security was taken over by one day stoppage) when the company unilaterally the Noonan Services Group in 2014 with all our terminated the contracts of 10 members by way members transferring under TUPE to Noonan. 2015 of compulsory redundancy. The company also uni- saw the exit of Brinks static guarding from the Se- laterally reduced our members’ contracted hours curity industry with most of the contracts taken of work and refused to attend the Labour Court on over by the Noonan Services Group, again with all a number of operational issues. Members ac- of the Security Officers affected transferring under cepted proposals which emerged following a TUPE. process of facilitated talks. The proposals included the reinstatement of all members and the volun- Laundries tary redundancy of 21 members on enhanced Our members employed in laundries have endured terms. wide scale cuts to pay and conditions, and redundancies. The existence of non-union, minimum Cash in Transit wage, low cost operators in the industry has had In the Cash in Transit segment of the security in- a negative impact. As with the contract services dustry, the Sector initiated engagement with the industries, clients in the laundry industry regularly employers on the establishment of a Sector Em- drive down supplier costs with a knock-effect on ployment Order for the industry under the new In- pay and working conditions. However, despite dustrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015. these challenges, the Sector has initiated pay Engagement had commenced with the Irish Secu- claims in a number of employments in an effort to rity Industry Association and the two main em- claw back some of the lost ground. ployers in the industry, Brinks and G4S. A Joint Industrial Council was set up chaired by the WRC. In Celtic Linen we engaged on behalf of our mem- Good progress was being made until Brinks an- bers with management on a major restructuring / nounced its exit from the CIT industry at the start turnaround plan following a review of its financial of 2016. Pay agreements were won by the Sector situation. SIPTU’s IDEAS institute worked closely on behalf of our members in both G4S and Brinks. with the parties during the past number of years The Sector is concerned about the growth of non- to secure the future of the company. union companies and has been continuously making efforts to organise these workers. Insurance and Finance There were large scale redundancies across the TUPE banking industry with the loss of hundreds of jobs Transfer of Undertakings continues to be a feature following the banking crisis. In recent years we of both these industries as contractors compete have seen a major roll out by the banks of elec- against each other for new business. The enact- tronic and self-service banking. Over the past two ment of the EROs has brought about a level play- years the Sector has battled in the Insurance and ing field in respect of pay rates and this has Finance industries on issues such as restructuring, redundancy and outsourcing. In 2015 ACC an- incentivised the compliance with TUPE somewhat. nounced the outsourcing of the Wealth Manage- However, the Sector continues to campaign for the ment Book to Willis followed by an announcement amendment of the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations about the outsourcing of the loan book to Capita, to afford the same legal protections to contract service which resulted in the transfer of the majority of workers as all other employees affected by a takeover. staff in March 2016. AIB announced its decision to Employers seeking cuts to hours of work following outsource its Internal Support Services including the awarding of contracts continues to be a fea- security, cleaning and porter grades to the Noo- ture. This gives rise to a very difficult situation for nan Services Group. Noonan and the Bank also em- members as issues in relation to loss of hours and barked on a major restructuring of these services workload have to be tackled. However, the Sector which resulted in over 100 redundancies across strategy is to resist the cuts wherever we have the the country in 2015. Our members in Zurich jour- leverage to do so and to reach agreement based neyed through a major restructuring which re- on voluntary relocation to other contracts as well sulted in voluntary redundancies and the as to seek compensation for any loss of earnings. relocation of some staff to their offices in Wexford. On the workload issue we are insisting on a formal review after a three month trial period. Despite the rationalisation agenda advanced by

132 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 the employers, the union can report good success joiners respectively. However, the number of in the achievement of pay increases for our mem- members leaving continued to out-number the bers in Axa, the Bar Council, credit unions and the number joining at 2,887 in 2015 and 2,344 in 2016, banks (see wage agreements on page 139-140 for resulting in an overall decrease in Sector member- details). ship to 11,262 by year end in 2016. We saw a move by the main players, Bank of Ire- Membership decline is attributable to two main land, AIB and Ulster Bank to performance related factors: a large number of redundancies and the pay systems. Negotiations resulted in the buy-out high level of TUPEs. TUPEs are a constant chal- of pre-existing incremental pay scales. A similar lenge in the context of retaining members with the pay model exists in Ericsson. Performance related new employer post-transfer. We have identified a pay models which adjust employees’ pay based growing trend amongst employers to no longer on an appraisal by a line manager raises many con- automatically deduct union subscriptions from the cerns not alone for our Sector but across the wages of our members transferring to them. Con- union. It has required a strategy to be developed sequently, our members’ union membership lapses by the Sector, and the union generally, on how unless they contact the union to reactivate it. The best to conduct negotiations in the context of this Sector has now put measures in place to track system of pay determination. membership in a TUPE situation to ensure that we retain our members with the new employer. Credit unions In 2015 and 2016 the Sector rolled out a strategy of lodging claims for increases in pay for our mem- WHOLESALE RETAIL bers. Pay agreements resulted in the reinstate- DISTRIBUTION AND RELATED ment of incremental pay and pay increases of SECTOR between 2% and 3% (see wage agreements on The Wholesale Retail Distribution and Related Sec- page 139-140 for details). Following a directive tor comprises diverse employments across a num- from the Central Bank in 2014 to reduce by half the ber of industries. In the Wholesale and Distribution number of credit unions operating in the Republic industries there are large road freight and logistics of Ireland, mergers became a major feature. The firms, independent courier companies, national initial stages saw the merger of smaller Credit wholesale companies and smaller specialised unions operating with volunteers. However, dur- wholesalers. Some of these employments concen- ing the course of 2015 and 2016 we saw the trate solely on distribution or wholesale, while oth- merger of Credit unions involving staff, many of ers combine both activities. Companies involved whom are members of our union. Issues relating to in the transport and distribution of petrochemical Transfer of Undertakings, protection of terms and products, including fuels and gas fuels are also conditions of employment, restructuring, redun- part of the Sector. National supermarket chains, dancies and harmonisation of pay, and terms and department stores, chemists’ shops, hairdressers, conditions of employment post-transfer, were to barbers and corner shops make up some of the the fore. employments in the Sector’s retail sub-sector. International activity The period under review continued to be ex- The Sector participates in the European Social Di- tremely challenging for many of our members with alogue Committees for Contract Cleaning and Pri- redundancies, closures, cost-saving restructuring vate Security. As part of the contact cleaning and changes to Defined Benefit pension schemes social dialogue, the Sector is participating in the remaining a feature across the Sector. drawing up of a best practice guide for procurement of cleaning services. The Division continues Cost Saving Measures/Restructuring to play a very active role in UNI Global’s Property Serv- The Sector set out a strategy to avoid permanent ices Division and sits on both the Global Steering Commit- reductions in pay and terms and conditions while tee and the UNI Europa Steering Committee. dealing with cost saving and restructuring plans. Part of the Sector’s strategy is to look at pay Sector Membership freezes, unpaid leave and other temporary meas- The Sector enjoyed a strong level of workers join- ures when our members are faced with employers ing in both 2015 and 2016 with 2,121 and 2,178 seeking to cut labour cost.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 133 In 2014 after a long negotiating period, including tice in a dispute over redundancy. Stobart lost the conciliation hearings in the LRC/WRC and a Tesco distribution contract (Ballymun and Don- Labour Court Hearing, agreement was reached on abate distributions centres). DHL took over the a Cost Reduction Plan in Eason’s. Permanent pay contract in October 2016. A number of outstand- cuts were avoided and a temporary pay reduction ing Stobart third party cases were still in process and increment freeze was agreed, as well as four along with a case at the District Court for the en- unpaid leave days per year. All pay and increments forcement of an EAT determination dating back to were restored on 1 May 2016. when Stobart won the contract. Reynolds Logis- tics lost the Topaz fuel distribution contract which In 2015, in Johnson Brothers a similar agreement was won by Stobart and East Coast. After a diffi- on unpaid leave was reached. The company had cult set of negotiations with the transferees, mem- sought a pay reduction, reductions in allowances bers transferred to the two new companies and and a reduction in the company contribution to collective bargaining was established. the pension. These were avoided by the agreement of four unpaid leave days per year. Statutory Apprenticeships In 2016 the Apprenticeship Council advised us that Protracted negotiations took place at local level the employer body in the haulage industry, the and the WRC, and are ongoing in relation to a pro- Irish Road Hauliers Associations had successfully posal by Tesco to migrate members employed lobbied for the introduction of statutory appren- pre-1997 onto a post-2006 contract. The original ticeships for HGV Drivers. The Division made a sub- proposal would have seen cuts in basic pay and mission to SOLAS raising serious concerns changes to working hours patterns. Members bal- regarding the lack of trade union involvement in loted for industrial action and issued notice on the the industry-led consortium established to de- company to protect their position. A full Labour velop the apprenticeships and demanding that the Court hearing took place in October 2016. apprentice contracts be the subject of sectoral collective bargaining. A similar case was made for In Hastings Volkswagen car dealership in West- the Commis Chef apprenticeship which the em- port, Co May, members balloted for strike action ployer bodies in the hospitality industry, the Irish in restructuring dispute over compulsory redun- Hotels Federation and Restaurants Association of dancies. A Labour Court hearing into the issue was Ireland had lobbied for. In the motor trade and held in November 2016. The employer refused to craft butchering sectors, the Sector was invited to implement the recommendation which provided be part of initial discussions on new statutory ap- for enhanced redundancy terms. prenticeships. Pay Strategy Organising Some of our members were successful in achiev- The Sector engaged in several initiatives to organ- ing improvements in pay during the period under ise and increase density. Pallas Food in Limerick review. The Sector set out to achieve basic pay in- and Dublin, ROC Ireland and Ard Services, which creases without any concessions or productivity are employments that operate garages country- measures. Part of the strategy was to seek modest wide, Grafton Group, Dunnes Stores, Tesco Ireland pay increases of 1% to 2.5% of basic pay for 12 to and Musgraves were just some of the employ- 24 months with a commitment to a follow-on pay ments where the Sector engaged in initiatives. The agreement. Some of the pay agreements were ne- Sector also conducted an organising campaign in gotiated and agreed at local negotiations, some the national pharmacy chain All Care which re- required the assistance of the Workplace Relations sulted in the negotiation of a collective agreement Commission and a small number were referred to covering pay, terms and conditions, and negotia- the Labour Court. tion rights for SIPTU.

TUPE Sector Membership A number of major TUPEs took place over the pe- The number of members leaving union member- riod under review. Hoyer lost the fuel distribution ship continued to exceed the number of workers contract for Esso garages supplied by Topaz. joining the Sector in the period under review. Reynolds Logistics took over the contract in April 1,069 workers joined and 1,985 left in 2015. In 2016 2016. Our members in Dublin Port issued strike no- 1,210 joined and 1,652 left. Sector financial mem-

134 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 bership at year end 2016 was 8,545. which was led by the Clerys Shop Stewards and involved a large number of committed trade union Membership decline is primarily attributable to members. For our members, many of whom had the very large number of redundancies endured worked in the store for 30 or 40 years, the store by workers in the Sector. closure was a devastating blow, but worse was to come as the details of the transactions that led to Pensions the closure became known. While defined benefit pension schemes are rare in the Division as a whole, there are some active The initial priority was to expedite payment of any schemes. During the period under review the Di- monies owed to our members. We were success- vision experienced a trend where employers were ful in expediting social welfare payments as we seeking to wind up or radically alter these had the DSP meet with all of our members in Lib- schemes. Most employers could not afford to fund erty Hall. We also ensured that members met with their schemes or would have difficulty with the risk the provisional liquidator, KPMG, in Liberty Hall to reserve required. The strategy has been to en- process the information for the Insolvency Fund deavour to maintain Defined Benefit pension and Social Insurance Fund. The Workers Rights’ schemes and, if that is not possible, to negotiate Centre won a landmark judgement in respect of the best transfer value to a Defined Contribution minimum notice for the Clerys workers. scheme with an enhanced contribution from the The campaign then moved on to lobby the Gov- employer. The Automobile Association closed its ernment to address shortfalls in company and em- scheme to new entrants. Other employers such as ployment legislation in order to protect workers Tedcastle Aviation and MSL/MDL, (motor industry) in an insolvency situation and prevent a repeat of wound up their schemes. Bord na gCon, BOC what has happened in Clerys. Our members were Gases, Tesco, and Marks and Spencer were some aware that any change in legislation would have of the other employments where negotiations on no beneficial impact on their situation, but they Defined Benefit schemes were conducted. were committed to ensuring that no other workers would suffer a fate such as theirs. Justice for Clerys Workers Campaign In June 2015 the Division saw one of the most high The campaign also sought to highlight the lack of profile closures in Irish industrial relations history respect shown to these workers by both Natrium with the sudden closure of Clerys Department and Gordon Brothers, and there was a demand for Store in Dublin. On the morning of 12th June, the Natrium to at least meet the workers. We were owners of Clerys, Gordon Brothers, sold the Com- successful in lobbying Dublin City Council to agree pany to a venture capitalist group, Natrium, which to an emergency council motion calling on Na- is made up of D2 Private and Cheyne Capital. Na- trium to meet with the workers and to reinstate a trium proceeded to make an application for insol- Planning Scheme for O’Connell Street which was vency for the operations part of the business at about to expire in the weeks after Natrium had 4:00pm that afternoon. Our members were called bought the building. The Scheme afforded certain to a meeting on the shop floor at 5.30pm and in- protections to named buildings on O’Connell formed by KPMG that the store would cease trad- Street, including Clerys, which are of cultural, his- ing with immediate effect and that they were all torical or architectural significance. redundant and had 30 minutes to leave the store. Private security personnel escorted the workers The Clerys workers won a huge amount of support out of the building and changed the locks. About from fellow trade unionists and members of the 130 directly employed Clerys members lost their public. On the 16th October 2015 Christy Moore jobs as well as almost 300 working for concession- performed at a packed benefit concert in Liberty ers, including 24 SIPTU members working for Hall organised by the Communicatins department. Jacques Vert Group. There were daily protests at the store for the first month after the closure, then weekly protests out- The morning after the store closed, the Justice for side A&L Goodbody on the North Quays every Fri- Clerys Workers campaign was launched by SIPTU day lunchtime for several weeks, as that was at a general meeting of Clerys workers in Liberty where Natrium’s offices were based. The protests Hall. What ensued was a high profile comprehen- then moved to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise sive campaign to achieve justice for the workers

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 135 and Innovation every Tuesday for eleven weeks to the facade of the building. In July Natrium which eventually led to a Government announce- lodged an application for planning permission to ment in January 2016 of a review of employment redevelop Clerys as a hotel, offices, bars and and company law. shops with Dublin City Council. The following month an architectural conservation company an- A petition in support of the campaign received nounced that they would not work on the building 29,000 signatures, over 10,000 of them online unless Natrium met with the Clerys workers. De- and the campaign facebook page quickly became spite receiving 67 objections from former workers, a go-to for campaign supporters. The campaign councillors, neighbouring businesses, An Taisce, received a huge amount of publicity and media in- SIPTU and other trade unions, Dublin City Council terest and in January 2016 RTE aired an hour-long granted planning permission to the developers in documentary which was watched by nearly half a December 2016. million people. The workers led the Dublin May Day march in 2016. On the night of 11 June 2016, exactly one year since Natrium had worked through the night to close the store, the campaign projected an enormous ‘Time for Justice’ image on

136 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 137 Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Division

In December 2015 a request was submitted to the mittee held four meetings in 2015 and five meet- National Executive Council to change the name of ings in 2016. the Division from the Utilities and Construction Di- vision to the Transport, Energy, Aviation and Con- Sector Name struction (TEAC) Division, and this was approved Aviation Willie Hynes by the NEC. Mary McCabe* *Rose Ann Donnelly co-opted MEMBERSHIP and ORGANISATION April 2015 to replace Mary McCabe The Financial Membership of the Division for 2015 Bredeen Sharkey and 2016 was as follows: Conor Swords* 2015 2016 Difference *Joseph O’Sullivan co-opted April Aviation Sector 4,864 5,013 + 149 2015 to replace Conor Swords Construction Sector 6,642 7,885 + 1243 Energy Sector 2,560 2,542 - 18 Construction Noel Coughlan Transport Sector 5,723 5,723 0 Eddie Gunnery Michael Lambe 19,789 21,163 +1,374 Dick McGlew Daniel O’Connell Acknowledgements Greg Walsh The Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction Divisional Committee is fully cognisant of the im- Energy Philip Casey portance placed upon a cohesive union acting in Marcus MacMahon unison on behalf of all its members. Not only be- Tony Merriman tween activists and full-time staff at Divisional and National level, but also between this union’s front- Transport Kevin Brown * line negotiating staff, the staff of the union’s many *Joseph Carrick co-opted May specialist services and the supporting administra- 2015 to replace Kevin Brown tive staff. Their ongoing, committed and profes- Stephen Hannan sional contribution to the TEAC Division is greatly Pat Hartnett appreciated by the Divisional Committee, the four Ann Ryan TEAC Sector Committees and its wider member- Tommy Wynne ship. The application and selfless dedication of our Retired Member Tom Donnelly volunteer Shop Stewards, Health and Safety Rep- resentatives and Committee members throughout The current Divisional Committee took office fol- the TEAC Division is of paramount importance and lowing the Divisional Conference held in Novem- cannot be overstated. ber 2016. Tommy Wynne (Transport Sector) was elected as Divisional President, and Noel Coughlan DIVISIONAL COMMITTEE (Construction Sector) was elected as Divisional The following were elected to serve on the first Vice-President. Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction (TEAC) Divisional Committee. They remained in of- Sector Name fice until the TEAC Biennial Delegate Conference Aviation Willie Hynes in November 2016, wherein their six-year term Rose Ann Donnelly came to an end as per rule: Aileen O’Donovan Tony O’Connell Tommy Wynne (Transport Sector) was the elected Construction Noel Coughlan Divisional President, and Philip Casey (Energy Sec- Eddie Gunnery tor) was the Divisional Vice-President. The Com-

138 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Michael Lambe Aviation Sector Chris Brady Sector Organiser: Greg Ennis* Greg Walsh *Neil McGowan replaced Greg Ennis December 2016 Energy James Smith Industrial Organisers: Karl Byrne* Marcus MacMahon *Karl Byrne appointed as Education Sector Tony Merriman Organiser and replaced by Ciaran Garrett October 2016. Transport Tommy Wynne Tony Carroll, Neil McGowan. Stephen Hannan Administrative Assistant: Anne Lindsay Peter O’Toole David Keating Construction Sector Retired Member John Walsh Sector Organiser: Martin Meere Industrial Organisers: James Coughlan, David Lane*, Stephen Lewis, Mary McElligott, Divisional Standing Orders Committee Pat McGrath, Henry O’Shea, Jim Sheridan Aviation: Rose Ann Donnelly *David Lane periodically operated within SIPTU Aviation: Aileen O’Donovan * WRC. Construction: *Noel Coughlan co-opted Administrative Assistant: Rhona Alford October 2016 to replace Aileen O’Donovan Energy Sector Construction: David Traynor Sector Organiser: Adrian Kane Energy: Teresa Thorpe Industrial Organiser: John Regan, Oliver McDonagh* Transport: Stephen Hannan *Oliver McDonagh transferred June 2015 to the SIPTU WRC NATIONAL Administrative Assistant: Rosemary Gillespie National Executive Council Jack Dempsey (RIP), Ann Ryan, Anthony Blake. Transport Sector Sector Organiser: Willie Noone National Executive Council Elected November 2016 Industrial Organisers: Jerry Brennan, Paul Cullen, Jack Dempsey (RIP), Ann Ryan, Kevin McCarthy. John Murphy Administrative Assistants: Rosemary Fennell, National Trustee Elected November 2016 Lorraine Murphy, Miriam Smith, Annette Quigney* Eugene Murphy *Annette Quigney transferred June 2015 to Legal Rights Unit Rules Revision Committee Kevin McCarthy, Noel Coughlan, Pearse Cullinan SECTOR COMMITTEE Members 2015 – 2016

