SIPTU Joan Burton interview - Colombian trade re-ignites ‘We can turn this unionists in a oil & gas debate country around’ deadly firing line PAGE 9 » PAGE 12 & 13 » PAGE 25 » Vol. 10 No.7 September 2011 ISSN 0791-458X Abuse of Somalia - the Forgotten Famine agency workers must end By Frank Connolly SIPTU and other unions have told the Government that would lead the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise us to the view that there would and Employment, Richard Bruton, be anything of benefit to workers that he must fully implement an in agreeing any derogation,” EU Directive granting equality of Patricia King told Liberty. pay and conditions to agency She said that the EU Directive workers. introduced three years ago fol- The EU Directive on Temporary lowed years of campaigning by Agency Work comes into effect in SIPTU and other unions in Ireland December and will finally guaran- and across Europe and after the tee that agency workers will be recruitment by hundreds of entitled to the same wages and unregulated Irish employment conditions as those directly agencies of tens of thousands of employed. It will also end the workers from the new accession practice of using them as a source states in Eastern Europe. of cheap labour to undermine Many of these agency workers agreed conditions. entered the construction industry Photo: Nahariis, aged three, at the Shabelle Community Nutrition Centre in Mogadishu At a recent meeting involving a at the height of the property delegation from Congress and boom, as well as other sectors of BENEFIT CONCERT FOR CONCERN employer representatives the the economy, and were paid sig- Minister was informed in no nificantly less than their full- featuring Donal Lunny and Paddy Glackin uncertain terms that agency work- time, permanent and directly Paula Meehan • PD and the Undertakers • Special Guests ers were entitled under the employed colleagues. A major dis- to be announced • Liberty Hall Theatre, Dublin Directive to the same pay and pute at Irish Ferries in 2005 cen- conditions of employment as tred on the company’s recruit- 8.00 p.m. Thursday 13th October their directly employed col- ment and exploitation of low For more information see page 11 leagues. paid, non-national, agency work- The delegation, which included ers. The dispute was triggered SIPTU and Congress Vice after the Irish Ferries manage- President, Patricia King, said that ment threatened to replace 543 ly successful campaign for an EU groups, however, are seeking to must obtain the agreement of the there was nothing put forward by directly employed seafarers with Directive granting equality for delay its introduction and allow ‘social partners’ including trade Minister Bruton that would lead predominantly Eastern European agency workers. companies and State bodies to unions. Without this agreement to union support for any deroga- agency crew who were paid less There are an estimated 35,000 continue to pay agency workers the Government faces heavy tion from, or dilution of, the than the Irish minimum wage. agency workers across the public lower wages and impose on them financial penalties from the EU if Directive. In December 2005, up to and private sectors including 2000 inferior conditions of employ- it fails to transpose the Directive “We made it clear to the 100,000 people marched in in the health service who will ment for up to six months before into Irish law. Minister that at this point in time Dublin against the gross exploita- immediately benefit from the they are entitled to parity with In a letter to Congress General the Congress and SIPTU position tion of the workers involved in a Directive when it is introduced in those directly employed in the Secretary, David Begg, in early is that nothing has been said by dispute which led to the ultimate- December. same positions. In order to secure August the Minister said that he The Government and employer such a derogation the government Continued on page 2 ORGANISING FOR FAIRNESS AT WORK AND JUSTICE IN SOCIETY • WWW.SIPTU.IE • JOIN ONLINE 2 Liberty SEPTEMBER 2011 News In this month’s Liberty ESRI austerity plan ‘worst we could do’ SIPTU General President, Jack ing austerity at this point would inflicted on people across our Agency O’Connor, has strongly criticised be the single worst thing we could society with appalling conse- the Economic and Social Research do. It would further retard our quences for the most vulnerable. workers Institute (ESRI) for proposing fur- anaemic growth prospects. “The focus now must be on jobs ther cuts in the forthcoming budg- “Even the employers’ organisa- and growth. This is the key to covered by et. tions are opposed to any meas- recovery and it is also, incidental- In its latest report published on ures beyond the requirement to ly, the key to building confidence construction 1st September, the ESRI said that reduce the deficit by 8.6% of GDP in international markets. cuts of €4 billion should be in the EU/ECB/IMF plan by next “There will be no sustainable enforced in the budget rather than year. growth without investment. REA the €3.6 billion proposed by the “Over the past three years €20 “In this regard, the real chal- Government. billion – approximately 14% of lenge facing the Government is Page 5 It also said that unemployment, GDP – was taken out of the econo- how to find alternative sources of now approaching 450,000, would my in pursuit of a flawed budget- investment to offset the proposed continue to increase. ary strategy which has suppressed €3.6 billion reduction in Budget Jack O’Connor said: “Of the lim- growth and retarded recovery. 