CONGRESS ISSUES PLAN FOR NATIONAL RECOVERY

UPUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE IRISH CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS

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GET UP STAND UPfor a better, fairer way NOV 6

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1. Parameters for Budget 2010

A COUNTRY is not simply an economy, society

matters too. That is why the solutions offered by

economists trained in the neo-classical tradition

are inappropriate. The problem is that because so

many people in important positions are from this

background it promotes a kind of establishment

‘group think’ which is not capable of looking at

the problem other than from one perspective.

Congress sees this crisis as a political economy

challenge of the first order. It is this political

economy perspective which causes us to think

about the problem differently and we see that ex-

tending the parameters up to Budget 2016 in a

more flexible matrix and offers the best chance of

a workable solution.

The response of most Governments to the

global recession is to try to compensate for a de-

cline in private sector activity by means of a pub-

lic stimulus and increased state spending. Because

of the unique failure of the banking-developer

nexus, and the imprudent reliance on property-

related transaction taxes, a large segment of our

tax base has evaporated. Thus we have not re-

acted with a stimulus in response to unemploy-

ment as other countries have. In fact, policy is

focussed almost solely on reducing the public sec-

tor.

From recent discussions it is clear that these

problems are viewed through different prisms by

Government and Congress. In a nutshell the Gov-

ernment intends to cut €4 billion from public ex-

penditure in the forthcoming budget. This is a

major policy change since April, when the stated

intention was to achieve this adjustment through

a combination of tax increases and expenditure

cuts. The intention is also to restore public bor-

rowing to a level of 3 percent of GDP by 2013.

This is highly unrealistic and potentially cata-

strophic. It runs the risk of imparting a severe

deflationary shock to the economy which could

precipitate a prolonged slump, as happened in

Japan during the ‘lost decade’ of the 1990s.

There is an alternative which will not prevent

pain and hardship, but it is better and fairer.

There is no iron rule which says that the ad-

justment has to be completed by 2013. Whatever

other problems Ireland has, it has at least entered

this recession with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio

in Europe. Gross debt as a % of GDP is forecast

to rise to 61.9 in 2009[2].

The Bruegel Group, a centre right policy body,

recently published a paper [3] forecasting that the

average debt-to-GDP ratio in the EU would rise

to 90 percent and that several countries would

exceed that. So we have some headroom to tem-

porarily increase borrowing. The Bruegel paper

suggests the desirability of a coordinated EU ef-

fort to get the average figure down to 75 percent

again by 2020. This is an even longer timescale

than we would suggest.

But it is instructive to look at how Britain is

handling a similar challenge, although larger in

scope because they have to achieve an adjustment

of £100 billion. Current treasury policy is to

make the adjustment over eight years. Both The

Economist [4] and The Financial Times [5] have

opined that fiscal tightening (cuts) should not

begin until the economy has started to recover.

This is the context in which we have proposed

elongating our adjustment period until 2017. To

force a quicker pace runs the risk of not just col-

lapsing public service provision in key areas, but

of collapsing the economy.

The Government is playing for very high stakes

here, and they are playing with our chips!

The Better Fairer Way also involves progressive

taxation. It is believed there is currently €1.8 bil-

lion out there in uncollected taxes.

Moreover the huge windfall gains made during

the boom cannot all have evaporated. It stretches

credulity to suggest that they have.

The reason we need to stretch out the adjust-

ment period to 2017 and to temporarily increase

further our debt-to-GDP ratio in the interim, is

to create the space for ourselves to engage with

the crushing social problems of unemployment,

home repossessions and the collapse of private

sector pensions.

Almost 450,000 people are now on the live

register and although the rate of increase has

moderated somewhat there is a danger of many

people drifting in to long term unemployment. In

addition the construction industry, which directly

or indirectly employed 400,000 people at its peak,

is in rapid decline. While construction cannot and

should not again assume the same share of eco-

nomic activity it cannot be left to just wither

away. Apart from the social consequences of so

doing it would mean the loss of capacity to un-

dertake infrastructural projects at a time when

Ireland is still seriously deficient in critical infra-

structure. This deficiency undermines competi-

tiveness in the economy.

2. Tackling the Jobs Crisis

WE NEED strategies to keep people in jobs and

to get people who have fallen out of the labour

market back into employment again – both in

their interest and in the national interest. This is

what Congress is specifically proposing:

� A €1 billion fund to promote the type of jobsharing initiative pioneered successfully in Ger-

many, other EU countries and even Singapore.

The model involves an intervention by Govern-

ment, not to pay social welfare, but to fill the gap

with education and training where trading condi-

tions force a company to reduce production. In-

stead of redundancies reduced working time for

everyone is adopted as an alternative.

If, for example, the company moves to a three-

day week then the state intervenes to use the

other two days to upskill the workforce. There

are no distortionary effects because the company

still only has three days of production and is not

advantaged over its competitors. But the work-

ers are still paying taxes, have preserved their

spending power and, when the company gets back

on its feet it will not alone have retained its

skilled workforce but the human capital compo-

nent of the enterprise will have increased.

The German Government has 1.4 million peo-

ple in this scheme. The 20 European countries

which have introduced this type of work sharing

scheme have seen tangible benefits from it. Un-

employment in Europe has risen far less than in

the US (which does not intervene in this way).

European economies have curbed the social cost

of the recession.

And by shoring up domestic demand they have

arguably helped their own economies recover as

well as contributing to global stabilisation. Mr

Stefano Scarpetta, head of OECD Employment

THERE IS STILL A CONGRESS 10 POINT PLAN

THE challenge facing the coun-try at this time is unprece-dented. No other Government

has asked its people for, or hasachieved, the level of austerity beingconsidered for the forthcomingbudget. As the National Economicand Social Council [1] has pointedout in a recent report, there are fivecomponent parts to the crisis – eco-nomic, fiscal, social banking sectorand reputational – which require anintegrated response. They cannot beeffectively dealt with in a sequentialor partial way. Our concern is thatthe current stance of public policyfails to grasp the importance of this.

It risks increasing inequality in soci-ety and casting the economy into aprolonged slump. Neither does itseem to appreciate that what is hap-pening in the world is the collapse ofan economic model which has domi-nated for 30 years. What we are fac-ing is much more complex thansimply accepting a short sharp andpainful correction on the road to re-covery. There will be no return to‘business as usual’.

That is why Congress is advocatingfor a better fairer way of confrontingthis crisis. What this means in prac-tice is explained in the followingpages.

UNION POST is produced in association with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions

November 2009 � UNION POST 3

Analysis is quoted as saying that these schemes

represent a good use of public money [6]

� Congress has proposed the concept of a Na-tional Recovery Bond to fund specific infrastruc-

tural projects with the objective of meeting a

national need and providing construction employ-

ment. This is something that people would see as

worth investing in as a patriotic endeavour. It

could be marketed at home and amongst the Di-

aspora. The Construction Industry Council has

separately advanced a proposal to utilise pension

fund investments for the same purpose. Some

combination of these proposals could give the

stimulus needed. Importantly for Government it

could be done off balance sheet and would not

affect our debt to GDP ratio;

� The creation of a model of apprenticeshipfor the times we live in. This involves using the

data available on future skills needs to equip peo-

ple for the jobs which will be available in the fu-

ture. This applies equally to matching high level

skills to needs and opportunities. There are many

countries in Europe, even in recession, which can-

not fill jobs in key industries because of skill

shortages; Introduce a training guarantee for

young people and other workers whose skills are

obsolete and people with low educational attain-

ment. In short we need to re-find the capacity

that was developed in the early 1990s for labour

market interventions and upgrade it for current

circumstances;

� We need to look at America and othercountries for best practice models on how to

create a green industry. The ESB and BGE are al-

ready into this area but it needs a strong push

from Government to ensure that the potential

for green jobs is pushed to its limit;

� The resources and remit for the state agen-cies responsible for industrial activity – IDA, En-

terprise Ireland, ForFas and FAS – should be

examined and refocused for best employment

outcomes. The fact that some of the commercial

state companies are giving a lead in job creation

initiatives suggests that more might be possible

with a coherent whole of Government effort;

� Rigidities in the Social Welfare Code whichprevent people from accessing supports unless

they are unemployed as distinct from underem-

ployed need to be removed. The concept of ‘tai-

lored universalism’ advocated by NESC [7] could

be a valuable route to explore here.

3. The Dangerous Myopia of the Deflationary Mindset

CUTTING incomes across the board in a reces-

sion makes no sense. It is unfair as well as being

economic folly. Lower and middle income earn-

ers – much less those on social welfare – played

no role in causing this crisis and cannot glibly be

asked to pick up the tab with the oft stated

mantra ‘there is no other way’.

Much of the received wisdom peddled by the

neo-classical school of economists has in any

event been erroneous. They assumed that wage

reductions in the private sector were widespread

and advocated that the same should happen in

the public sector in the interest of competitive-

ness. When the data did not support this analysis

they questioned the data.

The basic thesis behind this thinking is that Ire-

land’s path out of recession is to boost exports.

The normal instrument to achieve this would be

to devalue the currency. But because we are

member of the Eurozone this is not an option.

So the alternative posited is to have a competitive

devaluation of wages across the board.

The problem is that none of the people who

propose this can give any assurance that it will

work. The strongest case the ESRI could make

was that it ‘could’ work [8].