Equality Committee Aviation Sector Committee Amanda Kavanagh, Rose Ann Donnelly Owen Devine Dorothy Prendergast (Vice President National Standing Orders Committee Richard Dignam David Traynor, Stephen Hannan, Dick McGlew Barry Nevin Rose Ann Donnelly Kevin McCarthy (President) DIVISIONAL STAFF Dominic Harris Aileen O’Donovan Divisional Office Willie Hynes Divisional Organiser: Owen Reidy* Tony O’Connell *Greg Ennis replaced Owen Reidy Kevin McCarthy (President) 21st November 2016 Joseph O’Sullivan Administrative Assistant:Susan Dwan* Tony O’Connell *Susan Dwan retired 31st December 2016 Andrew Edwards

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 139 Aileen O’Donovan James Smith Cormac O’Donoghue Eugene Murphy (President) Joseph O’Sullivan Patrick Sheridan John O’Byrne Teresa Thorpe (Vice President) Kathleen O’Toole Teresa Thorpe Rose Ann Donnelly Finbarr O’Connell Dorothy Prendergast (Vice President) Yvonne McGrath (Vice President) Caoimhe McLoughlin McIvor Patrick Sheridan Catherine Prior Marcus McMahon Willie Hynes James Smith Eugene Murphy (President) Construction Sector Committee Anthony Blake Transport Sector Committee Greg Walsh 2015 Christopher Brady 2016 Eddie Gunnery (President) Gary Blake Noel Coughlan Gary Blake David Traynor Joseph Carrick Brendan Delaney David Keating Patrick Peoples Pearse Cullinan Jack Dempsey (RIP) William McCamley Daniel O’Connell Stephen Hannan (Vice President) Eddie Gunnery (President) Stephen Hannan (Vice President) Richard Mullane David Keating Niall Kehoe Joseph Carrick Billy Memery (Vice President) Mary Lonergan Michael Lambe Peter O’Toole Michael Lambe Bernard Loughran Billy Memery (Vice President) Mary Lonergan Niall Kehoe William McCamley Richard Mullane Stephen Millane Jack Dempsey (RIP) Peter O’Toole Daniel O’Connell Brian Walsh Brendan Delaney Brian Walsh Patrick Peoples Michael Gleeson Noel Coughlan Tyrone Winters David Traynor Tommy Wynne (President) Christopher Brady Tommy Wynne (President) Greg Walsh Jimmy Kavanagh Anthony Blake Dave Shearer

Energy Sector Committee Obituaries 2015 The Transport, Energy, Aviation and Construction 2016 Divisional Committee wishes to extend its deepest Philip Casey sympathies to the family and friends of deceased Philip Casey activists and members in the Division, and to all Tom Cuddy union members who suffered bereavements Tom Cuddy during 2015 and 2016. Owen Kilmurray Owen Kilmurray Training and Development Marcus MacMahon As part of our commitment to the ongoing devel- Finbarr O’Connell opment and education of our workplace represen- Yvonne McGrath tatives, SIPTU College provided training courses

140 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 throughout the Division for the period in question Sectors was held: as follows: 27-29 May 2015 Dublin

2015 2016 Overall Attendance: 95 Overall Attendance: 67 Sector Advanced Basic Computer Employment Equality Health- NewTotal LawSafetyDevelopments Aviation 5 12 26126 Construction 16 7 Energy 1810 111 22 Transport 2 16 85 4540

Advanced Shop Steward Course Attended by the Aviation, Construction, Energy Advanced Shop Steward Course and Transport Sectors was held: Attended by the Aviation and Energy Sectors was 25-27 February 2015 Dublin held: 13-15 April 2016 Dublin

Basic Shop Steward Courses Basic Shop Steward Courses Attended by the Aviation, Construction, Energy Attended by the Aviation, Construction, Energy and Transport Sectors were held: and Transport Sectors were held: 11-13 March 2015 Dublin 17-19 February 2016 Dublin, 22-24 March 2016 8-10 April 2015 Dublin Dublin, 27-29 April 2016 Cork, 6-8 September 2016 20-22 May 2015 Limerick Dublin, 9-11 November 2016 Galway, November 4-6 June 2015 Dublin 29th- December 1st 2016 Shannon, 12-14 Decem- 23-25 June 2015 Galway ber Dublin 23-25 September 2015 Dublin EWC Course Computer Courses Attended by the Energy Sector was held: Attended by the Energy Sector (Lisheen Mines) 11-13 April 2016 Dublin were held: 15 January 2015 Dublin Health and Safety Training 27 January 2015 Dublin Attended by Aviation and Transport (Port 3 March 2015 Dublin and Docks) Sectors was held: 22-26 February 2016 Dublin Employment Law Training (Parts 1 and 2) Attended by the Aviation and Transport Sectors Pension CIE Course were held: Attended by the Transport Sector was held: 25-27 March 2015 Dublin 19-20 January 2016 Dublin 22-24 April 2015 Dublin

Equality Training Attended by the Energy and Transport Sectors AVIATION SECTOR REPORT was held: 9-13 February 2015 Dublin Overview The Aviation Sector in 2015 and 2016 saw a Health and Safety Training continuation in worldwide growth and Ireland was Attended by the Aviation, Energy and Transport no different. In fact, levels of growth and record Sectors were held: passenger numbers have been recorded year on 2-6 March 2015 Dublin year with the record 2015 year at Dublin Airport 30 November – 4 December 2015 Dublin being surpassed by 2016 figures, which saw record passenger numbers of 26 million use the New Developments Dublin facility and with 100,000 passengers pass- Attended by the Aviation, Energy and Transport ing through the Airport on 4 days that year. In

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 141 Nurses from 12 countries stood on the picket lines with Dublin Bus workers at Summerhill Garage, September 2016.

142 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 2016 Dublin became the fastest growing airport in porary cuts of between 4.25% and 9% of basic pay Europe. This very welcome growth phase within with effect from 1st July 2016 with retrospection the Sector created the opportunity for our mem- to 1st January 2016, without recourse to targets bers to claim back, and indeed improve upon being hit relating to same. The talks on the poten- terms and conditions of employment and to also tial for a successor Collective Agreement contin- grow its membership base within the Sector. ued until the end of 2016.

Irish Airline Superannuation Scheme (IASS) - Airport Police and Fire Service - The Labour Court Aer Lingus, Dublin Airport Authority and Shannon issued a favourable recommendation (LCR21149) Airport Authority on the disputed provision of 12 month contracts Following on from the freezing and de-risking of within the APFS. A second favourable recommen- the IASS, January 1st 2015 saw the commence- dation (LCR21237) was issued on the 18th May ment of separate DC Pension Schemes in these 2016 in relation to an alleged breach by the DAA employments. Final settlement on all outstanding of the 2003 Collective Agreement. The union ar- DAA/SAA related issues did not arrive until April gued that all APFS employees are entitled to terms 2015, wherein agreements were reached by all and conditions set down in the 2003 Agreement. DAA/SAA Sections. In the DAA/SAA a ‘Final Deter- The Court found that the disputed terms of the mination’ on somewhat amended and enhanced 2003 Agreement should apply. proposals was accepted by our members on April A third Labour Court recommendation (LCR21311) 9th 2015. These proposals contained improved was issued on 6th October 2016 in relation to cer- changes such as date determined increased uplifts tification payments for Irish Aviation Authority in- to an individual’s DC Pension Pot and additional duced targeted patrols. The APFS, after an initial employer contributions with a strong emphasis on rejection of an earlier collective DAA Labour Court lower paid staff. recommendation (LCR20997), re-balloted and accepted the 4% pay increases associated with same DAA in exchange for future engagement with the com- Cost Recovery Programme (CRP) - This pany through the assistance of an agreed facilita- programme which was implemented in February tor. This process had yet to commence at year 2010, had seen ongoing annual basic pay reduc- end. tions on a temporary basis right across the DAA Elsewhere within the wider DAA, restructuring (4.25% - 9%), cuts to overtime payments, loss of talks took place in the Dublin Airport Control Cen- bonus payments, restructuring and voluntary tre involving five separate sections and are ex- redundancies. As provided for within the CRP, we pected to conclude in early 2017. A WRC served a claim for a basic pay increase and a profit brokered agreement resulted in the survival and sharing scheme, which ultimately resulted in a restructuring of the VIP Area. Favourable WRC Labour Court Recommendation (LCR20997) being proposals and Labour Court Recommendations issued in May 2015. This Recommendation were obtained for Frisking Supervisors, Outdoor awarded a retrospective 4% basic pay increase Cleaning, Airfield Maintenance and Trolley Drivers (2% July 1st 2014 and 2% July 1st 2015), and in 2015 and 2016. restated our entitlement to a Profit Share Scheme. The Labour Court also recommended that a ‘New Model Agreement’ be negotiated to replace the Airport Services Consolidated Ltd - T2 CRP Agreement. Following acceptance of the said A significant number of successful appeals into Labour Court Recommendation, ultimately by all questionable Appraisal Awards given to our mem- sections, talks on a new Model Agreement to re- bers as part of the pay progression system incor- place the CRP commenced in late 2015. These ne- porated into the T2 collective agreement were gotiations initially broke up in March 2016 secured. following the DAA’s decision to pay a dividend to Shannon Airport Authority (SAA) the State, while simultaneously retaining our mem- A favourable determination from the Labour Court bers temporary pay cuts. Following over three resulted in members being classified correctly as months of stalemate and six years of withholding existing employees and not ‘new entrants.’ This same, the DAA finally restored our member’s tem- ensured positive pay award differentials for the

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 143 members concerned. The Shannon Hotel College hours for a group of members to full time, with of Management was transferred to NUIG under agreement for an annual review. The issue of shift TUPE legislation. The CRP reductions in pay similar rate will be dealt with as part of upcoming pay ne- to DAA were restored in December of 2016 and gotiations. back dated to 1st January 2016. Kerry Airport Aer Lingus (Dublin, Cork and Shannon) Our members voted to accept an increase of 3% Further to the well documented and significant from 1st June 2016 for 12 months. €1.36bn takeover of Aer Lingus by IAG in Septem- ber 2015, there were many other developments at OCS shop floor level in what was an extremely chal- The HBS section voted to accept a WRC proposal lenging two years on the industrial relations front that allowed for a 4% increase in pay effective within this company. Our members voted heavily from 1st January 2016 and a 3% increase in pay ef- in favour of the establishment of an Internal Dis- fective from 1 January 2017.The Aircraft Cleaning putes Resolution Board (IDRB) which will deal with section voted to accept locally negotiated pro- collective and individual cases in a timely manner. posals that allowed for an increase from 8.4% to Commencement of the process for registering 15.78%, depending on the role carried out. four existing collective agreements, that is, Alter- native to Aer Lingus Proposal, Greenfield, IDRB and Atlantic Aviation Group Pensions Agreement took place in 2016. This We successfully secured the reinstatement of the process has taken an undue amount of time. annual increment that had been withdrawn as part of the company examinership process that re- The Gateway collaboration agreement which consulted in a takeover in 2015. cluded in March 2016 offered some alleviation from roster difficulties, but the current Air France/KLM winter/spring period saw the bad rostering prac- A pay deal in Air France/KLM for a 2.5% increase tices re-emerge and there is currently a process in pay for the period December 2015 to December under way to bring about alleviation to these 2017 was secured. measures. The loading section is continuing to pursue a claim in relation to the Blueprint Pay- Gate Gourmet ments that are currently off scale and non-pension- The outstanding pay claim for 2015 and 2016 of able. 3% p.a. has been referred to the Labour Court. The claim also entailed the cessation of the use of In the Head Office/Support Sections the company agency workers and the transfer of Gate Aviation continues to restructure in line with Section 4 of contract holders to more favourable Gate Gour- the Greenfield Agreement. In 2016, we have seen met contracts of employment. IT and the Cash Office being restructured/outsourced and our members in the section have OCS been, or are in the process of being redeployed. A WRC proposal was balloted upon and accepted In Maintenance and Engineering a long running by members wherein the company agreed to a 3% dispute was settled in relation to Licence and Ap- basic pay increase backdated to 1st September proval Pay for Aircraft as were other disputes in 2013 with a further 1.5% to be paid in July 2016, Catering and Cargo. In Shannon, Aer Lingus Cargo back dated to July 2015. As per the Transfer of Un- completed a review to integrate with IAG Cargo dertakings Regulations a TUPE took place in Janu- and this resulted in the addition of IAG Cargo to ary 2015, with members maintaining their the Aer Lingus operation. longstanding terms and condition of employment upon Transfer. Swissport (Dublin, Cork and Shannon) LTSL (Shannon Aerospace) Members in Dublin, Cork and Shannon overwhelm- Pension restructuring negotiations took place re- ingly voted for a WRC brokered pay proposal, sulting in the closure of the DB Scheme and the which included annual pay increases up to 2017, creation of a DC Scheme. As part of the agree- lump-sum payments and a commitment from the ment, a €12m contribution from the company to company to explore the application of a Sectoral facilitate the closure of the existing DB scheme Employment Order in the Aviation 3rd party Han- was secured. dling Sector. The company agreed to increase the

144 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Hamilton Sunstrand Construction Workers’ Pension Scheme (CWPS), The union lodged a 6% claim for 2015 and 2016. Construction Workers’ Health Trust and the Con- Proposals were ultimately accepted for a 2.3% in- struction Workers’ Benevolent Fund, all showed crease for 2016 a 2.5% increase due in 2017 with a decreases in membership, but this is expected to productivity goal of 4% in 2016. change as the industry returns to growth. unions continued to lobby the Government for new leg- ICTS islation, and prior to the summer recess of 2015, A 2.25% increase in basic pay from 31st March the D il enacted the Industrial Relations Amend- 2016 was accepted by our members in Dublin and ment áAct 2015. Shannon. Following the enactment of this new legislation, the CIC convened several meetings of the Group LTTS of unions to develop a strategy to restore lost Negotiations resulted in a transfer of members ground as a result of the Supreme Court Judge- from the DB hybrid Pension Scheme to a new DC ment striking down the REA in May 2013. In De- Scheme. This involved a €4m contribution from cember 2015, the CIC presented its claim for full the company and gave members a reasonable restoration of pay rates prior to the 7.5% pay cut pension expectation upon retirement. A pay pro- as a result of a previous Labour Court Recommen- posal of 1% was agreed for April to December dation; a cost of living increase of 2.5% per year 2016, with 2% to accrue for 2017. for three years was also served. At year end talks were continuing with the CIF on the potential for Transaero a new REA and a Sectoral Employment Order Following the company entering examinership, (SEO) to deal with Pay, Pensions and Sick Pay. It proposals were subsequently accepted by mem- was expected that an application would be made bers on March 23rd 2015, which assisted in secur- to the Labour Court in early 2017. ing our members’ jobs at the plant moving forward. Union Organising SR Technic (Cork) Despite the ongoing challenges within the con- A basic pay increase of 4% for a two-year period struction industry, the Construction Sector, with and an improvement to the ‘Bonus Scheme’ were the assistance of the Organising Department, has secured for members following Labour Court in- been involved in active recruitment and organis- tervention. A Respect and Dignity policy was also ing, especially in the east and the south of the agreed. country. During this period, the membership rose significantly. In 2015 the Construction Sector saw Ireland West Airport Knock (IWAK) the largest number of joiners in any Sector of the A long running dispute relating to our members’ union at 3,111, or 15% of all new joiners. Likewise, claim for compensation due to the loss of ‘regular in 2016, the Sector recorded 6,344 joiners equat- and rostered’ overtime was successfully resolved, ing to 25% of all new joiners in SIPTU that year. following Workplace Relations Commission intervention. Health and Safety Regrettably deaths continue to occur on Irish Con- struction sites, while the numbers for 2015 and CONSTRUCTION SECTOR REPORT 2016 are heading in a downward trajectory, one death is simply one to many. The most worrying Overview statistic is that most of these deaths are happen- The years 2015/2016 at first witnessed a slow- ing on small one-off sites and of the nine deaths in down in the decline of construction activity, how- 2016, three were of self-employed workers. The ever as we moved through the period in question, age profile ranges from 20 to 63 with all but one larger projects and some increase in house build- over the age of 30. Over the last two years some ing became a positive reality within the Sector. overzealous employers have used Health and While the end of the Registered Employment Safety issues as a means of disciplining our mem- Agreement (REA) continued to hamper organisa- bers. tion, it is hoped that ongoing engagements through the CIC can bring about a new REA. The Construction Agencies

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 145 Agencies as a group have continued to influence Loughnane Concrete Ltd. working patterns within the Construction industry. We have agreed a 3% basic pay increase as well Our members employed by these Agencies con- as restoring the overtime rate to 1.25% from 1st tinue in many cases to experience an extremely August 2016. difficult time and, in some cases, they are clearly having their terms and conditions eroded by un- Road Maintenance Services scrupulous employers. We continue to support We have agreed Pay Rises with this company of such members in every way possible. 7% over three phases as follows: 3% from 1st January 2016, 2% from 1st January Roadstone 2017 and 2% from 1st January 2018 2015 saw the unions lodge a 5% pay claim on the company. This matter was referred to the WRC. O’Reilly Concrete Ltd. Subsequent proposals to restore the previously Pay Proposals were secured in June 2016 withdrawn ‘Bonus Payments’ and basic pay in- as follows; creases of 6% for a three-year period were ac- Increase in basic pay of 1.5% effective cepted by members in 2016. from 1 January 2016. Increase in OT Rate to 1.4x (from 1.15x currently) BBCLG effective from 1 June 2016 and further increased Following a Labour Court hearing an Independent to 1.5x with effect from 1 June 2017. Assessor was engaged to carry out a review of pay rates and a formula for harmonisation was put for- Cold Chon ward. In December 2016, the company reneged Pay Proposals were secured in June 2016 as fol- on a previous WRC agreement regarding Emer- lows; 3% from 1st January 2016, 2% from 1st Janu- gency Standby over the Christmas period. This re- ary 2017 and 2% from 1st January 2018. sulted in further discussion and the company having to improve on the previous agreement. A Kellymount Quarry Ltd. further Labour Court hearing is scheduled for 2017. Our members accepted a Labour Court recommendation on harmonisation to bring them in line John Sisk and Son Ltd with two other quarries that make up the Kilkenny In 2015 the Company threatened to take the ex- Limestone Limited Group. gratia redundancy package off the table unless The recommendation saw them achieve a 6.5% in- SIPTU agreed to eight compulsory redundancies crease on the basic hourly rate, and an increase on from our 18 members. The union objected in the the Shift Rate from 19% up to 22%. It also recom- strongest possible terms. Disputes involving mem- mended that any future general pay increases bers in Waterford and a successful protest against should apply equally to all staff in all quarries. bogus self-employment in Dublin also took place in 2016. RILTA Irish Cement This company is involved in specialised hazardous The company previously advised the Group of waste removal and recycling. Members secured a unions that it would be closing the existing De- 2.8% pay increase in January 2016. fined Benefit Pension Scheme and would introduce a new scheme for new entrants going Shanganagh Waste Water forward. Notwithstanding this initial approach the A pay increase of 5% was secured following WRC company ultimately guaranteed that it would con- intervention, resulting in 2.5% from 1st June 2015 tinue to pay its annual contribution into the DB and another 2.5% from 1st June 2016. Scheme, which had been agreed in 2012 and it also agreed to open the DB Scheme to new entrants. A 5% pay claim was lodged on behalf of our Pay Increases members, which was subsequently referred to the Pay increases were secured from several addi- WRC. tional construction companies on behalf of our members during 2015/2016.

