1 PROPOSITIONS Below Are the Propositions for the Preliminary
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PROPOSITIONS Below are the propositions for the Preliminary Agenda as approved by the Conference Business Committee on Friday 13th April and any subsequent proposed amendments received by 19th April 2018. Proposition 1 CAMPAIGNING TO BUILD, GROW AND WIN GENERAL COUNCIL Marks with pride the centenary year of the Union and acknowledges the achievements FSU has made in representing staff in banking and financial services. Recognises that the sector is rapidly changing and that growing union membership, especially in the private sector, is essential to ensure that staff win the decency and fair play they deserve. Endorses the view that organising and campaigning are central to the future growth and success of the Union and needs to be embedded in all Union actions. Is committed to developing an active, engaged and empowered group of workplace leaders in both traditional employments and emerging areas where staff need trade union representation. Believes that strong two-way communication between members, elected reps and staff is essential to develop a strong organising model and that this is a priority. Supports the development of new Union initiatives to connect with non-unionised staff in the sector and future workers currently in education. Commits to developing strategic campaigns that resonate with the public and have the capacity to improve the lives of workers and their families. 1 Proposition 2 FUTURE OF WORK DANSKE BANK & ULSTER BANK COMPOSITE PROPOSITION The digital revolution is dramatically changing the business environment and the banking industry is no exception. And while employers may embrace revolutionising the way banks work it also means a more complex role for financial service employees. The impact and speed of diffusion and change at which data collection, automation and digital analysis have become vital parts of the industry seem unprecedented. The workforce will be expected to learn new skills, individual targets may be increased and there will be a shift on operations staff to acquire more ‘value-added’ roles. We can already see how our employers in the financial sector are pushing for more adaptability and flexibility. While digitalisation will potentially bring employers vast new profits in the form of reduced costs, global labour arbitrage and commodification of data, for workers it threatens to bring redundancies, job insecurity, job precarity and increased work intensification and ‘techno stress’. Conference calls on the General Council to ensure protections are in put in place by way of prioritising and safe-guarding the ease of transition for financial services staff to a more digitalised working environment, and making it a priority for any future industrial relations agenda. Specifically, Conference calls on FSU to: 1. Commission research on the likely impact of digitalisation on jobs, workers and customers; 2. Endorse a policy paper calling for a ‘Just Transition’ for workers and customers; 3. Put this on the industrial relations agenda of each employer to seek collective agreements; and 4. Implement a policy lobbying campaign involving workers in the sector to win protections for the future of work. 2 Proposition 3 FUTURE OF WORK ULSTER BANK Building on the proposition passed and supported by last conference on work-related stress and recognising that it remains the dominant health and safety issue of the twenty-first century, we want the Union to specifically focus on the phenomenon of ‘techno stress’ resulting from the increased use of technology to measure and monitor staff, and the ongoing pressure on workers to use technology to work outside of working hours. Technology has increased the amount of home working which often seen as a positive facilitator to flexible working, has brought its’ own set of issues for workers in our industry, and beyond. ‘Techno stress’ can cause interrupted sleep, anxiety, depression, headaches and muscle pain. It can result in burn out of workers. It can falsely disguise serious under staffing problems and companies profiteering off underemployment and over work. Positively, some countries, like France, are beginning to legislate against out of hours work through technology like smartphones and tablets. Home working can cause risk of isolation for employees which over time may contribute to poor mental health. It often causes blurring of lines between home and work which can result in workers self-exploitation through not taking proper breaks and an inability to get away from their work-station within their own home. Employers often capitalise on the benefits of homeworking through reduced requirement for office space with associated costs such as heating and light – with home workers picking up these additional costs. , and loss of colleague interaction. We believe FSU should lead the fightback against ‘techno stress’ and against the employer practices which cause this and should develop campaigns to protect home workers. We call on FSU to: 1. Survey workers to quantify and better understand the scale of the phenomenon of techno-stress and of home working in our sector; 2. Propose policies to employers to better protect workers; and 3. Investigate amendments to relevant health and safety legislation in ROI and NI to better reflect modern health and safety concerns of office workers. 