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May 2014
Vol.13 No. 4
ISSN 0791-458X
WATER POLICY
‘FUTILE AND MAD’
dscsdcsdcsdcsd
LOCAL
FIRE SERVICES
UNDER THREAT
cdscdscdscds
SIPTU ELECTION
CANDIDATES
Page 4
Page xxxxxxxx
Page
7
Page
xxxxxxxxx
Page
11-14
Collective
bargaining
law
approved
SPECTRE OF
FAR RIGHT
IN EUROPE
PAGE 25
POLICE
TERROR IN
COLOMBIA
PAGE 31
By Scott Millar
S
IPTU Vice-President, Patricia King,
has described the approval by the
Government, on Tuesday (13th
May), of a new law to support the
right of workers to participate in collective
bargaining with their employers as a “very
positive step” for Irish society.
The move follows years of intensive campaigning by
SIPTU and other unions to have the right of workers to
collective bargaining recognised in Irish law. The proposed new legislation also provides protection against
victimisation for workers seeking to exercise their right
to collective bargaining as well as restricting attempts
by employers to incentivise people against using it.
“It is a very positive step for workers as it provides
for an effective system whereby workers who are not
covered by collective bargaining can, through their
trade union, improve their terms and conditions of emContinued on page 2
LIBERTY
CROSSWORD
WIN a hotel
break for two...
PAGE 35
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Collective Bargaining has been a demand of Irish workers since the Dublin Lockout of 1913
See pages 17-20
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In this month’s Liberty
2
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
Rosie Hackett Bridge to open
May Day events
Page 5
Australian
union leader,
Dave Noonan
Page 8
Retained Fire
Fighters National
Committee
interview
Page 9
The Rosie Hackett Bridge across the LIffey is almost complete. Photo William Hederman
SIPTU General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn (left), will be among the guest speakers at the formal opening of the Rosie Hackett Bridge across the Liffey on Tuesday, 20th May. Rosie
Hackett was a life-long member of the ITGWU (now SIPTU) and a member of the Irish
Citizen Army who fought in the College of Surgeons alongside Constance Markievicz
during the 1916 Rising. She ran a shop in Liberty Hall for many years. She died in 1976.
The bridge from Marlborough Street to Hawkins Street will cater for Luas and bus traffic
as well as pedestrians and cyclists.
Trade union
veteran Eddie
Fitzgerald
Page 10
Liberty View
Page 22-23
Liberty
View
Win for Agency
workers
Page 29
Donkey sanctuary staff vote for strike action
WELFARE staff working for The
Donkey Sanctuary have voted
unanimously to begin a series
of two-hour strikes from Monday, 19th May.
SIPTU members will picket the registered charity’s headquarters in Liscarroll, Mallow, Co. Cork, during the
action which is set to begin on the
19th and continue every second day
until Friday, 30th May.
SIPTU Organiser, Eddie Mullins,
told Liberty: “The union has tried unsuccessfully to engage the company
in discussions as to the reasoning behind the decision to make the 16 welfare staff redundant.
“We believe that the company is in
no financial difficulty and is simply
attempting to replace qualified animal welfare staff with voluntary
workers.”
He added: “The workers were left
with no option but to take strike action and will escalate the dispute if it
is required.”
Politicians told to fear the ‘grey army’
Dublin dominant,
for now
Page 34
THE SIPTU Retired Members’
Section has launched a Secure
Retirement campaign with the
aim of organising retired members of the union under the slogan: “It’s time for us to take
back what has been taken from
us.”
At the launch in Liberty Hall, a
YouTube video was premiered which
Editor: Frank Connolly, SIPTU Head of Communications
Journalist: Scott Millar
Design: Sonia Slevin (SIPTU), Joe Mitchell (Brazier Media) & William Hederman
Publications Assistant: Deirdre Price
Administrative Assistant: Karen Hackett
Produced, designed, edited and printed by trade union labour.
Printed by The Irish Times, City West, Dublin.
Liberty is dedicated to providing a platform for progressive news and views.
If you have any ideas for articles or comments please contact:
[email protected]
Liberty is published by the Services, Industrial, Professional & Technical Union,
Liberty Hall, Dublin 1
SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor • Vice President, Patricia King •
General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn
Production: SIPTU Communications Department, Liberty Hall, Dublin 1,
Tel: 01 8588217 • Email: [email protected]
includes interviews with retired
workers about their previous working lives as well as the challenges
they now face as pensioners.
Among those who addressed the
event on Wednesday, 30th April was
Equity activist and Fair City actor,
Tom Jordan.
He said: “I hope this campaign
scares the living daylights out of the
politicians in this country. They are
constantly telling us there are too
many pensioners and we are a drain
on the national coffers, which is a
load of rubbish.
“We are a rich country and we can
afford to look after our old people,
not out of charity but because we
have earned it. The grey army is on
the march. Let the politicians know
that.”
Continued from page 1 — Collective bargaining law approved
ployment,” Patricia King said.
The proposed law is designed to
overcome the major impediment
posed by the way the Supreme Court
has interpreted the constitutional entitlement of freedom of association
as freedom for employers not to
recognise unions or independent
workers’ organisations.
“Where workers are not currently
covered by collective bargaining this
legislation provides access only for
trade unions to process claims on
their behalf. This will restore the balance in the worker-employer relationship,” Patricia King said.
Under these proposals workers,
through their trade unions, may obtain a binding decision from the
Labour Court or the Circuit Court
providing for improvements to their
pay or terms of employment if the
employer does not comply with the
new legislation. It also makes non-
compliance by an employer found by
the Labour Court to have victimised
an employee to be a criminal offence.
Patricia King added: “These proposals agreed by the Cabinet have yet to
be enacted by both houses of the
Oireachtas. However, obtaining Government approval for the measure is
a key step in pursuit of an objective
for which Irish workers have been
fighting since the 1913 Lockout.”
See pages 17-20
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
3
Asbestos
advice at
Cork naval
base
T
HE Department of Defence has accepted a request by SIPTU members at the Naval Base in
Haulbowline in Cork to provide a
medical person with competence in the area
of asbestos-related diseases to answer a series of questions about the nature of their
exposure to the substance while working on
two vessels last month.
A medical professional with competence in the
area of asbestos-related diseases visited SIPTU
members and other workers at the Haulbowline
naval base in Cork on Friday, 25th April, following
their exposure to the substance in early April.
The Department of Defence accepted the request
for medical advice and an inspection after civilian
employees were exposed to asbestos while carrying
out maintenance work involving the removal of gaskets made of ‘compacted asbestos fibre’ (CAF) on
two vessels at the base.
SIPTU Organiser, Jason Palmer, has sought clarity
from the Department concerning its response to
any potential health issues that may arise for the
workers and their families.
Win for
Stobart
workers
I
N a significant decision, trucking company, Stobart, has been ordered to compensate eighteen SIPTU members who
were denied their rights when they
transferred their employment from the food
distributor Keelings in October 2010.
The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) reversed
an earlier Rights Commissioner decision which
found against the union when it unsuccessfully argued the workers were entitled under Transfer of
Undertakings legislation to the same terms and conditions of employment as they enjoyed with Keelings.
The EAT determination set aside the Rights Commissioner finding of late 2011 and has now ordered
that a Transfer of Undertakings did take place after
all. This means the eighteen members have to be
compensated for any losses arising out of Stobart’s
non-adherence to their terms and conditions of employment and the Collective Agreement since they
took over in late 2010.
Jimmy’s Hall goes on general release in late May
Jimmy's Hall is a film directed by British filmmaker, Ken Loach, and written by Paul Laverty. It is based on the life of
Irish socialist James Gralton and will be shown in Cannes this month. It goes on general release in Ireland on 30th May.
In 1932, Gralton opened a dance hall in Effrinagh, Co. Lietrim, where he arranged free social events, held discussions on
socialist and republican political views and campaigned against evictions and on other social issues. In the midst of violent protests led by Catholic priests, he was arrested in February 1933, and later deported to the United States. He had
taken up US citizenship during a period living there in the 1910s.
Fast food workers of the world unite
Y
OUNG
trade
unionists
from
over 30 countries
attended the International Fast Food Workers’ Meeting in New York
City in early May.
Organised by the International Union of Food Workers
(IUF) and its American affiliate SEIU the event brought
young workers together to learn
from the successful U.S. Fast
Food Forward campaign and to
plan for the international fast
food solidarity day on Thursday
15th May.
At the meeting, the Young
Workers’ Network was represented by Ciarán Garrett and
Padraig Madden. SIPTU Campaigns and Equality Organiser,
Ethel Buckley, also attended, as
did trade unionists from countries including El Salvador, the
Philippines, Morocco, Malawi,
Brazil, Japan, New Zealand,
Denmark and France.
The Fast Food Forward cam-
Ciarán Garrett (left) with US strikers Photo: Andrew Burton – Getty Images
paign has put the need for wage
increases at the centre of US political debate in calling for a
minimum wage of $15 an hour,
as well as collective bargaining
rights and an end to zero-hour
contracts in the fast food sector.
Ciarán said: “The campaign
has proven hugely popular and
successful in encouraging workers to unionise, strike and demand fair pay and working
conditions. The campaign is
also breaking new ground in
trade union campaigning tactics. One of the most useful ses-
sions at the meeting involved
learning about Fast Food Forwards’ use of social media, Facebook and Twitter in particular,
to organise workers and publicise campaign demands.
He added: “The meeting was
addressed by a number of McDonald’s workers involved in
the campaign, who spoke about
the impact of living on poverty
wages and working precarious
hours. McDonald’s made
$5.5bn in profit last year, yet its
employees who work hard to
generate that huge profit are
grossly under-compensated. Addressing gathered trade unionists and workers, one fast food
worker described going on
strike was ‘one of the most liberating days of my life’.”
The YWN activists joined
trade unionists from across the
world in assisting with the onthe-ground campaign in New
York.
Ciarán said: “It was hugely
encouraging to see that the
campaign is positively received
by customers and workers
alike.”
The Young Workers’ Network
is organising solidarity events in
Dublin, Cork and Belfast on
Thursday 15th May.
The
Dublin solidarity action will
begin with a rally in Wynn’s
Hotel, Abbey at 5.00 p.m. followed by an action at 6.00 p.m.
outside a nearby global fast
food outlet. In Cork, supporters should assemble at Daunt
Square at 5:30 p.m. and in
Belfast at Castle Place at 4:30
p.m.
4
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
Water policy
UK jobseekers
‘futile and mad’ forced to take
‘zero-hours’ jobs
THE setting up of Irish Water
as a separate company and
the introduction of water meters without dealing with the
infrastructural weakness of
the supply system confirms
the “futility and madness” of
water policy, SIPTU Local
Authority Organiser, Michael
Wall, has claimed.
Although the Troika insisted on
water charges, the way in which
Irish Water was established also ignored best practice across Europe,
he added.
Michael Wall made the comments at a recent meeting of SIPTU
National Water Committee in Liberty Hall. He said: “The recent controversy over the setting of the
average annual water charge at
€240 has been the best illustration
yet of the futility and madness of
the whole policy surrounding the
establishment of Irish Water.
“The foundation stone of this
policy was the installation of meters, costing millions of euro,
mainly from the Irish pension reserve fund, when this contributes
nothing to the upgrading of the
water networks which will need
further millions before any impact
will be felt in terms of water conservation.
“The entire policy is based on a
fallacy – that water provision and
sanitary service can be self-financing. Nowhere in the world is the
water and sanitation system financially self-financing.
“As to whether or not the water
JOBSEEKERS in the UK face
losing their social welfare benefits for three months or more
if they refuse to accept “zerohours contract” jobs.
PICTURE: Sonia Belviso (CC BY 2.0)
service is charged for by meter,
fixed charge or direct taxation is
quite irrelevant while the basic infrastructure and capacity is as inadequate as it is in Ireland.”
Wall claimed the immediate task
was to “target the networks, build
a fit-for-purpose modern effective
infrastructure and then design the
mechanism for fair and equitable
charging based on social and community needs”.
“This current and flawed model
is an ideological one based on the
principle that if it’s built on a commercial utility basis, rather than a
public one it will automatically be
more cost effective. Again, this has
no basis in international evi-
dence.”
He said the environment
minister, Phil Hogan, had consistently referred to international best
practice but pointed out that the
“extent of this evidence” had been
what had happened in the UK.
“The worst and least effective or
efficient water service in developed countries is the model in
England. The ministers evaluation
of best practice did not stretch to
France, Holland, Germany etc.
where investment in the infrastructure has been the priority and
the provision of quality water and
sanitation the end goal as distinct
from the end goal being another
indirect taxation system!”
Under the new universal credit
system, people claiming unemployment benefit face penalties if they
do not apply for and take up jobs
based on the controversial contracts, which require workers to be
on standby every day but do not
guarantee them any minimum
hours of work or pay.
There are growing fears that
these contracts are tieing an ever
greater number of workers to insecure and low-paid work.
Recent figures showed the number of workers in the UK on zerohours contracts had reached 1.4
million. More than 10% of employers in the UK now use such contracts, which are most likely to be
offered to women, young people
and people over 65. In the tourism,
catering and food sector, almost
half of employers use the contracts.
Up to now, people claiming jobseekers' allowance have not been
required to apply for zero-hours positions and have not faced a loss of
benefits for refusing such jobs.
The policy shift was revealed in
a letter from Esther McVey, a Conservative employment minister, to,
Labour MP, Sheila Gilmore. McVey
confirmed that, under the new sys-
tem, JobCentre "coaches" could
"mandate to zero-hours contracts",
although they would have discretion about considering whether a
role was suitable.
Information published on the
Department for Work and Pensions
website shows that if a jobseeker
refuses to take a position without
good reason or leaves a position
voluntarily, they will lose benefits
for 13 weeks on the first occasion,
The contracts
require workers to
be on standby
every day but
guarantee them no
minimum hours of
work or pay
26 weeks on the second and 156
weeks on the third occasion.
Sheila Gilmore told The
Guardian newspaper she was concerned because she feared that “if
people are required to take jobs
with zero-hours contracts, they
could be prevented from taking
training courses or applying for
other jobs that might lead to more
stable and sustainable employment
in the long term."
BD Drogheda marks 50 years with €16m investment
MEDICAL technology company Becton Dickinson (BD)
celebrated 50 years in
Drogheda by announcing a
€16 million investment in
Medical Surgical Systems,
which will lead to an additional production line at their
plant in the town.
SIPTU Sector Organiser Alan
O’Leary said: “The announcement
by BD of a further €16 million investment on top of €17 million
last year is a great boost to workers and the local community in
Drogheda.
“Both of these major invest-
ments are directly linked to our
sector's ongoing work with
SIPTU's Tony Murphy, of IDEAS on
Innovation in Manufacturing, and
the hard work and dedication of
official Michelle Quinn, SIPTU's
Chairman at BD Aidan McDonnell,
the union committee and the
members in BD Drogheda.”
In 2012 the union, with the assistance of the IDEAS Institute,
embarked upon fostering a positive engagement with management on operational efficiencies.
The next step was to establish a
Joint Steering Committee and then
workers and management under-
At a recent site visit to the BD Drogheda
plant were (left to right): Aidan McDonnell
(SIPTU Chairman at BD Drogheda), Dave
Mullis (HR Director), Alan O'Leary (Sector
Organiser), Ged Bannon and Jim Sanyi
(BD Vice President Diabetes Healthcare)
took formal and accredited training through the IDEAS Institute.
“Following today’s announcement it is clear that the “Innovation in Manufacturing” approach
is leading to positive jobs growth
and investment in the Pharmaceutical Chemical and Medical
Devices sector,” O’Leary said.
“The announcement by the
company of further significant investment on the 50th anniversary
milestone is a significant mark of
confidence in the collaborative
work undertaken by all the local
stakeholders in the Drogheda
plant.”
Liberty
May Day 2014
MAY 2014
5
MAY DAY
(Photo left) Over 3,000 trade
unionists marched in Belfast on
Saturday, 3rd May, as part of
the city’s extensively calendar
of events to mark International
Workers’ Day.