146 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Resource Recovery Organising Greenstar - Issues relating to personal safety on The Sector has lost membership in the last year behalf of members employed in the Waterford site due to the closure of Lisheen Mine. We hope that are being addressed as some employees have the plan for creating an Energy Hub on the site of been threatened by individuals at their homes. Lisheen Mine becomes a reality. The focus of the This follows these individuals coming on site. The Sector in 2015/16 has been on organising in Irish Cork site was taken over by Panda Waste and the Water, and we have done so with some success. union is progressing multiple issues through pro- The other principle target has been Bord Gais, cedures. where we have a number of key activists who have taken up representative roles. We expect fu- Greyhound Recycling - We retain a number of ture progress in this regard. The Sector also com- members working directly with the company missioned the Research Department to investigate under the terms of a Dublin County Council con- the wider energy and natural resources sector. tract. The research provides us with the basic information in relation to who the principle private sector Panda Recycling - The long-term objective is to energy providers are in Ireland, the numbers they seek the restoration of a pay cut taken by staff in employ and their attitudes towards trade unions. 2014. Currently we are attempting to organise We need to ensure that our union continues to re- around an issue of concern, regarding serious build across the sector following the recent reces- health and safety issues. sion.

Bord Gais ENERGY AND NATURAL The pay freeze terminated at the end of 2015. The RESOURCES SECTOR REPORT Group of unions sought an increase in line with sectoral pay norms. The company has in place the Overview same pay model which exists in Gas Networks Ire- In 2015 and 2016 we have seen some positive land and Irish Water. The proposal of a 3% increase movements in pay in companies such as Bord Gais, up to April 2017 was endorsed by the member- ESB, and Coillte, while discussions are progressing ship. This does not provide for a universal payment within Ervia. It has been a particularly difficult time as the percentage increase will be determined for our members in Bord na Mona, where signifi- with reference to an employee’s position on their cant industrial issues arise frequently in what has pay band and performance. The quantum of the become an extremely volatile employment due to pay award, however, is significant. the actions of the company. There is potential for multiple disputes in the near future. AES AES has grown market share by acquiring other In June 2015, the then Minister for Communica- smaller refuse companies over the last number of tions, Energy and Natural Resources, Alex White, years. As a result of this acquisition policy, the held a “citizen and public stakeholder information rates of pay in the company tended to vary session” in Dublin Castle prior to the publication widely. Following extensive negotiations with the of the White Paper on Energy, published later in company over the last two years, and with the as- the year. The content of the White Paper and rec- sistance of the WRC, which also included a full ommendations were largely determined by the Labour Court hearing, the Court recommended 2030 Climate and Energy Framework adopted by the harmonisation of pay within four rates of pay. the EU in October 2014. This set out three princi- These new rates represent a €2 to €3 increase on ple targets to be achieved by 2030: the hourly rate. In addition to the recommendation At least a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions in relation to pay the Labour Court also recom- At least a 27% share for renewable energy mended the introduction of a sick and pension At least a 27% improvement in energy efficiency scheme with a voluntary increase in the retirement If these very ambitious targets are to be achieved age. they will have a profound effect on members who work in the carbon producing energy industry. Bord Na Mona After a long running dispute lasting over 18 months, a three-year agreement was reached at

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 147 the Labour Court. The Labour Court Recommen- membership in September 2016. Negotiations will dation (LCR21071) was subsequently endorsed commence in 2017 relating to a further pay claim. through a company-wide ballot. The dispute cen- A new CEO was appointed in 2015 and one of the tred on the company seeking €24.2 million in cost first actions he undertook was to stop the calibra- reductions across the company. The removal of tion process that was in place in respect of the the public service obligation in respect of Eden- performance pay system. There are likely to be re- derry Power and the planned removal of the PSO dundancies in Head Office and the company is try- in respect of Loughree Power and Shannonbridge ing to radically increase its return on investment. planned in 2019 was the stated impetus for the Legislative measures have now been completed level of cost savings being sought. The company to allow for the establishment of a new defined also sought to reduce the workforce by over one contribution scheme for new entrants. hundred and enforce savage pay-cuts, in some cases up to €15,000 per annum. The Labour Court ESB Recommendation protected existing pay rates Negotiations concerning the Group of union’s pay and provided for no compulsory redundancies. claim of 3.5% pay increase per annum over a three- Agreement was reached on voluntary redundancy year period dating back to March 2014 finally con- terms, an extension of the retirement age, rede- cluded in May 2016, following talks facilitated by ployment options, training and up skilling, lump Ms Janet Hughes. The facilitated talks commenced sum payments, and a 3% increase in basic pay, in the aftermath of the rejection of the Industrial provided certain cost saving targets were Council Recommendation 3101, which had been reached. Other pay related disputes related to issued in November 2015. The proposals, which Road Haulage, Rail Haulage, Rail Laying and Lifting, also provide for a new pay model for new entrants, and Edenderry Power, where a pay claim was be- ensures the following; fore the Labour Court at year’s end. 2% increase from April 2015 2.75% % increase from April 2016 New Boliden - Tara Mines 2.75%% increase from April 2017 to October 2017 A three-year Sustainability Agreement was nego- A lump sum of €2,750 tiated. It provides for 4.5% basic pay increases of Agreement ends Sep 2018 2% in 2015, 2% in 2016 and 0.5% in 2017. In addition, members were to receive €6,000 in lump Ervia sum payments provided targets were reached Gas Networks Ireland - Negotiations in relation to over the three-year period. The members of the a pay increase had not concluded between the defined benefit pension scheme have voted to parties at the end of 2016. The pay freeze termi- change to a defined contribution scheme. The nated at the end of 2015. These negotiations principle provisions of the agreement include re- cover the entire group (Gas Networks Ireland and moving the 10% cut to benefits that were imposed Irish Water). The company claimed that pension on the members due to a significant deficit in the contributions needed to be increased by 2.8% in DB Scheme. In addition, the agreement provides order to ensure that the defined benefit pension for each member to receive a Transfer Value of scheme could meet future liabilities. This claim 107%. When the scheme is wound down the de- was supported by the Trustees of the scheme. The fined contribution scheme will come into effect Group of unions has engaged independent advis- with contributions based on age as follows: < 40: ers who verified that it was a reasonable request. 6% employee, 10% employer, 41 – 45: 7% em- The proposal by the company that the deficit be ployee, 11% employer, 46 – 50: 8% employee, 12% funded on a 50/50 basis was subsequently en- employer, 51 – 55: 9% employee, 13% employer, > dorsed by the members of the Scheme. 55: 10% employee, 14% employer. Should the Mine’s life extend past 2019, an additional contri- Irish Water – This utility has seldom been out of bution by Tara Mines of €500,000 in each year up the headlines since its creation in 2013. SIPTU rep- to 2029 will apply. resents the majority of workers in the Public Utility. It has been difficult to deal with normal industrial Coillte issues because of the frenzied atmosphere created The WRC proposed pay terms of 2% per annum by the media around anything to do with Irish effective from May 2015 up until April 2016 were Water. Pay proposals from the WRC in September subsequently endorsed through a ballot of the of 2015 provided for once off payments in lieu of

148 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 the performance related awards and were en- scheme. The national committee ran a very suc- dorsed by the membership. It also emerged as we cessful campaign throughout 2016 to reverse the continued to organise in Irish Water that employ- decision to close the fish farms in Mullingar and Ro- ees were not receiving overtime payments in ac- screa. cordance with their contracts of employment. We instructed all members to cease working overtime Irving, Oil Refinery Whitegate Co Cork until such time as the company guaranteed pay- SIPTU has been involved in a long running cam- ment. This action resulted in the company comply- paign to ensure that Ireland continues to have fuel ing with the terms of the overtime agreement and security by maintaining the single oil refinery that paying retrospective monies that were outstand- we have on the island of Ireland. A motion, which ing to members. was proposed by the Sector, calling for the reten- In the post-election situation and throughout the tion of the oil refinery, was endorsed by the SIPTU remainder of 2016, there has again been much Biennial Conference in Cork. Support has also speculation about the future of the utility. SIPTU’s come from the ICTU and Cork Council of Trade campaign for maintaining the provision of water unions. The current owner, Phillips 66, has put the services in public ownership goes back to 2000. facility at Whitegate, Co Cork, up for sale as a Our position has been consistent since then. SIPTU going concern. Irving Oil, a family owned com- will continue to defend Irish Water workers who pany from Canada, has recently purchased the oil have been doing excellent work in a very difficult refinery. Negotiations are continuing with the new situation. In short it makes absolute sense to have owners in relation to pension provision and bonus a wholly owned public utility to deliver a coherent payments. In 2015 the Group of unions concluded and integrated approach to the provision of water a pay deal with the company through the auspices services. of the then Labour Relations Commissions which resulted in a pay proposal, which provided retro- spectively for 2% on November 1st 2014, 2% on Inland Fisheries Ireland July 1st 2015 and 2% on June 1st 2016. The National Committee successfully pursued a long-standing claim concerning an inconsistent Lisheen Mine application of the guidelines concerning subsis- This company closed its operations in January tence allowances to the Labour Court during 2015. 2016. Unfortunately, the mine was exhausted and The Labour Court Recommendation, (LCR 21106), there was no other option but closure. Training provided for the harmonisation of IFI rates with and up-skilling courses were part of an outplace- those that apply in the public service. The National ment package. Every worker was afforded the op- Committee established a sub-committee in order portunity to avail of this package six months prior to build a campaign to lobby for increased re- to leaving the Mine. Each worker received a per- sources for IFI. The service has seen a third of its sonal training allowance in addition to a €500K workforce slashed over the last six years. A recent training programme agreed between SIPTU and study outlining the benefits of angling to the na- the company. tional economy suggest additional spending in angling development would pay for itself through Priority Drilling additional tourist revenue. A national campaign The union’s claim for a substantial increase in pay which lobbied for increased resources took place has resulted in a 6% pay increase to be applied in throughout 2015, with activists targeting TDs in two phases: September 2015 3% and September constituencies where angling was of importance. 2016 3%. A briefing booklet was also produced. The campaign ultimately proved successful and the Board Zenith of IFI is now increasing the number of staff up to An initial two year pay deal will terminate at the the number provided for under the Employee Con- end of 2016 and talks continue on a replacement trol Framework agreement. deal encompassing a cumulative pay increase over IFI members benefitted from the restorative meas- a longer-term period. It will also endeavour to ad- ure contained in the Haddington Road Agreement dress employer pension contributions issue. during the year. Negotiations are also continuing in relation to the implementation of a new staff

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 149 TRANSPORT SECTOR REPORT 2% increase in pay from date of acceptance 2% increase in pay on the 01/01/2017 Overview 2% increase in pay on the 01/01/2018 The years 2015 and 2016 saw unprecedented in- 2% increase in pay on the 01/01/2019 dustrial relations developments right across the A long service increment payable after 3 years at Transport Sector, which at times posed massive the maximum of the pay-scale challenges to our members and indeed the wider Revised reduction in new entrants’ rates trade union movement. The strength, resolve and Revised productivity measures discipline of our Transport Sector members was Revised qualifying criteria for annual bonuses unbreakable and despite significant disputes re- No deductions for alleged part performance quiring intermittent and sustained Industrial ac- Potential for knock-on grade Increases tion, including strike action, such as those at Transdev (Luas) and Dublin Bus, our members pre- As no proposals were made in respect of the Tram vailed. We continue to grow our membership Driver grade their dispute continued and further within the Sector, with the long held target of work stoppages occurred in April and May 2016. 6,000 members clearly in our sights by year end A subsequent Labour Court hearing took place 2016. Future disputes may prove inevitable in par- and the Court issued a recommendation ticular sections of the Sector in the year ahead. (LCR21241) as follows; 2% increase in pay from date of acceptance Transdev (Luas) 2% increase in pay on the 01/01/2017 Collective agreement discussions took place at 2% increase in pay on the 01/01/2018 the WRC throughout 2015, without any resolution. 2% increase in pay on the 01/01/2019 Subsequently, the parties attended a Labour Court 2.5% increase in pay on the 01/01/2020 hearing in September 2015 in respect of our 2% increase in pay on the 01/09/2020 claims. These claims contained significant in- A lead in payment of €750 to be paid to members creases in pay and other cost increasing aspects before the end of 2016 for all five unionised grades. The Court was not in No increase in maximum duty spread a position to hear the submissions until a full finan- Revised, reduced new entrants’ rates cial report was compiled. The parties reconvened Further discussions on operational issues on a non- at the Labour Court in late November 2015 where cost basis the Mazars Financial Report was submitted. In A review of the company/union relationship by 2016 all unionised grades (Tram Drivers, Traffic Su- the WRC Advisory Services pervisors, Revenue Protections Supervisors and Review and comparison of remuneration with Revenue Protection Officers) rejected the subse- comparable European undertakings quent Labour Court Recommendation (LCR21097) 6.5% annual bonus to be re-instated in 2017 in December 2015 and balloted in favour of indus- These proposals were accepted by the Tram trial action in pursuance of their pay claim. On Driver members in June 2016. The company February 11th and 18th , 2016, two forty-eight hour agreed to apply similar terms to all other SIPTU work stoppages took place. The parties were grades that were in dispute in 2016. invited to discussions in the WRC on March 7th and a pending work stoppage for March 8th were Dublin Bus deferred. SIPTU’s pay claim encompassing all Grades for the full repayment of the 6% pay increases due in Talks took place at the WRC and proposals to 2009, a negotiated pay increase going forward resolve the dispute for three grades (Tram Drivers, over a three-year period, the linking of pay in- Revenue Protection Officers and Revenue Protec- creases with pensions to continue, shift payments tion Supervisors) were tabled on the 16th Marh. No to be included in pensionable pay and improve- proposals were obtained for the Traffic Supervisor ments in the Drivers’ Income Continuance Scheme grade at that time. As these proposals were were discussed at the WRC in July 2015. Unfortu- rejected by all three grades, the 48 hour work nately, no progress was made and the claim on stoppage commenced on the 27th March. Mem- behalf of the Driver Grade was referred to the bers in the grades subsequently balloted in favour Labour Court. The remaining grades attended of acceptance of improved proposals which Conciliation in December 2015 and, as with the included the following. Driver Grade, no progress was made. Their claim

150 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 was also referred to the Labour Court and a hear- discussed at the WRC in March and May 2016. This ing took place in March 2016. The Court formed was subsequently adjourned until September the opinion that “no definitive recommendation 2016. During this process the company indicated that it could make, at this time, would be of assis- that it would deal with this union’s claim for a pay tance to the parties” and the Court proposed that increase for School Bus Drivers separately and in the parties reconvene at Conciliation. Little parallel discussions. As little progress was made progress was made at the WRC and the parties re- on our claim for an increase in pay at the WRC in turned to the Labour Court in June. The Court is- September, the issue was referred to the Labour sued a recommendation (LCR21276) in July. On the Court and a hearing was eventually scheduled for issue of a flat pay increase the Court recom- December. In December 2016, the company at- mended the following for all grades: tended the Labour Court but indicated that it was 2.75% increase from 1st Jan 2016 not in a position to proceed with the hearing as it 2.75% increase from 1st Jan 2017 was in the process of formulating a plan. The com- 2.75% increase from 1st Jan 2018 pany indicated that it would avail of the Court in circumstances where it might require the Court SIPTU’s seven Dublin Bus grades separately bal- after the outlining of a plan. The Court asked if the loted to reject (LCR21276) and industrial action unions were willing to adjourn the case and all the commenced in Sept 2016 with three 48 hour work unions indicated they were not willing to adjourn. stoppages. SIPTU issued notice of further stop- Following a recess the Court informed all parties pages but these were deferred due to an interven- that it could not progress the case. tion by the WRC. The parties attended conciliation in late Sept 2016 and proposals were put forward School Bus Drivers - Following a lengthy process by the WRC as a basis for resolving the dispute. to get School Bus Drivers (SBD) access to the CIE These proposals included: Pension Scheme, all new eligible permanent SBD 3.75% pay increase from 1st Jan 2016 (with full ret- would now automatically enter the Scheme from rospection) January 2015. Concerns remained about the is- 3.75% pay increase from 1st Jan 2017 suance of erroneous calculations to a number of 3.75% pay increase from 1st Jan 2018 existing SBD who considered joining the CIE Deferment of proposed pay increases from pen- Wages Grade Pension Scheme and the fact that sionable pay till the end of Jan 2017 some drivers were not issued with figures at all Engagement on consolidation of current/future was wholly unacceptable. The amount of holiday shift pay for pension purposes entitlements being paid to SBD was also raised union commitment to cooperate with standard throughout 2016 as it appeared that the company operating practices was leaving members short and not calculating Further talks on productivity and further pay en- their entitlement as per the relevant legislation. As hancements little progress was made on these two issues they These proposals were accepted by all grades as a were referred to the WRC. The SBD pay claim was settlement to our pay claim. dealt with through conciliation in the WRC and a date was awaited at the end of 2016. Bus Eireann Bus Eireann had paid 38% of the premium payable Bus Eireann/Dublin Bus - Registered Employ- by drivers towards their Income Continuance ment Agreement. Scheme since 1986, but the company was only SIPTU balloted driver members in both companies paying just over 19% after the premium was infor industrial action and strike action and received creased in Jan 2015. The issue was before the a mandate in favour of both of over 90%. Industrial Labour Court in May 2016 and the Court in action took place in both companies on May 1st LRC21224 recommended that the company must and 2nd 2015. Further action was planned on the re-instate the payments from the 1st Jan 2015. The May 15th and 16th. The parties were invited back company restored its contribution rate, address- to the WRC and a “Terms of Settlement” proposal ing the affordability of the scheme but has not was put forward. Members decided to defer fur- compensated members who had paid excessive ther planned action. We were successful in achiev- premiums. This issue remains to be resolved. ing commitments on most of our six-point agenda and the parties further engaged locally. The long- Our members pay claim across all categories was awaited enactment of the Industrial Relations