3 Proposition 4 FUTURE OF WORK YOUNG WORKERS’ FORUM Conference notes with concern: structural changes to the financial services sector and jobs market in recent years, some of which include: - The increased prevalence of contract and agency work - Wholesale changes to pension entitlements - Digitalisation Conference acknowledges: that there is a real danger that this generation of workers will be the first to be worse off than the generation that precedes them. Conference also acknowledges: a shortage of housing provision and the soaring cost of rents which are compounding problems for a new generation of workers. Conference re-affirms: the Union’s responsibility to fight for fairness in banking and finance for a new generation of workers. Conference calls: for the development and implementing of an action plan which will seek to address this and help balance the scales for young workers. Proposition 5 FUTURE OF WORK ULSTER BANK New technology has facilitated the collection, storage, analysis and sale of massive amounts of data by companies. Data has been commodified and is sometimes described as ‘the new currency’. Workers are not immune to this and employers are increasingly collecting and using data on their employees for key HR decisions like promotion, redundancy, pay increases, disciplinary and much more. HR digitalisation represents a significant threat to common sense decent human interaction and management. Artificial Intelligence will begin to both replace HR jobs and also dehumanise worker employer interactions. (continued) 4 FSU will take the lead on protecting workers from invasion of privacy and inappropriate data usage and to this end, Conference calls on FSU to: 1) Support the UNI Future World of Work campaign; 2) Submit policy proposals to employers on employee data protection and ethical artificial intelligence; and 3) Raise awareness nationally on employees’ right to privacy and data protection from their employers. Proposition 6 FUTURE OF WORK TECHNOLOGY SECTOR Ireland has the lowest level of trade union worker rights in the original EU 15 nations. The right to collective bargaining is a universal right denied to Irish workers. This right gives employers the upper hand in industrial relations matters and leaves workers vulnerable and exposed. This is particularly visible in the Financial Services Sector where we have organised workers employed by large anti-union multinational organisations. This Conference calls on the General Council to seek to build a campaign with other unions to deliver a statutory basis for Trade Union access and recognition common throughout the rest of the EU. Proposition 7 FUTURE OF WORK YOUNG WORKERS’ FORUM Conference notes: the increased difficulties faced by workers in upskilling and returning to education due to increased pressures on maintaining a healthy work/life balance. Conference also notes: the difference that lifelong learning can make to the individual and wider society. Conference commends: the Union-Learn Fund in Northern Ireland and other such initiatives which seek to provide ways for members to return to education. Conference endorses: the rolling out of a similar scheme across the rest of Ireland. Conference calls: for the establishment of a bursaries scheme of which all Union members in good standing can apply for, and mandates the General Council to implement this. 5 Proposition 8 PAY AND CONDITIONS AIB The Financial Services Union and our members are all too well aware of the removal of benefits and reductions in pay across the Industry during the downturn. The AIB Sector Committee is calling on all our colleagues from across the industry to put in place plans to seek this restoration of the benefits lost in their employment. The Labour Court has recommended in a recent case in AIB that: “Pay and conditions of employment that existed prior to the crises are now in the process of being restored on a phased and measured basis as the circumstances of the State and the individual companies improve. The Bank is no different to other sectors of the economy and employees that co-operated with adjustments to pay and conditions of employment during the crisis are entitled to have those progressively reversed as circumstances improve.” Clearly the position of AIB has improved immensely, we are now seeking the restoration of benefits taken from us during the downturn, the most pressing of these benefits is the return of the 35 hour working week. Proposition 9 PAY AND CONDITIONS Bank of Ireland The FSU campaigns for a fair balance between work and home life for our members and their families. We recognise the arrival of a new child (or children) into a family places increased demands on parents, siblings and other relatives and friends. Paternity Leave acknowledges fathers’ need to have dedicated time to spend with their family on the arrival of a new child (or children).