Photo: Kevin Cooper
(Photo above) Over 1,000 trade unionists and
community activists attended the Dublin Council of
Trade Unions march on Thursday, 1st May. The march
was led by the Spectacle of Defiance of Hope, the
community arts group, with posters showing the brutal effects of austerity of local communities.
History of May Day celebrated in film and song in Galway
‘W
ORKING
People,
Wo r k i n g
Time” was
the theme of a very successful May Day celebration in
Galway, well-attended by
activists from ten of the
trades unions active in the
city. For the second year running, the May Day event was
run by SIPTU Galway District
Committee with the support
of Galway Trades Council
and the TEEU in particular.
The evening began with an explanation of how May Day originated in what was known as
“Eight Hours Day”. Then a brief
film about the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886 explored
the historical background to international trade union celebrations of Labour Day on 1st May
since 1889. On the walls were
posters advertising Dublin's first
Labour Day/Eight Hours Day
march in 1890.
Local labour historians took
those in attendance on a lively
journey through the history of
trade union campaigns for the
eight-hour day; the five-day week
and paid holidays. Various local
and international campaigns
were well illustrated using presentations, film, radio broadcast
and music.
The highlight of the evening
was a brief dramatisation of the
1945 Dublin laundry workers’
strike for a fortnight’s paid holidays, with a cast consisting entirely of District Committee
members, staff and shop stewards.
Labour Party Councillor Nuala
Nolan – also a SIPTU member –
led off a rendition of the song the
striking workers sang to the air of
Lilli Marlene:
Outside the laundry we put up
a fight
For a Fortnight’s Holiday.
They said we’d have to strike,
And so we keep marching up
Activists from 10 of
Galway’s trade unions
attended the May Day
evening event.
and down,
We nearly died for half a
crown.
We are a fighting people,
Who can’t be kept down.
In thanking all who contributed to an informative and
enjoyable evening, District Committee Secretary Diane Jackson
said: “It’s important to remind
ourselves how decent working
conditions were achieved, especially now when many of these
achievements are being challenged”.
6
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
Unfounded attack on
Irish Water workers
In a comment piece in the Sunday
Business Post on 27th April criticising
the way in which the Government set
up Irish Water, Eddie Molloy made
unfair attacks on former local
authority workers now working for the
new utility. SIPTU Vice-President
Patricia King sets the record straight
E
DDIE MOLLOY, in his
article entitled “Scandalous deal at heart of
Irish Water”, reveals a
distinct antipathy to those
who provide vital public services to our people. Despite
promising to lay bare a scandal, Mr Molloy instead makes
unsubstantiated claims about
the manner in which local authority workers were transferred to the new utility and
then bases his unfounded arguments on inaccurate figures.
He recalls a moment when he
came across a crew of Dublin City
Council workers fixing a leak, and
queried whether they were paid
premium rates for working on a
In fact the staff
costs involved
in the
establishment
of Irish Water
were €182
million – or just
14.5 per cent
of the total cost
Sunday. Under the Organisation of
Working Time Act (1997) all workers are entitled to premium rates
for working on a Sunday. Is Mr
Molloy suggesting that public service workers who work week-ends
should not be properly remunerated, or indeed, that water leaks
should not be dealt with other
than on weekdays?
His more serious allegation is
that outdoor workers, technicians
and general operatives, many of
whom are members of SIPTU, and
whose wage rates start at €9.70
per hour, are involved in a scam
which he describes as “insiders sitting across the table from each
other negotiating how to divide up
the cake”.
These members and their union
representatives engaged in protracted negotiations under the auspices of the Labour Relations
Commission in order to ensure
that their wages and conditions of
work were protected in the transfer to Irish Water.
It may upset Mr Molloy and others that they were not all made
compulsorily redundant from the
local authorities, where many have
served for decades, and then reemployed through private contractors at minimum rates. Thankfully,
the race to the bottom has not progressed that far.
He cites what he claims is an
ESRI estimate that the ‘deal’ will
cost the public €2 billion in “savings foregone” without mention-
Irish Water workers installing water
meters: Eddie Molloy seems to want
them all to have been made
compulsorily redundant from local
authorities and then re-employed at
minimum rates. Picture: Laura Hutton
ing that the author of that report,
John Fitzgerald, said on RTÉ’s
Prime Time within 12 hours of its
publication that he was “not sticking to that figure”.
According to figures for 2012,
the actual staff costs involved in
the establishment of Irish Water
were just €182 million, compared
to Capex, or infrastructure costs, of
€465 million and Opex, or operating costs (excluding staff costs), of
€601 million. In other words, staff
costs made up just 14.5 per cent of
the total cost.
Remuneration details available
from the IDA and the Revenue
Commissioners among other State
and Government agencies, confirm
that Mr Molloy has been rewarded
with extremely generous consultancy payments over the past
decade (see panel). One hopes that
his lucrative work for publicly
funded agencies is more factually
based than his comment piece last
month.
Molloy was paid €3,500 a day for
management consultancy to IDA
In his recent Sunday Business Post
article, Eddie Molloy was critical of
the amount of public money spent
on wages for ordinary workers in
Irish Water.
Molloy has himself previously
been the recipient of public
money, at a rate of up to €3,500 a
day (plus VAT), for management
consultancy to State agencies.
Documents provided to SIPTU in
November 2012, on foot of Freedom of Information requests,
show Molloy's company, Advanced
Organisation
and
Management
Ltd,
invoiced the IDA in October 2005 for €7,000 for two days’ consulting by Molloy.
The documents also show that between August 2000 and January 2008, the
Revenue Commissioners paid Molloy €142,000 in fees for management training
and consultancy.
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
7
Election candidates urged to sign fire pledge
R
ETAINED firefighters have called on
local election candidates to make a commitment to oppose measures
that will put lives in danger.
The call came as the SIPTU Retained Firefighters Committee
launched a pledge card and information leaflet outlining the threat
to local fire services from further
cuts. Speaking at the launch, SIPTU
Organiser, Michael Wall, told a
press conference in Dublin on 28th
April: “Firefighters, based in over
200 fire stations across the country, have been placed in a position
where their lives are at risk resulting from the decision to reduce
crew levels on fire appliances.”
Currently, all fire appliances
should have a crew of six firefighters. Under the proposals this number would be cut to five firefighters
on the first appliance mobilised,
and four for each subsequent appliance.
Ciaran Scallan, a retained firefighter in Wexford, explained how
each of the six-crew members had
a vital function.
He said: “Two will go into the
fire, two will be held back to go in
and rescue them if they get into
trouble, one has to operate the appliance and the pumps and one is
in command.”
Election candidates will also be
asked to make a commitment to rescind local fire charges on domestic dwellings.
Local authorities are currently
collecting fire charges for private
car accidents and house fires, costs
which firefighters say should be
covered by the monies already paid
by households in the property tax.
As Liberty was going to press,
candidates in Wicklow, Wexford,
Carlow and Kerry had all publicly
taken the pledge to protect services, with many in other counties
planning to follow suit.
Pictured at
at the
the campaign
campaign launch
launch are,
are, from
from left,
left, James
James Gannon
Gannon from
from Roscommon,
Roscommon,
Pictured
Jonathan
Jonathan Madden
Madden from
from Cork,
Cork, Michael
Michael Wall
Wall from
from SIPTU,
SIPTU, Ciaran
Ciaran Scallan
Scallan from
from
Wexford and
and Michael
Michael Spillane
Spillane from
from Longford.
Longford. Photo:
Photo: Photocall
Photocall Ireland
Ireland
Wexford
8
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
Solidarity from a land Down Under
W
By Scott Millar
ITH over 120,000
members
the
Construction,
Forestry, Mining
and Energy Union (CFMEU) is
one of the largest and most active
unions in Australia. During May,
CFMEU National Secretary, Dave
Noonan, visited Liberty Hall to
discuss improving co-operation
between SIPTU and his union.
With a long history of Irish involvement in Australian trade
unionism David, who has family
ties to North Cork, told Liberty he
places a particular importance on
developing solidarity with unions
here.
“The generation of Irish people
that came to Australia after World
War II became key leaders and activists in the movement. The great
union leaders in the Australian
construction industry were people
like Norm Gallagher, Pat Clancy,
Paddy Maloney, Paddy Ellis; these
people were either Irish or sons of
Irish migrants.”
However, the most recent influx
of young Irish workers to Australia
has had a less positive impact.
“Many are coming on temporary
migration schemes and are
insecure in terms of their rights
and often feel that they cannot
speak up. Many think they are
only there for a short time so
probably think why would you
argue about wages and join a
union. There are also networks of
employers who are actively
exploiting young Irish workers
because they can get them
cheaper than local labour.
Unfortunately, many of the bosses
that are actually doing this are
Irish.”
The CFMEU has “had some runins with these people”.
Dave says: “I think it is very important that Irish workers, if they
are going out to Australia for a
short time know their rights,
know what they are entitled to
and the places they can go to if
they get into trouble.”
Dave sees the maintenance of
workers on temporary working
visas as part of a wider campaign
to undermine rights.
“Australia currently has a conservative Government; between
2007 and 2013 we did have a
Labour Government. However, in
reality we have had a long period
of strong anti-union activity from
Government and employers in
Australia. Major employers are focused on minimising workers’
right to collective bargaining.”
He added: “Rupert Murdoch
owns about 70% of the print
CFMEU National Secretary, Dave Noonan
media so the overwhelming narrative is one of anti-union.”
However, unions in Australia
have a long history of success with
legalisation for collective bargaining dating back to 1904 at federal
level.
Dave said: “Unions have oranganised in Australia from very
early days. Construction workers
in Melbourne conducted the first
successful eight-hour day campaign in 1856. That was my union,
which at that stage was a branch of
a British craft union.”
The CEFMU has in recent years
financially supported both Green
Party and Independent politicians;
however, Dave believes a key battle
is to win back the Australian
Labour Party to working class values. “Social Democracy is in crisis
worldwide because you have had
the collapse on its left of the communist parties.
“The Australian Labour Party is a
very flawed institution but it continues to attract the mass support
of working class people. There is
currently a big debate in the Australian Labour Party about the role
of trade unions. In the CFMEU we
are arguing that the role has to be
re-defined but not severed.”
How will you tell my story? States of Fear, 15 years on
teachers have sexually abused children.
It asks who is responsible now for the
safety of our children at school.
To mark the 15th anniversary of the
broadcast of the groundbreaking
documentary series States of
Fear, which was credited with
bringing to light the suffering of
children at church and State-run
institutions in Ireland during the
20th century, a series of screenings
and panel discussions are being
held during May in the IFI cinema
in Dublin.
The States of Fear documentaries, produced by the late Mary Raftery (pictured)
and broadcast on RTÉ Television in 1999,
were central in bringing about a State
apology to those who suffered, and led to
the setting up of a commission to inquire
into child abuse in 2000.
The Mary Raftery Journalism Fund — in
association with the IFI and RTÉ —
presents a series of films, introduced by
the filmmakers, throughout May, and a
day of screenings and discussion on 24th
May. On that day, producers,
broadcasters, programme participants,
writers, journalists and historians will
participate under the theme ‘How Will
You Tell My Story?’.
SATURDAY, 24TH MAY, 11PM-6PM
States of Fear: screenings and seminar:
“How will you tell my story?”
11am: States of Fear: Disability and
Legacy. Two of the documentaries, the
first focusing on the thousands of
children who grew up in hospitals, and
institutions for the blind, the deaf, and
for those with learning and physical
disabilities.
SATURDAY, 17TH MAY, 1PM
RTÉ Prime Time: Making Them Pay (2007)
Introduced by researcher Sheila Ahern,
this documentary tells the story of
people who, as children, were sexually
abused in school and now consider
themselves revictimised by the State.
The programme also looks at the
implications for children and their
parents today of recent court findings
that the State is not liable in cases where
2pm: A panel discussion, chaired by Áine
Lawlor, will examine the impact of States
of Fear – on those who participated and
on the nation who watched it. She will be
joined by Patsy McGarry (The Irish
Times), Catriona Crowe (National
Archives of Ireland), Colm O’Gorman
(founder of One in Four), and Sally
Mulready (Irish Women’s Survivors
Network, UK).
4:30pm: A panel discussion, illustrated
with clips from selected documentaries
and dramas, will be chaired by Fiach
MacConghail (director, Abbey Theatre)
with Paul Maguire (editor, RTÉ
Investigations Unit), Anna Rodgers
(independent filmmaker), Sheila O’Connor
(Patient Focus), and Roddy Doyle (writer).
SATURDAY, 31ST MAY, 1PM
Sins of the Father (Granada, 1992)
Introduced by Senator Susan O'Keefe
who was a member of the production
team. This documentary exposed a series
of cases of abuses by Irish clergy which
had been covered up by the church.
In addition there are archive screenings
featuring documentaries relevant to
States of Fear at lunchtimes on Mondays
and Wednesdays throughout the month.
For more information see
www.ifi.ie/statesoffear.
Liberty
Workplace Committee
MAY 2014
9
Retaining a commitment to
safeguard their communities
fire station to become full-time.
James Gannon, from Roscommon, is the final member of the
Retained Firefighter Negotiating
Committee. He joined the service
in Ballaghaderreen in 2001 and
was that year co-opted on to the
National Committee.
James says that as well as the
Committee confronting major concerns about government plans for
the service contained in the document Keeping Communities Safe,
there are on-going problems with
the service’s organisation.
“Take, for instance, the situation
in my area. For a fire in Roscommon Town, it is practice to send
two fire engines but just up the
road in Boyle or Ballaghaderreen,
only one pump is sent.
By Scott Millar
W
HERE there is an
out-of-control
fire, the human
instinct is to run
away. However, for Ireland’s
retained firefighters their
commitment to the public
means they stand firm to
protect their fellow citizens.
Organised into SIPTU since 1999,
the Retained Fire Service in the Republic is made up of firefighters
who work other jobs but are on call
to answer emergencies.
Jonathan Madden, who represents retained firefighters in Co
Cork, told Liberty: “I have been a
retained firefighter for 13 years.
I’m self-employed. You get on with
your day’s work and if the pager
goes off, you down your tools and
you head off to the fire station
within a certain amount of time.
“In my station we have a postman working for us, we have council workers, we have engineers, we
have fabricators, so all different
trades, which probably makes it
quite a unique job.”
More than 2,000 retained firefighters operate throughout rural
Ireland with sizeable contingents
also in the smaller cities including
Waterford and Limerick. The larger
cities such as Cork and Dublin
have full-time Fire Services.
Within SIPTU, the retained firefighters are organised through a
National Committee made up of 18
delegates who represent members
throughout the country.
A smaller four-person Negotiating Committee is drawn from the
National Committee and deals directly with the local authorities on
industrial relations issues.
Negotiating Committee member
Mick Spillane, who represents
County Longford, has been in the
Retained Fire Service since 1986.
He said: “In my station we get on
average 120 calls a year, that could
be three on a Sunday and none for
a fortnight after that.
“I became involved in the union
shortly after I joined. I became
very active around 1988 and 1989
when firefighters were not getting
treated very fairly.
“In what became known as the
1999 Agreement, the retained firefighters were brought into SIPTU.
“Prior to that, the firefighters
were not properly organised. They
Photo from Left to right: Mick Spillane, James Gannon, Jonathan Madden, Ciaran Scallan Picture: Scott Millar
were scattered and some were in
no union, but it has developed.
“We got educated through SIPTU
on how to get organised and we
also developed a fairly good approach for negotiations.”
Retained firefighter Ciaran Scallan,
is a Wexford-based computer technician but is currently unemployed.
Ciaran, who has chaired the Retained Firefighters National Committee since January 2013, told
Liberty: “In the Wexford station
only one person is currently employed out of 15. The town is an
unemployment black spot.”
On his reasons for seeking election to the chairmanship, Ciaran
said: “I particularly wanted to improve the communications of the
Committee. We started to use
emails more; we developed contacts in every county, in nearly
every fire station in the Republic.
We also started to produce our
own newsletter.”
Improved communications has
increased the effectiveness of the
National Committee.
Jonathan said: “There are 21 stations in county Cork and there is a
rep in each but there are also two
or three people that will get an
email from me and will post that
on the notice board.