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 151 152 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 (Amendment) Act 2015 was of paramount impor- hearings between May and September 2015 which tance in securing statutory protection for our resulted in industrial action occurring on the 23rd member’s conditions of employment in Bus Eire- October 2015 and further date for action was pro- ann and Dublin Bus arising from the tendering posed for the 6th November 2015. The Labour process. This protection is of vital importance and Court intervened and subsequently issued its significance may only be truly realised in the (LCR21084) in November 2015. The Court recom- years to come. mended an independent facilitator be appointed to assess the issues such as past productivity, CIE Pensions terms and conditions and the hours of work. In late 2015 and during 2016 the situation with the CIE pension saw the engagement of all the trade Aircoach unions on proposals to discuss the minimum fund- A pay claim was lodged against this company in ing standard requirement. This presented a num- June 2015 and, following several meetings, pro- ber of challenges. Proposals tabled did not allow posals emerged in October 2015 which gave in ex- for any pay increases to be reckonable for pension cess of 4% over a 19-month period. The proposals purposes until 2023. Initial company proposals contained an increase from 31st August 2015 until emerged, which proposed that the current DB March 2016 and a further increase from March 27th schemes would be closed and replaced by a DC 2016 until April 1st 2017 with a commitment that scheme. This drew strong resistance from SIPTU pay discussions to review pay from that date and resulted in the trade unions engaging their would occur. Other commitments on conditions of own pensions expert to formulate a counter pro- employment were secured. Pay Rises for customer posal based on the actuarial reports of both service staff, which brings them up from €9 an schemes. Funding levels have now been increased hour to €11 an hour immediately and backdated in both schemes. The wages grade scheme is to August 1st 2015, was accompanied by another close to being fully funded and the 1951 superan- 2% increase in March 2016 until April 2017. nuation scheme is close to 90% funded. Despite proposals presented in December 2016 on the Translink/NIR wages grade scheme no discussions have taken The years under review saw further restructuring, place on the 1951 scheme as issues, including an Voluntary Exit Schemes and further reductions in alleged conflict of interest, has resulted in strong funding from the Stormont Executive. NIR has rea- resistance to any change in either scheme. sonably good capital assets, but from an operations perspective it is constrained and Irish Rail inadequately funded for operating bus and rail Following several meetings in early 2015 a ballot services. The Executive needs to restore the fuel to increase the retirement age in CIE to 66 years duty rebate of over £10m per annum which was concluded on the 19th June 2015. A majority of removed two years ago. Almost 80 million passenger journeys are made on the NI public transport staff across all three companies voted in favour. infrastructure each year. A record annual 13 million The option now will be offered to staff in CIE if passenger journeys were made by rail - over twice they wish to remain on another year to their 66th the number since the current Great Victoria Street birthday. Another change is that the entry age to station was designed and built in 1995. A one year both schemes will increase by one year respec- pay claim was lodged in March 2016 to cover April tively. This change required a statuary instrument 2016 to April 2017. Due to a very tardy response to be signed, which was sent to the Department from the employer, the fractured nature of the or- of Transport. ganisation, and the policy of conducting department by department negotiations, this matter was Loco Driver members of SIPTU initiated (clause 4) not resolved until December 2016. The agreement of the Cost Containment Agreement on past pro- ultimately secured delivered a 2% pay increase on ductivity. This claim was presented on the basis basic rate of pay effective from 1st April 2016, with that drivers would see a reduction in their working the Bereavement and Special Leave increased to week in line with their colleagues in the UK and 4 days paid leave and 1 day unpaid leave. Northern Ireland. Loco Drivers have indicated the level of change in their grade over the last number Doyle Shipping Group of years and have sought productivity payments An organising campaign was started in February on foot of this increase. This involved several WRC 2016 after contact was made by the existing mem-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 153 bers in Doyle Shipping Group. A general meeting Mainport Shipping/Celtic Tugs was held with the employees at which many issues A pay increase of 3% backdated to 1st January were raised. SIPTU sought to engage with the 2015 and a further 3% for 2016, plus a one-off pay- company on collective issues but the company ment of €1,000 per member was secured. claimed that membership was only at 10% of the work force and would not engage. Ultimately P&O Ferries membership density was increased to over 86%. Agreement was reached on a 1.5% increase back We referred the collective issues to the WRC but dated to January 1st 2016. the company refused a second invitation to the WRC in May 2016. Nevertheless, although not hav- Peelports / MTL ing sat down with SIPTU the company issued 39 Meetings were held in 2015 regarding changes hour contracts to all General Operatives, most of to work practices required by the company. These whom had been casual. Subsequently the Crane work practices had been previously banned by the and machine operators who had 16 hour contracts company under threat of disciplinary action. There were offered 39 hour contracts. was further engagement with the company regarding pay parity on behalf of crane drivers and Dublin Port Company matters were successfully resolved. The pay claim which was first raised in September 2015 was the subject of a joint meeting between the Port of Cork various unions in Dublin Port. The Dublin Port Com- A pay claim was submitted on behalf of the gen- pany continued to leverage this against the “Pro- eral workers and Pilot Launch crew. This proposal posed New Employee Handbook”. A joint meeting of an ex gratia payment of €1,000 per person, plus between the collective unions and the company was a €250 voucher for Xmas 2015 and 2016 was ac- held. At this meeting the company referred to the cepted, alongside a pay increase of 2.5% from the “New Employee Handbook” and stated that it was 1st January 2015 and a further 2.5% from the 1st not willing to enter pay talks unless the “Handbook” July 2016 to the 31st December 2017 was also was discussed with a view to agreement and accept- agreed. ance. The unions referred the pay claim to the WRC. Agreement could not be reached due to the “Ran- Shannon Foynes Port Company dom Testing Alcohol and Intoxicant Policy”. We have A redundancy agreement was reached for SIPTU informed the company that they must remove this if members in the Foynes Dockers Labour Pool. The progress is to be made. terms were confidential.

Dublin Stevedores - Lashing and Securing Warrenpoint Harbour SIPTU has been pursuing a campaign of Lashing Agreement was reached on a 1.5% increase back and Securing and engaged with all major stake- dated to 1st January 2016 with an additional 1.5% holders operating in and through Dublin Port. Pre- to be paid from January 1st 2017. viously this union took WRC cases to secure payment for Lashing and Securing for Seafarers (Irish Ferries 2001). Meetings took place in De- cember 2015 and throughout 2016 involving our colleagues in the ITF.

Irish Ferries The company issued a payment, which it claimed was in return for acceptance by workers of a ma- trix for pay increases. It refused to engage with the WRC. Ultimately it made a pay offer of 2.5%. How- ever, this carried a stipulation that those in the defined benefit pension scheme would receive 1% with the other 1.5% being apportioned to their defined benefit pension scheme.

154 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Strategic Organising Campaigns

CHILDCARE Precarious Employment Working in the Early Years sector is low paid, undervalued and precarious. Big Start Early Years Campaign The early years sector is in crisis. Parents are pay- There are 23,000 early years’ educators based in ing too much for childcare. Precariously employed 4,500 workplaces, two thirds of which are private educators can’t make ends meet. Providers are sector, with a third in the not-for-profit community struggling to break even. Everyone is getting a sector. Over a 1,000 services are owned and run raw deal. by a single person. Historically SIPTU’s vision is for a quality, affordable, assessable early years sector, where educa- 99% of early years’ educators are women tors are fairly rewarded and recognised for their The low level of state investment means that qual- work. ified early years’ educators, many holding de- This is why SIPTU launched the Big Start campaign grees, are paid on average just €10.27 per hour. in March 2016. It is part of the Strategic Organising Many are earning the minimum wage. Department’s overarching care campaign for Thousands of workers are on precarious contracts Decent Work, Decent Lives. of just 15 hours a week, 38 weeks a year. The Decent Work, Decent Lives campaign is de- Non-contact time, when educators’ complete signed to encourage and equip the people who mandatory observation reports and prepare for are lowest paid and most exploited to organise, the next day, is generally unpaid. Shockingly edu- assert their right to a decent job, decent pay and cators are working for free to maintain a quality a decent life. service. The Value of Quality Early Years The abysmal pay and conditions are unsurprisingly The first five years are the most important in a leading to a recruitment and retention crisis in the child’s development. Investing in quality early sector. High staff turnover, at 28.4%, undermines years education results in benefits such as signifi- the provision of quality early years services, and cantly higher educational attainment and much 86% of facilities fear recruitment difficulties will im- higher income levels in later life. Economic analysis pact on their future viability. has consistently shown positive returns on invest- Simply put, workers cannot afford to stay in a job ment for the state, with benefits ranging from 2.5 they love. to 16 times the costs. Quality childcare, and all the benefits for children However, these benefits are dependent on quality that are associated with it, is being undermined by early years being delivered by qualified workers. low pay, poor conditions and a lack of state invest- Ireland lags behind internationally, spending just ment. 0.5% of GDP on the Early Years sector compared to the UNICEF’s recommended international Strategic Organising benchmark of 1%, not to mention the highs of 1.8% SIPTU is fighting for a major increase in state in- in Iceland, 1.6% in Sweden and 1.4% in Denmark. vestment to radically transform the early years’ sector and establish minimum rates of pay. The Moreover, the early year’s sector is seen as low scale of the challenge cannot be underestimated status, unskilled and its contribution to a child’s and requires a long term strategic approach if we development is not generally recognised. are to be successful. At the core of the Big Start strategic plan is build-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 155 ing a union of workers who can take effective ac- There are currently 7,000 care staff working in pri- tion. We aim to put pay and quality at the heart of vate nursing homes, 19,000 employed in home the governments early years’ policy. There are five care and 23,000 in childcare. These employment other strategic areas; industrial, communications, figures are set to rise, particularly in elder care due campaigning, political and coalition building. to demographic changes and increased life ex- pectancy. However, we are starting from a very low base. union density is under 5% and the sector is demor- Secondly, workers in the care sector are increas- alised and fragmented. ingly facing poor pay and conditions. To date the Big Start Campaign has established Caring work whether in the home or in paid em- county networks across the country where work- ployment, has traditionally been undervalued and ers agree what actions to take. SIPTU activists under-recognised by society. This is clearly re- have had motions passed at local councils, held flected in the current employment conditions of public petition signing days, organised colleagues many workers in the caring sector, which are char- into the union, lobbied public representatives and acterised by low pay, poor conditions and precar- given a presentation in the AV Room at Leinster ious fixed term and if-and-when contracts. House to which TDs and Senators were invited. It is not a coincidence that this work is carried out The use of social media, worker videos and regular almost exclusively by women who are not in a targeted e-mail updates to a database of over union. 7,000 workers and supporters have been key to As history shows us, it is only by building worker developing awareness and building support for power that we can effectively challenge exploita- the campaign among workers, parents, politicians tion and poor working conditions. The care sector and the public. needs a union.

SIPTU Support Big Start Coalition Within the union, the Strategic Organising Cam- There are almost twenty organisations advocating paign is working in conjunction with the Cam- on behalf of providers, educators or children in the paigns and Equality Unit, Communications early years sector. Department, the Public Administration and Com- While progress has been made on key issues munity Division, the Policy Department, IT and within the sector major ones remain unresolved, SIPTU College. and pay has yet to be seriously addressed. This is why SIPTU has established the Big Start campaign coalition. By bringing together key Family Resource Centres stakeholders from the sector, we are developing Almost 250 employees in over 100 Family a common platform that will facilitate collective Resource Centres (FRCs) work with families to campaigning and effective political lobbying. combat disadvantage and improve the functioning of the family unit. The coalition currently includes Barnardos, the union of Students in Ireland, the National Child- Although a key part of TUSLA’s family services and hood Network and other organisations. 100% state funded, FRC workers were disproportionately impacted by austerity cuts, compared to directly employed state employees. Decent Work, Decent Lives In 2015 the Strategic Organising Department Big Start is part of SIPTU’s Decent Work Decent started a campaign targeting FRC workers. Lives campaign for the care sector. It covers early An access agreement was negotiated at national years’ childcare, home care and nursing homes. level by the Strategic Organising Department, so The targeting of these areas is deliberate. Firstly, that a team of organisers could meet workers in care work is human work. It cannot be outsourced each individual service. Leaders were identified or automated; and it is a sector that is growing. and a series of elections held for area representatives.

156 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 1

1. Contract Cleaners and hospital workers in St James Hospital on International Justice Day for Contract Cleaners

2. SIPTU Healthcare assistant campaigning for recognition and respect.

3. Big Start activists and organisers at launch of the submission on Early Years funding at the Mansion House, December 2016.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 157 union density now stands at over 90% with an ac- issue-based organising at local level. While the tive national committee. To date a pay agreement focus of the campaign continued to be workplace has been negotiated with the FRC Employers based, the worker leaders continued to partici- group and the campaign continues for funding pate in the broader union agenda, attending the from TUSLA. Cleaning Sub Sector meetings which had initially been established in 2014.

This forum facilitates interaction amongst cleaners CONTRACT CLEANING - from a cross section of the sector, thus influencing FAIR DEAL FOR CLEANERS policy and direction within the Sector. This inter- Contract Cleaners contribute to our society in so action proved vital during the negotiations on the many ways, but they are often unappreciated. Contract Cleaning Employment Regulation Order Building on previous organising initiatives contract (ERO), which involved the direct involvement of cleaners sought to change this by continuing to Activists from the sector. Despite a challenging in- increase their visibility, and voice, by building dustrial background, SIPTU and its’ activists suc- worker power and influence throughout the sec- cessfully negotiated the first of two EROs during tor. the summer of 2015, which came into effect in Oc- SIPTU’s, Fair Deal for Cleaners campaign has con- tober 2015, with its successor coming into effect tinued to bring cleaners out of the shadows both on 26th December 2016. locally and nationally. At an international level the SIPTU ‘Fair Deal for During the period of this report extensive industry Cleaners Campaign’ participated in many UNI Eu- research was conducted, mapping contract clean- ropa and UNI Global Cleaning Sector Forums en- ing services across Ireland in health, education, suring that challenges that face Irish Contract transport and retail. This was crucial in identifying Cleaners had a European platform. This forum was individual cleaning contractors’ industry market instrumental in rolling out The Cleaners Charter share while enabling the union to identify and across Europe. The Charter is a protocol that en- track procurement trends in a sector that employs sures that those procuring contracted cleaning an estimated 20,000 workers. services are responsible for ensuring that the contractor is responsible and recognises the cleaners’ Several strategic sites were identified across the right to organise. This approach proved most ef- health, public transport and higher education sec- fective when contract cleaners in the Midlands Re- tors as organising targets. Joint meetings between gional Hospital in Tullamore, chose to form a union the union’s Organising Team and Sector Industrial and become organised. Despite working in un- Team were used to develop an organising and in- favourable conditions and being subjected to con- dustrial agenda that could be pursued to seek im- tinual hostility by the employer, this group of provements. Issue based organising campaigns extraordinary SIPTU members stood firm and not were undertaken on numerous sites across the only built a strong union but successfully negoti- three targeted sectors. As a direct result of this ac- ated a favourable outcome. With the assistance of tivity, new workplace committees sprang up, the SIPTU Health Division and its local activists, this union membership grew and cleaner’s issues group of Contract Cleaners will soon have the op- could no longer be disregarded by contractors. portunity to become directly employed by the The campaign continued to build solid, sustainable HSE. union structures on these targeted sites. The number of shop stewards, workplace leaders and com- SIPTU, the campaign’s cleaning activists and the mittees rose steadily. Average density levels of sector generally participated in the International 60% were achieved. Justice Day for Cleaners in a commemorative and celebratory fashion. The leadership and organising training programme developed for Contract Cleaners was delivered to None of the achievements of the campaign over activists drawn from various locations and employ- the last two years could have been realised with- ments, and, in many cases, was their first interac- out the commitment of workplace leaders, com- tion with the union’s education programme. This mittees and members who took a stand in their training equips them to build density and progress own workplaces and beyond. The collaborative

158 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 approach adopted by Organisers from both SULTS ARE IN” newsletter that was grade specific Strategic Organising and the Cleaning and Secu- was designed and circulated to the workforce. rity Sector has also played a pivotal role in realis- Such activities resonated with members and non- ing campaign goals. Moreover, Contract Cleaners members alike, resulting in workers from a cross who embraced the organising agenda continued section of the grades, not only becoming mem- to build union density, SIPTU structures and bers but, in some cases, activists. Increased com- worker power. They are most certainly no longer munication, combined with leadership invisible. development has complemented this approach, resulting in the successful formation of workplace DUBLIN HOSPITALS SUPPORT committees in many locations. GRADES CAMPAIGN To further enhance growth, specific leadership Within SIPTU, the Support Grades Sector includes and organising training courses were developed Health Care Assistants (HCAs), those caring for the and delivered to 65 activists from across a wide intellectually disabled, home helps, catering staff, range of grades and locations, focusing on the porters, maintenance, household and other work- practical application of organising skills and issue ers who perform vital tasks that ensure the deliv- based organising within their respective work- ery of services to the public. In 2013/2014 a places. strategic decision was taken to resource an organ- This foundation was further strengthened by the ising initiative focused primarily on hospitals in the collaboration of both Industrial and Organising Dublin area. Teams, who consistently worked together in a Maintaining this focus in 2015 and 2016, the cam- number of key locations to guide committees and paign was resourced with four organisers. The newer activists in progressing issues at local level. strategy was simple; engage with workers and This team working proved critical during the vari- shop stewards from across the support grades in ous ballots over the period of this report targeted locations, assess the union density levels As the campaign continued to develop it emerged and design an organising campaign from there. A that one of the key groups in most need of organ- simple concept but not without its’ challenges. isation were Interns. For various different reasons, they told Organisers that they didn’t feel that they Organisers continually identified and mapped the had a meaningful role in the union. By engaging various grades, identifying areas for growth while with them on their concerns, the organising ap- addressing union leadership deficits where appro- proach assisted in building not only their confi- priate. By mid-2015, the Organising Team had di- dence within their respective workplaces but also rectly interacted with support grade workers from in the union, therefore building on the ideal of 30 different Dublin based hospitals. “One Big union”. Specific Campaign messaging was developed and Despite numerous challenges, Support Grade thousands of one to one conversations with Sup- Workers across a range of Dublin Hospitals have port Grade workers were conducted by Organis- chosen to organise. Hundreds of Dublin based ers who engaged with both members and non- HCAs, Interns, Lab Aides, Catering Assistants, members. All activity took place on site with the Household Assistants and Porters have chosen to organisers working through every hospital corri- join, complete workplace surveys and become ac- dor and each section of each location engaging tive in SIPTU. Density has substantially increased with HCAs, Porters, Catering and Household Staff, in each location and newly organised sections Lab Aides and Interns on the role and function of have sprung up, some having been organised from their union. Their work was further supported with scratch, thus enabling Support Grade Workers to continual use of grade and location specific build their strength and power. By the close of worker surveys, which invited all workers to ex- 2016 the average density across a range of sup- press their views in relation to matters that were port grades is a healthy 72% and growing. Activist of concern to them. These surveys were distrib- figures have increased and this too continues to uted and collected by both activists and Organis- be the case. ers with an average completion and return rate of Furthermore, this initiative expanded beyond the 72% in locations where the survey was run. Further Dublin Area with organising activity having com- to the surveys being completed, a “YOUR RE-

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 159 menced in several hospitals in the North East and which resulted in specific leadership, organising Midlands. and communications training being delivered. Such promising growth and worker engagement would not have been possible without the com- DECENT WORK/DECENT LIVES: Nursing Homes, mitment and activism of all the members and the Private and Voluntary Home Care - The Care various leaders who work tirelessly in a health sys- Campaign tem often overwhelmed trying to meet public demand with scarce resources. Their professionalism During 2016, the Strategic Organising Department and contribution within their own workplaces, and commenced work on organising workers in Nurs- their belief and support for an organised voice ing Homes, and the Voluntary and Private Home bodes well for all our futures and for our health Care sectors nationally. This new undertaking was service. a key component of the “Decent Work/Decent Lives” Campaign, which was launched at the Bien- Intellectual Disability Sector nial Delegate Conference in November 2015. In mid-2015, some of the Campaign’s focus and its Extensive research began in these sectors, identi- resources began to evaluate the union density and fying and mapping potential targets. Initial out- influence among a few targeted employers within reach to workers also commenced. the Intellectual Disability Sector, primarily in the Dublin Area. Activity here was somewhat different For many of those employed within the Sector, to the Dublin Hospitals Initiative. Organisers expe- some of whom have never had any previous inter- rienced challenges accessing members and non- action with SIPTU, or any union, the challenges are members alike. In some cases, communication great. Among them were low pay, lack of job se- with workers was frustrated by employers. Never- curity or respect, zero hour contracts, perceived theless activists and organisers persevered. hostility by employers to unionisation, and having no tradition of a collective and organised voice. Conducting a large number of one to one interviews and surveying as many workers as possible, Despite such challenges, Organisers continue to the issues and challenges specific to Social Care work with those in the Sector, supporting their ef- Workers and Care Attendants employed within forts to effect change and build a strong and vi- the Sector were identified, and a joint industrial brant union in 2017 and beyond. and organising strategy was developed for implementation. This approach resulted in the union gaining respect amongst this scattered and some- times isolated workforce. Many chose to join SIPTU, regaining confidence through participating in various collective actions, which in turn complimented the industrial strategy. This commitment secured improvements in terms and conditions, while the density in a number of locations has increased to 70%, with the numbers of worksite leaders and activists notably increasing. In some locations, Organisers successfully negotiated “access and neutrality agreements” which have enabled them and SIPTU activists to address new recruits at their training inductions, whilst in other areas agreements have enabled activists to engage locally in organising activity within their worksites. Training specific requirements were identified for union activists within the sector

160 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Campaigns and Equality 2015-2016

The SIPTU Campaigns and Equality Unit carry out Mr David Connolly the objective of the union broadly under the head- Ms Margaret Egan ings of equality, campaigns and social media. Ms Anton McCabe The equality function is developed through the Membership of the Equality Sub Committee 2016 operation of the Equality Sub Committee, which is Ms. Elisabeth Cunningham the primary body in the union with responsibility Ms. Rose O Reilly for promoting equality and for considering equal- Mr. Sean Clarke ity related matters. This Committee is a Sub Com- Ms. Ann Russell mittee of the National Executive Committee. It has Ms. Suzanne Griffin a term of office of two years and meets bi- Ms. Maureen Ryan monthly. Ms. Sally Rock Rule 102 of the union charges the Equality Sub Mr. Padraig Heverin Committee with the following: Ms. Maureen Ryan ‘Promoting equality, considering equality issues Mr. Wieslaw Stach and reporting directly to the National Executive Ms. Mary Van Gelder Council. Ms. Ann Ryan Ms. Margaret Egan ‘Developing women leaders and leaders of the Ms. Mary Dolan McLoughlin non-Irish nationals in the community so that they Ms. Amanda Kavanagh would have the confidence and experience to play Ms. Rose Donnelly a full role in the union’s decision making; Mr. Padraig Peyton ‘Encouraging and pursuing the implementation of Ms. Margaret Cooney equality policy and strategy as determined by the Ms. Catherine Smith National Executive Council and Biennial Delegate Conferences.’ The majority of the work of the Equality Sub Committee was carried out under the headings of The term of office of the Sub Committee ended gender equality, young workers and students, within the time frame of this report and another LGBT, migrant workers, disability, human rights one commenced. and equality and global solidarity.