The truth is that Irish exports have held up well

in a global market where trade has diminished by

a quarter. It is hard to see where the bounce in

exports is to come from in these circumstances.

On the other hand we do know that the reduc-

tion in GDP experienced so far has come entirely

from a collapse in domestic demand, the slump in-

vestment being compounded by the cuts in the

volume of public net current expenditure already

taking place and even more so by the sharp fall in

the volume of private consumer expenditure. If

incomes are cut it will exacerbate this trend in

domestic demand decline potentially driving us

into the type of slump Japan experienced over 10

years in the 1990s.

Moreover, it is a reality that some aspects of

domestic costs, and hence competitiveness, are

artificially kept high by public policy. In pursuit of

competition, so called, ESB is not allowed, as the

dominant provider of electricity, to reduce its

prices. The effect of the NAMA legislation will be

to underpin property rents. Leaving aside the ef-

ficacy of the wage cutting argument discussed

above, why should the burden of adjustment be

borne by wages if other economic costs are being

artificially propped up?

As a medium term strategy to increase com-

petitiveness there may be a case for wage moder-

ation in combination with policies to control

other costs and improve the factors which influ-

ence competitiveness such as infrastructure. But

there are trade offs here and even wage modera-

tion in a recession is deflationary. An accord rec-

onciling medium term unit wage cost trends with

competitor countries would be far more benefi-

cial than pursuing deflationary wage cuts now.

The aspect of this issue which is hardest to

fathom is that some of the advocates of wage

cuts, like the ESRI, acknowledge that they will

cause more deflation.

If there is less spending there will be more peo-

ple out of work. That means less tax revenue and

more people dependent on social welfare. What

does Government do then, impose more cuts?

4. Protecting Vital Services

WITH more people out of work – 200,000 since

2007 – there is increased pressure on public

service provision.

To cut service provision now makes no sense

and could, in the longer-term, fatally undermine

vital services such as health and education. It is

arguable that our health service has never recov-

ered from the corrosive effect of the savage cuts

imposed in 1980s, when hundreds of beds were

taken out of the system. It is likely that if cuts of

that order were to be imposed again, it could

simply collapse our vital services.

There are huge social policy implications to

this. The level of suffering that will be experi-

enced by the most vulnerable in the community if

€1.3 billion is cut in Budget 2010 will be trau-

matic. This is not to suggest that more efficiency

BETTER FAIRER WAY FOR NATIONAL RECOVERY

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GET UP STAND UPfor a better, fairer way NOV 6

NATIONAL DAYOF ACTION

and better outcomes should not be an objective.

Nor does it mean that expenditure cuts can be

entirely avoided.

In any debate about what is to be done it can

be seen that there are four variables available to

Government, viz: to cut expenditure, to raise tax

revenue, to elongate the adjustment period and

to borrow more money on a temporary basis.

The challenge is to ensure that these are cali-

brated in a way that the best off people make the

biggest contribution and the least harm is done to

the fabric of society.

5. Protecting Peoples’ Homes

THE Government needs to look out for the

needs of ordinary working families. It’s not

enough to save the banks, working families need

to be thrown a life line too. Working families

who have lost their jobs and incomes must be

protected from threats of repossession and they

must be provided with realistic ways to deal with

their over indebtedness.

It is unfair that the tax payer is funding NAMA,

while at the same time ordinary working families

are under threat of losing their home.

With the dramatic growth in over indebtedness

and the increasing number of families with mort-

gage arrears and other debts it is imperative that

Ireland puts in place fair and appropriate laws to

deal with the casualties of this crisis.

Congress is calling on Government to take im-

mediate action and use the draft NAMA legisla-

tion to protect households in the current

economic crisis. Action has to be taken in this

legislation because:

� The threat of repossession is now very realfor families, many of whom lost their jobs to-

wards the end of 2008 and early 2009, as the 12

month moratorium on repossession of homes in

the Financial Regulators Mortgage Arrears Code,

and income protection insurance, is for thousand

of families, now running out;

� The political influence currently exerted onthe banks to hold them back from repossessing

ordinary family homes is likely to become ineffec-

tive once NAMA has taken over the banks’ toxic

assets;

� At that point banks will be tempted to re-possess houses as they have nothing to lose, as

despite the repossession, the person still owes

the full cost of the mortgage (and the banks will

also charge the families unrestricted fees for the

cost of repossession, sale and court costs!), and in

addition lenders will purse the borrower for the

outstanding amount;

� Voluntary surrender, where homeownershand the keys of their property back to the bank,

is on the increase. Where the property is in neg-

ative equity, there are real issues facing families as

inevitably the lender will pursue the borrower for

the shortfall and there is no guarantee about how

the property will be valued nor is there any obli-

gation on the banks to obtain the best price for

the property.

Congress believes that every person who finds

themselves in a situation of severe indebtedness

must be given a period of up to three years, free

from any legal threat, to sort out their problem

provided they comply with the protocol set out

hereunder.

The NAMA legislation should be used to intro-

duce this new regime for dealing with indebted-

ness including the establishment of an Office of

Indebtedness. Specifically, this involves:

� Establishing an office for indebtedness toprovide for an easily accessible alternative to

courts for people who are over indebted;

� Where families are in difficulty, require all oftheir lenders to conclude at least for the period

of the recession, an ‘affordable mortgage and debt

payment arrangement’ which protects a ‘minimally

adequate’ standard of living;

� In repossession and surrender situations,allow the office of indebtedness/courts to take

into account the lending practices of the banks,

and where loans can be shown to have been

recklessly provided, for the Office/Court to vary

the overall mortgage and or the repayments and

to suspend interest and other charges and penal-

ties as these only exacerbate a family’s financial

distress;

� NAMA valuations to extend to family homesand in addition set out what steps should be

taken by an lender to ensure that the best price is

obtained for a family home when it is repos-

sessed;

� Restrict the amount that can be charged in arepossession/voluntary surrender situation, re-

strict fees, cap resale costs, and more importantly

include an option of a write down of negative eq-

uity;

� Debtors must be guaranteed access and rep-resentation by MABs personnel when they are

negotiating the ‘affordable mortgage and debt pay-

ment arrangement’;

� Provide for certainty, no more vague and am-biguous language in Voluntary Codes which make

enforcement or even the investigation of alleged

breaches by Lenders, very difficult.

6. A Fair Contributionfrom the Wealthy

AN EXTRAORDINARY effort has been made in

recent times to claim that all wealth in the coun-

try has evaporated.

This is clearly designed to ensure that a popular

demand for higher tax levels on this cohort of the

population can be seen off.

Nevertheless it is a matter of public record

that €1.8 billion in taxes remains uncollected.

We know that the top one per cent of the

population made about €75 billion during the

boom era. Specifically, it can be computed from

revenue data that a minimum of €66 billion was

made by individuals between 2002 and 2008 – al-

most €10 billion a year[9].

The top one per cent in 2007 held 20 per cent

of the wealth, the top two per cent held 30 per

cent and the top five per cent held 40 per cent.

How can this money have disappeared because

for every developer who paid over the odds for

land there had to be an owner who received the

money.

7. A National Sustainable Pensions System

THE RECESSION and the attendant crisis of

global capitalism have wrecked havoc with per-

sonal and occupational pensions. Many people

from all walks of society are now at risk of facing

an old age in poverty because their pension will

not provide what they expected, or perhaps

nothing at all.

Unlike most EU countries Ireland relied heavily

on private pensions. It is clear that this position

is not now sustainable. A new pension’s strategy

has been promised for years but has not been de-

livered.

An essential trade off for people enduring a

painful economic adjustment would be a social

dividend in the future. The pensions crisis is as

systemically important in a social sense as the

banking crisis is in an economic sense.

Comprehensive proposals for pension reform

have been presented to Government by Congress

over the last five years. It is not unreasonable to

expect Government to either accept these pro-

posals or to publish its own strategy for dealing

with the problem.

The immediate crisis with occupational pension

schemes requires attention. The majority of De-

fined Benefit Schemes are in difficulty with some

high profile cases in which people on the eve of

retirement lost everything. Earlier discussions

with Government in relation to pensions protec-

tion in double insolvency situations, or where a

solvent employer moves away, must be brought to

a conclusion at realistic levels which dovetail with

ECJ jurisprudence. The continuing scandal

whereby people who have to buy an insurance

annuity are being ripped off to the tune of 20 per

cent of the fund’s value should be ended by the

state providing annuities via the NTMA or other

appropriate agency.

8. Social Welfare Rates

CONGRESS believes that there should be a

threshold of decency below which society should

not go in a crisis. Cutting social welfare rates falls

into that category.

Beyond the issue of social justice involved there

is also the consideration that money spent on so-

cial welfare is, of necessity, all spent in the local

economy. It therefore contributes directly to the

maintenance of jobs.

9. Reform of the Banking System

CONGRESS has serious misgivings about the

NAMA legislation relating to the estimated de-

fault rate on loans and whether the property

market has yet reached its trough. It is possible

that an enormous liability is being foisted on fu-

ture generations. The reality is that the legislation

will go through the Oireachtas and the question

then will be about the longer term future of the

sector. It is important that bank structures are

reformed in a way that prevents a similar crisis

happening ever again. But in doing this bank em-

ployees must not be scapegoated.