‘We had a meeting recently and
17 out of the 21 stations were represented and the other ones couldn’t attend because they were on
call.”
Mick Spillane adds that the increasing success of the Committee
is also due to the work of SIPTU
Organiser, Michael Wall. “There
really has been a big effort from
Michael. He has a wealth of knowledge and his organisational skills
are tremendous.”
Ciaran underlined that there
continues to be a “very strong interest” in the union throughout Co
Wexford.’
“We had a 16-week strike in 1995
and that shows the strength of the
workforce to hold out that long.”
There are currently five fire stations across Wexford, which has a
population of 146,000 people.
Ciaran’s station in Wexford
Town covers an area spanning
more than 621km2 with a population of 56,000.
Firefighters in the county are
currently seeking two extra fire
stations and for the Wexford Town
‘We live in
small towns
and everyone
knows who
you are and
you more than
likely either
know or know
of the people
involved in
the fire’
“This decision is not made on
any rational basis.”
Ciaran pointed out that the Fire
Service’s role was being “fudged”
and claimed that incidents that
were classified by management as
emergencies two or three years ago
were no longer classified as such.
He added: “This includes flooding and the requirement that other
situations must be life threatening
before you can turn out.”
But whatever changes are
attempted, it will never hamper
the commitment of retained
firefighter to help their local
communities.
Jonathan said: “We live in small
towns and everyone knows who
you are and you more than likely
either know or know of the people
involved in the fire.”
10
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
Docks veteran
still fighting the
good fight at age
of 89
By Scott Millar
WITH more than 70 years of
trade union activism behind
him, Eddie Fitzgerald is not
finished yet in his advocacy
for workers and working
class communities.
Eddie took part in many successful campaigns to improve conditions for ordinary people during
his nearly 50 years on the National
Executive of the Marine Port and
General Workers' Union (MPGWU)
and as a founder member of the
Irish Senior Citizens Parliament.
He did not lick his activism off a
stone as his father, Eddie, was a
founder member of the Irish
Citizen Army.
He joined the MPGWU in 1943
when he started work in the
Dublin Docks as a timber checker.
His job was to check the condition
of timber that arrived in the port
in monthly consignments from
Finland and Sweden.
Talking to Liberty, he said: “One
of the biggest achievements during
my time as a trade unionist was
getting the 44-hour week. The conditions when I started were completely deplorable.
“After the war was when most of
the timber yards opened up and
there were many people back
working in them after being in the
armed services. There were many
big strikes.
“The MPGWU had a lot of power.
Every time there was a factory
strike, they would come and apply
to the General Secretary of the
From left to right: Paul Kelly, SIPTU General President Jack O'Connor, Eddie
Fitzgerald, Lily Fitzgerald, Caroline Naughton and Paddy Moran. Photo: Sonia Slevin
MPGWU to see if he could help.
“The dockers would block all imports and exports for that factory.
That was a great weapon and that
is how they won many a strike because we would help one another.
There were many great achievements and battles.”
Eddie also witnessed much
change within trade unionism during his 48 years on the National Executive Committee of the MPGWU.
“During most of that time,
Jimmy Dunne was the General Secretary. He was a very prominent
and able trade unionist from the
50s to the 70s,” Eddie said.
“Votes at meetings used to be
done by a show of hands before
they brought in the secret ballot.
We had a job getting that across,
but the secret ballot made it more
comfortable for people to vote in
dignity. The show of hands could
mean it could be fairly rough at
times at meetings, fairly boisterous.”
Originally from the East Wall
community adjacent to the docks,
Eddie and his wife, Lily, were
among the first families to move to
the new housing estate of Finglas
during the 1950s. In Finglas they
reared a family of eight children.
However, the tight-knit community of dockworkers remained.
He remembered: “We used to get
on what was called the dockers’
bus, it was a people’s bus. It was a
special bus that would leave at ten
to seven every morning and bring
us down to the docks and we
would all get the bus back in the
evening at quarter past six.”
Eddie welcomed the amalgamation of the MPGWU with SIPTU in
1993. When he ended his activity
in trade unionism he found a new
cause in fighting for the rights of
pensioners.
Aged 89, he remains committed
to organising people to achieve
their rights.
Liberty
Elections
By Scott Millar
F
IGHTING a Dáil election is hard at any
time but in the middle
of a local election
campaign and with growing
voter unease about water
charges, few can doubt Loraine Mulligan's committment in going forward for
Labour in Dublin West.
However, SIPTU researcher
Loraine feels it is her duty to put
forward an agenda based on
defending workers rights.
“I
was
delighted
to
be approached by the local
constituency organisation and
Minster, Joan Burton, to run for
the party in this by-election. I’m
relishing the opportunity to put
forward our message.”
Surrounded by her campaign
team in a café in the Roselawn
shopping centre in Blanchardstown, she is upbeat about her
chances in a contest that was
brought about by the sudden resignation of Labour Party rebel,
Patrick Nulty, in March.
“I’ve been getting tremendous
support from the Labour Party parliamentary team, particularly Joan
Burton with whom I have been
canvassing. That stands me in good
stead because she very highly regarded in this area.”
On the challenges of fighting the
contest on the record of a coalition
government which also includes
MAY 2014
11
Delivering for workers
SIPTU researcher and Dáil
hopeful Loraine Mulligan
Fine Gael, Loraine is resolute.
“People have the sense that the
country has moved from a major
trough of crisis and recession to a
phase of at least stability. What
they want is to feel the recovery in
their pockets and their daily lives.
In particular, I’m picking up issues
related to the costs of childcare,
families stretched by mortgage and
rent payments.
“These are problems that the
Labour Party must and will heed.”
She believes part of solving the
crisis in the cost of living for many
is the Government fulfilling its
commitment under the Haddington Road Agreement to restore
public sector workers’ earnings
once economic recovery has begun.
“This will not only help the people directly but also the local economy with more money to spend and
as such assist workers in other sectors. It’s about generating jobs, getting people back to work for their
dignity and also to create a virtuous
cycle by generating revenue that we
can then invest in public services.”
Loraine defends Labour’s record
in government.
“Labour has succeeded in getting
the focus away from only cutting
services to ensuring that all of society contributes through taxes. We
have restored the Joint Labour
Committees for workers in many
low-paid sectors.
“On the doors that is a big issue,
the issue of decent work. It is now
the responsibility of the employers
to meet with workers’ representatives and negotiate fair agreements
on pay.”
Loraine’s own political journey
began in Trinity College where she
joined the university’s branch of
the Labour Party.
“I’m from north County Longford and came to Dublin to study
business and politics in Trinity. I
then did a Masters degree in
Bruges in Belgium.”
Among her passions is the
French language in which she is
fluent. After a period in Newstalk
Radio, she joined SIPTU as a researcher in 2008 where she has
been to the fore in developing policies in relation to new-style apprenticeships.
“I’ve seen the issues that are affecting working people. In my job
I have worked closely with union
officials in negotiations with employers to try and get the best deal
for workers in very difficult circumstances.”
These negotiation skills will undoubtedly be useful not only when
meeting voters in the housing estates of west Dublin but, if Loraine
does reach the Dáil, in dealing
with her coalition partners.
She adds: “It’s about taking a
practical approach which delivers
for workers rather than standing
on the sidelines and shouting
about it.”
SIPTU activist Costello walks the walk
By Jack O’Connor
Outgoing Dublin MEP Emer
Costello who is a member of
SIPTU has been an active trade
unionist all her working life.
She knows the precarious nature of the jobs market having
initially worked as a substitute teacher after graduating
from college in the 1980s.
Then she went on to work in the
community sector. Between 1988
and 1996 she worked with FÁS
trainee projects in Finglas, East
Wall and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. Her work entailed functioning as the equivalent of a heritage
officer teaching young people aged
between 18 and 25 about their history while they learned computer
skills, graphics and design as well
as research techniques for which
they acquired accredited qualifications.
One of those projects resulted in
rescuing the memory of the 1913
Lockout hero James Byrne from
oblivion. He was Branch Secretary
of Larkin’s incipient ITGWU in
Dun Laoghaire and died after engaging on a hunger and thirst
strike in protest at being framed
on a charge of intimidating scabs.
During those years, Emer was an
active member of IMPACT fighting
to persuade local management to
recognise the union.
Then she moved to Léargas, the
national agency for EU and transitional programmes in education,
training and youth. She joined
SIPTU and immediately threw herself into the battle to organise her
fellow workers and win union
recognition. It was precarious
work. Members were never sure of
their contracts as it was all subject
to approval for funding for the
next project. Later even though she
won promotion to a management
role she remained an active and
committed member of the union
and has done so ever since.
In 2004, she was elected to
Dublin City Council and became
Lord Mayor in 2009. While in that
role in the very depths of the crisis
Emer Costello
immediately following the collapse
of 2008 she set up a commission
on employment to promote job
creation in the city. In 2013, she
became an MEP, going on to serve
on the Employment and Social Affairs Committee working on issues
such as the Posted Workers Directive. The Youth Guarantee Scheme
is one of the major initiatives she
has championed in the EU Parliament and she is still fighting hard
for the ‘Global City, Creative City’
plan she commissioned as Lord
Mayor.
That plan prioritises training, education and development of existing partnership models in
communities to create jobs. Emer
also pioneered the introduction of
levies on derelict sites now coming
on stream as well as regeneration
projects to improve the infrastructure of the greater Dublin area.
As a life long and active trade
unionist, Emer Costello knows the
value of collective bargaining
rights for workers and for citizens.
She has a unique perspective on it
as she has fought for it at the front
lines along with her fellow workers in very precarious employments. She doesn’t just talk the
talk - she has walked the walk.
It is important that she is elected
because she is the only candidate
contesting for the Socialists and
Democrats group.
This group is still expected to
hold the balance of power in the
Parliament. Therefore it will retain
its capacity to defend workers in
Ireland and across Europe against
increasing pressure from the Right
in favour of diminishing workplace and social rights.
There are of course other good
candidates from the Left contesting the election. However, their
political groupings will not be large
enough to hold the balance of
power and will not be able to influence the course or direction of policy making in the parliament to
the same degree.
For these reasons we are recommending a vote for our member,
Emer Costello, and transferring
preferences down the line to all
the candidates from the Left in
order of choice.
12
Liberty
SIPTU members standing in Local Elections 2014
MAY 2014
Liam Hayes
Tipperary
County Council
Clonmel
Liam believes in community and community enterprises. He
was central to the development of the Cluain Training and Enterprise Centre in Clonmel, with the help of then junior minister,
Joan Burton. Cluain offers training and
supports employment places for up to 75
people with serious mental health issues. It
also provides employment to more than 20
people. Liam also established the Fethard &
District Day Care Centre for the Elderly
serving Fethard.
Michael
O’Brien
Kilkenny
County Council
Thomastown
As Deputy President of the Association of County &
City Councils (ACCC), Michael O’Brien
now holds the highest local democracy
position for Labour in Ireland. He was
first elected to Kilkenny County Council
in 1979. Michael has served as chairman
on numerous Labour Party and local government boards including the Irish Ports
Authority and the New Ross Harbour
Commissioners.
Brian McDowell
Dublin City
Council
Donaghmede
Brian lives in Donaghmede with his
wife Linda and
their two children.
Following the successful election of Sean Kenny TD to the
Dáil, Brian was co-opted on to Dublin
City Council. Since joining the council
he has focused on transport, anti-social
behaviour, the proper use of green
spaces and developing a co-ordinated
approach to planning.
Lalor McGee
Tipperary County Council
Nenagh
Elected to Nenagh town council in
2009, Lalor has been a member of staff
at Nenagh General Hospital for over 20
years. He is currently a SIPTU shop
steward. His priorities are community
based. In 2012 he collected 2,500 signatures for a petition to lobby the council
for a town park for Nenagh. As Mayor
in 2013 he signed the contract for the
development of a new town park and
leisure complex to be completed in
2014.
Ger Dunne
Kildare County
Council
Naas
Proud to have been
born and raised in
Naas, Ger is prepared to work hard
to make the town a
better place for its residents to live and
work in. A father of four, he places particular importance on developing better
recreational and sports facilities.
Pat Leahy
Kerry County
Council
Listowel
Pat
was
first
elected to Kerry
County Council in
1991. He works as
a delivery truck
driver at M J O’Carroll’s Hardware in Listowel. A particular issue of concern for
Pat is the referral of patients from North
Kerry to Cork University Hospital which
is 100 miles away. He is campaigning to
retain and improve all the services at
Kerry General Hospital.
Anton McCabe
Meath County Council
Navan
Anton was elected in the 2009 local
elections to Navan Town Council. As
Town Mayor, Anton dedicated himself to the community, delivering numerous projects including phase one
of the town park, an educational playground for children with special
needs and a monument in memory of
deceased miners at Tara Mines. He
was among the progressive politicians
who have ensured that local government in Navan is aimed at providing
for citizens rather than pandering to
vested interests. Anton serves as an
elected member of the SIPTU
National Executive.
Having previously
contested the local
elections in 1999,
James was delighted to be elected to represent his
local community in 2009. He has campaigned for better facilities in Trim. In
particular, one of his main goals is to
provide a separate building for the local
Post Office.
In late 2008 when
the reality of the
economic crisis
hit home, Duncan
joined the Labour Party, the only political party to oppose the disastrous bank
guarantee. He is active in local campaigns regarding planning, job losses,
better public transport and housing.
Ian is a part time
disability advocate with Sunbeam
House
Services,
Co.
Wicklow. As a home owner and having
experienced periods of unemployment
in the last five years he is acutely aware
of the challenges facing families in their
daily lives. His priorities include community planning for the future needs of
local families, improved cost effective
public transport and local employment
creation.
Ciaran is chairperson of his
local residents’
committee, and
assistant P.R.O. of
Castleblayney Tidy Towns. He serves as
Treasurer of the Monaghan Labour
Branch and secretary of the
Cavan/Monaghan Constituency Council. Issues of concern to Ciaran include
the retention of small businesses in
the area and the provision of employment.
James O’Shea
Meath County
Council
Trim
Duncan Smith
Fingal
County
Council
Swords
Ian McGahon
Wicklow
County Council
Greystones
Ciaran Connolly
Monaghan
County Council
Castleblayney
Aideen Carberry
Dublin City
Council
Rathfarnham
Aideen is a first
time candidate.
She first became
politically active
with the Labour Party in UCD in 2007.
She was involved in a number of
student union campaigns on access to
education and healthcare for students.
This led her on to study a Master's
degree in Public Affairs and Political
Communication in the Dublin
Institute of Technology. She is an
SIPTU Organiser in Health Division.
Sean Counihan
Kerry County
Council
Killarney
Sean has served
as chairman of
the Council of
Trade Unions in
Killarney, Mayor
of Killarney Town Council and the
town’s Industrial, Honours and Twinning committees. With 15 years’ experience in local politics and a lifetime of
involvement in community, sporting
and voluntary organisations, he is a
dedicated and tenacious public representative.
Dermot Lacey
Dublin City
Council
PembrokeRathmines
Dermot has been
a member of
Dublin City Council since 1993. He
has a long record
of youth work particularly within the
Scout Movement. He is a member of the
City of Dublin Youth Service Board.
Dermot was elected Lord Mayor of
Dublin for the period July 2002 to July
2003 and since its inception has been a
member of the Dublin City
Development Board.
14
Liberty
SIPTU members standing in Local Elections 2014
MAY 2014
Tim Attwood
Belfast City Council
Upper Falls
David Lane
Waterford
County Council
Tramore/
Waterford City
West
David Lane is married with two children. He has been
a trade union activist for over 35 years,
the last 18 as a full-time Organiser with
SIPTU. David was elected President of the
Waterford Council of Trade Unions, sat
on the board of the Port of Waterford and
was also a member of the Adult Education Sub-committee of the Waterford
VEC. He currently works in the Utilities
and Construction Division of SIPTU.