Membership of the Equality Sub Committee 2015 Gender Equality Ms Elizabeth Cunningham The female membership of SIPTU is in excess of Ms Mary Durkin 40% and it is incumbent on the union to ensure Ms Jemma Mackey that its female members have the capacity to par- Ms Bridget Burrows ticipate in the activities of the union to the fullest Ms Suzanne Griffin extent for the best possible outcome. This is nec- Ms Maureen Ryan essary not just for equality but because women Mr Vincent Tynan are overrepresented in occupations that offer Ms Ann Russell lower wages than jobs predominantly carried out Ms Amanda Kavanagh by men. This largely explains the average 16% gen- Mr Leonard Simpson der pay gap across Europe – although a 2016 Mr Ernie Devlin study by recruitment provider Morgan McKinley in Ms Helen Murphy collaboration with Emolument.com identified the Ms Mary Van Gelder average gender pay gap in Ireland in 2016 as Mr Anna Wianowska being as high as 20%. The concentration of Ms Ann Ryan women in low-paid sectors in Ireland supports this

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 161 data, showing that 45.9% of women working in the SIPTU continued its representation on the ICTU market economy do so in the traditionally low- Women’s Committee and a delegation of 13 ac- paid sectors of hospitality and distribution. The fig- tivists attended the ICTU Women’s Conference in ure for men is 16.5 percent. Women are Mullingar. This was a successful and participative overrepresented in the temporary and part time conference. Two motions were submitted and work areas, and of the 75,000 workers on the min- passed on behalf of SIPTU, one in respect of gen- imum wage, 65% (48,750) are women. This results der balance for tutoring at the proposed worker’s in the pressures of living on such a low wage being college, and one re-emphasised the importance disproportionately felt by women. Having regard having employers and workers in general fully to all of this and having regard to the rules of the aware of their rights and obligations in dealing union that require all committees to be at least with and preventing bullying and harassment in 33% female or male – subject to the demographics the workplace. of the sector, SIPTU Equality undertook a gender SIPTU Equality is also represented on the National audit of the structure of the union to establish the Women’s Council of Ireland, and SIPTU Equality extent of female participation. submitted a motion to the AGM to have the policy The audit established that the gender participa- of a collectively bargained living wage adopted as tion level for women at NEC level is at 36%, that part of the Council’s own policy. The motion was four of the five Divisions within the union are meet- supported by the AGM. ing or exceeding the 33% rule and that 62% of sector committees are also meeting or exceeding the target. Further analysis from the data demon- Young Workers strates that of the 38% of sectors with a participa- While SIPTU welcomes the reduction in youth un- tion rate of less than 33% - 75% had a employment (although it is still higher than the na- predominately male membership. Further work is tional average), we remain concerned about the now being undertaken with the sectors to encour- growing number of young people on low pay and age and improve female participation. in precarious employment. Data from the NERI In- The union’s 1916 centenary commemorations stitute on the minimum wage (2015) found that were complimented with a SIPTU Equality event 39.1% of young people aged 18-29 years in the entitled Women@Work. This event included a labour force were working for the minimum wage. photographic exhibition of working women down There is also increasing concern about the chang- through the ages, and a dramatic piece specially ing nature of the labour market, with significant penned for the occasion by Irish Equity member growth in precarious employment and what oth- Laurence Foster and performed by members of ers refer to as contingent labour. Those engaged the Irish Equity Executive including Irish Equity in internships, temporary work, part-time jobs, President Padraig Murray. There were speaking zero-hours contracts and sub-contracting com- contributions from Mags O’Brien (Reclaim the Vi- prise an ever-growing segment of the labour sion of 1916), Anne Speed (trade unionist), Karan force. O Loughlin (trade unionist), Mary McAuliffe (Histo- rian), Alice Mary Higgins (Policy Advisor NWC), This trend particularly impacts on young people, Sarah Durcan, Waking the Feminists, and musical women and migrants. Many young workers are contributions from Niamh Parsons (MUI Vice Pres- having the traditional entry into well-paid and se- ident) and Eric Fleming (trade union Singer). cure employment elongated and frustrated by the proliferation of internships and temporary jobs on The union activity for International Women’s day minimum and low wages. 2016 was to partner with the Waking the Feminists group to host their 2nd event in Liberty Hall. This During 2015-2016 the Campaigns and Equality was a hugely popular event that is creating a Unit took an extensive look at how to restructure strong network of people putting a new focus on youth involvement in SIPTU to ensure that young the gender equality issue. SIPTU Equality also people are represented throughout the union. In made a speaking contribution to the closing of the early 2016 a SIPTU Youth Committee was set up Waking the Feminist Campaign in the Abby The- to begin this review process. atre in October of 2016.

162 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 A delegation of young SIPTU members travelled to the colours of the rainbow flag for the week of the Brussels on 7th of December 2016 to make a pres- Pride Festival. SIPTU Equality also participated in entation on the world of work for young people in the inaugural ICTU LGBT Conference in Belfast, Ireland to a group of European Parliamentarians. Equal in the Workplace – Equal in Society. This The presentation was part of a European funded conference emphasised that preventing people project in cooperation with the SOLIDAR Founda- from being themselves at work creates health and tion and the report was very well received. wellbeing issues. On 25th of June 2016, we held a consultative There needs to be a strong driving policy structure meeting for young people in Liberty Hall to discuss with clear policies on gender identity, bullying in the future of the trade union movement. the workplace and protecting visibility. That is the key. Challenging employers on pensions rules for Between the 10th and the 16th of September partners and including LGBT workers in their pa- 2016, SIPTU Services Division Members Niamh ternity leave policies are important aspects of Murtagh and Dan O’ Neill took part in the UNI working life not yet strongly developed. Global Youth Camp in Berlin. The aim of the event was to bring together trade union activists from The conference highlighted the need for marriage across the globe to discuss changing working con- equality in Northern Ireland and analysed the bar- ditions brought on by over a decade of globalisa- riers to the Love Equality campaign for equal mar- tion and rapidly changing technology. The riage. The trade union message from this activists also discussed strategies which could conference is that it is ok to be who you are at promote greater youth involvement in the trade work – your union supports you. union movement, the effect changing technology was having on young workers and the growing Migrant Workers use of smartphones by employers to avoid roster- In recognising the growing number of interna- ing shifts in advance. tional workers now organised in SIPTU the union took a decision to extend the existing scholarship SIPTU’s relationship with the union of Students in scheme for members and their children to include Ireland has continued to move from strength to a category for migrant workers in 2015. This at- strength. Throughout 2015 and 2016, SIPTU tracted a high number of applicants and the first worked with USI on several initiatives including the ever winner, a female member from the contract setting up of a coalition on the future funding of services industry based in Galway was announced third level education. in 2016. Following on from the successful Alicia Brady Over the weekend of May 20th to 22nd 2016 the Commemorations held by the union for a number Equality Sub Committee hosted the 2nd annual of years running, including a wreath laying com- polish festival, Polska Eire - A Taste of Poland, in memoration in December 2015, on 16th of Decem- Liberty Hall. This event included an arts exhibition, ber 2016, the Young Workers Network launched craft and food stall, traditional Polish music and an annual Alicia Brady Award to remember this dancing, an address from Adam Beilecki the Polish 1913 Lockout martyr and highlight campaigns by climber and artic explorer, an address from the workers’ struggling to have the value of their work Polish Ambassador and performances by two pop- recognised and adequately rewarded. The inaugu- ular Polish bands. This event was a great success ral award was presented to union members work- and over 500 people attended. The event was ing as early years’ educators, who are part of the part of nationwide celebrations during which union’s Big Start campaign. The event was sup- SIPTU also gave a presentation on the forgotten ported by the SIPTU Dublin District Council, the women of 1916 to the festival in Limerick, after the SIPTU Equality Committee, the Big Start Campaign screening of a Polish documentary on the role of and the Irish Labour History Society. women in the Polish trade union Solidarnorsc. Ireland, unlike most other EU countries, has no LGBT hate crime legislation. During the term of this report SIPTU supported the European Network SIPTU supported the Pride Marches in 2015 and Against Racism (ENAR) in its Love not Hate cam- 2016 and again lit up the top of Liberty Hall with paign, calling on the government to enact

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 163 the Criminal Law (Hate Crime) Bill to protect mi- Approach norities in Ireland. On January 21st, 2016, the union A New Public Sector: Equality and Human Rights hosted the ENAR one day event Understanding Duty and Responding to Islamophobia in Liberty Hall. An Analysis of Socio-Economic Status as a SIPTU Equality also continues to support the Show Discrimination Ground Racism the Red Card Campaign to end racism in sport. Civil Society Guide to the Public-Sector Duty

Disability SIPTU also hosted a round table discussion on SIPTU continues to be represented on the ICTU the equality function of the Workplace Relations Disability Committee and its representatives at- Commission in Liberty Hall. tended both ICTU Disability conferences in 2015 and 2016. Delegates at these conferences dis- SIPTU Global Solidarity Committee cussed decent work that is productive for people The Global Solidarity Committee had a number of with disabilities and delivers a fair income. The successful initiatives in 2015 and 2016, furthering conferences welcomed and debated employment its objectives, which are to undertake: strategies for people with disabilities in both North and South jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. The • International Solidarity Action with the politically oppressed and economically 2017 seminar will provide an update on both and disadvantaged peoples of the world. will hear from both people with disabilities in employment and the companies employing them. • Develop the union's International Affairs Policy to advance the cause of Social Justice In relation to the responsibilities of states to throughout the world. implement employment measures under the UN • Promote trade union rights and a Decent Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities Work Agenda with a priority on trade union (UNCRPD), delegates urged the Irish Government organising. to follow up on its commitment to ratify the UNCRPD before the end of year. This call did not • Develop links with the European and international trade union movement in order go unheeded as the Disability (Miscellaneous to advance the fight for a more equitable Provisions) Bill 2016 which seeks to address the world. remaining legislative barriers to the ratification by Ireland received government support in December In addition, the committee promotes Global Soli- darity amongst union members through appropri- 2016. The UNCRPD provides the framework to ate action and means, with a particular focus on advocate for, protect and ensure the rights of all development education. It assists with organising people with disabilities, and promote equal rights workers into membership of the union through its in all areas of life. activities and campaigns. It also acts as a co-ordi- nating platform for the activities undertaken by Human Rights and Equality various groups acting in solidarity with the peo- SIPTU is represented on the steering committee of ples of Cuba, Palestine, Venezuela and Colombia. the Equality and Rights Alliance (ERA) which is a Over the last two years the committee has set civil society coalition working for an effective about prioritising the union’s Global Solidarity ac- equality and human rights infrastructure in Ireland. tivities through Solidarity with Palestine, the de- During the 2015-2016 period, ERA produced sev- velopment of a Global Solidarity Activist Network eral submissions and reports including: and the campaign against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The committee Submission to the economic forecasting organi- has undertaken various activities, including organising a Solidarity Conference with Palestine, stand- sation the Economic Cycle Research Institute ing side-by-side with workers in the US on the (ECRI) on its fourth monitoring cycle: March 2015 Global Day of Action for the ‘Fight for 15’ and Submission to UN International Coordinating through events on Fair Trade. Committee (ICC) of national institutions for the Over the last two years the committee has been promotion and protection of human rights on the working against the backdrop of major global accreditation of the Irish Human Rights and challenges including the 2016 US presidential elec- Equality Commission: February 2015 tion, the Brexit referendum and the rise of right Equality and Human Rights: An Integrated

164 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 1

3 2

6 1. Presentation of the Alicia Brady award to the Early Years educators in the Big Start campaign.

2. Global Solidarity members supporting the campaign for hate crime legislation.

3. Inaugural meeting of Waking the Feminists, campaigning for gender equality in the Arts.

4. SIPTU member from the Transport Sector supporting the European Transport Federation campaign for Fair Transport.

5. Launching the trade union campaign for secure rents.

6. SIPTU Local Authority members campaigning for a referendum to keep water in public ownership.

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 165 wing populism in Europe, which has given rise to Fair Trade, Climate Change and Business and a nationalistic and xenophobic discourse awash Human Rights issues. with vitriol and hate speech. Trade unions, partic- As a result of the work of the Global Solidarity ularly in Europe, are confronted with the challenge Committee, SIPTU became the first trade union to of growing right wing populism, which uses the in- implement a Fair Trade policy. It drafted SIPTU flux of refugees from war and persecution in the submissions to Ireland’s National Action Plan on Middle East to build its support base. In the US the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human current administration has set forth policies to Rights, and the National Climate Change Adaption contain, deport, ban - in short visit multiple forms Framework. With its support, the ICTU Global Sol- of discrimination and institutional violence upon idarity Committee produced a short documentary people who are Black, Latino, Muslim, immigrant about refugees in Europe to raise awareness of the and LGBTQ. situation among trade union members. 2016 became the worst year on record for attacks The committee is developing a Global Solidarity on free speech and democracy, with workers’ Activist Network to inform and involve members rights weakened in every region of the world. Ac- on international issues. The network will keep cording to the International Trade Union Confed- members up to date on committee activities and eration (ITUC) the ten worst countries for working campaign actions to promote global trade union people are Belarus, Cambodia, China, Colombia, solidarity. Through SIPTU’s social media and Lib- Guatemala, India, Iran, Qatar, Turkey and United erty newspaper, the committee has striven to raise Arab Emirates. Over 82 countries across the world awareness of union members on the need for sol- exclude workers from labour law, and in over two idarity action with workers across the world on thirds of countries workers who have no right to pertinent international issues of the day. collective bargaining. More than half of all countries deny some or all workers collective bargain- Through the work of the committee, the union is ing rights. developing links amongst both development and human rights NGOs. SIPTU is currently a member Against these immense challenges trade unions of the steering group of the National Coalition on have negotiated at the International Labour Or- Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Ire- ganisation (ILO) for key agreements on Global Sup- land’s implementation of Agenda 2030, which in- ply Chains and Labour Migration to strengthen cludes a policy strand on Decent Work, is being union rights. Over the next three years, as the Irish prioritised by government and our involvement in government takes up a position on the governing this coalition ensures that we are at the centre of body of the International Labour Organisation, the influencing and shaping government policy and committee will strive to work through the Irish action. Congress of Trade Unions in shaping international policies that will bolster workers’ rights and create The committee’s work on human rights is facilitat- decent work for all, particularly through the Global ing the union in partnering with various new com- Dialogue on the Future of Work. munities here in Ireland, highlighting issues relating to the politically oppressed and to human In addition, trade unions across the world have rights violations. It is hoped that by working with worked together to ensure a strong focus on de- other sectors of the union on issues such as forced cent work and workers’ rights in key international labour, the rights of undocumented workers, di- agreements adopted at the United Nations. The rect provision and eradicating racism and xeno- agreement of the UN Sustainable Development phobia, the committee will help ensure that these Goals (SDGs) and the UN Framework Convention communities see the importance of trade unions on Climate Change will, if implemented fully by as social solidarity organisations, and the value of governments at national and regional level, trans- union membership. form the world of work to provide decent jobs and equality for all. The establishment of an ICTU International and Eu- ropean Forum has further strengthened the union’s Through its representation on the ICTU Global Sol- work on global solidarity issues. This forum has idarity Committee, the chair of which is currently boosted co-ordination with the European Trade held by SIPTU, the union has been instrumental in Union Confederation (ETUC), the International leading on the work of Agenda 2030 for Sustain- Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Inter- able Development, Refugees and Asylum Seekers,

166 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 national Labour Organisation (ILO). It allows SIPTU making of Young Peoples programming and the to work with other unions at improving our efforts Dublin Bus and Luas disputes throughout 2016. to deliver social justice, end social and economic inequality and strengthen workers’ rights by influencing institutions and governments at the Euro- EUROPEAN CAMPAIGNS pean and International level. The Forum is currently chaired by SIPTU. Fair Transport Working with the Transport Energy Aviation and Furthermore, SIPTU, through is divisions, has Construction Division, SIPTU Campaigns managed worked closely with trade union confederations at the Irish portion of the ‘Fair Transport Europe’ the European and Global level to build workers campaign for better conditions and fair pay for all power and in deliver global solidarity. Our affilia- employees in Europe’s transport sector. All Euro- tions with these bodies assist SIPTU in informing pean Transport Federation (ETF) affiliated unions our industrial and organising strategies, policy de- set about the task of collecting signatures as part velopment and solidarity action on workers’ rights. of a Citizens Initiative submitted to the European CAMPAIGNS Commission. Ireland came fifth in percentage terms of signatures collected, only behind Belgium The campaigns work has several aspects to it, pro- and the Nordic Countries. Throughout the cam- viding support to industrial campaigns, organising, paign, presentations were given to committees at political campaigns, European campaigns and po- all levels of the union; videos were made encour- litical campaigns. aging people to sign up to the campaign and shop stewards were encouraged to sign members up INDUSTRIAL CAMPAIGNS to the campaign on the shop floor.

Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) ORGANISING CAMPAIGNS Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) has provided an ambulance service since 1898 and is the only organisa- Big Start tion in the country providing a combined medical SIPTU Campaigns continues to support the Organ- and medical emergency service (EMS). During its ising Department Big Start Campaign for early long history, the DFB ambulance service has dealt years Educators in terms of online communication in a professional manner with some of the city’s and video production for the Campaign. This in- greatest emergencies including the bombing of cludes the development of a functioning Nation the North Strand in 1941, the Dublin Bombings in Builder website and database integrated with so- 1974 and the Stardust fire in 1981. The service has cial media. The number of followers on Facebook received praise for the manner in which it has for this campaign grew from 0 to 2,238 in the time- dealt with a number of large scale incidents, line of this report. The campaign has also had quite including a fatal accident involving a bus on a vibrant presence on Twitter and other social Wellington Quay on 2004. DFB members became media channels. In total, the Big Start campaign extremely concerned however by plans revealed has 10,997 points of contacts with people online. in a document drawn up by the Health Service Executive (HSE) which proposed to remove the delivery of Dublin’s ambulance service from the POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS Dublin Fire Brigade. In December 2016 SIPTU Campaigns supported the Division/Sector in the Housing campaign to fight against the separation of these SIPTU was invited to join the Homeless and Hous- services and the removal of call and dispatch from ing Coalition at its inception by the founders of the the remit of the DFB. coalition, Ballyfermot Help for the Homeless. The coalition is an amalgamation of trade unions, NGOs The campaigns and social media section of SIPTU working in the area of housing and homelessness has also provided support for sectors and divisions and political parties. The demands of the cam- during industrial disputes such as the Clery’s dis- paign were: pute, the RTE dispute on the outsourcing of the

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 167 A largescale Government building programme to such as the income contingent loan model which provide public housing for rent and to provide af- has been widely reported in the media. fordable housing for purchase Water The introduction of rent control and rent certainty Throughout the timeframe of this report SIPTU Cessation of evictions Campaigns worked with the PAC Division to cam- Our first activity was a rally on December 1st 2015 paign for a water referendum to ensure that our to mark the first anniversary of the tragic death of water services would not end up in private owner- Jonathan Corrie, who died in a doorway on ship for profit. The union policy in this regard is to Molesworth Street, in front of Dail Eireann. The ensure that all households have an adequate sup- coalition held a second rally on 28th May, 2016, ply of water for their needs and that there would which was very well attended by housing commu- be a charge on excess use to discourage wasteful nity groups and the general public. In October use water and to ensure that the water system can 2016, the trade union participants from the coali- be maintained in a manner that provides a clean, tion joined forces with social media campaigners efficient and stable supply of water for everybody. UPLIFT and tenant’s associations to launch the Se- In this regard, it is essential to ensure that there is cure Rents Campaign to influence the Govern- no opportunity for water to be privatised, either ments Strategy for the rental market. The demands directly or by stealth. of this campaign were to: SOCIAL MEDIA & VIDEO Regulate increases by linking rents to the Con- Social media is the key communications channel of sumer Price Index (rent certainty) the current age for connecting with union mem- Revoke the right of landlords to evict tenants for bers and the wider public. It is a powerful commu- the purpose of sale (preventing evictions) nication, organising and campaigning tool. It allows SIPTU to reach workers in various ways and Move from current four year leases to indefinite develop new communities who share common in- lease terms (security of tenure) terests with our organisation. Between January 2015 and December 2016, the number of followers on SIPTU’s main Facebook page rose 126%. During Education the same period SIPTU’s main Twitter page saw a SIPTU Campaigns supported the education sector growth in followers of 279%. in developing and promoting their submission on Higher Education Funding: Consultation on State- SIPTU also saw a consistent growth in followers ment of Strategy for Education & Skills 2016-2018. across other social media pages run by the union The submission was made through the Education such as the Big Start Facebook page, the Justice Coalition, which is made up of the education for the Clerys Workers Facebook page, the Irish unions SIPTU, USI, IFUT, IMPACT, TUI. The submis- Equity Facebook page and the Bus Workers Soli- sion made the case for public funding to ensure darity Page. quality of standards and equality of access for all As well as a continuing growth in terms of follow- who wished to access higher education, and in ers and reach on social media, the number of particular references the 2014 report by the Nevin videos produced for social media has continued to Economic Research Institute, “We Need to Talk grow. In 2015, SIPTU produced approximately 35 about Higher Education”. The submission also ad- videos for social media. In 2016, SIPTU produced dressed current issues of concern such as access approximately 42 videos distributed via social and affordability, the casualisation of staff em- media. This compares to 12 videos produced in ployed in the delivery and support of higher edu- 2014. cation, demographic demand pressures, postgraduate funding and the quality risks associ- We have also endeavoured to publish Liberty arti- ated with cuts to budgets, services and supports. cles continuously for online distribution via this The unions within the education coalition remain media platform. The Campaigns and Equality Unit vehemently opposed to the imposition of placing also delivered numerous training workshops to ac- further burdens on students and families, whether tivists and staff on maximising the use of social this is through direct increases in upfront fees or media for campaigning. the introduction of a deferred payment scheme,

168 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Communications Department

Staff Communication with staff and Head of Department: Frank Connolly members of the NEC Journalist: Scott Millar a) The Department distributes to all staff and mem- Graphic Design: Sonia Slevin bers of the National Executive Council, on a daily Communications Assistant: Deidre Price basis, all articles concerning the union published Administrative Assistant: Karen Hackett across online and print media. b) All press releases produced by the Department The Communications Department plays a crucial are distributed by email to staff and NEC mem- role within the union. Its work is pro-active with a bers. strong emphasis on encouraging active member These sources of information keep staff and NEC participation and is underpinned by dynamic, members up to date with the public activities of strong, modern messaging. the union. The work of the Communications Department focuses on three areas: Communication with members This is the paramount role of the Department and Internal communications – Ensuring SIPTU mem- takes up the greater part of its work and re- bers and staff are kept up to date on union news, sources. Materials for communication with mem- campaigns, policy and events. Production of ma- bers are produced in print and electronic formats. terials for union conferences and meetings. In pursuing this aim, the Department works closely with Liberty newspaper – The 32-page tabloid newspa- the union’s national officers, Divisions and Cam- per was published seven times in 2015 and six paigns Department. times (including a 1916 Easter Rising special) in 2016. On average 35,000 copies are distributed to External communications – Connecting the union members in workplaces across the island. Liberty with the general public and operating as a press is free for members but it can also be purchased office (dealing with media inquiries and arranging at Eason’s stores across the country. union interaction with the media). Handles inquiries from the public and external organisations. The main focus of Liberty is the on-going industrial In pursuit of this function the Department is in daily activities of the union and interviews with mem- contact with national and local media. bers in their workplaces. The newspaper also provides extensive reports and analysis of political Events – Organising and publicising public events and economic affairs, culture, sport and other mat- and concerts. This role was of particular impor- ters of interest to members. Contributors range tance during the 2016 centenary celebrations of from members and staff of the union, and other the Easter Rising. unions, to specialist writers, freelance contributors and on occasion, elected representatives. The ed- Internal Communications itorial policy is to highlight the role and participa- The core responsibility of the Department is to in- tion of members across the union’s Divisions while form the union’s membership of matters of interest providing readers with analysis and reports from to their working lives and of union activities. This a progressive political perspective, which is in- role is key to defining the internal cohesiveness of creasingly lacking across the mainstream media in SIPTU by relaying its general direction as decided Ireland. by the union leadership to officials and the general membership. This is done through published and The current standard of the publication, in terms electronic media. of content and design, sees it leading the way for trade union publications in Ireland and is comparable to the best of similar publications internationally.

169 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 169

The newspaper is also sent out as a PDF to approx- OPW Quarterly Newsletter (State-related Sector) imately 45,000 members with an opening rate of Health Sector Newsletters (Health Division) approximately 25%. Liberty Online – This E-zine is sent out at regular Commissioning of work by officials intervals to the full email list of members. The E- Work for the Department such as the production zine of news, comment and analysis was published of leaflets, banners and other materials is commis- eight times during 2015 and seven times during sioned through the completion of SIAS Job Forms 2016. It features industrial news and coverage of by organisers. During 2015 and 2016 approxi- political, economic and cultural issues of relevance mately 450 requests were completed each year. to members, Liberty View and upcoming events. Other publications and materials – these include It has an open rate of approximately 18%, which campaign materials, leaflets for Divisions, Sectors research would indicate is around the average for and Sections, Conference materials, reports, sub- such general bulletins issued by trade unions and missions and videos. Non Governmental Organisation’s (NGOs) globally. Subscribers and reader trends and choices can be tracked through the Newsweaver service. During Communication with the public 2015, the composition of Liberty Online was The Department produces a large volume of print changed to make articles shorter and to increase and electronic media publications which is aimed the number of embedded videos. at an audience of members and the general public. Bulk emails Emails are sent via Newsweaver to the full email list or sections of it according to Division, Sector Websites or Section. During 2015 and 2016, the topics of The www.siptu.ie website serves as both the main these communications with members included information portal for the public seeking informa- highlighting upcoming events during the 1916 Ris- tion on the union and a news site for members. It ing commemorations, the General President’s re- is a first stop resource for information on the union sponses to important issues, as well as updates on including all its services, campaigns, news up- policy issues and disputes. dates, video reports, structures and contact de- Bulk text messages - sent out via NEON SMS to tails. The website is the most accessible public whole or select lists. These are produced by the face of the union and, as such, is a key communi- Department on request from organisers. These cations resource. The current website is probably messages of up to 160 characters reach several the most professional looking and extensive of any thousand members at a time, informing them of Irish trade union and is comparable to the best upcoming union activities. The Communications NGO sites in Ireland. Department sent out 41,350 text messages in 2015 Currently the site is orientated towards news, but and 58,724 text messages during in 2016. also gives a high profile to campaigns and union Newsletters - A number of regular newsletters are services. In particular, it provides information on produced for various sections of the union’s mem- the services of the Workers Rights Centre, and an bership. These are produced in co-operation with easy link to join the union online. The website re- the relevant organisers. These newsletters include: ceives approximately 800 unique visitors on each working day. An audit of all the content on the The Teller, newsletter for members in Credit website was carried out in Autumn 2016. Text was unions (Insurance and Finance Sector) updated or out of date pages deleted. Text from Youth Workers (SIPTU Community Sector) ‘Welcome to SIPTU’ booklet was used to update Sound Post (Musicians Union of Ireland, the relevant pages on the site. produced on a quarterly basis) A number of websites have also been created for SIPTU Home Helps (SIPTU Organising specific sections of the union which the Depart- Department) ment oversees including sites operated by the Health Division, Equity, Workers Rights Centre and State-related sector newsletter the Musicians union of Ireland. (State-related Sector) Recruitment materials - A 20 page ‘Welcome to

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 171 SIPTU’ booklet and associated leaflets covering Living Wage – campaign materials printed in sev- each Division were produced in August 2016. Ap- eral languages. proximately 20,000 were printed to be distributed to new SIPTU members and those in the Health wider workforce who should be members. Student Nurses and Interns – leaflets and other campaign materials produced in co-operation Video Production – The Communications Depart- with health campaigner, Paddy Cole. ment produces its own videos for upload to the union’s YouTube channel (SIPTUDigital). It also Giant Balloons – design of giant campaign bal- commissions freelance filmmakers to produce loons. videos for union campaigns. The video output of Utilities and Construction Division the Department has been greatly developed and Luas – the Department produced and published increased over 2015 and 2016. Videos are pro- materials and videos supporting the strike action duced to a very high professional standard in con- in 2016. junction with Gansee Productions . Videos are also produced under the branding SIPTUDigital by Dublin Bus - Production of leaflets and series of campaigners Paddy Cole and Dan O’Neill - these videos to support strike action in 2016 are mainly for Facebook distribution, are of an ever Construction Sector REA – production of book- improving standard and have a rapid turnaround let, posters and leaflets for the Rebuild Your Fu- time. In total 35 videos were produced in 2015 and ture campaign for a Registered Employment 42 in 2016. Agreement (REA) in the Construction Sector.

Published Reports Public Administration and Community The Department produced a number of reports Firefighters – produced leaflets and other materi- outlining aspects of union policy during 2013 and als to publise the campaign to protect the Dublin 2014 Fire Brigade ambulance service. Lansdowne Road Proposals (June 2015) Local authority water workers – produced an ex- A Progressive Alternative to the Universal Social tensive leaflet on the threat to public water serv- Charge (June 2015) ices from privatisation entitled ‘The Plot to Privatise Water’ and assisted with the collection SIPTU Statement on the Proposed EU-US TTIP of signatures for a petition on this issue. (October 2015) The reports were published in booklet form and Manufacturing are also available for download on the SIPTU.ie SIPTU Migrant Workers Support Network - leaflet website. produced for launch of network. Supporting Quality - production of e-zines, roll-up Campaigns material banners, interviews with workers in member com- For every SIPTU industrial and organising cam- panies and assistance with promotional materials. paign across all the union’s Divisions, Departments and Units, the Communications Department pro- Medtronic - production of leaflets and posters for duces supporting material such as flyers, leaflets workplace committee for recruitment and and banners. Campaigns of particular note during conduct of ballots. 2015 and 2016 included: Organising Services Big Start – assistance with writing and producing Clerys campaign: The Communications Depart- newsletters, roll-up banners, petitions and notices. ment was involved in every aspect of this long run- Campaigns ning campaign from assisting with the initial Marriage Equality Referendum – leaflets, banners protests in July 2015, to producing banners and and posters. leaflets, assisting the social media campaign to organising a giant projection on the front of the Housing – publication of housing documents and building and organising media appearances for assistance with public meetings. workers. Polska Eire – production of leaflets, posters and invitations for festivals in 2015 and 2016 172 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 173 External media Biennial Divisional Conferences 2016 The Department has the responsibility for oversee- For the five Biennial Divisional Conferences in 2016 ing the relaying of the positions and policies of the the Department produced a nine-minute video film union to the public through other media. ‘Celebrating the Centenary of the Easter Rising’ which featured the union’s commemora- Communications with media organisations tion events and was produced in conjunction with Press Office - The Department fulfills the role of a Gansee Films. The Department also oversaw the press office; processing requests, from both na- production of banners and information materials tional and local media for comments and inter- for these conferences. views on issues in which the union is involved or has a stated position. It processes requests for 1916 Easter Rising Centenary Commemoration union officials or members to take part in media The Communications Department in co-operation panel discussions or debates as members of the with the staff of Liberty Hall organised a series of audience. This role is crucial for the union’s public successful occasions to commemorate the role of image and ensuring that our viewpoint is repre- workers, the ITGWU, Liberty Hall and the Irish Cit- sented within the mainstream media. izen Army before, during and after the Easter Ris- Press Releases - The Department issued 263 press ing of 1916. Four highly successful concerts were releases in 2015 and 307 in 2016. These covered part of the calendar of commemoration events. the full range of industrial relations matters across Among the high profile artists which performed at all Divisions. Generated at the request of industrial three concerts were Christy Moore, Eddi Reader, officials, the news releases are prepared by the Matt Molloy, Paula Meehan, Theo Dorgan, Karan Communications Department and sent to a list of Casey, Damian Dempsey, Niall Vallely and over 400 media contacts across the country. Lynched. The President of Ireland, Michael D Hig- These press releases are crucial in bringing the gins, attended the concerts along with union union’s position to the wider public. They gener- members and relatives of those who fought in the ated numerous articles in national and local news- Rising. papers as well as many interviews with officials on radio and television. The Department also assisted with the recovery of the original Green Flag which was hoisted outside International Media Liberty Hall on Palm Sunday 1916, just over a week The Department has frequent contact with the in- before the Rising. The flag was obtained on loan ternational media and with the European and in March 2016 just before the Easter Rising com- global trade union movement particularly in rela- memorations from the Inniskillings Museum in tion to the economy. The Department has also county Fermanagh where it had been in storage supported union campaigns of international soli- for several decades. The Department learned of darity with the peoples of Palestine, Cuba, Colom- the existence of the flag and other material of his- bia and other countries. This support included the torical importance, which had been taken by the production of materials for the SIPTU Global Soli- British army regiment during the Easter Rising, darity Committee which includes posters, leaflets from colleagues in the Communications Workers and banners. Union. The Green Flag was restored before it was presented to President Higgins at a ceremony in The Department frequently facilitated visits to Lib- ras an Uachtar in on 22nd March, 2016. erty Hall by delegates from unions across Europe, Á á the US and other countries. The Department helped with the State commemoration of the Irish Citizen Army on 29th March, SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference 2015 which was addressed by President Higgins and at- For the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference 2015, tended by hundreds of relatives of those who held in City Hall, Cork, in October, a very large (ap- fought with the ICA during the revolutionary pe- proximately 3 meter by 8 meter) backdrop featur- riod. The president laid a wreath at the statue of ing images relating to actions by members of the James Connolly and performers included the five Divisions over the preceding months. The Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band. Department also oversaw the production of the The Communications Department produced a spe- Conference Cl r, Biennial report and other mate- cial commemorative edition of Liberty in April rials. á

174 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 2016 and helped with the design of a wrap con- Other activities sisting of scenes associated with the rising which covered Liberty Hall for most of the year. The wrap Media Training was based on a tapestry designed by Robert Bal- The Department organised and conducted a num- lagh and created by volunteers who had helped ber of media training days for union organisers and create the 1913 Lockout Tapestry in 2013. The Tap- activists. These included courses held in SIPTU estry was on display at Liberty Hall during Easter College and shorter seminars in Liberty Hall. Week 2016, along with memorabilia from the Ris- ing provided by relatives of ICA members. These Congress Communications included artefacts from Liberty Hall in 1916 and The Department has continued to play an active correspondence from leading figures in the ICA role in joint communications projects and the de- such as William Partridge and Countess velopment of Congress campaigns. During 2016 Markievicz. The Tapestry was subsequently on dis- Congress launched a shared Internet portal which play at a number of public venues along with the aggregates affiliated unions press releases and Lockout Tapestry, to which it forms a natural ex- other news articles. Since its establishment in 2016 tension, showing the linkages between the two the Department has also played an active role in events through the expression of common aspira- the ICTU Communications Committee. tions to national freedom, social and economic justice. The Department also assisted the Dublin

Performing at the Glórtha 1916 Centenary Concert were from left to right Louise Mulcahy, Stephen Murphy, Conor McKeown and Christy Moore. Photo: Derek Speirs

District Council and local communities with the raising of 12 ICA commemorative plaques across the city during the centenary year. A book which comprised all issues of James Con- nolly’s newspaper the Workers’ Republic was produced (800 paperbacks and 200 hardbacks) for sale and distribution during the commemoration period.

175 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 175 Retired Members

The retired members section offers an opportunity John James McLoughlin for continued involvement in the union, assisting Martin O'Neill it to achieve its objective of a fair and just society. Billy Doyle The section has a regional and national structure, Jimmy Lynch with each of the five regions nominating represen- Seamus Rodgers tatives to the national committee. Padraig Browne Mary Traynor is the chair of the national committee and Paddy Christine O'Flynn Moran is the secretary. The administration of the Finbarr Foley section is supported by Catherine Caffrey, admin- Pat Harrington istrative assistant and Karan O Loughlin, National Seamus Murray Campaigns and Equality Organiser. During 2015 Margaret Cooney and 2016 the National Committee was made up of Mairied Hayes the following retired members; John Walsh Padraig Browne 2015 Larry Duggan Peter Campbell Manus O'Donnell Tom s O'Fhaol in Jerry O'Callaghan Jerryá Browne á Pat Clarke Sean Roche Tom Crowe Harry Byrne Michael Cullen Anthony Gilligan Pat Lamon John James McLoughlin Martin O'Neill The retired members section has an observer on Billy Doyle the NEC. Paddy Moran currently holds this seat Jimmy Lynch and the section also nominates delegates to the Seamus Rodgers ICTU retired members’ committee. Mary Traynor Christine O'Flynn The retired members played a full and active part Esther Cowan in the 2015 BDC and submitted two motions: one Finbarr Foley was on care, covering nursing homes and the fair Pat Harrington deal scheme; the other was on the retention of the Seamus Murray travel pass for retired people. Both motions were Margaret Cooney adopted at the conference. Mairied Hayes The members involved in the section were active John Walsh on the Senior Citizens Parliament, holding a num- Padraig Browne ber of seats on the Executive, as Trustees and on Larry Duggan the Standing Orders Committees. The SIPTU Chair Manus O'Donnell of the retired members Region Two Committee Jerry O'Callaghan John Walsh continues to hold the Chairmanship of 2016 the Parliament, having first been elected in 2014. Peter Campbell Pre-budget submissions were made in both 2015 Tomas O'Faolan and 2016 on behalf of the section and both sub- Jerry Browne missions were consistent with the retired mem- Sean Roche bers motions passed at the BDC 2015, and at Anthony Gilligan meetings of the Senior Citizens Parliament.

176 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Retired Members Conference A delegation consisting of Karan O Loughlin, The retired members conference took place on 1st National Campaigns and Equality Organiser, December 2015 in Liberty Hall with over 120 mem- Padraig Browne, National Committee Chair and bers in attendance. The conference was opened Paddy Moran National Committee Secretary at- by Jack O’Connor, General President and four tended a meeting with Helen McEntee, the Minis- workshops took place over the course of the con- ter with Responsibility for Older People, in ference covering the following topics; November 2016. The delegation took this opportunity to take the Minister through the points on 1. Housing the pre-budget submission and confirm for the 2. Transport Minister the desire of the SIPTU retired members section to be actively involved in the National 3. Health and Prescriptions Ageing Strategy.

4. Pensions Membership Consultation Initiative Regions put forward motions to this conference The retired members section also actively con- covering a range of topics on matters of concern tributed to the membership consultation initiative to older people. and were represented on the steering committee for the initiative by Paddy Moran. 1916 The retired members section remains a very valu- By way of commemorating the 1916 Centenary the able active group within the union and have been section organised a tour of several 1916 plaque lo- very much at hand to assist with demonstrations, cations followed by a talk on 1916 from retired leafleting and supporting disputes whenever nec- member’s activist Des McGuinness in Liberty Hall, essary. called ‘Labour, Liberty and 1916’. The day included a visit to Lourdes Parish School, Sean McDermott Street, for the unveiling of a plaque to the Irish Cit- izen Army at that location.