CONGRESS 10 POINT PLAN FOR NATIONAL RECOVERY

November 2009 � UNION POST 5

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POSTEDWE’RE HERE TO KEEP YOU

10. Workplace Rights

THE onset of recession has exposed a pattern of

behaviour amongst some employers which, in its

vindictiveness and exploitation, is redolent of the

early part of the last century. Society should not

allow the alteration in the balance of power be-

tween labour and business in a recession to facili-

tate such conduct.

The Government has committed itself to nine

separate pieces of legislation over recent years

which would, if enacted, go some way to restoring

civilised behaviour in the workplace. Congress de-

mands that these commitments be honoured.

With the adoption by the EU of the Lisbon

Treaty the Charter of Fundamental Rights will ac-

quire the status of primary laws. Article 28 pro-

vides for a legal entitlement to collective

bargaining. The Lisbon Treaty also provides for Eu-

rope’s accession to the European Convention on

Human Rights. There is now a clear cut jurispru-

dence based on Article 11 of the convention in

favour of the right to collective bargaining.

These developments at international level mean

that the Irish Government cannot credibly con-

tinue to deny its citizens a basic human right en-

joyed by every other citizen of the EU. It no

longer has any legal excuse to delay introducing

the necessary legislation to allow collective bar-

gaining as of right.

[1] NESC Paper 120 (2009) Next Steps in Addressing Ireland’s Five-PartCrisis: Combing Retrenchment with Reform[2] The net debt to GDP ratio in 2007 was 12.2 per cent. This is net ofNPRF, social insurance and Exchequer balances (source: ESRI QuarterlyEconomic Commentary, Table 7)[3] Von Hagen, Jurgen etal (2009) Exit: Time to Plan: Paper prepared forpresentation to the informal Ecofin Council, Goteborg, 1st October, 2009.The Bruegal Group[4] The Economist, 26th September, 2009 ‘Deflating the State’, P. 28[5] Wolf, Martin (2009) ‘Britain’s Phoney Debate on Slashing Spending’, The Financial Times, October 9, 2009, P. 17[6] Atkins, Ralph (2009) ‘Eurozone Feels Benefit of Short-Time WorkSchemes’ The Financial Times, 29th October, 2009, P. 6[7] NESC Paper No. 113 (2005) The Developmental Welfare State[8] Barrett, Alan et al (2009) Quarterly Economic Commentary, ESRI Autumn, 2009[9] This figure is based on the Revenue Capital Gains Tax Returns

DUBLIN Parnell SquareWATERFORD The GlenTULLAMORE County HallCORK Connolly HallLIMERICK Mechanics InstituteGALWAY The CathedralSLIGO The Blue LagoonDUNDALK The Fairgreen

ALL PROTESTS START

NOVEMBER 6 at 2.30pm

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

UNION POST � November 20096

THE PRISON Officers Association is bal-loting its members on taking industrialaction following what it was claimed wasthe Governmentʼs breaching of the so-cial partnership agreement.

Deputy general secretary Eugene Den-nehy slammed the recommendation con-tained in the recent McCarthy Reportthat €15m could be saved by cutting payand allowances in the Prison Service.Hesaid: “It is of immense concern to prisonofficers and their families that this pro-posal seems to have the support of gov-ernment.

“We canʼt take such a threat lightly –and it is for all of these reason thatwe are running this ballot on in-dustrial action. Our membershave paid a heavy price alreadyby way of easing the economicburden. Many prison officers nowhave a reduction in their pay ofmore than €4,000 a year.”

POA: Govt is inbreach of deal

INTO leadersin ballot callTHE Executive of the INTO has asked pri-mary school teachers to support its callfor up to three days industrial action inresponse to threats to pay, pensions andconditions of employment.

General Secretary Sheila Nunan said itwas clear the Government was activelyconsidering further cuts to public sectorpay and pensions in the run-up to theBudget on December 9.

She warned if the recommendationscontained in the McCarthy Report wereimplemented, teachers faced longerhours and more work as well as salarycuts amounting to over €50m a year.

Ms Nunan claimed the decision to bal-lot for industrial action was not takenlightly, adding: “Teachers are fully awareof the economic challenges facing thecountry and have already incurred a sig-nificant reduction intake home pay.

“However, the current challenges mustnot be addressed by placing an unfairand disproportionate burden on publicsector workers.”

INO: Vote Yes to protest cutsIRISH Nurses Organisation chief LiamDoran has urged nurses and midwives tovote for industrial action to protestagainst proposed further wage cuts inthe public sector.

In a message to members, the unionʼsleadership said it was reaffirming its callfor a Yes vote in the ballot following re-cent comments by Taoiseach BrianCowen and Finance Minister Brian Leni-han. They have signalled a cut of €1.3bnin the public sector pay bill next year.

Mr Doran claimed this suggested a fur-ther seven per cent cut in public sectorsalaries was on the agenda on top of the7.5 per cent levy cut imposed last April.

He told INO members: “In view of all ofthis, you are again asked to familiariseyourself with the voting arrangements, inyour workplace, and to cast your vote infavour of industrial action.

“This will allow the INO, in partnershipwith other public sector unions, to op-pose the Governmentʼs proposals whichare unfair, unjust and unwarranted.”

THE Northern Ireland Committee of the IrishCongress of Trade Unions has called on workingpeople in Northern Ireland to protest against fur-ther cuts in public services and to show theirsupport for policies that protect and create jobs.

A series of protest rallies will be held on Friday,November 6 at 10 locations across the North.Congress assistant general secretary PeterBunting claimed reports the US economy seemedto be pulling out of recession “ought to be a les-son for those responsible for economic policyhere”.

He said: “The US economy is improving be-cause of President Obama’s stimulus package.Likewise, the improvements in the German andFrench economies are down to prudent use of apublic sector-led response to the downturn. Stim-ulus policies work.

“In contrast, the economy in the Republic ofIreland is stuck in a vicious downward cycle ofcuts and falling demand and more cuts.

“The ICTU and others are calling for policieswhich stimulate growth and protect jobs.

“We in Northern Ireland and the UK cannotmake the same mistakes which Brian Cowan andBrian Lenihan have made.

“We should plan, stimulate and innovate toprotect and develop our economy.

“The ICTU is organising a series of rallies inthe Republic to stop the crisis there getting com-pletely out of control.

“The Northern Ireland Committee of theICTU is organising simultaneous rallies to preventus facing the same crisis in 12 or 18 monthstime.” Mr Bunting pointed out the Northern Ire-land Executive Budget for 2008/2011 had intro-

duced cuts of £1.604bn across all departments.He added: “The Executive is now planning for inexcess of £370m in cuts before the end of thecurrent financial year.

“In the Belfast Trust alone this will mean anextra cut in the order of £25m and the closure of150 beds in the two largest hospitals in Belfast.

“The threat of additional water charges hasbeen raised again. All of these cuts will dispropor-tionately affect working families and the disadvan-taged, and all users of public services.

“Now is the time to make known the publicopposition to these cuts in services and the lossof jobs in the private sector.

`’Join with the trade unions in showing youropposition to the cuts. Rally with us on Novem-ber 6.”

NORTHNIC-ICTU message to NI Executive:

Peter Bunting: ‘Show your opposition’

THE 24/7 Frontline Alliance has given its backing to Congressʼ November 6protests. Alliance chairperson Des Kavanagh said: “We fully support theprotests and all our affiliates will be taking part, including those organisationssuch as my own, the Psychiatric Nurses Association, which are not members ofCongress. It is important all working people who pay their taxes through thePAYE system support the Congress campaign. The PAYE sector is already

shouldering more than its fair share while the bankers, developers and otherswho wrecked our economy are seeking to divert attention from their own need to

contribute by fomenting a divide between public and private sector workers.”

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SIPTU divisional organiser Gerry McCor-mack has paid tribute to the “unstintingresolve” of Coca Cola workers followingthe end of a nine-week dispute.

Settlement proposals provide for sub-stantially improved redundancy termsfrom those previously offered by thecompany.

The dispute arose after Coca Cola HBCIreland announced it intended to out-source the jobs of 130 distribution andwarehouse staff at facilities in Dublin,Waterford, Cork, Tipperary and Galway.

Mr McCormack said: “SIPTU wishes tocommend the heroic battle by the work-ers of Coca Cola HBC and their unstint-ing resolve to seek a fair and equitablesettlement in this most difficult dispute.”

He also thanked the Labour Court andmediator Gerry Durcan for help providedin resolving the dispute.

The Court had recommended improvedredundancy terms and the possible re-tention of direct employment at the Bally-coolin depot in Dublin.

Mr McCormack added: “The 130 work-ers and their colleagues who participatedin this dispute fought against great oddsand concluded a successful dispute.

“We wish to also thank all of the sup-porters of the Coca Cola HBC workers,the general public, other trade unionsand public representatives for their sup-port over the past nine weeks.”

SIPTU tributeto Coca Colastrikers afterlong dispute

Picture: SIPTU

BELFAST City HallL’DERRY Custom House Street (Guild Hall)ARMAGH Market StreetBALLYMENA Band Stand, BroadwayCRAIGAVON Area HospitalCOLERAINE Causeway HospitalENNISKILLEN Erne HospitalMAGHERAFELT DiamondNEWRY Old Town HallOMAGH Court House

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6 at 1pm

A BETTER, FAIRER DEALFOR NORTHERN IRELAND

RALLIESDon’t follow policies of Cowen & Co

Marches to Belfast Rally from Mater, Royal & City Hospitals (Form up at 12 noon, march at 12.30pm)

UNION POST � November 20098

NOAM Chomsky has urged people to organiseagainst poverty and warned of the looming men-ace of the far-right taking advantage of growinginequality.

