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SIPTU at Large

External Connections

Relations with Other Unions

SIPTU plays a major role in the affairs of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions - in the belief that the more unity we can achieve on policy matters and strategy, then the more influence we are likely to bring to bear in negotiations with employers or Government. The principle that unity is strength applies at every level - in the work place, in the local area or at national level - and the Union tries to develop a spirit of co-operation among SIPTU members, themselves, and between SIPTU members and the members of other unions.

In many employments where workers are represented by more than one union, there are joint union negotiating committees, works councils or other structures. As a general rule, the Union welcomes every opportunity to present as united a front as possible. In many towns and cities, the local Branches of the various trade unions co-ordinate their activities on matters of common concern through a Trade Union Council (commonly known as a Trades Council). SIPTU is to the fore in most of the Trades Councils operating in Ireland.

At national level the Irish Congress of Trade Unions brings together virtually every trade union organisation on the island. Through the ICTU, the trade union movement tries to develop and express a common position on matters of national concern such as employment creation, unemployment, health, education and social welfare, industrial relations reform and so on. Congress also monitors the industrial activities of unions - especially where strikes are likely. Congress offers a channel for solidarity and support - as well as the services of its own industrial relations staff in seeking to resolve the issues in dispute.


SIPTU and the Community

SIPTU members and officials tend to take an interest not only in the matters affecting their workplace - but also in their local community.

It is not uncommon to discover that a SIPTU shop steward or official is not only active in the Union but also a committee member or organiser of the local tenants' or residents' association or sports club.

Many SIPTU members also hold seats on local authorities or in the Dáil, Seanad and the European Parliament. The need to complement the Union's activities inside the workplace by action in the community and in the political arena has been recognised from the earliest days of SIPTU and its predecessors.

Indeed the Labour Party traces its origins to 1912 when the former ITGWU successfully sponsored a motion at the Annual Conference of the Irish Trade Union Congress to create a political voice for Irish workers.

Apart from the activities of individual members, the Union is also represented on many public bodies either directly in its own right or indirectly through the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

Union members are invited to serve on a range of local institutions like County Enterprise Boards, Vocational Educational Committees and other local authority task forces - as well as a range of national bodies like:

  • An Bord Altranais
  • Aer Rianta
  • FAS
  • The National Economic and Social Council
  • RTE Authority

as well as the Boards of numerous other State agencies, public utilities, commercial State enterprises and European Union bodies.


The World

As economic and trading links between countries have increased, workers have developed closer international ties. With world trade increasingly dominated by multi-national companies which operate on a global basis, there has been a growing need for workers in the same company but in different parts of the world to co-operate. The same has also been true of workers employed in the same industrial sectors. Apart from these global developments, of course, the increasing pace of European integration has encouraged trade Unions in Ireland to co-operate much more closely now with their European counterparts.

SIPTU has continued the tradition of both its founding Unions - the ITGWU and the FWUI - of building constructive relationships with Unions in the rest of the world. SIPTU is affiliated to a number of international trade union bodies catering for specific industrial or occupational sectors like the International Union of Food and Allied Workers' Associations, the International Metalworkers' Federation and International Federation of Building and Wood Workers' Associations. Membership of these federations gives SIPTU an important source of information and advise on industrial and other developments in other parts of the world that may enable the Union to anticipate similar developments in Ireland.

The Union can also avail of the support of these international federations and their affiliates when it is involved in disputes with companies in Ireland that may have interests elsewhere in the world. This international solidarity is a two-way process - with the Union and its members also offering appropriate support to our international colleagues whenever possible. The Union also participates in the affairs of the European Trade Union Confederation through the ICTU. The ETUC is playing an increasingly vital role in co-ordinating Union responses across Europe to developments within the European Union.


SIPTU and the Arts

SIPTU's concern for the quality of life of its members extends beyond their material welfare to include cultural or intellectual activities - summed up in the approach of Larkin and Connolly - the early organisers of SIPTU's predecessors, the ITGWU and the FWUI - that workers were entitled not only to bread on the table but roses, too.

SIPTU's interest in the arts is two-fold. Firstly the Union directly represents a number of workers who earn their living from the arts: professional musicians, writers, actors and other performers - as well as film, broadcasting and theatre staff.

Through its Cultural Division, SIPTU also provides a focal point for a number of cultural organisations. The Cultural Division was established in 1980 when Irish Actors' Equity and the Society of Irish Playwrights amalgamated with the former ITGWU.

The ranks of the Division have since been strengthened by the affiliation of the Musicians' Union of Ireland, the Association of Irish Composers and the Irish Writers' Union.

While the Division's primary aim is to seek to improve the status of cultural workers in Ireland, it has also become increasingly involved in the promotion of cultural activities and events for SIPTU members, their families and the general public.

These events have included sponsorships of books, theatrical productions, musical compositions, art and sculpture competitions and so on.




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