Divisional conferences 2016 The Retired Members Committee sent delegates to all of the 2016 Divisional conferences held in Liberty hall. All of the motions submitted by the section were consistent with the union’s pre-budget submission and the BDC motions, thus ensuring proper integration of the retired members issues into the mainstream policy positions of the Divisions.

177 SIPTU • Annual Report 2013/2014 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 177 SIPTU Membership Services

SIPTU Membership Services is a coordinated service chandise including posters for workplace notice- which provides members and their families with dis- boards and flyers for distribution are sent to work counts and benefits across a wide range of products places. Membership Services also undertakes site and services. These include car, home and travel In- visits to work places, presentations to various com- surance, income protection plans on both an individ- mittees and has information stands at the annual ual and group scheme basis, and a tax refund conferences service. In addition, Membership Services issues a quarterly JLT Ireland, one of the world’s largest providers of in- ezine and have regular ads, articles and updates in surance, reinsurance and employee benefits, has Liberty and Liberty on Line. Updated information and been appointed by SIPTU to coordinate Membership details on how to access the services are also avail- Services. Each year Membership Services devises able on www.siptu.ie via the web button for ‘SIPTU and carries out a sustained marketing plan to actively Membership Services’ on the home page. promote the services throughout the membership. Components of the campaign include regular mail- shots to Divisions, Shop Stewards and Officials. Mer-

178 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Appendix 1: Financial Statements

SERVICES, INDUSTRIAL, PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL UNION • Prepare the financial statements on the going STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ concern basis unless it is inappropriate to RESPONSIBILITIES presume that the union will continue in operation. FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2016 The Trustees confirm that they have complied The Trustees are responsible for preparing the with the above requirements in preparing the fi- Annual Report and the financial statements. nancial statements. in accordance with applicable Trade Union law, Miscellaneous Technical Statement 28, "Annual The Trustees are responsible for ensuring that Financial Statements of Trade Unions", the union keeps or causes to be kept adequate and FRS 102, "The Financial Reporting Standard accounting records which correctly explain and applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" is- record the transactions of the union, enable at sued by the Financial Reporting Council, and any time the assets, liabilities, financial promulgated by the Institute of Chartered Ac- position and surplus or deficit of the Union to be countants in Ireland. determined with reasonable accuracy and enable the financial statements to be audited. They are The Trustees are required to prepare financial also responsible for safeguarding the assets of statements for each financial period. The the Union and hence for taking reasonable steps Trustees must not approve the financial state- for the prevention and detection of fraud and ments unless they are satisfied that they give a other irregularities. true and fair view of the assets, liabilities and financial position of the union as at the financial The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance year end date and of the surplus or deficit of the and integrity of the organisational information in- Union for the financial year. cluded on the union's website. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to: Signed on behalf of the Trustees: • Select suitable accounting policies and then Trevor Skelton apply them consistently; • Make judgements and estimates that are Annette Donlon reasonable and prudent; Date: 18 May 2017 • State whether the financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards, identify those standards, and note the effect and the reasons for any material departure from those standards; and

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 179

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' based on, or materially inconsistent with, the knowledge acquired by us in the course of performing the REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF audit. If we become aware of any apparent SERVICES, INDUSTRIAL, material misstatements or inconsistencies we consider the implications for our report. PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL UNION Basis for qualified opinion on financial statements As explained in Note 4, the Union has considered the We have audited the financial statements of Services, implications of Section 28 of Financial Reporting Stan- Industrial, Professional and Technical Union for the dard 102 (FRS 102), Employee Benefits, and has de- year ended 31 December 2016 which consist of the cided not to comply with the requirements of the Consolidated Statement of Income and Retained standard in the financial statements for the year Earnings, the Consolidated Statement of Financial Po- ended 31 December 2016, as the Union considers the sition, the Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and standard to be contrary to its objective of supporting the related notes. The relevant financial reporting the continued provision of defined benefit pension framework that has been applied in their preparation schemes by employers to their employees. is FRS 102, which is in the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Section 28 provides for the presentation of informa- Republic of Ireland issued by the Financial Reporting tion regarding the costs of providing the pension Council. benefits earned by employees during the year and of the value of the benefits that the Union has commit- This report is made solely to the Trustees of the Union ted to providing in respect of service up to the year in accordance with Section 11 of the Trade Unions end, and for the recognition of relevant amounts in Act, 1871. Our audit work has been undertaken so the Consolidated Statement of Income and Retained that we might state to the Trustees those matters we Earnings, and Consolidated Statement of Financial Po- are required to state to them in an auditor's report sition of the Union. The Union has, in Note 19, dis- and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent per- closed information in respect of the financial position mitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsi- of the Pension Scheme. If the Union had complied bility to anyone other than the Union and the Trustees with the requirements of Section 28 the effect would as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for have been to reduce net assets by €67.483 million the opinions we have formed. (2015: €62.135 million), to reduce the surplus for the year by €1.334 million (2015: €4.860 million increase Respective responsibilities of Trustees and auditors in deficit) and to debit the Statement of Other Com- As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees' prehensive Income for the year with an amount of Responsibilities, the Trustees are responsible for the €5.834 million (2015: credit of €19.584 million). preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view. Our Qualified opinion on financial statements responsibility is to audit and express an opinion on In our opinion, except for the effects of the matter the financial statements in accordance with Irish law described in the Basis for qualified opinion paragraph, and International Standards on Auditing (UK and the financial statements: Ireland). Those standards require us to comply with the Auditing Practices Board's Ethical Standards for • give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of Auditors. We report to you our opinion as to whether SIPTU at 31 December 2016 and of its surplus for the the financial statements give a true and fair view in year then ended as set out in the Consolidated State- accordance with FRS 102. Our responsibilities do not ment of Income and Retained Earnings page 11. extend to other information. We have obtained all the information and explana- Scope of the audit of the financial statements tions we consider necessary for the purposes of our An audit involves obtaining evidence about the audit. In our opinion adequate accounting records amounts and disclosures in the financial statements have been kept by the Union in accordance with the sufficient to give reasonable assurance that the finan- Trade Union Acts, 1871 to 1990. The financial state- cial statements are free from material misstatement, ments are in agreement with the accounting records. whether caused by fraud or error. This includes an assessment of: whether the accounting policies are ap- O'Connor & Associates propriate to the Union's circumstances and have Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors been consistently applied and adequately disclosed; the reasonableness of significant accounting esti- Harcourt Centre mates made by the Trustees; and the overall presen- Block 3 tation of the financial statements. In addition, we read Harcourt Road all the financial and non-financial information in the Dublin 2 Trustees report to identify material inconsistencies 18 May 2017 with the audited financial statements and to identify any information that is apparently materially incorrect

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 181 General Fund Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016

Schedule 2016 2015 €€ Income Members’ Contributions 31,943,565 31,542,690 Rents 128,641 128,021 Sundry Income 1 710,887 1,208,651

32,783,093 32,877,362

Expenditure

Finance and Administration 2 5,409,005 5,040,477 Industrial Services 3 7.051,541 6,980,800 Industrial Engineering 4 145,043 198,337 Property 5 3,436,521 3,431,238 Utilities and Construction 6 2,321,980 2,477,847 Manufacturing 7 2,799,412 2,854,348 Health 8 2,517,265 2,687,920 PA and Communities 9 2,257,274 2,434,768 Services 10 2,124,617 2,317,548 Research 12 374,046 306,023 Publications 13 741,281 732,301 General Services 14 1,701,802 1,908,829 Dispute Benefit 404,715 154,053 Depreciation 15 634,591 710,799

31,919,093 32,235,288

Surplus for year 864,000 642,074 Gains on Financial Assets at Fair Value 124,967 127,553 Surplus on Disposal of Fixed Assets 44,531 20,941 Surplus for the year before taxation provision 1,033,498 790,568 Taxation provision (51,236) (41,890) Surplus for the year after taxation provision 982,262 748,678 Transfer from Industrial Contingency Fund 154,719 - Surplus after transfers from other funds 1,136,981 748,678

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 20,265,113 19,516,435 Balance in Fund at end of year 21,402,094 20,265,113

182 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Provident and Educational Fund Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016 Schedule 2016 2015 €€ Income Bank and Other Interest 6,823 102,773 Grants 127,000 127,000

133,823 229,773

Expenditure Staff Costs 577,557 721,648 Education and Training 11 173,819 196,864 Retirement Benefit 150,574 151,708 Mortality Benefit 51,231 55,709 Superannuation and Grants 5,128 6,310

958,309 1,132,239 (Deficit) for year (824,486) (902,466) Balance in Fund at beginning of year (5,626,950) (4,724,484)

Balance in Fund at end of year (6,451,436) (5,626,950)

Industrial Contingency Fund Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016 2016 2015 €€ Income General Fund -- Expenditure -- Surplus for year - - Transfer (to) General Fund (154,719) -

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 19,568,746 19,568,746 Balance in Fund at end of year 19,414,027 19,568,746

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 183 Political Fund Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016 Schedule 2016 2015 Income €€ Members’ Contributions 87,298 82,878

87,298 82,878

Expenditure Affiliation Fees 2,500 2,500 Political Grants and Donations 5,700 (450) Conference Expenses 719 13,135

8.919 15,185 Surplus for the year 78,379 67,693 Balance in Fund at beginning of year 247,633 179,940 Balance in Fund at end of year 326,012 247,633

Provident, Pension and General Purposes Fund (IPG) Revenue Account for the year ended 31 December 2016 Schedule 2016 2015 €€ Income Members’ Contributions 38,076 21,433

38,076 21,433

Expenditure Claims and Allowances 27,745 18,164 Payment to Superannuitants 10,126 11,834

37,871 29,998 Surplus/(Deficit) for year 205 (8,565) Balance in Fund at beginning of year 1,547,741 1,556,306 Balance in Fund at end of year 1,547,946 1,547,741

184 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Income Continuance Fund for the year ended 31 December 2016 2016 2015 €€ Income General Fund - - - -

Expenditure Claims and Allowances 50,957 68,493

50,957 68,493 (Deficit) for the year (50,957) (68,493) Balance in Fund at beginning of year 826,587 895,080 Balance in Fund at end of year 775,630 826,587

Liberty Hall Modernisation Fund for the year ended 31 December 2016 2016 2015 €€ Income General Fund - -

Expenditure Result for year --

Balance in Fund at beginning of year 7, 670.066 7, 670.066 Balance in Fund at end of year 7, 670.066 7, 670.066

Consolidated Statement of Income and Retained Earnings for the year ended 31 December 2016 Note 2016 2015 €€ Income Members’ Contributions 32,068,939 31,647,001 Rents 128,641 126,021 Bank & Other Interest 6,823 102,773 Grants 127,000 127,000 Other Income 710,887 1,208,651

33,042,290 33,211,446

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 185 Expenditure Staff Costs 23,290,017 23,583,678 Honorary Secretaries Commission 232,869 278,150 Administration 1,135,392 1,129,536 Promotional 121,255 94,063 National/ Divisional & Industrial Conferences 475,565 716,206 Travel, Subsistence and Transport Costs 1,892,694 1,784,971 Computer and Equipment Maintenance 119,275 146,015 Publishing Costs 183,972 200,113 Legal and Professional Fees 363,816 495,634 Divisional Development and Campaign Fund 39,731 55,525 Strategic Development Activities 42,177 29,739 Establishment 1,996,055 1,893,185 Organisational Unit Expenses 171,993 185,418 Dispute Benefit 404,715 154,053 Depreciation 7 634,591 710,799 Provident and Educational Fund 958,309 1,135,427 Political Fund 8,919 15,185 Income Continuance Fund 50,957 68,493 IPG Fund 37,871 29,998 Affiliation Fees 809,971 758,876 Bank Charges 63,667 74,801 Amortisation of Capital Grant 15 (58,662) (58,662)

Total Operating Expenditure 32,975,149 33,481,203

Operating Surplus/(Deficit) 67,141 (269,757) Gains on Financial Assets at Fair Value 9 124,967 127,553 Surplus on Disposal of Fixed Assets 44,531 20,941 Surplus/(Deficit) for the year before taxation provision 238,639 (121,263) Taxation provision 14 (51,236) (41,890) Surplus after transfers from other funds 185,403 (163,153)

Balance in Fund at beginning of Year 44,498,936 44,662,089 Balance in Fund at end of year 44,684,336 44,498,936

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position for the year ended 31 December 2016 Note 2016 2015 €€ Income Fixed Assets 7 14,475,233 14,834,545 Heritage Asset 8 266,771 266,771 Investments 9 3,094,951 2,969,984

Current Assets Larcon Centre Stock 2,630 2,630

186 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Sundry Debtors and Prepayments 10 12,823,927 13,100,665 Cash and Cash Equivalents 18,209,479 18,064,213

31,036,036 31,167,508 Current Liabilities Sundry Creditors 11 (2,429,207) (2,973,001)

Net Current Assets 28,606,829 28,194,507 Creditor amounts due after one year 13 (1,759,445) (1,766,871)

Net Assets 44,684,339 44,498,936 Reserves General Fund 21,402,094 20,265,113 Liberty Hall Modernisation Fund 7,670,066 7,670,066 Income Continuance Fund 775,630 826,587 Provident and Educational Fund (6,451,436) (5,626,950) Industrial Contingency Fund 19,414,027 19,568,746 Political Fund 326,012 247,633 Provident, Pension and General Purposes Fund (IPG) 1,547,946 1,547,741

44,684,339 44,498,936

The financial statements were approved by the Trustees on behlaf of the union on 18 May 2017.

On behalf of the Trustees. Trevor Skelton Annette Donlon

Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the year ended 31 December 2016 2016 2015 €€ Cash flows from operating activities Operating Surplus/(Deficit) 236,639 (121,263) Depreciation 634,591 710,799 Gains on Financial Assets at Fair Value (124,967) (127,553) Surplus on Disposal of Fixed Assets (44,531) (20,941) Grant Amortisation (58,662) (58,662) Interest Income 3,984 (27,569) Decrease in Debtors 246,731 1,635,564 (Decrease) in Creditors (543,794) (2,612,973)

Net Cash from/(used) in Operating Activities 349,991 (622,598)

Cash flows from investing activities Payments to Acquire Fixed Assets (230,748) (174,331) Interest and Similar Income Received 26,023 147,046

Net Cash from/(used) in investing Activities (204,725) (27,285)

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 187 Cash flows from financing activities Net cash Generated in Financing Activities -- Net Increase/(Decrease) in Cash 145,266 (649,883) Cash and Cash Equivalents at the beginning of the year 18,064,213 18,714,096 Cash and Cash Equivalents at the end of the year 18,209,479 18,064,213

Cash and Cash Equivalents consist of: Cash at Bank and on Hand 18,209,479 18,064,213 Cash and Cash Equivalents 18,209,479 18,064,213

Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 1. General Information The Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), which was founded in 1990, represents over 200,000 Irish workers from virtually every category of employment across almost every sector of the Irish economy. The union's head office is Liberty Hall, Eden Quay, Dublin, 1. 2. Statement of compliance The financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis and in compliance with Financial Reporting Standard 102, "The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland" ("FRS 102") and in accordance with applicable Trade Union law and Miscellaneous Technical Statement 28, "Annual Financial Reports of Trade Unions - Republic of Ireland". 3. Summary of significant accounting policies The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.

a) Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, except for the Union's investment portfolio which has been measured at fair value. The financial statements are prepared in Euro (€).

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with FRS 102 requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. It also requires management to exercise its judgement in the process of applying the union's accounting policies. The areas involving a higher degree of judgement or complexity, or areas where assumptions and estimates are significant to the financial statements are disclosed in Note 4.

b) Foreign currency The union's functional and presentation currency is the Euro (€). Foreign currency transactions are initially recognised by applying to the foreign currency amount the spot exchange rate between the functional currency and the foreign currency at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in a foreign currency at the consolidated statement of financial position date are translated using the closing rate. Non-monetary items measured at historical cost are translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction and non-monetary items measured at fair value are measured using the exchange rate when fair value was determined.

Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of transactions and from the translation at period-end exchange rates of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are recognised in the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings.

c) Revenue recognition The Union recognises revenue when the amount of revenue can be measured reliably and it is probable that future economic benefits will flow to the Union. The most significant revenue generated by the Union is from its members' contributions. Other income recognised by the Union includes grant income, rental income and interest income.

188 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 (i) Members' contributions Members' contributions are accounted for on the basis of contributions remitted in respect of the accounting period and include remittances received after the year end. Any income received in advance is deferred to the next period. d) Employee benefits The Union provides a range of benefits to employees including paid holiday arrangements and defined benefit pension plans. The defined benefit plan is described in further detail below.

(i) Short term benefits Short term benefits, including holiday pay and other similar non-monetary benefits, are recognised as an expense in the period in which the service is received.

(ii) Defined benefit pension plan The union operates a defined benefit plan for its employees. A defined benefit plan defines the pension benefit that the employee will receive on retirement, usually dependent upon several factors including age, length of service and remuneration. Contributions are made to the scheme in accordance with recommendations of independent actuaries. Such contributions are charged on an accruals basis. An independent actuarial valuation is carried out every 3 years. The last actuarial valuation was on 1 January 2016 (Note 19 to the accounts provides information in respect of the pension scheme). e) Taxation The union is generally exempt from taxation on its main activities. It is subject to income tax on its rental income, interest income and any realised gains from its investment portfolio.

Deferred tax arises from timing differences between taxable profits and the net result for the year as stated in the financial statements. These timing differences arise from the inclusion of income and expenses in tax assessments in periods different from those in which they are recognised in the financial statements. The union has recognised deferred tax liabilities in respect of its investment portfolio which is measured at fair value.

Deferred tax is measured using tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the period end and that are expected to apply to the reversal of the timing difference. f) Heritage assets Heritage assets are recorded in the consolidated statement of financial position at historical cost. The asset included on the statement of financial position is deemed to have an indefinite life and the Trustees do not therefore consider it appropriate to charge depreciation. The carrying amount of the asset is reviewed for evidence of impairment on an annual basis and any such impairment will be dealt with in accordance with the recognition and measurement requirements of Section 34 of FRS 102 which sets out the accounting and disclosure requirements for 'Heritage Assets'. g) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation All tangible fixed assets are recorded at historical cost less accumulated depreciation. Cost includes costs directly attributable to making the asset capable of operating as intended. Depreciation is provided on the fixed assets at rates calculated to write off the cost of the assets less any residual value over their expected useful lives as follows: Premises 2% Reducing Balance Motor Cars 25% Straight Line Furniture and Fittings 10% Reducing Balance Computers & Office 25% EquipmentStraight Line

A full year's depreciation is charged in the year of acquisition.

The carrying value of tangible fixed assets is reviewed annually for impairment and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable.

Repairs, maintenance and minor inspection costs are expensed as incurred. h) Impairment Assets not measured at fair value are reviewed for any indication that the asset may be impaired at each

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 189 statement of financial position date. If such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset, or the asset's cash generating unit, is estimated and compared to the carrying amount. Where the carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount, an impairment loss is recognised in the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings unless the asset is carried at a revalued amount where the impairment loss is a revaluation decrease.

i) Stocks Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.

j) Cash and cash equivalents Cash and cash equivalents includes cash on hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less and bank overdrafts .

k) Financial instruments The Union has chosen to adopt Sections 11 and 12 of FRS 102 in respect of financial instruments.

(i) Financial assets Basic financial assets, including trade and other receivables are initially recognised at the transaction price. Such assets are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

At the end of each reporting period financial assets measured at amortised cost are assessed for objective evidence of impairment. If an asset is impaired the impairment loss is the difference between the carrying amount and the present value of the estimated cash flows discounted at the asset's original effective interest rate. The impairment loss is recognised in the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings.

Other financial assets include the Union's portfolio of investments which are managed by J&E Davy. These investments are initially measured at fair value, which is the transaction price. The investment is subsequently carried at fair value and the changes in fair value are recognised in the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings.

Financial assets are derecognised when (a) the contractual rights to the cash flows from the asset expire or are settled, or (b) substantially all the risks and rewards of the ownership of the asset are transferred to another party or (c) control of the asset has been transferred to another party who has the practical ability to unilaterally sell the asset to an unrelated third party without imposing additional restrictions.