He made his comments as he delivered the an-nual Amnesty International Lecture in Belfast onOctober 30.

Widely recognised as one of the world’s lead-ing intellectuals, Prof Chomsky told a packed au-dience at Queen’s University’s Whitla Hall thatinequality had “soared to unprecedented heights”in the US.

He said: “There is now a mass of people withreal grievances, who want answers but are notreceiving them.

“The far-right is providing answers that arecompletely crazy – that rich liberals are givingtheir hard-earned money away to illegal immi-

grants and the shiftless poor. “A common reac-tion in elite educated circles and much of the leftis to ridicule the right-wing protestors, but that isa serious error.

“The correct reaction is to examine our ownfailures. The grievances are quite real and shouldbe taken seriously.”

DANGERSProf Chomsky warned there were “real dan-

gers” in letting these views go answered.He added: “If the protestors are getting crazy

answers from the hardline right-wing extreme,the proper reaction is to provide the right an-swers, and do something about them.

"An organised public can achieve a great deal,as we see right now in many places.

“In South America, there are at last serioussteps to confront poverty and other severe

human rights abuses. The driving force is masspopular movements. They are beginning to ad-dress what Amnesty calls ‘the unheard truth’ –that ‘poverty is the world’s worst human rightscrisis, this generation’s greatest struggle’.”

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International'sNorthern Ireland programme director, claimedProf Chomsky’s message was “as relevant forpeople in Belfast as it is for those in Beirut, Bagh-dad or Beijing”.

He added: “ We all have a responsibility tostand up for justice and to stand against thosewho would take away the human rights of themost vulnerable.

“By standing together, through organisationslike Amnesty International, ordinary people canmake a call for justice which will be heard in allthe world's capitals."

Picture: Amnesty International

Chomsky delivers people power message at Belfast lecture

OUR FALLENCONGRESS assistant general secretaryPeter Bunting and Lord Mayor Naomi Longat the unveiling of a memorial fountain dedi-cated to 30 Belfast City Council employeesmurdered during the Troubles. Speaking atthe October 28 ceremony in the grounds ofCity Hall where the memorial is sited, MrBunting said: “We in the trade union move-ment remember them as our fallen.

“Remove the ʻcasteʼ designations ofʻCatholicʼ and ʻProtestantʼ and you are leftwith occupations – teacher, taxi driver,homemaker. What they had in common wasthat they were workers. What made themstronger as workers was this commonalityand it is through this commonality that weremember them today.”

GET ORGANISED

November 2009 � UNION POST 9

ECONOMY

Deflationaryapproach isstraight outof Dickens...CPSU general secretary Blair Horan has saideconomists advocating deflationary policies arepromoting a return to “19th century solutions”.

He pointed out that because Ireland is part of asingle EU currency, pay cuts across public and pri-vate sectors would inevitably lead to deflationand a real drop in workers’ living standards inmarked contrast to “the monied classes”.

Mr Horan said: “Those with assets would notonly have their full values protected in the eurobut their value would increase due to deflation.

“A weaker dollar and sterling further enhancesasset values in euros. It is like having gold in thebank for the monied classes.”

He argued that during the gold standard era ofthe 19th century, the rich were “similarly pro-tected”.

“Their assets were fully convertible to gold,while workers bore the brunt of boom to bustrecessions. Deflation economists argue that paycuts are the best alternative to currency devalua-tions that took place prior to the euro. This isnot true.”

DEVALUEDMr Horan said that in the past when the punt

was devalued “nominal values remained un-changed” but that “real values of both incomesand assets reduced” affecting all sections of Irishsociety.

However, with the euro, pay cuts affect workersand increase their debt obligations while themonied classes “suffer no loss and have the equiv-alent of gold in the bank”.

He added: “This is the 19th century solutionadvocated by the extreme, neo-liberal economistswhose policies caused the crises in the first place.

“The Great Depression banished this thinkingfor two generations before it returned to almostdestroy the Irish economy.

“Why should anybody believe that the neo-lib-eral economists who caused this crises, have anyrole to play in finding the solutions?

“A part of the solution must be a top rate oftax on high earners and a wealth tax on assetsand not pay cuts for lower paid public servants.”

CONGRESS President Jack O'Connor hasclaimed the fiscal plan put forward by the Gov-ernment – and approved by the European Com-mission – did not envisage a €4 billion cut inpublic spending in 2010.

He said: "It envisaged an adjustment in thedeficit of €4bn, which is an entirely different thing.

“This was to be achieved by a €1.75bn increasein taxation, a €1.5bn reduction in current expen-diture and a €0.75bn reduction in capital expendi-ture.

“We could not agree with this because, in theabsence of parallel means to stimulate economicactivity, it would serve only to exacerbate thedownward spiral.

"However, the Government has slickly shiftedground so that the €4bn adjustment has now be-come a €4bn cut in public expenditure.

“The effect is to place the whole burden onworking people and on those who depend onpublic services, whilst the wealthy are insulatedfrom making any additional contribution whatso-ever."

€4bn cut notin fiscal plan

Picture: Bob Marshak, courtesy Anarchists’ Convention. Still: John Sayles & Maggie Renzi

Tough guys: Company enforcers lay down the law in scene from Matewan

Solidarity forever: John Sayle’s Matewan is classic of labour cinema

Labour epic highlightof WCTU celebrationsFILM DIRECTOR John Sayles was guestof honour at a special screening of hisepic labour movie Matewan in Waterfordlast month.

The October 15 event, forming part ofWaterford Council on Trade Unions cen-tenary celebrations, was dubbed “a fan-tastic boost for the trade unionmovement” by Mayor John Hogan.

The New Jersey-based film maker saidhe had travelled to Waterford because herecognised the importance of tradeunions in the modern world as well as ageneral belief in solidarity and kinship.

He was joined at the event, held at theGarter Lane Arts Centre, by MaggieRenzi who produced the movie.

Matewan is based on a true-life inci-dent when workers from the StoneMountain Coal Company fought withhired mercenaries from the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency.

It followed an attempt to prevent theworkers from unionising. The resultingpitched battle on the streets of Matewan,West Virginia on May 19, 1920, left 10dead.

Hailed as a minor classic on its releasein 1987, Variety Magazine called it “aheartfelt, straight-ahead tale of labourorganising in the coal mines of West Vir-ginia that runs its course like a traincoming down the track”.

UNION POST � November 200910

CHOICE IS PAY LATER

Embargolike NAMAeach year

‘INVEST now or pay later’ was the key themeat a special TUI conference held in Dublin lastmonth.

The October 17 event heard economists, em-ployers, academics, trade unionists and teachersargue that investing in education was vital for anumber of economic, social and health reasons.

TUI general secretary Peter MacMenaminspoke of the need to secure “a high quality andcompletely equitable education system for all”.

Referring to recent Government cuts, he saidthat schools and colleges were having to oper-ate with seriously depleted resources at a timeof rapidly increasing student numbers.

He added: “We cannot afford not to investappropriately in our education system at all lev-els. If we fail to invest now, the economic andsocial costs to the country will be immeasura-ble.”

Barnardo’s chief Fergus Finlay queriedwhether we cared enough about future genera-tions particularly those from disadvantagedbackgrounds.

He told the conference: “Very soon we willstart operating a new prison in Ireland calledThornton Hall. In its first decade of operation,Thornton Hall will cost the taxpayer €1bn torun and operate.

“In its second decade, Thornton Hall will befull of kids that we neglected while we werespending that €1bn.

SOCIETY“If we want to build a society that doesn’t

need Thornton Hall any more, we should be in-vesting a fraction of that €1bn in early interven-tion and prevention in the lives of some of ourchildren.

“We know where they live, we know whattheir circumstances are and what the futureholds for them but it seems we’d rather spend€1bn picking up the pieces after the damage hasbeen done rather than spending a fraction of itpreventing that damage.”

IBEC’s Tony Donohoe spoke of the impor-tance of investing in education even during a se-vere economic downturn.

He said: “Economic return from investment inthis area tends to accrue mainly in the mediumto long term, but it is vital that we treat it as apriority area for investment, even during thistime of acute fiscal stress.”

Jackie O’Callaghan, of the National Parents’Association for Vocational Schools and Commu-nity Colleges, claimed schools were still “strain-ing” because of cuts. She said changes to thepupil/teacher ratio has resulted in a loss of sub-jects in many schools and had seriously affectedstudents with special educational needs.

Ms O’Callaghan added: “Typically, it is thepoorest families who suffer as a result.

“In many ways referring to money spent on aday-to-day basis on education as ‘current’spending is a misnomer. Students represent thefuture of the country and all spending in educa-tion should be looked upon as capital invest-ment.”

Kathleen Lynch, who heads up the EqualityStudies department at UCD, spoke about in-equality in the Irish education system.

Claiming that this inequality was all too often“taken as a given”, she said: “We accept as ‘edu-cationally inevitable’ that students with moreeconomic resources will do better in educationthan those with fewer resources.”

CUBA Support Group Ireland has hit out at a topUS official’s claim that the 47-year sanctions pol-icy has not hurt the Cuban people.

It follows a vote at the UN General Assemblyon October 28 condemning the economic em-bargo and calling for it to be lifted.