Edmond Lukusa
Fingal County
Council
Mulhuddart
Edmond has lived
with his wife
Jeanne and two
young children in
Mulhuddart for the
past seven years. He was born in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and
he moved to Ireland in 2001. Edmond
joined Sinn Féin in Dublin in 2007 after
he became an Irish citizen. Edmond is
also actively involved in a local
Racism/Integration Issues Forum as a
community representative.
Jim McVeigh
Belfast City
Council
Lower Falls
Jim is a former
chairperson
of
Belfast Sinn Féin
and has also
served as the
party’s National Recruitment Officer.
He was co-opted on to Belfast City Council in 2010. Active in the Clonard Residents' Association and community
campaigns in the Falls, Jim was a leading
activist in SIPTU before becoming an
Organiser in the Manufacturing Division
in 2013.
Peter Bateson
Mid Ulster
Council
Moyola
Peter is a strong
voice for social
justice and
worker’s rights.
He has campaigned against privatisation
of public services at a local level. An effective local councillor and community
activist, he has more than 10 years experience in local government. Peter is a Director on Irish Central Border Area
Network (ICBAN) a vital and strategic
cross border group.
Kathleen
Funchion
Kilkenny County
Council
West Area
Kathleen is married to David Cullinane; the couple
have two young
sons. She was elected to Kilkenny Borough Council in 2009; she was the first
Sinn Féin representative to be elected
in Kilkenny since 1923. Kathleen is an
advocate with SIPTU and is currently
studying at postgraduate level in employment law. She intends to be a voice
for working people on Kilkenny County
Council.
Deirdre Hargey
Belfast City
Council
Laganbank
Deirdre is from
the Market community in South
Belfast. In November 2010 she was nominated by partyactivists in the Laganbank constituency
to be co-opted on to Belfast City Council. Deirdre is a member of the Sinn
Féin trade union group, has been involved in community activism for over
10 years, and has worked on issues
such as social housing, social security
benefits, youth issues, community
safety, health, physical and economic
regeneration.
Maurice
Quinlivan
Limerick City
Council
Limerick City
North
Maurice
was
elected to Limerick City Council in
2009. He is a member of several community groups including Moyross Residents Forum, Northside Regeneration
Committee and Nicholas Street Action
Group. Maurice is known as a very active, energetic and outspoken representative. He is a prominent critic of the
Local Property Tax and Water Charges.
Tim is a SIPTU member and was first elected to Belfast
City Council in May 2005. As a local councillor for the
SDLP he has worked hard to make the community a
cleaner, better and safer place to live. In particular, he
has focused on tackling anti-social behaviour, planning
and the regeneration of the local area.
James Coughlan
Cork City
Council
North West
James is the
Workers’ Party
local representative for the North
West of Cork City. A general operative
working in the Cleansing Department
of Cork City Council, James is the former Chairman of the Cork Local Authority Section of SIPTU. He has
prioritised the need to take action about
the lack of social housing in Cork which
could be partly resolved by refurbishing
the large number of council properties
which are boarded up.
Owen Martin
Dublin City
Council
Ballymun
Owen is a long-term
SIPTU member and
campaigner for working class interests.
A member of the support staff in the Mater
Hospital, he has been active in politics with
the Workers’ Party for more than 30 years.
Owen is opposed to the water tax and is calling
for the building of more social housing.
Michael Finnegan
South Dublin County Council
Lucan/Palmerstown
Michael is a long-term community activist who played a
leading role in local campaigns against corruption and for
better services for working class areas. He is a former
SIPTU Organiser and building worker. Michael was elected
President of the Workers’ Party in 2008. His top priorities
are defending workers’ rights and opposing austerity.
INDEPENDENT
Paul Nolan
Meath County Council
Ashbourne
Paul works in Dunboyne as a welder. Paul is particularly concerned with the lack of a Social Welfare
office in Ashbourne. People have to travel to the office in Finglas every time an issue arises. Being involved in sport, Paul is struck by the lack of
facilities being made available by the council. He is
a lifelong member of SIPTU.
Cllr Barry Nevin
Wicklow County Council
Bray
Barry has been involved with the Credit Union in a
voluntary capacity for 15 years. He also has 20 years
of experience as a Civil Defence volunteer. His
priorities include opposition to property tax and
water charges. Barry works at Dublin Airport as a
police fire officer and is a shop steward for SIPTU.
Liberty
Economy
MAY 2014
15
Not at all safe as houses
is quite happy to see prices recover
vigorously. The younger age cohort
who bought at or near the peak are
looking forward to erasing their
negative equity, and perhaps trading up if they need to do so.
The banks are keen to see higher
prices because it means they will
lose less money on repossessed
houses. For these reasons, the Government is also happy as more of
their potential voters are winners
than losers as a result of rising
prices while the banks are less
likely to need fresh injections of
capital.
In fact, there are two supply
shortages: credit and homes in
urban areas.
While boosting credit for family
By
Vic Duggan
W
E ARE a nation
obsessed with the
price of bricks
and mortar. During the heady days of the
Celtic Tiger, people would
marvel that they were ‘earning’ more through the increase in the value of their
home than in their wages.
Having peaked in 2007, prices
cratered and many of the same
people, mortgaged to the hilt, were
acutely aware of just how deep a
‘negative equity’ hole they were in.
A textbook
‘bubble’, fuelled
by a toxic mix
of easy credit,
frantic speculation
and suspended
belief
The run-up in prices in the
decade to 2007 was a textbook
‘bubble’, fuelled by a toxic mix of
easy credit, frantic speculation and
suspended belief.
When the bubble burst, prices
more than halved and the number
of homes being bought and sold –
along with the credit to finance
them – dried up.
Flash forward to 2014, and there
is much talk of another ‘mini-bubble’ in house prices, centred
around Dublin, and South Dublin
in particular. While it is true that
the price of homes in Dublin enjoyed double-digit growth in 2013,
So why is more
not being done
to build houses
and help young
families get a
place of their
own?
there is little evidence that suggests this is in any way a bubble
comparable to the pre-2007 period.
Firstly, credit is still scarce and
the market is dominated by cash
buyers.
Secondly, while the number of
transactions is increasing, it is still
far below where it should be if the
market were back to normal.
Thirdly, prices are now roughly
in line with international measures of affordability relative to
rents and incomes.
Fourthly, prices – both in Dublin
and nationally – are still only a little over half their peak 2007 level
despite the increase in 2013.
Even after their 15% rise in 2013,
Dublin prices are still further off
their peak than the rest of the
country, having fallen further in
the first place. This is not a bubble!
What we have is a supply shortage: despite all the helter-skelter
building since the turn of the century, there is a relative scarcity of
family-sized homes in Dublin and
other urban centres of employment.
There are a number of reasons
for this, not least the debt hangover that still affects the construction and banking sectors. Building
is slowly starting to recover, but remains far below where it needs to
be to meet the housing needs of
our growing population.
So why is more not being done
to build houses and help young
families get a place of their own?
After the turmoil of the last six
years, there is an alignment of interests to support rising prices,
even if this means that a cohort of
prospective buyers are getting
priced out of the market, or can’t
get a loan in the first place.
Having seen much of their paper
wealth evaporate, property-owning, middle-aged ‘middle Ireland’
firms and small businesses is vital
to our economic recovery, and
more freely available mortgages
will ultimately be necessary for a
return to normality in the housing
market, it’s important that policymakers get the sequencing right.
If more mortgage credit comes
on stream before the housing
shortage is addressed, there will
simply be more money chasing the
same number of houses, further
driving up prices and putting family homes out of reach of ordinary
families.
Of course, some may be quite
happy with that!
16
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
The term of office of the General Secretary is due to
expire in October, 2014. Sector Committees are invited
to nominate one candidate for the position of General
Secretary.
For transparency and oversight, SIPTU National Executive
has appointed Joe Carr of Mazars as the Returning Officer
for these nominations and any subsequent election.
The closing date for nominations is not later than 1.00
p.m. on Friday, 30th May.
In the event of a contest, an election shall take place at a
Special Delegate Conference in Autumn 2014.
Link Rent Supplement to
rreal
eal rrent
ent levels to help keep
families in their homes
Tra de union acti vis ts from I reland and
Britain took part in the annual Jim C onne ll
Red Fl ag Festiv al i n C o. Meath, in e arly
Ma y. The Fes tiv al concl uded w ith a march
a nd ral ly i n Cross aki el on Sunda y, 3rd
Ma y. Jim C onne ll the writer of the red
Flag was born in the vi llage in 1852 .
TTAKE
AKE ACTION
ACTIOON - GO TO: www
www.focusireland.ie
.focusireland.ie
JUSTICE FOR THE FORGOTTEN
40th Anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
Dublin
Monaghan
11.30 am: Wreath-laying ceremony at
Talbot Street Memorial
2.30 pm: Inter-denominational
wreath-laying ceremony at the Memorial,
Church Square, Monaghan Town
Saturday, 17th May 2014
Wreaths will be laid by An Taoiseach,
Lord Mayor of Dublin and Cathaoirleach
of Monaghan Town Council
The annual oration will be delivered
by author and historian, Tim Pat Coogan
12.45 pm: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin
will concelebrate Mass in St. Mary’s
Pro-Cathedral, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1
2.15 pm: Light refreshments will be provided
in the Ripley Court Hotel, 37 Talbot Street
(courtesy of Dublin City Council)
Sunday, 18th May 2014
Wreaths will be laid by Cathaoirleach
of Monaghan Town Council and Mayor
of Monaghan County Council
Light refreshments after the ceremony
in St. Patrick’s Church Hall (courtesy of
Monaghan Town Council)
For more information email: [email protected]
A PROJECT OF THE PAT FINUCANE CENTRE
Liberty
MAY 2014
New Collective Bargaining
law approved
By Jack O’Connor
T
HE Government has approved a new law to support
the right of workers to participate in collective bargaining with their employers. It will
also provide protection against victimisation for seeking to exercise
one’s rights under the measure as
well as restricting attempts by employers to incentivise people against
using it.
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by the European Court of Human
Rights, (ECHR) and the International
Labour Organisation, (ILO) as a human
right. It is crucially important irrespective
of whatever other laws apply regarding peoples’ rights at work because it is central to
the distribution of the benefits of output.
Moreover, it is also key to the standards of
living of workers whose employers already
recognise their unions because unless we
can force the others to negotiate, standards
generally will be driven down over time.
This process is very much in evidence in
Ireland today manifesting itself in the proliferation of zero hours contacts and a
whole range of other practices detrimental
to workers. The proposed law is designed
to overcome the major impediment posed
by the way the Supreme Court has interpreted the constitutional entitlement of
Freedom of Association as freedom for employers not to recognise unions or independent workers’ organisations.
In a decision in favour of Ryanair against
the Pilot’s Union IALPA in 2007 the Court
said “Ryanair is perfectly entitled not to
deal with trade unions nor can a law be
passed compelling it to do so“. This means
that it would require a referendum to
change the Constitution to enable a law to
be enacted providing for trade union recognition.
Accordingly, the new law will provide for
a right to collective bargaining and will set
out a means by which workers, through
their trade unions, may obtain a binding
decision from the Labour Court providing
for improvements to their pay or terms of
employment if the employer refuses recognition. It will not be open to such employers to obtain binding decisions.
We in SIPTU did not support the original
Lisbon Treaty because the government of
the day refused to commit to legislate to
give effect to the entitlement to collective
bargaining, which is enshrined in Article 28
of the Charter of Fundamental Rights,
which is included in it. The referendum
was lost. When the question of a second
referendum came up, the leader of the
Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore, TD, who is
now Tánaiste, committed, that if we supported it, Labour, when next in Government, would promote a law to support
collective bargaining rights for workers.
The second referendum overwhelmingly
approved the Treaty. The commitment was
included in the Party’s election manifesto
in 2011 and they managed to negotiate it
into the Programme for Government for the
first time in the history of the state.
Over the past several months, a sub-committee of the Executive Council of Congress
has been in contact with the relevant government officials to progress the issue.
SIPTU Vice-President, Patricia King, who is
also a Vice-President of Congress, led for
the union in these discussions.
The measure still has a considerable way
to go before it is enacted by both houses of
the Oireachtas and signed by the President.
Heavy lobbying can be expected behind the
scenes against it by the business and employer organisations. However, obtaining
Government approval for the measure is a
key and crucial step in pursuit of an objective for which we have been fighting since
the 1913 Lockout.
17
Liberty
MAY 2014
New Collective Bargaining
law approved
By Jack O’Connor
T
HE Government has approved a new law to support
the right of workers to participate in collective bargaining with their employers. It will
also provide protection against victimisation for seeking to exercise
one’s rights under the measure as
well as restricting attempts by employers to incentivise people against
using it.
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by the European Court of Human
Rights, (ECHR) and the International
Labour Organisation, (ILO) as a human
right. It is crucially important irrespective
of whatever other laws apply regarding peoples’ rights at work because it is central to
the distribution of the benefits of output.
Moreover, it is also key to the standards of
living of workers whose employers already
recognise their unions because unless we
can force the others to negotiate, standards
generally will be driven down over time.
This process is very much in evidence in
Ireland today manifesting itself in the proliferation of zero hours contacts and a
whole range of other practices detrimental
to workers. The proposed law is designed
to overcome the major impediment posed
by the way the Supreme Court has interpreted the constitutional entitlement of
Freedom of Association as freedom for employers not to recognise unions or independent workers’ organisations.
In a decision in favour of Ryanair against
the Pilot’s Union IALPA in 2007 the Court
said “Ryanair is perfectly entitled not to
deal with trade unions nor can a law be
passed compelling it to do so“. This means
that it would require a referendum to
change the Constitution to enable a law to
be enacted providing for trade union recognition.
Accordingly, the new law will provide for
a right to collective bargaining and will set
out a means by which workers, through
their trade unions, may obtain a binding
decision from the Labour Court providing
for improvements to their pay or terms of
employment if the employer refuses recognition. It will not be open to such employers to obtain binding decisions.
We in SIPTU did not support the original
Lisbon Treaty because the government of
the day refused to commit to legislate to
give effect to the entitlement to collective
bargaining, which is enshrined in Article 28
of the Charter of Fundamental Rights,
which is included in it. The referendum
was lost. When the question of a second
referendum came up, the leader of the
Labour Party, Eamon Gilmore, TD, who is
now Tánaiste, committed, that if we supported it, Labour, when next in Government, would promote a law to support
collective bargaining rights for workers.
The second referendum overwhelmingly
approved the Treaty. The commitment was
included in the Party’s election manifesto
in 2011 and they managed to negotiate it
into the Programme for Government for the
first time in the history of the state.
Over the past several months, a sub-committee of the Executive Council of Congress
has been in contact with the relevant government officials to progress the issue.
SIPTU Vice-President, Patricia King, who is
also a Vice-President of Congress, led for
the union in these discussions.
The measure still has a considerable way
to go before it is enacted by both houses of
the Oireachtas and signed by the President.
Heavy lobbying can be expected behind the
scenes against it by the business and employer organisations. However, obtaining
Government approval for the measure is a
key and crucial step in pursuit of an objective for which we have been fighting since
the 1913 Lockout.
17
18
Liberty
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
MAY 2014
SIPTU Vice-President,
Patricia King, sets out the
detail of the proposed
legislation on Collective
Bargaining.
Patricia King
TRADE UNION POSITION:
Act must include definition which is robust, in line
with International Labour Organisation (ILO) and
must not include term ‘Consultation’.
Where an employer chooses to rely upon collective
bargaining (as defined) with an Excepted Body (as
defined) then the Excepted Body should be independent of the employer in terms of its freedom to
come to an agreed solution on the matter in hand.
The following text will be inserted in the Act:
“In determining if the body is an excepted body
within the meaning of the 2001/2004 Acts the
Labour Court shall have regard to the extent to
which the body is independent and not under the
domination and control of the employer or trade
union of employers with which it engages or negotiates, in terms of its establishment, functioning and
administration. In this regard, the Court shall take
into account:
(a). The manner of election of employees,
GOVERNMENT POSITION:
Definition as follows: ‘For the purposes of this Act,
collective bargaining comprises voluntary engagements or negotiations between any employer or
employers’ organisation on the one hand and a trade
union of workers or excepted body on the other,
with the object of reaching agreement regarding
working conditions or terms of employment or non
employment of workers.’