(ii) Financial liabilities Basic financial liabilities, including trade and other payables, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest.

Trade payables are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Accounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Financial liabilities are subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the liability is extinguished, that is when the contractual obligation is discharged, cancelled or expires.

I) Provision and contingencies Provisions are recognised when the Union has an obligation at the consolidated statement of financial position date as a result of a past event, it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required in settlement and the amount can be reliably estimated.

190 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 Contingent liabilities, resulting from past events, arise when (i) it is not probable that there will be an outflow of resources or that the amount cannot be reliably measured at the reporting date, or (ii) the existence will be confirmed by the occurrence or non-occurrence of uncertain future events not wholly within the Union's control. In the normal course of events, the Union becomes involved in various legal disputes relating to its representation of members. The policy of the Union in terms of the financial impact of such disputes is to provide for expenditure arising from legal cases only where it is probable that a transfer of economic benefits will result. Any contingencies arising from such cases are disclosed unless the possibility of a transfer of economic benefits is remote. Contingent assets are not recognised. Contingent assets are disclosed in the financial statements when an inflow of economic benefits is probable. m) Political Fund The Union administers a Political Fund to which Section 3 of the Trade Union Act 1913 applies. n) Government and other grants The Union applies the accrual model for the recognition of grants. Grants relating to revenue are recognised in income on a systematic basis over the period in which the entity recognises the related costs for which the grant is intended to compensate. Grants relating to an asset are recognised in income over the expected useful life of the asset.

4. Critical accounting estimates and judgements The preparation of the financial statements requires the Union to make significant judgements and estimates. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

(a) Critical judgements in applying the entity's accounting policies (i) Defined benefit plan The Union has considered the implications of Section 28 of FRS 102 'Employee Benefits' which sets out how post-employment benefits such as defined benefit plans should be accounted for and disclosed. The Union has decided not to comply with the requirements of the relevant part of this Section that address defined benefit plans in the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016. The Section provides for the presentation of information regarding the costs of providing the pension benefits earned by employees during the year and of the value of the benefits that the Union has committed to providing in respect of service up to the year-end.

It is the Union's position that the provisions of this Section are not in the best interests of members of defined benefit pension schemes and are contrary to the Union's objective of supporting the continued provision of defined benefit schemes by employers to their employees. The basis of valuation provided for in the FRS 102 differs from the basis of preparation of the funding standard provided for in the Pensions Act 1990.

The information required under FRS 102 does not, in the view of the Union, reflect the liabilities currently or likely to fall payable by the Union in respect of the Pension Scheme in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the Union is satisfied that the information required under FRS 102 has no impact on the ability of the Union to continue to operate on a financially viable basis.

(b) Critical accounting estimates and assumptions The Union makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are addressed below.

(i) Useful economic lives of tangible assets The annual depreciation charge for tangible assets is sensitive to changes in the estimated useful economic

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 191 lives and residual values of the assets. The useful economic lives and residual values are re-assessed annually. They are amended when necessary to reflect current estimates, based on economic utilisation and the physical condition of the assets. See Note 7 for the carrying amount of the property plant and equipment, and Note 3(g) for the useful economic lives of each class of assets.

(ii) Valuation of investments The Union's investment portfolio is measured at fair value. J&E Davy, the investment manager, provide the Union with the fair values of the portfolio on each valuation date.

(iii) Provisions When recognising a provision the Union makes an estimate of the amount it expects to pay to settle the obligation.

5. Employee numbers and renumeration The average number of persons employed by the union during the year was as follows:

2016 2015 308 317

The aggregate payroll of persons employed by the union during the year was: 2016 2015 €€ Wages and Salaries 13,593,088 13,943,105 Social welfare 2,426,401 2,503,135 Pension 7,270,528 7,137,438 23,290,017 23,583,678

The total gross compensation paid or payable to the three key management for employee services was €520,666 (2015: €520,368), which consists of basic salary service pay, employer PRSI, superannuation and benefit in kind in the provision of a car.

6. Membership The number of members at the beginning and end of the year was as follows:

2016 2015 Number of members at the beginning of the period 200,532 204,469 Number of members admitted during the period 23,853 20,480 Number of members who ceased during the period (20,735) (24,417)

203,650 200,532

192 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 7. Fixed Assets Premises Motor Cars Computers Furniture Total & Office & Fittings Equipment €€ € € € Cost/Valuation At 1.1.2016 20,430,132 1,074,884 4,739,648 4,889,668 31,134,332 Additions - 292,000 61,247 17,597 370,844 Disposals - (272,033) --(272,033)

At 31.12.2016 20,430,132 1,094,851 4,800,895 4,907,265 31,233,143

Accumulated Depreciation At 1.1.2016 6,526,577 802,520 4,738,375 4,232,315 16,299,787 Charge for year 278,071 273,713 15,312 67,495 634,591 Disposals - (176,468) --(176,468)

At 31.12.2016 6,804,648 899,765 4,753,687 4,299,810 16,757,910

Net Book Value At 31.12.2016 13,625,484 195,086 47,208 607,455 14,475,233

Net Book Value At 31.12 2015 13,903,555 272,364 1,273 657,353 14,834,545

A lien is in place on some of the property assets of the union.

8. Heritage Assets 2016 2015 €€ Opening Cost 266,771 266,771 Additions -- Disposals --

266,771 266,771 During 2010, SIPTU purchased an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation. As this item meets the definition of a heritage asset as defined under Section 34 of FRS 102 it has been accounted for in accordance with the requirements of the Section.

9. Investments 2016 2015 €€ Investment Portfolio at Fair Value 3,076,139 2,951,172 Other Investments at Amortised Cost 18,812 18,812

3,094,951 2,969,984

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 193 Reconciliation of movement in investment portfolio at fair value during the year:

2016 2015 €€ Fair Value at 1 January 2,951,172 2,849,001 (Withdrawals) during the year - (25,382) Increase in Fair Value 124,967 127,553

3,076,139 2,951,172 In 2015, the Union paid €25,382 in respect of income tax arising on its investment fund. In accordance with the relevant tax legislation, income tax is chargeable on the 8th anniversary of the original purchase of units in the fund and this anniversary occurred during the year. On that date the Union became liable for income tax on a deemed disposal of units in the fund. A credit is available for the income tax paid against tax arising on future redemptions or disposals of units. A refund is available where the amount of the credit arising exceeds the tax due on the redemption of disposal of a particular asset. Accordingly the income tax paid during 2015 has been assessed as a prepayment of tax as it is expected to be recoverable in future periods. Recoverability is re- assessed on an annual basis.

Analysis of Investment Portfolio: The investment portfolios are managed by J&E Davy. The Union's investment strategy is to hold the portfolio for the long term with some movements being made by the Investment Managers into or out of funds in order to optimise return or limit loss. The fair value of 'Other Investments' held by the Union is not materially different than the cost.

The Union Investment Portfolio is analysed as follows: 2016 2015 €€ Ireland Fixed Interest 154,761 121,120 Irish Equity Fund 1,386,309 971,337 Eurozone Cash and Equity Fund 1,535,069 1,858,715

3,076,139 2,951,172

Other Investments at Amortised Cost: 2016 2015 €€ €3,127 9.75% National Development Loan 3,127 3,127 Prize Bonds 1,079 1,079 Other Investments 1,175 1,175 5,381 5,381

Cash Retained by the Accountant Courts of Justice 13,431 13,431 18,812 18,812

10. Sundry Creditors and Prepayments 2016 2015 €€ Contributions Receivable 3,427,780 3,498,422 Salaries in Advance 894,806 843,541 Other Prepayments 296,348 343,447 Other Receivables 8,097,193 8,310,168 Deferred Expenses 82,418 79,705 Prepayment of Income Tax (Note () 25,382 25,382

12,823,927 13,100,665

194 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 11. Sundry Creditors 2016 2015 €€ Payables 1,250,674 1,716,489 PAYE/PRSI 911,309 881,131 Accruals 192,224 275,381 Provisions for Other Liabilities (Note 12) 75,000 100,00

2,429,207 2,973,001

12. Provisions to Other Liabilities The union has the following provisions during the year in respect to loans advanced, taxation and legal cases. 2016 2015 €€ At 1 January 100,000 320,885 Additions 75,000 - Amounts utilised - (68,509) Unused amounts reversed to the consolidated statement of income and retained earnings (100,000) (152,376) At 31 December 75,000 100,000 13. Creditor amounts due after one year 2016 2015 €€ Deferred Income - Belfast Premises 52.413 52,413 Deferred Income - Capital Grants (note 15) 1,400,771 1,459,433 Deferred Tax Liability (Note 14) 306,261 255,025

1,759,445 1,766,871

14. Taxation Provision Deferred tax liability 2016 2015 €€ At beginning of year 255,025 213,135 Deferred tax charge for the year 51,236 41,890 At end of year 306,261 255,025

15. Deferred Income - Capital Grants 2016 2015 €€ At beginning of year 1,459,433 1,513,095 Amortisation during the year (58,662) (58,662) At end of year 1,400,771 1,459,433

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 195 16. Financial Instruments The union has the following financial instruments:

Note 2016 2015 €€ Financial assets at fair value 9 3,076,139 2,951,172 Financial assets that are debt instruments at amortised cost - Other investments at amortised cost 9 18,812 18,812 - Contributions receivable 10 3,427,780 3,498,422 - Other sundry receivables 10 8,097,193 8,310,168

Financial liabilities measures at amortised cost - Creditors amounts due within one year 11 2,429,207 2,973,001

17. Capital Commitments and Contingencies In 2012, the plan put forward to redevelop the Liberty Hall site was rejected by the planning authorities, An Bord Pleanala. The Union remains committed to the Liberty Hall site which has been the home of the Union since 1912. Accordingly the Union is examining options which will permit an appropriate modernisation of the facilities. At the year end 31 December 2016, this review is ongoing and in this respect the Union in 2012 provided for the modernisation through the creation of a separate Liberty Hall Modernisation Fund. 18. Related Party Transactions IDEAS Limited is a company limited by guarantee carrying on a range of training and educational activities. The members of IDEAS Limited are appointed by SIPTU. The Union continues to support the activities of IDEAS Lim- ited. SIPTU bear the salary costs of a number of employees who are seconded to IDEAS. Total salary costs incurred during 2016 were €144,095 (2015: €nil). The amount outstanding at the end of the year from IDEAS was €nil (2015:€nil).

ITUT is a company limited by guarantee with the objective of promoting social solidarity in Ireland. SIPTU incur the cost of running a scheme, known as the Basic English Scheme, and recharge expenses relating to this scheme to ITUT. Total expenses recharged during 2016 were €39,409 (2015: €36,230). Included in debtors at 31 December 2016 are amounts due by ITUT to SIPTU of €205,349 (2015: €165,940). The Union continues to support the activities of ITUT.

Larcon Cultural Services Limited is a limited company established to operate the Liberty Hall Centre for the Arts. The Trustees of SIPTU are the shareholders of Larcon. During the year Larcon Cultural Services Limited incurred license fees and charges and purchased goods in the amount of €137,313 (2015: €1 02,052) from SIPTU. Included in debtors at 31 December 2016 are amounts due by Larcon Cultural Services Limited to SIPTU of€143,584 (2015: €104,927). The Union continues to support the activities of Larcon Cultural Services Limited. 19. Pensions The Union operates a defined benefit pension scheme for staff employed by the Union. Contributions are made to the scheme in accordance with recommendations of an independent actuary. Such contributions are charged on an accruals basis. An actuarial valuation was carried out at 1 January 2016. Using the aggregated method of funding which has traditionally been used, the results of the valuation showed that the Fund was in deficit under the Minimum Funding Standard at 1 January 2016 in the amount of €20 million. The Union is committed to supporting the continuation of the Pension Scheme, in conjunction with staff and Pension Trustees. This commitment extends, at the discretion of the NEC, to the provision of supplementary funds if required. During the 2015 SIPTU and the Pension Scheme Trustees submitted the Section 50 application to the Pensions Board and this application was subsequently approved by the Pensions Board.

If the Union had complied with the requirements of FRS 102 the effect would have been to reduce net assets by €67.483 million. This compares with a figure of €62.135 million for 2015.

196 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 20. Subsequent Events There have been no significant events affecting the Union since the year end. 21. Approval of the financial statements The Trustees approved the accounts on 18 May 2017.

Schedules to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016 2016 2015 Schedule 1 €€ Sundry Income Income from Services to Provident Fund 84,092 84,092 Other income 626,795 1,124,559

710,887 1,208,651

2016 2015 Schedule 2 €€ Finance and Administration Staff Costs 4,541,408 4,393,867 Administration 463,668 346,874 Equipment & Computer Maintenance 10,847 10,084 Travel and Subsistence 33,571 23,590 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 10,381 3,976 - Car Maintenance 14,884 14,733 - Tax and Insurance 26,481 6,141 Official’s Transport Policy 89,908 60,482 Legal and Professional Fees 154,190 106,057 Bank Charges 63,667 74,673

5,409,005 5,040,477

2016 2015 Schedule 3 €€ Industrial Services Staff Costs 6,555,188 6,475,666 Administration 192,178 112,872 Legal & Professional Fees 36,061 123,886 Travel and Subsistence 34,390 34,362 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 10,008 9,040 - Car Maintenance 1,618 2,563 - Tax and Insurance 7,023 4,343 Official’s Transport Policy 215,075 218,068

7,051,541 6,980,800

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 197 2016 2015 Schedule 4 €€ Industrial Engineering Staff Costs 132,061 184,742 Travel and Subsistence 2,921 2,665 Official’s Transport Policy 10,061 10,930

145,043 198,337

2016 2015 Schedule 5 €€ Property Staff Costs 1,222,495 1,234,427 Administration 66,124 96,649 Legal and Professional Fees 30,403 64,986 Equipment and Maintenance 108,428 135,869 Travel and Subsistence 1,218 724 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 7,209 - - Tax and Insurance 504 - Official’s Transport Policy 4.085 5,398 Rent, Rates and Insurance 998,686 947,999 Heat, Light and Cleaning 680,727 632,773 Maintenance and Refurbishment 316,642 312,413

3,436,521 3,431,238

2016 2015 Schedule 6 €€ Utilities and Construction Staff Costs 1,967,743 2,104,564 Divisional Development 2,803 6,125 Administration 45,872 65,589 Travel and Subsistence 207,285 192,485 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 2,480 11,191 - Car Maintenance 1,068 839 - Tax and Insurance 1,032 4,811 Official’s Transport Policy 93,697 91,459 Legal and Professional Fees - 784

2,321,980 2,477,847

198 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 2016 2015 Schedule 7 €€ Manufacturing Staff Costs 2,334,896 2,408,772 Divisional Development 9,784 7,408 Honorary Secretaries Commission 33,701 34,754 Administration 77,506 101,741 Equipment and Computer Maintenance - 31 Legal and Professional Fees 31 62 Travel and Subsistence 187,599 143,226 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 6,139 10,190 - Car Maintenance 1,184 1,634 - Tax and Insurance 698 3,750 Official’s Transport Policy 147,874 142,780

2,799,412 2,854,348

2016 2015 Schedule 8 €€ Health Staff Costs 1,954,611 2,007,789 Divisional Development 21,772 39,541 Honorary Secretaries Commission 158,907 185,180 Administration 89,422 171,381 Bank charges - 128 Travel and Subsistence 146,892 142,723 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 6,944 8,491 - Car Maintenance 1,979 505 - Tax and Insurance 1,366 3,810 Official’s Transport Policy 134,922 128,372 Legal and Professional Fees 450 -

2,517,265 2,687,920

2016 2015 Schedule 9 €€ PA and Communities Staff Costs 1,841,097 1,960,713 Divisional Development 443 677 Honorary Secretaries Commission 28,932 54,635 Administration 78,423 98,969 Legal and Professional Fees 33 - Travel and Subsistence 189,633 197,182 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 4,184 8,197 - Car Maintenance 838 1,017 - Tax and Insurance 917 3,777 Official’s Transport Policy 112,774 109,601

2,257,274 2,434,768 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 199 2016 2015 Schedule 10 €€ Services Staff Costs 1,882,933 2,051,967 Divisional Development 4,929 1,774 Honorary Secretaries Commission 11,329 3,581 Administration 61,647 84,714 Travel and Subsistence 66,367 68,220 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 4,552 6,417 - Car Maintenance 1,205 607 - Tax and Insurance 685 4,618 Official’s Transport Policy 90,970 95,650

2,124,617 2,317,548

2016 2015 Schedule 11 €€ Education and Training Administration 806 3,249 Travel and Subsistence 3,546 9,911 Transport Costs - Car Fuel - 4,632 - Car Maintenance 263 450 - Tax and Insurance 303 1,788 Rent, Rates and Insurance - 165 Repairs and Renewals -9 Course Expenses 120,557 106,822 Staff Education and Development Grants 7,647 28,656 Official’s Transport Policy 5,797 14,332 Scholarship Grant/Law Course Expenditure 34,900 26,850

173,819 196,864 2016 2015 Schedule 12 €€ Research Staff Costs 352,009 263,456 Administration 14,811 21,144 Legal and Professional Fees - 7,657 Equipment Maintenance - 31 Travel and Subsistence 1,027 765 Transport Costs - Car Fuel 1,517 2,353 Official’s Transport Policy 1,537 1,604 Retirement Membership Expenses 3,145 9,013

374,046 306,023

200 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 2016 2015 Schedule 13 €€ Publications

Staff Costs 505,576 497,715 Administration 45,741 29,603 Travel and Subsistence 751 136 Official’s Transport Policy 5,241 4,734 Publishing Costs 183,972 200,113

741,281 732,301

2016 2015 Schedule 14 €€ General Services

Divisional/Biennial Delegate Conference 157,882 358,870 ICTU Biennial Conference - 47,085 Other Conferences 17,138 2,245 ICTU Affiliation Fee 654,257 599,111 Affiliation fees 18,272 14,181 Other Affiliation Fees 137,442 145,584 Grants and Charitable Donations 200 200 N.E.C. Costs 270,792 282,542 Promotional Expenses 103,277 67,898 Overseas 42,177 29,739 Divisional Executive Committee 29,753 25,464 Organisation Unit Expenses 171,993 185,418 Legal & Professional Fees 142,648 192,202 Retired Members Expenses 14,633 16,952 Amortisation of Grant (58,662) (58,662)

1,701,802 1,908,829

2016 2015 Schedule 15 €€ Depreciation Premises 278,071 283,746 Motor Cars 273,713 268,721 Furniture and Fittings 67,495 73,039 Computer & Office Equipment 15,312 85,293

634,591 710,799

SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 201 Appendix 2: Staff Salaries

The following were the annual salaries paid to staff at the top of the salary scales on the 31st December 2016. These have not changed since they were reported as of 31st December 2013.

Grade: Annual Salary

National Executive Officer €108,384 Divisional Organiser/Head of Department €84,142 Sector Organiser €66,290 plus an allowance of €5,604 Industrial Organiser €66,290 Assistant Industrial Organiser €54,601 Location Based Organiser €49,075 Maintenance Supervisor €49,075 Administrative Assistant €39,034 Porter/Maintenance €36,986

When the Haddington Road Agreement was negotiated in 2013, the National Officers voluntarily waived a percentage of their salaries. This was equivalent to the pay reductions which were applied in that Agreement and the position has not changed since. SIPTU staff pension benefit receivable at retirement was reduced by 20% and the provision for any pension increase was removed following the issuing of a Section 50 Order by the Pensions Authority.

Subsistence Allowances The following schedule of allowances – approved by the Office of the Inspector of Taxes was agreed by the National Executive Council applied to members, activists and staff while undertaking union business.

Dec 2015 Dec 2016 For absences of 5 hours but less than 10 €13.71 €13.71 For absences of 10 hours or more €33.61 €33.61 Where overnight stay is required (maximum – subject to production of receipt) €89.25 €89.25

202 SIPTU • Annual Report 2015/2016 A

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