The non-binding resolution – with 187 votes infavor, three against and two abstentions – reflectsglobal disapproval of Washington's longstandingbid to isolate Havana.

Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN,claimed the resolution did not reflect "current re-alities" on the Caribbean island nation.

She said it was wrong to blame US sanctionsfor depriving Cubans, adding: "It is high time forthis body to move beyond the rhetorical postur-ing of the past, to recognise the situation in Cubafor what it is today and to encourage progress to-wards genuine change."

But Cuba Support Group Ireland’s national co-ordinator Simon McGuinness hit back, claimingthe embargo was the longest blockade in humanhistory.

He said: “Cuban government documents lodgedwith the UN show the blockade has cost it$236bn in today's prices. This is three times thetotal cost of the Irish government's NAMA bankrescue plan.

“Bad and all as that is, it's not the full picture.Ireland has an income 17 times greater per headthan Cuba, so the equivalent blockade would havecost Ireland €12,036bn, or one NAMA every yearfor the last 51 years.

“I think that reveals the ambassador's com-ments for what they are.”

CONFERENCE

REPORT

CUBA Support Group Ireland and theLatin America Solidarity Centre join forcesonce again to bring you the 13th annualChé Guevara Pub Quiz fundraiser in theHarcourt Hotel, Dublin on Wednesday, No-vember 18.

Doors open at 7pm with first questionsstarting at 7.30pm, so don't be late!Teams of four will be charged €40, indi-viduals are welcome and will be formedinto teams on the night. There will be lotsof spot prizes.

Last year's event was well supportedand a full house is anticipated for this yeartoo. It promises to be a fun night out withquestions designed to trip up all agegroups and all political persuasionsequally! For more information call Simonon 087 6785842.

Sally Anne Kinahan and Fergus Finlay

CUBA

Ms Lynch pointed out that governments al-lowed “institutionalised injustices in education” topersist over generations.

“The Government expects schools to supple-ment basic educational services with so-called'voluntary contributions' that they know poorparents cannot afford and it allows schools forthe privileged to charge fees in addition to beingfunded by the State.

“To create a more equal educational system weneed not only to eliminate inherited inequalitiesthat actively promote injustices in access, partici-pation and outcomes within education, we alsoneed to avoid compounding existing injusticeswith new ones.

INEQUALITIES“And we need to recognise and own the im-

morality of inequalities in education that consignsso many students to a sense of failure on leavingschool.”

Underlining that equality in education waslinked with equality in society, Ms Lynch added:“Data from many countries shows that the lowerthe level of income and wealth inequality, thelower the level of educational inequality in a givensociety. To claim that one is promoting equality ineducation without addressing economic injusticesis to engage in an act of educational and politicaldelusion.”

Congress assistant general secretary Sally AnneKinahan spoke of how other EU countries hadconcentrated on investing in education and up-skilling.

She said: “The Government is reducing theprospects of recovery by its failure to introduceeffective measures to preserve jobs and protectthose most vulnerable to long-term unemploy-ment, particularly workers with low education at-tainment.

“Congress has consistently pointed to theachievement of countries such as Germany, Den-mark, the Netherlands and France, which have in-tervened to save jobs whle at the same timeinvesting in educating and up-skilling workers.”

Ms Kinahan added: “Investment in education –from early childhood development to workplacelearning – is the most effective panacea to over-come social disadvantage and inequality, improvelife chances, employment prospects and earningpower.”

November 2009 � UNION POST 11

INVEST NOW OR

STUDENT numbers are expected to rise bynearly a third in the next 20 years, according tofigures presented at the TUI’s Investment in Edu-cation conference last month.

The TUI claimed the current system is notequipped to support the most vulnerable stu-dents now, and with numbers increasing from340,000 to 440,000 at secondary level, the situa-tion can only worsen steadily unless interven-tions are made.

General secretary Peter MacMenamin said:“Demographics show our education system willcome under unprecedented pressure, with an in-crease of at least 5,000 additional students in thesystem every September for the next 20 years.

“It follows that considerable additional invest-ment in our education system will be necessaryto give every child the best possible chance to, ata very minimum, obtain the Leaving Certificate.”

He claimed that there was a real risk the al-ready unacceptable drop out rate (20pc nation-ally, 30pc in Dublin city) would rise substantiallyunless programmes to support vulnerable chil-

dren were fully funded and enhanced. Mr Mac-Menamin called for the full restoration of fund-ing to Leaving Certificate Applied and LeavingCertificate Vocational programmes which he saidretained the most vulnerable students throughalternative learning methods.

He also called for the removal of a morato-rium on middle management posts which “un-dermined the fabric of Irish school life”, and therestoration of “appropriate substitution cover”for teachers to allow more experiential learningthat requires students to leave the classroom forfield trips and extracurricular activities.

Mr MacMenamin said the great increase insecondary level student population would neces-sarily mean a rise in numbers seeking access tofurther and higher education.He called for a significant increase in the numberof places available in further education, adequatefunding for colleges to maintain staffing levelsand a freezing of the college registration fee.

Failure to invest in education would, he added,have “hugely damaging implications” for society

and would mean “we would move no further to-wards the knowledge economy our politicianstalk so often about”.

Mr MacMenamin warned also of the socialconsequences and impact on public health if in-vestment in education was not made.

He said: “Socially, many thousands of youngpeople will fall through some of the gapingcracks in our education system.

“Many could eventually end up in our prisonsystem. The cost of keeping a prisoner in Irelandcan be as much as €270,000 per annum.

“A fair, equitable and fully resourced educationsystem creates a fairer society and supports ac-tive citizenship.

“Apart from compelling social considerations,it is economic madness to remove the educationsupport which will keep these young peopleaway from this fate.

“There is also a strong and clear correlationbetween education and health/life expectancy.

“Increasing educational attainment ultimatelyleads to a decreased healthcare bill.”

INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan has pro-posed “an immediate solution” to teacher unem-ployment.

She said the answer lay with Education Minis-ter Batt OʼKeeffe and called for panels of unem-ployed substitute teachers to be taken on by theDepartment. Schools could then appoint substi-tutes when needed.

Ms Nunan also accused Mr OʼKeeffe of drag-ging his heels on promised legislation to makesure only qualified teachers were employed inschools.

She said: “The union has publicly urgedschools to ensure newly-qualified and recently-qualified teachers are prioritised when it comes

to substitute and temporary work in schools. Itis essential unemployed teachers be given everyopportunity to gain both classroom experience,and incremental and pension credit, from theirservice in schools."

As well as axing hundreds of teaching jobs,the INTO has pointed out Mr OʼKeeffe has alsoslashed substitution by a third so there is lesstemporary work available.

The first day of a teacherʼs absence is nowcovered by the other teachers in the school.

Ms Nunan also lashed recent comments by MrOʼKeeffe placing the blame for the situation onschools as “crude attempt to deflect the blamefrom himself”.

Batt ‘drags heels’ on subs issue

Student numbers to rise by third

Nunan: Solution O’Keeffe: Axe

Picture: TUI

Peter McMenamin, Don Ryan, Dr Emer Smyth and JackieO’Callaghan were among speakers at last month’s conference

UNION POST � November 200912

NEWSBRIEFS

MIGRANT Rights Centre Ireland has called onJustice Minister Dermot Ahern to redouble his ef-forts to combat forced labour in Ireland.

The appeal came as EU Anti-Trafficking Day wasmarked across Europe on October 19.

Forced labour, as defined by the ILO, happenswhen people enter work or service against theirfreedom of choice and cannot leave it withoutpunishment or the threat of punishment.

According to the MRCI, there are no officialstatistics for workers in this category.

The group is currently assisting 20 people whohave been in forced labour situations.

Most worked as domestic workers in privatehomes, as restaurants workers, agricultural work-ers and seafarers.

The ILO’s Roger Plant has described forcedlabour as “a growing concern”.

Addressing a special conference on the issueorganised by the MRCI last month, he said; “Traf-ficking for sexual exploitation has grabbed mostof the attention and headlines in recent times, buttrafficking for forced labour is now becomingmore recognised and something that we all mustcombat.”

Edel McGinley, a MRCI project leader on forcedlabour, added: “We continually come across peo-ple in situations of forced labour across Irelandand the public knows nothing about it because itis so hidden. There needs to be a concerted effortto recognise and combat this crime in Ireland.”

MRCI: Govt must act tocombat forced labour

UNITE has queried figures that seem to showNorthern Ireland had the smallest monthly rise inthe number of people who are unemployed inmore than a year.

The union’s regional secretary Jimmy Kelly said:“We’re unimpressed with the way the NorthernIreland Executive continues to massage the job-less figures.”

He claimed the Executive fails to include work-ers classed as ‘economically inactive’.

UNITE estimates this group, numbering 50,000,are still trying to get a job.

If these figures are added then it doubles thenumber of jobless in Northern Ireland.

Mr Kelly added: “Unite called for a public worksprogramme in August this year to create jobs forthe long-term jobless and young people.

“If the Executive wishes to misinform the publicof the true unemployment figures and hide be-hind this serious omission from the statistics, withthe claim that it is produced in line with currentrecommendations and guidelines, then sorting outour financial and economic predicament will re-main a long way off.

“We are calling for transparency of the truejobless figures and the cost to the economy.”

UNITE: North’s jobless figures being ‘massaged’

BRIAN Campfield has beenelected the new general secre-tary of NIPSA, Northern Irelandʼslargest trade union.