Should remain as per 1990 Act.
Should remain as per 1990 Act.
Excepted Body
Excepted Body must be:
Independent of Employer Structure
Not dominated by the employer
Financially independent of Employer
Not used to replace Trade Unions.
Government Position: The definition of Excepted
body should remain unchanged from Section 6 of
the Trade Unions Acts 1941/1942
19
Excepted Body (continued)
Definition of Collective Bargaining
Definition of a Trade Dispute
Liberty
MAY 2014
(b). The frequency of elections of employees,
(c). Any financing or resourcing of the body
beyond de minimus logistical support, and
(d). The length of time the body has been in
existence and any prior collective bargaining
between the employer and the body.
In effect, this test will be applied by the Court when
determining if collective bargaining is in place as
provided for in the current section 2(1)(a) of the
Act. It will be made clear in the Act that the reference to parties means the excepted body and the
employer.
Right of Access for Excepted Bodies
That a trade union alone should have access to
process cases through this legislation.
Government Position: Within the context of this Act,
Excepted bodies will not have a right of access or a
right to initiate the processes under the Act. This
in effect means that it will be a matter for a trade
union alone to initiate the processes under the
legislation.
Substantially Representative
requirement
There should not be a pre-condition or ‘substantially
representative’ clause prior to making a claim under
the legislation.
It is recognised that the processes under this
legislation are not appropriate to disputes involving
very small numbers of workers.
(a) The court shall decline to conduct an investigation
of a trade dispute where it is satisfied that the
number of workers party to the trade dispute
is such as to be insignificant having regard to
the total number of workers employed by the
employer in the group, grade or category to
which the trade dispute refers.
b) In determining (a) above, the Court will not admit
a claim under this Act where the grade, group or
category of worker to which the trade dispute
refers is itself part of a larger related grade, group
or category of workers unless there are particular
reasons that the grade, group or category of
workers to whom the trade dispute refers should
have such a claim admitted.
Accordingly, for the purpose of initiating a process of
establishing the position when referring the matter to
the Labour Court it is proposed to legislate as follows:
‘A statement made under the Statutory Declarations
Act 1938 by the General Secretary or equivalent of the
trade union(s) concerned, setting out the number of
its members and period of membership in the grade,
group or category to which the trade dispute refers
and who are party to the trade dispute, shall be
admissible in evidence without further proof’.
In terms of initiating the process with the Advisory
Service of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) –
prior to the referral to the Labour Court – the trade
union will be required to set out the issues and
identify the grade, group or category of workers.
Burden of Proof
Burden of proof should revert to the employer.
‘Where an employer asserts to the Labour Court
that it is the practice of the employer to engage in
collective bargaining with an excepted body in respect of the grade, group or category of workers
concerned, it is a matter for the employer to satisfy
the Labour Court that this is the case’.
Note: where this evidence is contested, there may be
a requirement for an employee to give oral evidence.
This is unavoidable for reasons of natural justice. This
principle has been laid down by the Supreme Court to
the Labour Court. (Issues on victimisation are dealt
with under a separate section.)
Repeated use of Act
This provision should not prohibit a trade union
revisiting the issues within the timeframe in the
event of material change on the part of the employer.
Government Position; ‘The Labour Court shall not
admit an application by a group, grade, or category of
worker to which the trade dispute applies where the
Court has made a recommendation or determination
in relation to the same group, grade or category of
worker in respect of the same employer in the previous 18 months.’
The Minister proposes to allow application to re-enter
by the same grade, group or category in exceptional
circumstances where the employer has resiled from a
previously accepted Labour Court recommendation or
determination or where there has been materially
adverse change to terms and conditions.
Labour Court
Policies and
Principles
Principles must be fair
and reasonable.
When examining the terms
and conditions of any
employer the Labour Court
will take into account:
• the totality of
remuneration and of
terms and conditions of
employment and
• Comparators (both
internal and external),
where available, which will
comprise both unionised
and non-unionised
employers.
• The Labour Court shall
have regard to the
sustainability of the
employer’s business in
the long-term.
20 Liberty
MAY 2014
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Code of Practice Timelines
Termination of Employment Contract
Timelines should remain unchanged.
‘It is not proposed to amend the 26-34 week period allowed under
the Code but it is proposed to double the initial reply period from
2 to 4 weeks and for the period within which the LRC seeks to
resolve the matter voluntarily from 6 to 8 weeks’.
Specific Protection for Trade Union
Members/Activities
Interim Injunctive Relief should be available in such
circumstances.
‘It is proposed to provide protection by way of
allowing Interim Relief to be applied for in the
Circuit Court in circumstances where a dismissal
is being challenged on the grounds of unfairness
arising from an individual believing that he/she is
being victimised as a result of invoking through the
trade union or acting as witness, comparator for the
provisions of the 2001/2004 Acts.
In this context the Government will include
additional protections:
Implement the findings of the Wilson judgement in the
context of inducements.
Government position: It is proposed that the Code of Practice
(S.I. No. 139 of 2004) be amended to address the issues raised
in the Wilson judgement in the context of inducements being
identified clearly as a form of victimisation.
In this context, section 8 of the Industrial Relations Act (IR)
2004 currently makes statutory provision to prohibit any
particular form of victimisation specified in the Code and
consequently inclusion in this Code has full statutory effect.
Additionally, in the context of the proposed new workplace
relations legislation it is intended to provide that a
determination in this regard by the Labour Court (upon
appeal from a Workplace Relations Commission Adjudicator)
will be enforceable at District Court level by Order and where
non-compliance by the employer with such an Order will
constitute a criminal offence.
It is intended that the enhancement of protection
for victimisation applying to individuals that are
victimised as a result of invoking through the trade
union, or acting as witness, comparator for the
provisions of the 2001/2004 Acts will be
incorporated in the legislative changes proposed.
“Victimisation” in the context of
on-going Employment Relationship
Victimisation should be a criminal offence.
It is proposed that remediating ongoing and/or
proven victimisation where the employment
relationship has not been terminated be dealt with
in the context of enhanced and more robust
enforcement of the current sections 9,10 and 13
of the IR Act 2004 by way of the proposed new
Workplace Relations legislation.
This will provide for early intervention by the Early
Resolution Service, decision by and Adjudicator
determination by the Labour Court that is
enforceable at District Court level by Order and
where non-compliance by the employer with such
an order will constitute a criminal offence.
Liberty
Supporting Quality
MAY 2014
SU
PPORTING QU
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QUALITY
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21
22 Liberty
MAY 2014
Liberty View
By JACK O’CONNOR
SIPTU General President
LibertyView
Strategic vote needed in
Euro and local elections
During the last general election in
the Republic we recommended
voting Labour and transferring
preferences to the other parties
and individuals on the left. We
did so in the hope of helping to
bring about a left-led Government, thus effecting a decisive
shift in favour of working people
and those who depend most on
public services, for the first time
in the history of the State.
However, the inconvenient
truth is that Labour didn’t get
the mandate. Indeed less than
one in five voted for them.
Today many believe that “Labour has broken its promises”. However, any objective analysis of the facts
proves otherwise. Yes, Labour did seek a mandate to
defend child benefit, free tuition fees at third level and
many other aspects of public provision. In seeking the
mandate they set out in detail, in their manifesto as to
how they intended to do it. They proposed extending
the adjustment period to 2016, requiring the better off
to contribute more through a series of specific tax
changes along with establishing a Strategic Investment
Bank to fund the creation of tens of thousands of jobs.
However, the inconvenient truth is that Labour didn’t
get the mandate. Indeed less than one in five voted for
them. Worse, almost 60% opted for those who had
pretty much guaranteed the rich that they would continue to be required to contribute little or nothing.
Overall, while almost 40% of the people voted for the
“Left”, twice as many as ever before, they didn’t generally transfer their preferences down the line. Partly
as a consequence of this, Fine Gael obtained a 16-seat
“bonus” in excess of that justified by their share of the
vote and came within a hair’s breath of being able to
form a single party Government with the support of a
handful of right wing independents.
If the Labour Party had been focused on its own interests, as many allege, it would have prioritised its future
electoral prospects and certainly would not have gone
into Government against the background of the most
serious economic crisis in the history of the state. This
would have resulted in either a FG/FF Government, a
FG Government, supported from the outside by FF or
in another election which FG would have almost certainly won against the background of impending national catastrophe. Instead, Labour chose to negotiate
the best compromise it could with a poor hand in the
worst of times.
Many people believe it has made no difference, but
this simply isn’t true. Granted, we do not know exactly
how things would have worked out, but we do know
what FG leaders told us they would do in their election
manifesto. They committed to reducing the gap between tax revenue and public spending to 3% of GDP
on the basis of a 73% to 27% breakdown between cuts
and taxes. They also declared that they would achieve
it by Budget 2014 (growth permitting). The arithmetic
doesn’t lie. If Labour had not gone into the Government, this agenda would have been implemented. It
would have entailed public spending cuts of about
€1.5bn or 25% more than those which have actually
materialised, (or well in excess of €2bn more if FG’s
2014 deadline had applied). Moreover, if that party had
been reliant on a handful of right-wing independents,
even the more moderate elements would have been
side-lined and a more extreme strategy would have
been followed. We can only speculate on the conse-
quences for public service workers and those who depend most on the services they provide.
Labour managed, for example, to prevent cuts in the
basic rates of social welfare, preserve the pupil- teacher
ratio and ensure a negotiated agreement on public
service pay despite all its faults. This was achieved despite the role of the ECB/EU/IMF Troika and the fact
that we had the highest budget deficit in the Eurozone
– exceeding even that of Greece.
On public enterprise, Fine Gael in its Éire Nua policy,
envisaged raising €10bn through the sale of State
assets. This would have meant the wholesale sell-off
of all our public enterprises including ports and
airports as well as the capacity to generate energy and
Labour managed, for example, to prevent cuts in the
basic rates of social welfare,
preserve the pupil teacher
ratio and ensure a negotiated
agreement on public service
pay despite all its faults.
a whole range of other utilities, at bargain basement
prices. Labour, which had sought a mandate to
oppose sell-offs, managed to reduce the €10bn to
“up to €2bn” and then only when market conditions
were right and proper regulation was in place to
protect consumers, in the agreed Programme for
Government.
Both parties committed to restoring the minimum
wage which had been cut by the previous Government.
However, Fine Gael had also declared its intention to
“reform” the Joint Labour Committee(JLC) and Registered Employment Agreement (REA) infrastructures.
These had protected the pay and conditions of employment of hundreds of thousands of mostly lower paid
workers since 1946 and they had also provided the
Liberty
Liberty View
“threshold of decency” for standards in the workplace
across the entire economy. All those who are familiar
with the word “reform” in industrial relations terms
know that it usually means “abolish”. Labour managed
to secure retention of these critical elements of worker
protection. However, they have since been very conveniently struck out by the courts on the application of
some elements among the employers.
Labour then had to go back into Cabinet and persuade
Fine Gael to enact new legislation reinstating them.
Admittedly, they will not be as robust as they were
because of the need to avoid their being struck down by
the courts again.
Irrespective of the extent of legal protection for individual
workers’ rights, the key to progress is through Collective
Bargaining. It is through this process that the benefits of
output are distributed as between labour and capital. That
is why it is under attack across the entire capitalist world
in one way or another. We never had a legal right to collective bargaining here. Yet for the first time in the history
of the state, Labour managed to negotiate a commitment
to strengthen the legal framework for it into the Programme for Government. That legislation has been agreed
at cabinet and is now nearing finalisation (see pages 1720).
No party on the Left should
pass up its capacity to
influence the agenda unless
there is the prospect of a more
left of centre Government
being elected.
People will say ok, fair enough, but it has still been hell Labour should have done more. Well, they could have
pulled out of Government at any time in the last three
years, but it’s a good job they didn’t, because if they had
the subsequent general election would have resulted in
an administration much further to the right. No party on
the Left should pass up its capacity to influence the
agenda unless there is the prospect of a more left of
centre Government being elected.
This will not happen unless the Left can provide a credible alternative offering a cohesive strategy in the context
of a globalised economy – not simply being against everything. Even today despite all that has happened there
seems to be little prospect of it. Although the combined
“Left” attracted twice as many votes in the last general
election than ever before (almost 40%) and despite the involvement of many good and selfless people, it remains
comprised of a multiplicity of parties, groups and individuals ruthlessly vying for dominance and united on
nothing. Meanwhile, the interests of those at the top of
society remain secure in the hands of two centre-right
parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, which would comfortably win an overall majority between them, on the basis
of even their worst opinion polls, if there were an election tomorrow.
MAY 2014
We all know that Labour would
be immensely more popular
today if it had stayed out of
Government and left the people
to the tender mercies of whatever combination of the
Centre-Right prevailed.
It is of course entirely legitimate for a party on the Left
to stand aside from Government in the hope of winning
more support in the longer term without compromising
the integrity of its purpose. However, that course is not
open to us as trade unionists charged with defending
working people in good times and in bad and getting the
best deal possible. We cannot play Roulette with our
members’ lives.
We all know that Labour would be immensely more popular today if it had stayed out of Government and left the
people to the tender mercies of whatever combination of
the Centre-Right prevailed. But the price of that popularity would have been paid for in terms of considerably
more misery for working people and those who depend
most on public services.
At the end of the day it comes down to the distinction
between making a noise and making a difference. Crucial
battles remain to be fought to prevent any further cuts
and to restore some benefit to working people against the
background of a slowly recovering economy. It is argued
that a major defeat for Labour in the election will make
things better. It won’t. It will actually undermine its mandate and embolden the political right within the Government.
At the end of the day it comes
down to the distinction between
making a noise and making a
difference.
In the longer term all those on the serious progressive
Left, including the Labour Party, have a responsibility to
overcome their differences to provide a serious, credible
alternative. Until that day comes, these great battles are
best fought within Government. Therefore, we have to
hope that one or other of the parties on the Left will always demonstrate the courage to participate in Coalitions
with the Centre-Right to defend civil society, despite the
consequences for their electoral prospects. That is why it
is still the wisest course to vote Labour and transfer our
preferences down the line to all the other progressive parties and individuals on the Left.
23
24 Liberty
MAY 2014
Economy
By
Micheál
Collins
T
HE impact of the various austerity measures over recent years
has been, and continues to be, felt by families in
every corner of the country.
Whether it is pay, public services
or social welfare; all measures
point towards a drop in living standards that has been hard felt.
Recent data from the CSO quantified the average decrease in income for households since 2008 at
14% – of course it has been much
more difficult for households on
mid-to-low incomes to absorb this
decrease.
The most recent NERI Quarterly
Economic Observer (Spring 2014)
points towards a slow recovery in
the Irish economy over this year
and the next. After almost six years
of austerity, growth is slowly re-
ROADMAP TO A
BETTER IRELAND
As the longoverdue recovery
begins to emerge,
it is time we as a
nation considered
what type of
Ireland we want to
live in...
emerging with notable reductions
in unemployment and increases in
employment.
The combined impact of higher
growth, recovering consumer
spending, more tax revenue and
less social welfare spending is impacting positively on the Government’s finances. The outlook
suggests that there will be less
pressure for austerity measures in
October’s budget (Budget 2015).
As the long-overdue recovery begins to emerge, it seems time that
we as a nation begin to consider
the type of Ireland we want to live
in.
Aside from this being a longoverdue national discussion we
have avoided for decades, the lack
of a ground-plan for our future
socio-economic direction only increases the chances that we slip
back to previous ways.
It is important that such a discussion occurs and that is it broadbased and inclusive of the diverse
views that make up our society.
Economists, like myself, bring
one set of views (around taxes,
government spending and public
services), while others offer different and equally valid perspectives.
and for all.
To me, the choice of high-quality
efficient publicly-provided services
seems obvious – but let’s decide
rather than muddle along as we
have done in recent years.
• A decent income, through decent work and a decent social welfare system, needs to underpin
living standards for all individuals
and households across the life-cycle
from childhood to retirement.
• We need to once and for all
break away from the burden of
high property prices (and consequently high rents) that impact so
severely on the living standards of
households – most particularly
those on low and middle incomes.