2012, not making it worse as rec- ited options available, intensify- “These measures have been ommended by the ESRI.” Spotlight falls on Irish owned UK care homes Page 8 Michael D Higgins on JobBridge needs trade building an inclusive, creative Ireland Page 16 union monitoring THE Government JobBridge intern- ger of losing credibility. Conor McCabe asks ship scheme has become the sub- “The most important step the ject of widespread criticism due to who really benefits Minister for Social Protection, the number of unsuitable jobs on Joan Burton, could take is to recog- from NAMA’s existence offer. Less than 400 positions have nise the potential for problems to Page 20 been filled. arise and to include trade unions ICTU legal officer Esther Lynch in the monitoring of the scheme – said: “JobBridge can be a real in a way similar to the system set- opportunity offering quality expe- up for community employment.” rience or it can be flat-out Responding to the criticism of Class and power at core exploitation where employers get workers for free and use the the scheme, a Department of of riots in England scheme as a form of unpaid proba- Social Protection spokesperson Page 23 tion.” said they were continuing to She added: “Concern about job “monitor” its operation and “will displacement is growing because be reviewing the scheme and its the existing monitoring system is eligibility criteria on an on-going not effective in separating the basis as we receive feedback”. Rovers enter good from the bad and because of this the whole scheme is in dan- Esther Lynch: Growing concern sporting history Page 31 Continued from page 1 was seeking a derogation from the even if a qualifying period of dero- and restore jobs is growth and our Directive in order to prevent job gation is agreed. It is contended task is stimulate the economy. losses. that the overhead involved of pro- Punishing the lowest paid and “It goes without saying that, in viding day-1 equal treatment to most vulnerable workers is not the current difficult economic cir- agency workers would act as a sig- the answer. Workers have a right cumstances that prevail, every nificant disincentive to employers to be paid equal pay for equal effort must be made by all parties who would simply cover short- work. It is a fundamental princi- Liberty is dedicated to providing a platform for progressive news and views. in terms of boosting economic term placements from within ple and a question of equality and If you have any ideas for articles or comments please contact: recovery to grow employment and existing resources,” Richard that was what our campaign for [email protected] maintain jobs. I am particularly Bruton wrote. this Directive and these rights was Liberty is published by the Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union, concerned to note estimates of job Responding to this claim all about in the first place. Such Liberty Hall, Dublin 1 losses by the National Recruitment Patricia King said that; inequality would never be tolerat- SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor • Vice President, Patricia King • Federation of the order of 8000, “The only thing that will protect ed by those at the top of society.” General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn Production: SIPTU Communications Department, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1, Tel: 01 8588217 • Email: [email protected] Advertise in Liberty SIPTU Head of Communications, Frank Connolly • Journalist: Scott Millar • Design: Sonia Slevin (SIPTU) & Joe Mitchell (Brazier Media) • To advertise in Liberty, contact the Communications Department on 01 858 6372 or Publications Assistant, Deirdre Price • Administrative Assistant, Karen Hackett email [email protected] • Liberty offers very competitive rates Produced, designed, edited and printed by trade union labour for advertisements which reach SIPTU members countrywide Printed and distributed by The Irish Times, City West, Dublin. Liberty 3 News SEPTEMBER 2011 Rabbitte opts to maintain the unity of ESB By Scott Millar Ennis said union members at the over the last number of months,” ESB had welcomed the move.