The current deputy generalsecretary will take over the toppost early next year from JohnCorey when he retires.

Mr Campfield, 56, secured 66%of votes cast against 34% for theother candidate Kieran Bannon.

He has been a NIPSA officialsince 1982 and earlier this yearwas elected to the Executive

Council of Congress. Followingthe result, Mr Campfield said: “Iam honoured to have the oppor-tunity to serve NIPSA membersas their general secretary.

“I wish to thank sincerely allthe members and unionbranches that supported me.

“I will do my utmost to con-tinue to build NIPSA as a strongeffective trade union champi-oning the rights of members inthe public service, communityand voluntary sector and a

growing number employed byprivate sector companies.”

Outgoing general secretaryJohn Corey said: "The vote forBrian Campfield reflects theconfidence of NIPSA membersin his commitment and ability tolead the union in the major chal-lenges that lie ahead.

“I know that he will always putthe interests of members firstand with his experience andskills NIPSA will progress suc-cessfully.”Campfield: ‘Honoured’ by vote

Campfield is new NIPSA chief

Colombia talks call p16

AN unequal society is bad for everyone, richand poor alike. Ours is the most unequal in theUK. Our health inequalities are pervasive.

They have been measured and monitored andremain unchanged for the past 10 years.

They have a number of root causes butpoverty, unemployment, low pay, educationalunder-achievement and lack of decent publichousing all feature as key factors.

We have reached a critical point in the futureof health and social care in Northern Ireland.

We can ignore our health and watch hospitaladmissions grow out of control or we can dothe right thing. Last month we asked our politi-cians to ‘think big’.

Much of what is wrong with the state of pub-lic health can be put right by a new direction.

The Executive, Government departments andmost public bodies have a role to play.

That is where the big thinking has to start andwhere each needs to make its resource contri-bution.

Some of our financial problems are inheritedbut the current programme for Governmentand Budget removed money from health, educa-tion and housing to prioritise the economicstrategy.

That was putting the cart before the horse.At least £1bn was wasted. We know the size ofthe problem. We have resources, however con-

strained, and most of the work has already beendone. There are models of health care deliverywhich fit a population with our state of healthand we can make a remarkable difference withina few years.

Some of the leading clinicians like Darzi whopulled London health out of crisis and practi-tioners like Prof Richard Wilkinson helped de-velop the new models.

A simple UNISON proposal in the past is toextend the Nutritional Schools Meals pilot to allchildren. The long-term benefits in reducing themillions of pounds spent on coronary care anddiabetes could put the health service on asound footing.

COSTEDThis requires political co-operation. It needs

Education to put money in. It needs Health, Edu-cation, children and parents to work together.

It is not rocket science but the current sys-tem has not responded.

This is already costed. Rick Wilson, of KingHospital London did the sums for the BritishGovernment.

Investment in feeding our children and pa-tients produces enormous savings in the longrun.

It saves lives, it makes people healthier and itmakes more effective use of the health re-sources. Last month we proposed a larger plan

UNISON regional secretary PATRICIAVIEWS

It’s simple...health careinvestmentsaves lives

‘Give the health service breathing

November 2009 � UNION POST 13

NEWSBRIEFS

THE TUC has called for £6 an hour minimumwage in the UK.

Union officials argued for a 3.5 per cent hike inadult pay at a meeting with the Low Pay Commis-sion on October 30, describing it as an approachthat was “both sensible and affordable”.

They claimed the 20p rise would deliver a “so-cial justice” premium, and help address the gen-der gap. It was also pointed out the rise wouldgenerate around £400m worth of extra spendingas low paid workers tended to spend nearly alltheir NMW increases in the local economy.

General secretary Brendan Barber said: “It ispredictable that some employer groups are sayingthat any increase in the minimum wage willthreaten jobs and that £6 is too much.

“However, raising the minimum wage has al-ready helped thousands of families without caus-ing significant job losses.

“The effect of a further reasonable increase onemployer pay bills will be modest, and companiesshould find them easy to absorb.

“Economic growth is predicted to return dur-ing the period that the Low Pay Commission isconsidering.

“Earnings should grow and unemploymentshould fall. An increase in the minimum wage isrequired to ensure that working families are notleft in unnecessary poverty.”

TUC argues for £6 anhour UK minimum wage

GARDA Representative Association vice-presi-dent Damien McCarthy has warned ministersthat any attempt to cut officers’ pay and al-lowances would be fiercely resisted.

The GRA, which represents all rank-and-filegardai, is to take part in Congress and FrontlineAlliance marches on November 6 and 11.

Mr McCarthy insisted any move by the Govern-ment to cut pay would “warrant a response” butadded “it will be done within the law”.

It is understood current allowances and over-time top up Garda basic pay by nearly 50 percent.

GRA issues warningnotice on pay to Govt

A GOVERNMENT commitment to appoint 100extra secondary school teachers has beenslammed as a “gesture” that will not offset thedamage being done to educational system.

Jim Moore, spokesperson for the Post-PrimaryEducation Forum, told the Joint Oireachtas Com-mittee on Education and Science that cutbackswere “educational vandalism”.

He said: “The PPEF is anxiously awaiting an out-line of the exact details of the appointment of100 teachers. But this is only a gesture and it willnot go far in terms of ensuring all of our youngpeople get the education they need.”

100 jobs won’t offset‘educational vandalism’

�LEFT-leaning US web-site The Huffington

Post recently launchedan Investigative Fund tohire seasoned journalistslaid off or forced to takeearly retirement as resultof the imploding Ameri-can newspaper industry.The intiative has nowbeen joined by FreedomJournalism Schoollaunched by the Instituteof Southern Studies. Ithopes to train 50 “newmedia muckrakers” tocover the reportingdeficit across the south-ern United States.

�THE Austrialian na-tional union federa-

tion the ACTU fears timeis running out in its battleto persuade politiciansnot to cave in to de-mands by big business toslash regulation at theexpense of workersʼhealth and safety. ACTUsecretary Jeff Lawrencewarned draft laws goingbefore the Austrialianparliament were “abouttaking away protectionsand rights for workers,rather than lifting theoverall standard”.

A STUDY has found that good jobs aregood for both workers and companies.

The research, carried out by the NewYork-based Families and Work Institute,revealed that generally American workerswere unhappy with their employment sit-uation and tended to be stressed out,time-strapped and overworked.

This led to damaging consequences fortheir well being with 28 per cent describ-ing their health as excellent – down sixper cent from similar research in 2003.

A total of 41 per cent of employees re-ported experiencing three or more indi-cators of stress sometimes, often or very

often. The study also showed that a thirdof employees have experienced one ormore symptoms of clinical depression.

A good place of work was defined bythe Institute as offering a climate of trustand respect, learning opportunities,worker autonomy, a better work-life bal-ance, supervisor support as well as eco-nomic security.

FWI chief Ellen Galinsky said: “You haveto pay attention to the small things, theway people treat each other, whetherthere are opportunities to learn, whetherpeople's input is asked for and consid-ered.”

Good jobs ‘good for you!’

McKEOWN tells ministers it’s not rocket science

with some strategic actions for the Executive:

� Give the health service some breathingspace by rethinking the budget

� Decide that the only route to long-termhealth and financial security is to prioritisehealth inequalities and prevention. A healthierpopulation means less hospital treatment.

� Make the anti-poverty strategy a legal re-quirement and issue an Executive directive toprioritise the statutory duty on equality. Thatway we concentrate our efforts into tacklingroot causes.

The essential building blocks are:

� An effective role for the Ministerial Groupon Public Health,

� Stop health commissioning. It distractsTrusts from the core goal. It blurs accountabili-ties by creating people to blame and places tohide and it raises administrative costs

� Monitor what is really happening on theground in primary and secondary care, andmental health.

Some of the changes this leads to are obvi-ous:

� Focus on the NHS as a service deliveredpredominantly in local communities rather thanin hospitals; 90 per cent of health care is deliv-ered in primary care but we still focus the bulk

of our attention to the other 10 per cent.

� Develop options for change with people,not for them.

� Concentrate on the most vulnerable, espe-cially children services and older people withlong term needs which should be met at home,not in hospitals

Some are more controversial and challengevested interests:

� Empower multi-disciplinary teams in com-munity casualty departments to provide the ma-jority of hospital-based unscheduled care,backed by tele-medicine to consultant led emer-gency units.

� Shorten waiting times by treating day sur-gery as the norm.

� Concentrate specialised or complex careon fewer sites to secure clinical benefit or man-age clinical risk.

� Set a clear agenda for Community HealthPartnerships to work across barriers betweenprimary and secondary care and engage withpartners in social care to shift the balance ofcare.

This is too important a challenge to be dis-tracted by party politics or petulance. We arehoping for a serious and positive response frompoliticians and the health care system alike.

Picture: UNISON

This article originallyappeared in theBelfast Telegraph space by rethinking budgets’

UNION POST � November 200914

THE FIRST of November marked the 20th an-niversary of the introduction of the Safety, Healthand Welfare at Work Act.

The 1989 Act ensured that for the first time inthe Republic occupational safety and health legis-lation covered 100 per cent of workers andworkplaces.

Before this, it is estimated only one in five em-ployees – working mainly in factories, buildingsites, mines and quarries – were covered.