We cannot afford to inflict another generation with mortgages
and rents that so consume their income that they have limited funds
left each month to make ends
meet.
• Could we fundamentally transform our system of childhood education so that all children can
receive two to three years of early
childhood education? And that all
primary schools are properly
equipped – classroom prefabs
should become a thing of the past.
We radically transformed our na-
Closing income
divides and
addressing
educational
disadvantage all
require active
policy initiatives and
investment
We do not want to
go back to the Ireland
of the early 2000s –
although times were
good for many, it was
an unsustainable position that has cost us
dearly
Indeed, there have been excellent contributions to date over a
series of lectures and public addresses from President Higgins on
an ethical economy and the development of an inclusive and creative society.
Similarly, the latest Social Justice
Ireland publication, Steps Towards
a Fairer Future, points towards
some of the ingredients for a more
sustainable future.
Wearing an economist’s hat, a
few questions and thoughts strike
me as we think about the ideal
shape of the future:
• We do not want to go back to
the Ireland of the early 2000s – although times were good for many,
it was an unsustainable position
that has cost us dearly.
• We need to decide as a country
whether we want to deliver key
services through the public sector
or the private sector (not far from
the Boston versus Berlin question
of a few years ago). It can be either
but we need to decide on it once
tional road network – could we do
something similar for children?
• Could we reform working patterns and lifestyles to make them
more family-friendly? In many jobs
(not all) workers could work four
long days rather than five shorter
ones – why not?
• If we want a more inclusive society, we will need to take measures to actively pursue this.
Closing income and earnings divides, addressing education disadvantages etc will all require active
policy initiatives and investment.
While there are many other
changes, goals and objectives (too
many to mention here), the few
outlined above illustrate the need
for us as a society to start thinking
about where we are going.
Achieving these, while simultaneously retaining a stable fiscal position, requires greater socio-economic
planning.
Across the divides (left, right
etc.) there may be marginal differences in outlook and implementation, but overall as a nation we
should be able to pull together a
roadmap towards a better Ireland.
Dr Micheál Collins is Senior Research
Officer at the Nevin Economic Research
Institute (NERI). See www.NERInstitute.net
Liberty
Comment
MAY 2014
25
There is a spectre
haunting Europe
From Greece to France, the
Netherlands to Finland and Denmark
to Britain, parties of the extreme right
are in resurgence and threaten to get
a hold on a significant number of
European Parliament seats
T
HE Eurosceptics of
UKIP in Britain, the
Golden Dawn in
Greece, Front National
in France, the Finns, the Danish People’s Party and the
Dutch Freedom Party are not
only united in their antagonism to immigrants but to the
very notion of a social Europe.
The Front National led by Marine
Le Pen, on about 24%, seems comfortably on course to win at least 20
of France's 74 seats. Nigel Farage's
europhobic Ukip, which according
to the most recent poll enjoys more
than 30% support from those who
say they will definitely vote, should
also finish top or a close second,
and seize a similar number of the
UK's 73 seats.
The fiscally left but socially conservative Finns party, which supports the welfare state and marriage
and strongly opposes immigration,
captured nearly 40 seats in the
Finnish parliament after the 2011
election. Currently polling at about
18%, it could field up to a quarter of
Finland's 13 MEPs.
In Denmark the anti-immigrant
Danish People's party is ahead on
27%; Austria's Freedom party (FPO),
which campaigns against "Islamisation", is on track for 20% of the
vote; Geert Wilders' anti-EU, antiIslam Freedom party (PVV) was
leading in the Netherlands until its
controversial founder triggered a
public backlash – and several resignations – by publicly egging on people chanting against Moroccan
immigrants. It could yet bounce
back.
With 18 seats in the Greek parliament, Golden Dawn may reject the
neo-Nazi label, but its emblem
bears a strong resemblance to the
swastika, its leaders are prone to
giving Nazi salutes, and six of its
MPs are in jail accused of using the
party to run a criminal gang.
Similarly, Hungary's Jobbik,
which took 20% of the vote in
With 18 seats in the Greek
parliament, Golden Dawn’s
emblem looks like a swastika, its
leaders are prone to giving Nazi
salutes, and six of its MPs are in
jail accused of using the party to
run a criminal gang
In Italy, Beppe Grillo's Five Star
Movement could capture up to 20
of the country's 73 European
parliament seats. Below left:
Geert Wilders of Holland’s PVV;
below: Nigel Farage of UKIP.
April's general elections, may prefer
the term "radical nationalist", but
its ideology is so freighted with
anti-semitism, racism and homophobia that far-right groups in western Europe, including the Front
National and the PVV, steer well
clear.
To older fears about loss of sovereignty, mass immigration and
(more recently) the rise of Islam
have been added an equally potent
anger about bitter austerity, rampant unemployment and inequality
– a cocktail that means contemporary Euroscepticism is alive across
the political spectrum.
These Euro-insurgents appeal to
people unsure about their own future, worried about where their
country is going and whether they
belong there, and doubtful that
mainstream parties can or will do
anything about it. With little sign of
any real fall in unemployment or
serious economic recovery, that's a
lot of people.
In Italy, too, comedian Beppe
Grillo's anti-establishment, anti-corruption and anti-euro Five Star
Movement, consistently polling
above 20%, could easily capture up
to 20 of the country's 73 European
parliament seats. It has promised to
wade in and "shake up" Brussels.
Perhaps most remarkably of all,
pretty much the same anti-EU song
– set to an only slightly different
tune – is now being sung even in
Germany.
In a cavernous conference centre
on the outskirts of the handsome
east German town of Erfurt in
March some 1,500 people gathered
for the congress of Alternative für
Deutschland (AfD). Formed barely a
year ago by a mild-mannered professor of macroeconomics at Hamburg University, Germany's newest
Hungary's Jobbik took 20% of the
vote in April's general elections: its
ideology is so freighted with antisemitism, racism and homophobia
that far-right groups in western
Europe steer well clear
political organisation does not pull
your usual protest-party crowd:
there are college lecturers, lawyers,
doctors, judges, academics, company directors. More than 70% have
never been members of a political
party before.
AfD – which is now looking at up
to 10 seats in the European parliament – thinks above all that something has to be done about the euro
which, it argues, does not work.
AfD quite likes the sound of a
smaller, northern euro zone, made
up for example of Germany, Austria,
the Netherlands and Finland. The
Finns think some countries should
leave, but aren't sure yet who: the
southern states, or themselves.
Divisions over the common currency are mirrored in other equally
fundamental areas. Ukip, for instance, wants Britain to simply walk
away from the EU, regardless; the
FN and PVV would go the same way,
given half a chance; AfD and the
Finns see their own countries' exits
as unthinkable, even suicidal, urging – like many continental sceptics
– structural reform and the rebuilding of a kind of enhanced, freetrade community of sovereign
states instead.
On other issues they face fundamental disagreements. Questions
around immigration, "Islamification" and identity politics are no-go
areas for many: Marine Le Pen and
Geert Wilders may recently have
agreed to form a continental antiEuropean alliance aimed at wrecking the EU from within, and other
hardline nationalists such as Italy's
Lega Nord, Austria's FPO, Vlaams
Belang in Belgium and the Swedish
Democrats may well join them, but
more moderate parties will not go
near.
"Wilders and Le Pen are simply
out of the picture for the Finns,"
says Sakari Puisto, a young academic standing for the party in
Tampere, in central Finland. "We
could not envisage allying ourselves
with neo-fascists. Or with communists, for that matter."
(Courtesy of the Guardian and John
Henley)
26 Liberty
MAY 2014
Comment
IRELAND’S refusal to sign up
to the Financial Transaction
Tax (FTT) announced by 10 EU
member states earlier this
month is “yet another surrender to the same forces that
bankrupted us in 2008”, according to Congress General
Secretary David Begg.
Ten EU member states signed up
to the new FTT unveiled at the
ECOFIN meeting in Brussels on 6th
May, including Germany, France,
Greece and Spain.
This will see a tax of 0.1% raised
on trading in bonds and a tax of
0.1% on trading in derivatives. It
will come into force in January
2016.
The Irish Government has refused to support or participate in
Picture: Leon Farrell/Photocall
Ireland ‘surrenders again’ by refusing to adopt financial tax
the groundbreaking initiative.
“In normal circumstances, the introduction of this tax makes perfect
sense as it will curb speculative financial activity and curtail the reckless behaviour that brought the
global financial system crashing
down in 2008," Begg said.
“In a time of acute crisis, with relentless pressure on national finances, the case for the FTT
becomes even more compelling. Research by the Nevin Institute
(NERI) and Congress estimates Ireland could gain between €300€500 million per annum from this
tax.
“In these circumstances, the refusal to implement and support the
tax represents a dereliction of
duty,” Begg said.
I am not an economist but...
Taking notes: people tend to lack
confidence in talking about economics
and how it impacts on their lives
By
Niall Crowley
PICTURE: Michael Greenberg (CC BY 2.0)
M
ANY participants
felt it necessary to
preface their remarks with the
comment, “I’m not an economist”.
The remarks were insightful, so
why the nervous putdowns?
Was it because there were economists in the room? Is it that economics is the discipline that
trumps all other knowledge bases?
Whatever the reason it captures
an issue of disempowerment when
it comes to economics and financial matters.
This was, of course, at the recent
Financial Transactions Tax debate
organised by Claiming Our Future.
Micheál Collins of NERI and Brendan Bruen of IBEC debated the
pros and cons of Ireland introducing a Financial Transactions Tax.
Claiming Our Future is leading a
campaign, involving trade unions
as well as community sector, environmental and global justice organisations, to get the Irish
Government to introduce a Financial Transactions Tax.
Ireland should sign up to the enhanced co-operation procedure in
the EU. Ten member states have introduced a tax of 0.1% on trading
in bonds and of 0.01% on trading
in derivatives.
Such a tax could provide an additional €300 million to €500 million to the Irish exchequer.
This tax is the focus for an international campaign and has been
for years now. Yet it has not been a
focus for debate in Ireland… Ireland of the rampaging financial
services sector, of the devastated
economy and of the fiscal deficit!
How come?
Is this the “I’m not an economist” phenomenon at play?
Micheál Collins argued for the introduction of a Financial Transactions Tax in Ireland. It would
enable the financial exposure of
society to the financial sector to be
monitored.
Given that society has ended up
underwriting financial institutions, we need to know what is
going on. It is a tiny tax on trades
but given the volume of trading, it
offers significant revenue.
We need new forms of exchequer revenue to address the deficit.
The tax will dampen the attractiveness of short-term speculative fi-
nancial transactions, those driven
by profiteering with questionable
real economic return.
Brendan Bruen argued that a Financial Transactions Tax would
put Ireland at a competitive disadvantage. Pragmatism was required
in a context where the US, the financial centres in the Far East,
and, most relevantly, the UK and
Luxembourg would not be implementing such a tax.
Jobs, corporation tax and a large
payroll are at stake. He warned
these activities could transfer to
the UK and Luxembourg. The tax
The tax will dampen
the attractiveness
of short-term
speculative financial
transactions, those
driven by profiteering
with questionable
real economic
return
does not discriminate in relation
to different types of activity. It will
not reduce the risks, as it won’t impact on high-risk transactions that
have huge rewards. It will only hit
low-risk transactions.
Micheál Collins pointed out that
it was difficult to be definitive on
these issues. He admitted some financial sector activity will disappear.
This will cost jobs – but jobs in
the high-risk end of the financial
sector rather than the substantive
business side. The full scale of the
risk needs to be taken into account.
When the sector functions well
there are returns in corporation
tax. When it goes wrong there are
huge costs to the State. The tax is
set at a level where there is no
business sense in companies moving to other locations.
The only push factor is on the
‘optics’ side. How the tax is presented is important.
Brendan Bruen noted that we do
not yet have a full understanding
of the impact of the tax. The impact might well not be a realignment to sometimes more useful
activity but just a loss of jobs.
The use to which exchequer revenue is put cannot be used to justify any particular tax. The
Financial Transactions Tax, he argued, is inefficient and will distort
financial sector activity. It seeks to
solve something that might be
done better in another way.
There was no specific conclusion
to the debate. It was not organised
for that purpose.
The debate pointed out that this
was a political question as much as
a technical question.
This poses a challenge to our
politicians who have refused to address the issue. It also poses a challenge to civil society that has been
strangely quiet on the issue.
Find
out
more
on
www.claimingourfuture.ie
Liberty
News
MAY 2014
27
Women fighting the
miners’ struggle
Steve Fitzpatrick: ‘pay rises won’t
make Ireland uncompetitive’
‘Ireland needs a pay
rise’ CWU chief tells
conference
C
OMMUNICATIONS Workers Union General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick has
called for substantial pay
rises for workers and warned they
would not be “fooled” by calls for
tax cuts “which invariably favour
the wealthy.”
Speaking at the CWU conference in
Killarney, Fitzpatrick told delegates:
“Our members have taken many hits
over the last number of years including
household charges, universal social
charges, working more anti-social hours
and taking hits on our pensions, pay and
conditions. Well, we say enough is
enough.”
He said the CWU had a “deserved reputation” for “strength of purpose and
solidarity in difficult circumstances” and
vowed that members “would not be
found wanting” if they needed to
“demonstrate our industrial capabilities” to achieve a fair wage.
“We are not alone in this struggle for
fair pay and conditions. Our theme
recognises the fact that Ireland needs a
pay rise.
“While we will also favour a fairer dis-
tribution of wealth through fair taxation, we are not fooled by calls for tax
cuts which invariably favour the
wealthy.”
He argued that a pay rise for ordinary
workers would also help to boost employment and increase the general tax
take.
“We as a society have suffered enough
for the disastrous mistakes of others
who in most cases were insulated from
any pain themselves. The losses of jobs,
pay, pensions, homes, family members
and public services must no longer be
tolerated.
“It is nonsense to state that pay rises
in Ireland will make the country uncompetitive. The highest pay rates normally
apply to the areas of the economy which
are the most competitive such as information and communications technology
and pharmaceuticals.
“Giving retail or service workers who
generally work in the domestic market a
pay rise will not affect competitiveness
unless we all start leaving the country to
go for a haircut.”
Activists from the WAPC (Women Against Pit Closures) picketing with National Union of Miners President
Arthur Scargill on New Year's Day 1985 at the Ferrybridge coal-fired power station in West Yorkshire.
The photo is in a newly published book by photographer Michael Kerstgens, who travelled to Britain from
Germany in 1984 to record the miners' strike. Thirty years on, Coal Not Dole, published by Peperoni Books,
documents the struggle of working class communities in Wales and Yorkshire locked in a bitter dispute.
Training in Allergan, Wesport, Co Mayo
L to R - Back Row: Nial O'Malley, Joe Fergus, Tommie Doyle, Paul Smith, Patrick Kelly,
Camillus Comaskey, Gerry McCormack, Divisional Organiser, Michael Kilcoyne, Sector
Organiser, Front : Mary Sammon, Carmel Kelly, Sheila Sweeny, Marian Moran and AnnMarie Reynolds.
28 Liberty
MAY 2014
Community
Arbitration Board rejects JobPath case
By David Connolly
THE Civil Service Arbitration
Board has rejected a case submitted by the Public Service
Executive Union (PSEU) and
Civil Public and Services
Union (CPSU) over the contracting out of employment
services through the JobPath
initiative promoted by the
Department of Social Protection (DSP).
The DSP JobPath tender envisages the employment of 1,000 new
case workers through large-scale
private contractors operating in
four regions.
This major labour activation programme, which is targeted at the
long-term unemployed, seeks to
refer 100,000 people a year to the
contractors with the hope that a
significant number will secure full-
time jobs. According to the DSP,
the programme will pay for itself
based on payment by results to
contractors and the level of job
placement.
However, the Department has
declined to confirm the total cost
of the six-year initiative which, calculated on current funding for
public employment services, could
reach €300 million.
A number of international and
Irish companies have expressed interest in the contract, including
G4S, Ingeus, Maximus, A4E, Noonans and National Learning Network.
In preparing bids, most of these
firms have indicated that they intend to sub-contract programme
delivery to multiple communitybased providers while retaining administration, management and
monitoring of the contracts.