While acknowledging the significance of the an-niversary, SIPTU health and safety advisorSylvester Cronin warned there was still an “unac-ceptably high rate” of deaths in Irish workplaces.

He said: “Unfortunately, there is very littlecause for celebration as workers continue to bekilled in Irish workplaces at an unacceptably high

rate. In the past 20 years, more than 1,200 work-ers have been killed needlessly in Irish workplacesas a result of preventable accidents.

“Some international bodies, such as the ILOand European Agency for Safety and Health atWork (EU-OSHA), have estimated the overall lev-els of worker-deaths are many multiples higherwhen work-related illnesses and diseases aretaken into account.”

Figures contained in the ILO’s ‘Decent Work,Safe Work’ Report in 2001 estimated the annualwork-related mortality rate at 1,298. In 2003, theEU-OSHA produced figures that indicated thatIrish work-related deaths stood at 1,413.

Mr Cronin said: “If these figures are representa-tive of the real situation relating to occupationalsafety and health we are possibly looking at a

total of somewhere in excess of 21,000 work-re-lated deaths in Ireland over the last 20 years.

“The cornerstone of preventing these massivework-related deaths is to have effective writtenrisk assessments, as is the legal obligation in Ire-land and throughout the EU.

“It is almost self-evident that employers are notcarrying out their legal obligations. Instead, withinthe EU, there are efforts afoot to reduce this legalobligation to carry out ‘life and limb’ saving writ-ten risk assessments.

“There is no case, business, social or moral, toreduce the requirements for written risk assess-ments.”

He added: “SIPTU calls on the Irish Govern-ment and MEPs to resist and oppose such a moveat European level.”

Warning on workplace deaths

EQUALITY Commission Northern Ireland chiefEvelyn Collins has thanked the many organisa-tions, firms and trade unions that took part inlast month’s Anti-Racist Workplace Week.

She said: “We were delighted that many ofNorthern Ireland’s leading employers, tradeunions and representative organisations regis-tered their participation with us and supportedthe campaign’s anti-racism message.

“This year’s campaign had addedpoignancy. The racially motivated at-tacks over the summer which sawRoma and Polish people fleeing theirhomes was a stark reminder thatracism persists in our community.

“It is important that people havethe opportunity to voice their oppo-sition to racism, and although Anti-Racist Workplace Week was primarilyaimed at employees and employers,it’s hope its message travelled beyondthe workplace into the local commu-nities in which they operate.”

Translink, one of Northern Ireland’s largestemployers, hosted the October 19 launch ofthe week’s activities in Belfast’s Central Station.

Group CEO Catherine Mason said the firmwas delighted to be involved in the campaignand was committed to creating a “harmoniousworking environment” where employees andpassengers were treated with “respect and dig-nity”. She added: “As an employer we strive toensure all forms of harassment, including racism,

are removed from the workplace.”The Equality Commission, which runs the

workplace initiative each year, seeks to raiseawareness and encourage employers to developstrategies on equal opportunity and inclusivityon the shopfloor.

Leading retailers IKEA, Tesco and Co-op alsodistributed leaflets and informed their staffabout the campaign.

This year’s campaign featured nu-merous events and activities. Eventswith a trade union input included:

� A Congress-organised seminaron the theme of ‘The Rise of theRight and Migration in Europe’ heldat Newry Canal Hotel on October19,

� A NASUWT-run anti-racismworkshop for its members on Oc-tober 21,

� A roundtable meeting withETUC general secretary JohnMonks, local trade unionists and

politicians at the Europa Hotel on October 22.� Launch of ‘Same Job, Same Pay, Same Sta-

tus!’ leaflet at UNITE offices in Belfast on Octo-ber 23, and

� Launch of new report ‘Migrant Workers,Racism and the Recession’ at meeting of UNI-SON’s Regional Council on October 23.

Further information on Anti-Racism WorkplaceWeek can be found online at www.equalityni.org

Anti-racismdrive takesmessage toworkplace

Collins: Delighted

CONGRESS president Jack OʼConnor haslaunched a major new report by UNISONinto how the recession has impacted on mi-grant workers in Northern Ireland.

The reportʼs authors claimed their find-ings had flagged up three main areas ofconcern:

� Comments about “local jobs for localpeople” had soared with 77% of migrantworkers believing they are more likely tolose their jobs than local employees,

� That immigration restrictions – such aswork permit regulations – made migrantworkers more vulnerable to the threat of los-ing their jobs, and

� The research gathered in April indicatedthat workplace racism predated the slumpand remains a major problem – particularlyin the private sector with 54% of respon-dents reporting they had been personallyexposed to racism at work.

A staggering 80% of migrant workers inthe private sector reported being “humili-ated, bullied or discriminated” while atwork with many feeling they had comeunder disproportionate scrutiny from man-agers. One respondent commented: “Theycan notice your smallest mistake”.

Also when migrant workers challengedracist incidents, 51% were satisfied withtheir employerʼs response in the NHS,against 40% in the private care sector

Nathalie Donnelly, UNISON local organ-iser, said: “This report highlights the worry-ing levels of racism in the private caresector.

“These findings should send alarm bellsringing. However it is not enough to blame afew bad employers; without statutory re-strictions – on their right to work and livehere, or on access social protection – mi-grant workers would be far less likely toface discrimination and racism withoutbeing able to challenge it.”

New reporthighlightsimpact ofrecession

November 2009 � UNION POST 15

Pictures: Equality Commission NI, UNISON

UNITE has warned of a “two-tier”workforce developing in NorthernIreland with agency workers – mainlymigrants – employed on lessfavourable conditions than other em-ployees.

Speaking at the launch of a new se-ries of anti-racist leaflets in eight lan-guages, regional secretary JimmyKelly said: “Many of these workersare recruited in their country of ori-gin where they sign up to contractsthey don’t fully understand.

“They are also constructed tothwart any attempts to establish fun-damental rights by putting at risk notonly jobs but also their homes in thiscountry.”

He said the union noted the in-creasing “use and abuse” of agencylabour within the local food industry.

Evidence revealed by UNITE in-cluded:

� Workers classed as temporaryhaving with up to five years continu-ous employment,

� Lower hourly rates than the di-rectly employed workers,

� Fewer holidays than the directlyemployed workers,

� No overtime rates, and� No shift allowances.Mr Kelly continued: “In addition,

they are expected to accept longhours, unreasonable productivity de-mands, general harassment and lackof job security.

“In our view this is clear evidencethat employers consider migrantworkers to be less equal than localworkers.”

He said this evidence was in themain backed by research carried outunder the auspices of The EthicalTrading Initiative.

As a result the Equality and HumanRights Commission for England andWales has launched a further probeinto the UK meat industry.

Mr Kelly said: “We are again confi-

dent this report, which is due by theend of this year, will support our ex-periences on the ground in work-places throughout Ireland and theUK.

“The leaflets we are launching tellthe story of how these workers feel– real people, in real situationscaught between exploitation by theiremployer and the perception ofother workers who see them as athreat.

“A perception – we would argue –that goes largely unchallenged.”

He asked why the media did notask questions of local employers whythey paid one group of workers lessthan another group of workers.

In the absence of this short ofchallenge, the preception grew thatmigrant workers want to work forless, adding “nothing could be furtherfrom the truth”.

Mr Kelly called on employers tostop exploiting vulnerable workersand called on the Government topass “legislation with teeth” to bansuch practices.

He said: “Northern Ireland was atthe forefront of establishing progres-sive policies on fair employment.

“We now need our Assembly topass legislation ensuring equality ofopportunity for migrant and allworkers in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Kelly noted that many employ-ers had signed up to the EqualityCommission’s Anti-Racism Work-place Week.

He added: “However, the test offairness and equality is not what em-ployers are prepared to sign, butwhat actions they take to removeexploitation from their workplaces.

“We all have a responsibility tohelp generate a more tolerant andcivil society but those who are in aposition of power and influence havethe greatest responsibility.

“It’s time they exercised it.”

Lubow Kulbabczuk, Maria Matyusova, Lilla Fulop and Ewa Kulbabczuk benefited from a basic English course organ-ised by employers IKEA with Belfast Metropolitan College

Congress’ Jack O’Connor at launch of UNISON report

UNITE warnsof ‘two-tierworkforce’

TUC chief Brendan Barber has accusedprivate sector employers in the UK of“walking away” from providing goodpensions.

He made the claim in reaction to newfigures released by the Office for Na-tional Statistics which showed nine mil-lion people paid into an occupationalpension last year.

But general secretary Brendan Barberwarned these findings did no includeGroup Personal Pensions and Stake-holder Pensions that have employercontributions.

He said: “Private sector employersare increasingly choosing suchschemes over trust based occupationaldefined contribution schemes. Thesecan still be good pensions but do notshow up in these statistics.But even on

the most generous definition more than60 per cent of the private sector work-force are not saving in an employersupported pension, and are likely toface poverty in retirement.

“Private sector employers havewalked away from providing good pen-sions for their workforce.”

Predicting the new figures wouldrenew “politics of envy attacks” onpublic sector pensions, Mr Barberadded: “The real pensions crisis is inthe private sector, where gold-platedboardroom pensions are boosted bytaxpayers while growing numbers of or-dinary workers get nothing.

“It's time to start levelling up ratherthan attacking the pensions of hardworking vital public servants.

Barber in pensions blast HOW DO IADVERTISE IN

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16 UNION POST � November 2009

TWELVE Irish MEPs have backed Congress chiefDavid Begg’s call for a suspension of talks on aFree Trade Agreement between the EU andColombia.

Ireland is the first EU country in which all itsrepresentatives at the European Parliament havetaken a united position on the issue.

They co-signed a letter to EU Trade Commis-sioner Baroness Ashton asking her to suspend thenegotiations.

Welcoming the move, Mr Begg said the “atro-cious” human rights record in Colombia has tobe addressed.

He added: “The proposed Free Trade Agree-ment would give special trade benefits to a gov-ernment that has repeatedly failed to implement

their international obligations including basichuman and trade union rights. Ireland is the onlycountry in the EU where we have united all theelected representatives in the European Parlia-ment behind this important demand.

“We are also calling for the launch of an openEU investigation into Colombia’s labour andhuman rights performance.”

Assassinations of trade unionists in Colombiacontinue at a rate unseen anywhere else in theworld. According to figures supplied by the Inter-national Trade Union Confederation, of 76 tradeunionists murdered in 2008, 49 were Colombians.

Nearly 30 trade union activists have alreadybeen killed this year.

Those responsible for the murders – some-

times including members of the state securityforces – continue to act with almost completeimpunity.

Similar trade agreements between Colombiaand Canada, Colombia and the EFTA group ofcountries and Colombia and the US have beendelayed over human rights concerns.

President Obama has cited anti-trade union at-tacks as the principle reason for his opposition tothe deal. Mr Begg added: “It must be made clearto the Colombian regime that the EU and itsmember dtates do not condone the current situ-ation in the country.

“Therefore the EU Free Trade Agreement nego-tiations with Colombia have to be suspended im-mediately.”

COLOMBIA

JUSTICE for Colombia is a trade unionnetwork campaigning for human rights,workers' rights and the search for peacewith social justice in Colombia.

Set up by a group of British tradeunionists in 2002, JFC was a response tothe appalling human rights crisis inColombia.

The Irish branch of JFC was establishedin December last year with SIPTU’s MickDowling as chairperson and Mairtin Mac-Maolain, of ASTI, as vice chair.

Since then JFC-Ireland has held publicmeetings in Dublin, Belfast, Wexford andGalway.

Today more than 100 Irish trade union-

ists are involved in the network. JFC hasalso done much work in lobbying theIrish Government and Irish MEPs againstEU’s preferential trade agreement withColombia.

Luis Alberto Vanegas, the ColombianTrade Union Congress’ human rights di-rector, was invited by JFC-Ireland andICTU Global Solidarity programme tospeak at Congress’ biennial delegate con-ference in July.

He told 800 delegates and observers ofthe grim reality on the ground for tradeunionists in Colombia where 49 activistswere murdered last year.

He pointed out that members of teach-

MEPs back Congresscall on EU trade talks

Colombian health workers’ union member Jorge Prieto, Leonel Goyeneche, of the Colombian TradeUnion Confederation and National Association ofPeasant Consumers leader Héctor Alirio Martínezmurdered in Saravena on August 5, 2004. It isclaimed their killers were members of the “GabrielRevéis Pizarro” Battalion, attached to the XVIIIBrigade of the Colombian Army Pictures: Amnesty International

ers’ unions were often targeted andspoke of the deaths of two teachers onlyweeks before.

Welcoming the setting up of JFC-Ire-land, he underlined the need for solidar-ity work within trade unions worldwide.

He told delegates it was of the utmostimportance to open an EU probe intoColombia’s labour and human rightsrecord and to press home to the Colom-bian government how unacceptable thiswas.

Mr Vanegas also asked for ongoing talkson a bilateral free trade agreement be-tween EU and Colombia to be stoppeduntil its government complied with thebasic conventions on human rights andlabour standards.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe hasclaimed security is improving in his coun-try but this is not reflected in the grimstatistics – with a 25 per cent rise in thenumber of killings last year. ITUC generalsecretary Guy Ryder claimed the authori-ties were “at best, incapable of ensuringprotection and in some cases are com-plicit”.

� If you want to get involved inthe campaign, contact ICTUGlobal Solidarity Officer StellanHermansson; Tel: 01889 77 04 orstellan.hermansson@ictu.ie.

Where death stalks the organisers

1. To provide concrete support to tradeunions and other civil society organisa-tions in Colombia in their struggle forhuman and trade union rights2. To campaign against the systematichuman rights abuses carried out againsttrade unionists and other civil societyactivists in Colombia and to highlight theregular collusion between the Colombianstate security forces and illegal paramili-tary groups and the impunity which the

perpetrators benefit from3. To support and promote a peacefulpolitically negotiated settlement to theconflict in Colombia4. To insist that UN and ILO conventionsand recommendations are implementedin Colombia in both law and practice

www.justiceforcolombia.orgwww.ictu.ie/globalsolidarity

Justice for Colombia - key aimsVanegas: Support

1717November 2009 � UNION POST

KONSTANTINA Kuneva, right, was at-tacked in Athens in December last year byunknown men. They threw sulphuric acidin her face, leaving her blinded in one eyeand with serious damage to her throat andstomach. The attack is thought to be linkedto her role as a trade unionist.

Konstantina first came to Greece fromBulgaria, starting work as a cleaner andsoon becoming involved in trade unionism.

As Secretary of the Attica Union ofCleaners she has defended migrant work-ers against exploitation and is fighting forbetter conditions and pay. Tensions be-tween herself and her employers had beenescalating ahead of the attack, with hershifts moved to unfavourable hours, pres-sure to quit and threatening phone calls.

Yet despite this, and the viciousnesswith which Konstantina was attacked, it isclaimed the police investigation has beenhopelessly inadequate and has overlooked

her role as a trade unionist focusing in-stead on Konstantinaʼs private life. Herlawyers say the examination of the crimescene was cursory at best and the testi-mony of witnesses other than Konstantinaherself wasnʼt investigated further. Thereare now fears that the case will be closedbefore her attackers have been identified.

In June this year, the ʻjudge investigatorʼassigned to the case decided to end the in-vestigation, even though the attackershave not been found. The case was sent tothe Prosecutor, who can decide to closethe case or send it back for further investi-gation.

Amnesty International is demanding thatthe case is kept open and properly investi-gated, and that trade unionists and otherhuman rights defenders are properly pro-tected by the Greek authorities.

The Global ITUC has also taken up hercase.

Each month The Union Post features stories and campaigns from Amnesty International files...

Still no justice for acid-attack activist

Join in the campaign and send a message of solidarity to Konstantina at www.amnesty.org.uk/gcc

EVERY worker, every trade union should bespeaking out in support of the postal workers.

The dispute is complicated, but the issuesdriving the recent flurry of work stoppages arefamiliar to workers everywhere.

� Low pay: Postal workers in Britain earn anaverage of £380 a week and badly need the op-portunities for overtime and working on rest-days now being unilaterally withdrawn bymanagement.

� Work intensification: Since the 2007 strikeRoyal Mail (postal service) management has im-posed what the union claims are "unagreed andunachievable" workloads.

� Job losses: Since 2004, following deregula-tion of the postal "market", more than 60,000jobs have gone, leaving those remaining workingharder and harder.

� Reports of bullying and intimidation ofworkers to meet increasing workloads.

In 2007, postal workers took national strikeaction over similar issues, which were resolvedby an agreement that cut a significant number ofjobs. In return workers were promised a four-day week without loss of pay. Yet in the follow-ing two years Royal Mail management hassimply broken this agreement, "reverting" work-ers, particularly in London, back to five-dayweeks without consultation.

But now the kind of work overload disguisedwithin teamworking is back.

Royal Mail calls it "absorption," meaning, ac-cording to one London representative: "You'vegot to take on someone else's round at noextra pay – if someone can't do their round forwhatever reason, their work is just 'absorbed'into yours." Deregulation is forcing Royal Mail

VIEWS CWU’s LAWRENCE HUSTON on issues at heart of Royal Mail strike

Our dispute is part of widerstruggle on public services

Belfast posties on the picket line last month Picture: Brazier Media

to struggle with a far from level playing field, asrivals like TNT, Europe's second-biggest parcelcompany, cream off major contracts and leaveRoyal Mail with what is known as the "finalmile"– the local delivery which only RM is in aposition to carry out.

The only group to benefit from all this, pre-dictably, is top management, with Royal Mailboss Adam Crozier pocketing a £3m bonus lastyear.Most scandalous of all is the debacle of thepostal workers' pension.

A 13-year pension "holiday" in which manage-ment stopped paying into the pension plan, hasled to a pension fund deficit of £10m plus.Many postal workers now face ending theirworking lives with NO pension scheme at all.

The current strike is seen as the only way

postal workers can stave off the voraciousagenda of the Government and Royal Mail.

Referring to the 2007 strike, a workplace repsaid: "We had Royal Mail, and we let itgo...We've got to win this strike, we've got toestablish basic trade union rights on representa-tion and negotiation, otherwise this will neverbe over."

This dispute is part of a much bigger battleover public services, jobs, union rights and payand conditions at work. That’s what makes thisdispute and public support for the posties sovital.

A victory for the posties would boost themorale of every trade unionist fighting cuts tojobs and the rowing back on terms and condi-tions.

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BRAZIER MEDIATRADE UNION NEWS SPECIALISTS

braziermedia@btinternet.com Bob Miller 07894305173 Joe Mitchell 07703055302