In early 2013, the DSP published
formal notice of JobPath.
Following this, the PSEU and
CPSU held a series of meetings and
exchanges of information with
Department officials at which they
voiced concerns over outsourcing.
In November 2013, both unions
wrote to the Department stating
their view that the programme
constituted outsourcing and pointing out that full consultation
under the Croke Park (CP) and
Haddington Road Agreements
(HRA) had not taken place.
They also objected to the publication of a Request for Tender
(RFT). Despite objections from the
unions, the RFT was issued on
12th December last.
The matter was referred to the
Civil Service Arbitration Board in
March. In their submission, the
PSEU and CPSU argued that because of the transfer of 800 former
HSE staff and 400 former FÁS staff
to new roles as case officers in the
DSP and the introduction of the
Department’s Intreo ‘one stop
shop’ model, the capacity and expertise now existed in-house to
carry out the JobPath programme.
With regard to contracting the
private sector to deliver employment services, the unions highlighted the failure of this approach
in Britain and other countries citing evidence of very low placement rates and the use of
sanctions on vulnerable unemployed people.
The PSEU and CPSU concluded
that they believed that this was
core work for their members and
more appropriate to public service
delivery than for profit in the private sector.
The Arbitration Board rejected
the unions’ position. It considered
that the consultation process had
been carried out properly.
The Board also took into account
the manpower needed for the initiative and the clear impracticality
of matching this through existing
staffing resources, including the
use of redeployments and temporary staff.
It noted the intention to award
a number of contracts as a
temporary measure designed to
assist the long-term unemployed
and recommended that there
should be annual reviews to examine the level of demand, quality of
service and efficacy of the approach.
Unions are to be consulted as
part of this review process.
The Board found that the contracting in of employment services
by the DSP was “in line with provisions contained in Towards 2016
and the related CPS and HRA
Agreements”.
Bargaining rights agreed for Community Sector through LRC
A LANDMARK agreement
which secures collective bargaining rights for 2,000 workers in the Community Sector
has been agreed between the
Irish Local Development Network (ILDN), the representative
body
of
Local
Development
Companies
(LDCs), and trade unions.
The agreement, the first of its
kind for the sector, commits all
parties to collective bargaining on
key issues such as future employment, job security and a fair
process for redundancies should
they arise.
It will apply across all LDCs, and
involves more than 2,000 members
of SIPTU and IMPACT trade unions
who deliver local, community and
rural development programmes in
every county in the State.
SIPTU Community Sector Organiser, Eddie Mullins, told Liberty:
“This is a very significant agreement. It was finalised at the end of
April, having been forged through
the offices of the Labour Relations
Commission, and is a template for
wider application across the entire
Community Sector.
“We have been consistent in arguing for the last number of years
that establishing collective bargaining was an essential pre-condition
for ensuring not just the rights of
our members, but also the future
Cork Young Workers’ Network
in call for decent work and pay
THE newly-formed Cork
Young Workers’ Network has
called on young people to organise so they can campaign
for decent jobs and pay.
It follows a successful first meeting of the group – comprising
young workers, apprentices,
interns, unemployed people and
students – at Connolly Hall, Lapps
Quay, Cork, on Tuesday, 15th April.
The meeting discussed the setting up of a new campaign focusing on young people’s demands in
the Cork area. Michael McCarthy,
20, from Cork, told Liberty: “Young
people are more willing to protest
for their grandparents than for
themselves. It’s time for them to
stand up for themselves too.”
The Cork Young Workers’ Network, which is supported by SIPTU
and the Cork Council of Trade
Unions, will be holding further
meetings in the coming weeks as
well as demonstrations to highlight its call for decent jobs and decent pay.
of vital services for our communities.” The ILDN, SIPTU and
IMPACT have also jointly called on
the Department of the Environment and Local Government to
meet with all stakeholders in order
to address matters of major concern, including government plans
to privatise the Local Community
and Development Programme and
the “alignment” of community organisations with local authorities.
Last week, the ILDN decided to
withdraw from the Alignment
Working Group set up by the Government to oversee the “alignment” process.
There is now full agreement
between employers and unions on
the need for urgent engagement by
the Department of Environment
over future funding, job security as
well as terms and conditions.
Welcoming
the
collective
bargaining agreement, SIPTU
activist, Donie O’Leary, from the
Cork City Partnership, said: “The
ILDN decision to withdraw from
the Alignment Working Group
means that the plans of Minister
for the Environment, Phil Hogan,
for the Community Sector are now
in complete disarray.
He added: “The Minister is isolated
in his position of refusing to engage
with all stakeholders. The only way
forward for his department is to sit
down and talk to employers and
unions.”
Eddie Mullins
Annual Donal Nevin Lecture
Future of Banking in Ireland
28th May 2014
Topic: The Future of Banking in Europe and in Ireland
Speaker: Dr Stephany Griffith-Jones (Columbia University)
Date: Wednesday 28th May at 16.00 (followed by a reception)
Location: CitiGroup Building in the IFSC, 1 North Wall Quay
To register please contact
[email protected] before Monday 19th May
Liberty
Know Your Rights
MAY 2014
29
Big victory for agency workers
posited by the hirer for the actual
rate of pay that in fact generally
applies to directly employed
workers doing the same work as
assigned agency workers”.
They said to do so would defeat
the purpose of the Directive and
of the Act and thereby could not
be lawful.
The Court directed that the
claimants’ rate of pay should be
adjusted upwards to €10.08 per
hour from the minimum wage
rate which they were currently receiving. This was backdated to
5th December, 2011.
These two cases illustrate how
the Labour Court will seek to interpret Irish employment legislation, when necessary, through the
By
Tom
O’Driscoll
S
IPTU recently achieved
two notable successes
for agency workers in
the Labour Court under
the Temporary Agency Work
Act.
The Act provides for the principle of equal treatment for agency
workers in respect of “basic
working and employment conditions to which he or she would
be entitled if he or she were employed by the hirer under a contract of employment to do work
that is the same as, or is similar
to, the work that he or she is required to do during that assignment.”
The provision, which was enacted on 16th May, 2012, allowed
retrospection back to 5th December, 2011 – the date the Oireachtas should have implemented the
Agency Work Directive of 2008
from the European Commission.
In AWD 134, Robert Costello
(SIPTU) v Team Obair, the Labour
Court looked at an appeal of a
Rights Commissioner‘s decision
which had stated originally that
the claimant’s case was not well
founded.
The Labour Court considered
the point as to whether an
agency worker employed as a
forklift driver should be paid the
same hourly rate as a forklift
driver directly employed by the
hirer (original company who engage the agency).
The
difference
in
pay
amounted to €5 an hour.
The Labour Court firstly observed that the points raised
were “novel and are not governed
by any authority of which the
Court is aware”. The Court stated
that it followed therefore that
the case would be decided on the
basis of “first principles”, which
in essence meant the determination could well set out the core
principles for consideration in
future similar cases.
The hirer had declared that the
present going rate for the job for
direct hires was that which was
currently paid to the claimant.
The Court in response noted:
“The rates specified in the notice
furnished by the hirer are precisely those paid by the respondent. It is at least probable that
the information furnished by the
hirer is predicated on the as-
sumption that if the respondent
can employ labour on those rates,
it could do likewise.
“If a bare statement based on
such a premise were to be accepted as definitive, the purpose
of the Act and that of the Directive would be seriously subverted
and the protection which they
are intended to provide would be
rendered nugatory.”
The Court also factored in the
industrial relations situation at
the enterprise, noting that there
was in place a collective bargaining structure with SIPTU and the
hirer and that “there would be
little or no chance of it (SIPTU)
agreeing to accept rates for the
employees of the hirer in line
with those currently paid by the
respondent.”
The Court overturned the
Rights Commissioner decision
and adjusted Mr Costello’s rate to
€18.50, with effect from 5th December, 2011, amounting to
€20,000 in retrospective pay.
Developing the purposive approach further, the Labour Court,
in an appeal on a Rights Commissioner’s decision in nine named
appellants
(represented
by
SIPTU) v O’Reilly Recruitment
Ltd (AWD 141) adjudicated in a
case where there were no collective bargaining structures at the
hirer, unlike Team Obair referred
to earlier.
The Court examined Section 2
further and specifically that part
of the provision which read
“basic working conditions… or
any arrangement that applies
generally in respect of employees
or any class of employees, of a
hirer, which includes pay.”
The Court went on to state that
it must apply the arrangement
that applies generally to directly
employed workers. It rejected
the argument put forward by the
respondent that the comparable
rate of pay was €8.65, should the
hirer have recruited directly.
This was in contrast to the
€10.08 presently paid to workers
which the respondent claimed
was historic and a reflection of
long service of current direct employees.
The Court said it “cannot substitute a hypothetical rate
The two
cases
illustrate how
the Labour
Court
will seek to
interpret Irish
employment
legislation
through the
prism of the
relevant
European
Directive
prism of the original relevant European Directive, but as important also, these cases show the
true value of union membership
for atypical workers.
30 Liberty
MAY 2014
International
New Irish campaign
to free Palestinian
political prisoners
IRISH LABOUR HISTORY SOCIETY
in association with SIPTU
presents
By Scott Millar
A
CAMPAIGN to free
the estimated 5,000
Palestinian political
prisoners illegally
held in Israeli jails has been
endorsed by a range of Irish
political and cultural figures.
At the launch of the Irish Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouthi
and all Palestinian Prisoners,
SIPTU President Jack O’Connor
said the Irish trade union movement supported the campaign. The
launch was held on Wednesday,
7th May in Buswells Hotel in
Dublin.
He said: “We recognise fully the
importance of the role of political
prisoners in the process of peacemaking. We recognise fully the
positive statements that have emanated from Mr Barghouthi and
the other political prisoners and
we also recognise there are people
still in Israeli society who are
hopeful for, and seeking, peace.”
After accepting the gift of a portrait of her husband from artist Jim
Fitzpatrick, Fadwa Barghouthi, wife
of Marwan, spoke of her appreciation of the support the campaign
has received in Ireland.
“It gives the Palestinian people a
great lift to see the solidarity that
we receive in Ireland. This campaign to release Palestinian political prisoners started off in South
‘The prisoner issue
is represented by
Israel as a security
issue; we are trying
to convey to the
world that this is in
reality a political
issue and to defy
Israeli attempts to
call them terrorists’
The Story of Rosie Hackett
A lecture by James Curry
(Moore Institute, NUI Galway)
Monday 19th May 2014
Liberty Hall (Cois Life) at 8 pm
LETTERS
Set a date in Galway!
Editor,
Fadwa Barghouthi
accepts a portrait of her
husband Marwan from
artist Jim Fitzpatrickk.
Picture: Scott Millar
Africa and is now in Ireland.
“The issue of the Palestinian political prisoners has always united
and unified Palestinian society.
The prisoner issue is represented
to the world by Israel as a security
issue; we are trying to convey to
the world that this is in reality a
political issue and to defy Israeli
attempts to call them terrorists.”
She added: “Since 1967, 800,000
Palestinians have been imprisoned, so this is an issue that affects every family in Palestine.
Marwan is 64 years of age and has
spent 20 years of his life imprisoned; he has currently been in
prison for 13 years. The Israelis attempt to tarnish him by calling
him the head of a terrorist group
but it is because of his political
stance defying Israel that he is imprisoned.”
Marwan Barghouthi is a member
of the Fatah Central Committee
and the Palestinian Legislative
Council. He is widely seen as the
most popular Palestinian politician
in the Occupied Territories.
He is currently serving five consecutive life sentences plus 40
years for alleged complicity in five
murders carried out by the al-Aqsa
Martyrs’ Brigades.
Also attending the launch were
Nobel Peace Laureate Maireád
Maguire, Labour MEP Emer
Costello, Sinn Féin spokesperson
on Foreign Affairs Sean Crowe and
the Ambassador of the State of
Palestine to Ireland, Ahmad Abdelrazek.
Galway Traveller Movement and
Domestic Violence Response are
holding an event on Thursday
May 22nd, at 12 noon, for about
an hour and a half, in Galway city
centre.
The purpose of the event is to
highlight that violence against
women is a violation of human
rights, and to create solidarity
among a diverse group of people,
through ritual and symbol,
around this issue.
Best wishes,
Martina O’Brien
Galway Traveller Movement
Dublin Dock Workers
Preservation Society
Editor,
The Dublin Dock Workers Preservation Society plans to hold a
photographic exhibition as part
of the RiverFest on the Bank
Holiday weekend 31st May - 2nd
June in the CHQ Building, northside on the Liffey. We intend to
feature 120 photographs covering
the period 1913 to 1983. we are
calling it 'Every Picture Tells A
Story' because we hope to have
people present to explain each
photograph. If you can make it
along or if you can volunteer a
few hours to assist with the exhibition - please ring Alan Martin
087-2095974 or Declan Byrne
086-8138618,
Regards
Declan Byrne
Liberty
International
MAY 2014
31
Colombian police crackdown on protests
Riot police march towards
barricade set up by protestors
Above and left: bloody result
of the confrontation
By
Mariela
Kohon
A
FTER a summer of
strikes in 2013 which
saw much of Colombia brought to a
standstill, the country’s peasant farmer activists are once
again on the streets demanding the government responds
positively to the socio-economic crisis in the countryside.
The farmers have been demanding that the government implement agreements reached in
previous negotiations set up in the
aftermath of last year’s strikes.
The principal points of discussion were rising production costs,
unfavourable loan agreements, and
Free Trade Agreements which have
meant increased competition from
imported goods lowering prices to
unsustainable levels.
While some agreements were
reached, the farmers’ representatives assert that very few have actually been implemented and the
government has ultimately failed
to deliver on its promises. As a result, thousands of Colombian
farmers have once again mobilised
across the country.
There is considerable concern
from human rights groups that
there could be a repeat of the
heavy-handed tactics used by the
police and army during last summer’s strikes, which led to the
murder of 19 activists and the arrest of several hundred, including
the trade union leader Huber
Ballesteros.
The attacks from the security
forces, which included the firing of
Arrested: union chief
Huber Ballesteros
live ammunition, followed dangerous accusations from government
officials that the guerrillas had
been behind the strikes.
Although these statements and
the subsequent violence were condemned by the United Nations,
similar accusations have already
been made against this new round
of strikes by the Defence Minister,
Juan Carlos Pinzon.
Even before the strikes began on
28th April last, riot police had been
deployed across the country, and
farmers and human rights organisations on the ground have already
denounced numerous cases of excessive force used by state security
forces. In one incident in northeastern Colombia, peasant protesters were attacked by riot police
with tear gas, rocks and rubber bullets.
Local human rights defenders reported that 15 people were injured, including a four year-old boy
who was shot in the face with a
rubber bullet. Five protestors were
arrested.
Outside the nearby town of Pamplona, riot police carried out another attack which left up to 30
people injured. They were also reported to have burnt down a ranch
that had been built to hold food
supplies.
Colombian riot police
record demontrations
Meanwhile, a mayor in the
southwestern state of Huila has
called for United Nations intervention after a man lost an eye following an attack by security forces.
Local strike leader Cesar Pachon
claimed police authorities had instigated the confrontations to legitimise the use of force.
The strike is being organised by
farmers grouped into two broad
coalitions – los Dignidades, which
principally represents coffee, potato, dairy, rice and sugar farmers,
and the Agrarian Summit, representing peasant, afro-Colombian
and indigenous organisations from
across the country, including the
broad opposition movement, the
Patriotic March.
The involvement of the Agrarian
Summit is extremely significant in
that it is the unified voice of thousands of Colombia’s most marginalised communities which have
suffered most as a result of the social inequality and political violence in Colombia.
Their demands go beyond the
need for immediate solutions to
the crisis in the agricultural sector,
but seek to address more structural
issues such as the lack of guarantees for their social and political
rights, and the need for collective
land agreements.
How these strikes are dealt with
will not only have ramifications
for the immediate future of rural
Colombia, but will also indicate
how prepared Colombia really is to
address the root causes of its social, political and armed conflict.
The contrast between the government’s claims of willingness to
address the land issue at peace
talks in Havana and the treatment
The contrast
between
government’s
willingness to
address land
issue at peace
talks and the
treatment meted
out to peasant
farmers is stark
meted out to peasant farmers raising concerns about the issue is
stark.
It raises questions as to the government’s sincerity in addressing
the root cause of this long and
bloody conflict.
Mariela Kohon is Director of UK-based,
Justice for Colombia. For more information see www.justiceforcolombia.org
32 Liberty
MAY 2014
Book Review
Alternative view from Montrose
conservatism of Irish life and the
Establishment was inevitable and
the reaction was at times trenchant.
Apart from the predictable opposition of that Establishment, so incensed, for example, was the
(Catholic) League of Decency, that
one unfortunate spokesman had a
heart attack while complaining to
media about the programme!
Yet, Women Today prevailed and
lifted the latch on a door to Irish
life that has since been kicked
open by women whom it helped to
energise and empower.
Apart from dealing with RTÉ’s,
the author’s and her colleagues’
transformative role in illuminating
many social and economic issues
since the late 1970s, the book deals
with critical aspects of the sta-
By
Mick
Halpenny
Inside RTÉ - A Memoir
By Betty Purcell
(New Island) 2014
BETTY Purcell was an awardwinning producer and trade
union activist in RTÉ for
more than 30 years.
During that period she dealt
with some of the defining issues of
recent decades as well as some
equally defining broadcasters, and
if you’ve ever wondered what goes
on behind the scenes at the national station, then this is the book
for you.
While written in the extremely
accessible style of the memoir of
its title, this is no mere trip down
memory lane by someone who has
retired gracefully from the field of
battle.
Rather it is a detailed analysis of
the constant struggle around and
within public service broadcasting
in Ireland that serves citizens
through information and explanation – a struggle in which she as a
committed journalist/producer has
played a central role.
From a difficult start in life, but
blessed with a strong and loving
mother (who knew a thing or two
about trade union activism), she
began a lifelong engagement in progressive journalism with
the conviction that its
practitioners should
not just be messengers
but rather, in the words
of John Pilger, understand “…the hidden
agendas of the message
and the myths that surround it”.
Her CV reads like a political and cultural map of
the last three or four
decades in Ireland and the
programmes in which she
was involved list off like
the battle honours of the
country’s transition over that period.
She was centrally involved in the
ground-breaking Women Today
radio programme, the precursor of
Liveline.
It is difficult at this remove of
time to appreciate its originality,
impact and, on occasions, bravery,
in opening up the airways to
women and the problems of everyday life.
That they would confront the
The efforts of
the State were
supplemented by
a group within
RTÉ who were
members of, or
close to, the then
Workers Party
who embraced
weapon of
Section 31 with
equal enthusiasm
Then journalist Mary McAleese
had ‘difficult time’ at RTÉ
Michael D Higgins instrumental
in scrapping Section 31 legislation
tion’s coverage (or, as it turned out,
non-coverage) of the Troubles.
Central to all this was the station’s shamefully slavish adherence to the strictures of Section 31
of the Broadcasting Act, brought in,
in 1971, and enthusiastically enforced by Fianna Fáil and Fine
Gael-Labour coalition governments
alike.
It forbade RTÉ from interviewing members of Sinn Féin or the
(Provisional) Republican Movement on any matter, however trivial or mundane, and was a political
and legal intervention which distorted and biased news and current affairs broadcasting at a
critical time in the country’s history.
It could even be argued to have
hindered and delayed the peace
process itself.
Compliance with the Order was
no doubt encouraged by the Government’s sacking of the then RTÉ
Authority in 1972 for the station’s
breach in interviewing the then
Chief of Staff of the IRA.
After that, in the words of a leading journalist, the late Mary Holland, “Self-censorship had been
raised to the level of art. Caution
lay like a thick cloud over everything.”
This prohibition prevented journalists from speaking to, or filming, members of one of the major
parties to the conflict itself, not
only while the war was raging, but
even when the transition to the
political path and eventual peace
was being initiated.
Thus, farcically, when Gerry
Adams took the West Belfast Westminster seat from the SDLP’s Dr
Joe Hendron in 1983, RTÉ reporters, including Purcell, were
forced to interview the losing candidate only, while the rest of the
world’s media, including RTE’s
cross-border and UK competitors,
were crowded around Adams.
Eventually, and to his eternal
credit, Section 31 was repealed in
1994 by Michael D Higgins in his
then role as Minister for the Arts,
Culture and the Gaeltacht, shortly
after a referral of the offending legislation to the European Court of
Human Rights by Purcell and her
colleagues.
However, as the book discloses,
the efforts of the State were supplemented by a group within RTÉ
at the time who were members of,
or close to, the then Workers Party
and who embraced the weapon of
Section 31 with equal enthusiasm.
They reportedly sought to castigate and isolate those who were, or
who they suspected were, opposed
to the legislation – characterising
them as fellow travellers of the
“Provos”, regardless of their politics or views.
One person who went through a
difficult time at their hands was a
future President of Ireland, Mary
McAleese, then a journalist at the
station.
Nevertheless, while for a time
powerful, Purcell argues they were
not representative of the majority
of RTÉ staff who opposed censorship regardless of their politics.
There is much readable detail on
these stories and more. Her concern for all her colleagues, and not
just the RTÉ “talent”, shines
through, as does her care for her
friends and the undoubted joy in
her daughters.
On the importance to civic life of
public broadcasting itself, she
writes:“In the end, it comes down
to this. A vibrant democracy in the
present age needs a critical, functioning national broadcaster. “
Never more than now.
Liberty
Obituaries
MAY 2014
33
TRIBUTE Tom Bogue
Tom’s loyalty to workers
always shone through...
COMMITTED trade union activist
Tom Bogue, a former National
President of IMPACT, died on
Wednesday 16th April.
Tom was a lifelong member of
LGPSU, now IMPACT, and was also
a delegate and Executive Committee member of the Cork Council of
Trade Unions.
He served 47 years on the CCTU
and was twice elected Council
President.
Although Tom was extremely
loyal to union colleagues and fellow members of IMPACT, he was
also completely dedicated to workers and to the trade union movement overall.
Indeed, Tom stood shoulder to
shoulder with SIPTU members on
many occasions through his life.
During times of industrial unrest and disputes, Tom’s loyalty to
all union members shone through.
His unwavering backing for campaigns to improve the lot of workers and society as a whole is well
documented.
Tom’s support for the unem-
ployed and disadvantaged was also
evident throughout his time spent
as a voluntary board member in
the Cork Employment Resource
Centre.
Tom Bogue worked in the Planning Department of Cork County
Council and retired in 2005.
His expertise when it came to
city and county planning, urban
and rural development and construction projects was second to
none.
Tom developed an intricate
knowledge of strategic development throughout Cork city and
county and took exceptional pride
in protecting and preserving the
unique landscape of his beloved
county while at the same time assisting others in their development plans for communities,
towns and villages.
Tom’s expertise went far beyond
his own locality. He had an avid interest in history, especially in the
history of the trade union movement. Given the opportunity, he
revelled in disseminating this
knowledge to others. A family man
through and through, Tom spoke
lovingly of his dear wife Bríd and
was exceptionally proud of the
achievements of his children,
James and Aine.
The huge attendance at his funeral was testament, not only for
the love his family had for Tom,
but also the high regard he was
held in throughout the trade union
movement and indeed from all
sections of the community who
had the pleasure of encountering
him in their lives.
To his wife Bríd, son James,
daughter Aine, brother, sisters and
extended families, we extend our
deepest sympathies.
To Tom’s colleagues and friends
in the trade union movement,
we’ve lost a true friend, an inspirational gentleman and a staunch
trade unionist… he will be so
deeply missed but will never be
forgotten.
Sharon Cregan
Tom Bogue: ‘inspirational gentleman
and a staunch trade unionist’
TRIBUTE Rita Hogan
Union stalwart of passion and integrity
TO Rita’s family, extended
family and wide circle of
friends, I on behalf of SIPTU
offer our sincerest condolences.
We in the trade union movement have also lost a loyal and sincere colleague. Rita was the life
blood of the movement in what
was the branch system within the
union.
From the first day I met Rita I
immediately recognised that here
was a person of great passion and
integrity, along with being a lover
of our organisation and what it
stands for.
Rita joined the ITGWU on the
16th May 1953 and immediately
involved herself in the trade union
movement.
She was an organiser of workers
and a protector of their rights. In
her years of employment in the
then Mid-Western Health Board,
Rita represented workers in negotiations in the workplace as well as
on the branch of her union.
Rita performed this role with a
level of compassion and dignity
shown to members and her colleagues in the Branch. When I
joined Limerick Number 2 Branch
in 1998, Rita had just retired from
her employment that May. But this
date of retirement did not mean
that Rita’s work as a workers’ representative was finished. I would
say that her role as a representative just changed from the workplace to the retired section of our
union.
Rita held her position on our
Branch as a retired representative
and immediately involved herself
in the organising of our summer
trip to Ballybunion for retired
members and their partners.
When the Ballybunion trip was
over, Rita and her colleagues in the
Rita showed both passion and
dignity in representing workers
retired members’ section would
start the planning of the Christmas
function, and as usual Rita would
be to the forefront in helping but
never there when the praise for organising such a night for members
was being offered.
Rita did the work in the background and was quite happy to
stay out of the limelight.
Rita’s love of her family was obvious to anyone who had the privilege of meeting and talking with
her. You would instantly recognise
the warmth and affection she possessed and quite willingly gave to
all she encountered.
I am sure they are up there now
still giving the same loving care to
their loved ones. One thing that always amazed me about Rita and
some of the retired members was
their ability to enjoy the little
things in life. The dancing in the
Tavern on the way home from
Ballybunion would put many a
young person to shame.
Rita involved herself in every aspect of the union – at local level, at
regional level and at national level
and, more recently, on the Senior
Citizens’ Parliament. Our organisation with its many members has
lost what we would describe as
“the salt of the earth”.
Rita inspired us to look beyond
our limitations and I am sure she
did likewise with her family.
She will continue to inspire us,
of that I am sure – she is up there
now giving us all the strength to
carry on in this most difficult of
times.
Rita, we are so blessed to have
known you, we will never forget
your contribution to our movement.
May Rita walk in the light of God
and may she rest in peace.
Pat Condon
34 Liberty
MAY 2014
Sport
Dubs dominance won’t last forever
By Matt Treacy
T
HE football and hurling league finals finished
predictably
enough, in that they
were won by Dublin and
Kilkenny.
Dublin are now the shortest
priced favourites to win the football All Ireland since Kerry in the
early 1980s with few pundits giving anyone else a chance.
Kilkenny likewise are increasingly being seen as favoured
to make up for their lapse in the
hurling final 2013.
While Dublin were impressive in
their last three matches of the
league, they are by no means unbeatable. Cork did not get 10
points ahead in the league semifinal for no reason.
While the Dubs comeback in the
second half was mightily impressive, serious contenders will be focusing on how Cork overran
Dublin in the first 40 minutes,
rather than on the mystical blue
resurrection.
The serious contenders are Cork,
Kerry, Mayo and Tyrone, with an
outside shout for Monaghan.
Meath will give Dublin a rattle if
they meet but they won’t beat
them.
Jim Gavin happens to be blessed
with a uniquely talented team
with a well of successful underage
teams to draw upon.
That won’t last forever, and
while Dublin will win another one
or two All Irelands over the next
few years, they will not dominate
in the manner feared by some.
And I say ‘some’ as you will not
find too many Dublin supporters
who share the same vision of the
future!
Others have chosen to focus on
what they perceive to be Dublin’s
unfair advantages. It has been implied that the black card is being
implemented in Dublin’s favour
and that referees are deliberately
allowing Dublin to engage in ‘cynical tackling.’
In fact, Dublin have been penalised far more than their opponents since the black card was
introduced, and a fair proportion
of that was for opposition players
acting.
Unfortunately, the black card
does not seem to be adequate to
deal with diving, sledging, timewasting and other tactics designed
to frustrate teams that play open
attacking football.
Having said that, it is difficult to
see any team dedicated to negativity proving to be a challenge to the
Dubs. My prediction is for a
Dublin/Cork or Dublin/Kerry final,
Dublin have won the
National Football League
on 11 occasions.
with Dublin perhaps shading it
again.
The hurling is more open. Clare,
Cork, Tipperary, Dublin, Galway,
and maybe Limerick have credible
claims.
Most people seem to believe
that, following their off year, the
Cats will add Liam to the league
trophy. I have to say I am not convinced.
They have found Eoin Murphy
in goals, Padraig Walsh and Joey
Holden, and last year’s tyros such
as Cillian Buckley and Walter
Walsh are maturing.
They are still backboned by old
stalwarts such as JJ Delaney, Jackie
Tyrrell, Eoin Larkin, Richie Power
and Henry, and none of them are
hurling at the levels they were a
few years ago.
Fair enough, some will argue
that they will not need to, and that
Cody is coming into the summer
with a nice blend of battle-hardened veterans and new players;
leavened with the likes of Richie
Hogan, TJ Reid and Paul Murphy
who had a taste of the glory years
but who hunger for more.
All of that talk assumes that last
year’s championship was lost by
the Cats rather than won by Clare.
That is unfair and Fitzy will have
Clare properly prepared to defend
ing course in Portugal – and they
destroyed Galway in a challenge
match in Quilty on their return.
They will be there or thereabouts.
Tipp restored some pride in the
league final but one gets the impression that they are a fragile
Tipperary hurlers in action.
their title.
They looked almost disinterested in the league semi-final
against Tipp – played the day before they left for an intensive train-
crew, constantly looking over their
shoulder at a hyper-critical support
base who consider any defeat by
the Cats as an abomination.
Tipp’s almost wild celebrations
over Dublin in the league said a lot
about the state of the Premier psyche. Limerick seem determined to
commit hurling hari kari before a
ball is pucked and Waterford are
still re-building. Last year’s beaten
finalists Cork will be a threat to
everyone.
Of the other likely contenders,
Galway remain an enigma wrapped
in a Supermacs jersey.
It would be foolish to make any
definite predictions about them
but there is no compelling reason
to suggest that 2014 will not be another station on their hurling Via
Dolorosa.
That leaves the Dubs. They had
a decent enough league, beating
Clare and the Cats, and staying up.
I don’t think they really cared
about anything else, and Anthony
will have them primed again for
June and beyond.
A likely Leinster semi-final
against Wexford is first up. A final
against Cody’s men will be one of
the games of the year.
They will go close this year, is all
I’m saying.
Liberty
Liberty Crossword
MAY 2014
PRIZE DRAW
Liberty
Crossword
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2
3
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35
to win two nights for two people
in one of Ireland’s Fair Hotels
ACROSS
DOWN
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6
7
8
12
14
16
18
19
8
9
10
11
12
13
15
14
16
17
17
18
20
21
19
20
21
22
23
22
23
Former ruler of Russia (4)
Mad (8)
County town of Bedfordshire (7)
Not shy (5)
Pretentious (12)
Before the CD (6)
Adoration in the Orthodox and
Catholic Church (6)
States that remain under the British
Crown (12)
Many times (5)
A person who establishes an
institution (7)
To consider again (8)
Trait carrier (4)
*Correctly fill in the crossword to reveal the
hidden word, contained by reading the letters
in the shaded squares from top to bottom.
along with your name and address and you will
to be entered into a prize draw to win two nights
for two people in one of Ireland’s Fair Hotels.
Email the hidden word to
[email protected] or post to
Communications Dept., Liberty Hall, Dublin 1
The winner of the crossword quiz will be
published in the next edition of Liberty.
Jim Larkin
Credit Union
If you are interested in joining
the Jim Larkin Credit Union
Tel: 01-8721155 or
email: [email protected]
Opening
Opening Hours:
Hours:
Thursday 7 p.m. - 8.15 p.m.
Saturday 9 30 a m 12.00 noon
The winner of the crossword
competition in the April edition
was Sarah Dalton, Dublin 6W
Answer: REPUBLIC
*Terms and conditions apply.
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Confident (2,2,4)
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Kennedy,
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