Search Site
IN THIS SECTION
Press Room
2008
Ireland’s first ITF Inspector dies
30.12.2008The death occurred earlier today of Tony Ayton, Ireland’s first International Transport Workers' Federation Inspector, following a long battle with cancer. He devoted his life to the trade union movement and had worked for many years as a SIPTU official before being seconded to the ITF in 2000.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Centenary Celebrations - Guest of Honour President Mary McAleese
29.12.2008The country’s largest trade union is celebrating its first 100 years in 2009. The celebrations begin on Sunday, January 4 at 5.45pm in Liberty Hall.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes Aer Lingus plan to resume Shannon-Heathrow routes
22.12.2008SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack has welcomed the news that Aer Lingus plans to resume its Shannon-Heathrow service in March. “This proves the value of the alternative savings plan we have negotiated with the company”, he said. By maintaining a presence in Shannon we have helped revive the connectivity of the region at this critically important time with Heathrow and ensured that employment will grow once more, doubling the number of jobs.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to press for decency redundancy package and new jobs for Swissco workers after occupation ends at Cork plant
17.12.2008SIPTU Sectoral Organiser Alan O'Leary confirmed today that the Union was finally advised last night that the Swissco Limited plant at Little Island, Cork, will cease trading after 35 years.
Read Full Story...
Swissco workers end 12 hour occupation of company’s Little Island plant in Cork after assurances given to SIPTU
16.12.2008Swissco workers ended their 12 hour occupation of Little Island plant in Cork shortly before 9pm after SIPTU Sectoral Organiser Alan O’Leary received assurances that they would be paid outstanding wages due. SIPTU, which represents 120 of the 150 stronger workforce, is to carry out its own investigation into the company’s financial structure.
Read Full Story...
Swissco workers occupy company’s Little Island plant in Cork
16.12.2008Swissco workers are occupying the Little Island plant in Cork, in protest at the company’s closure and lack of information about its finances. Pay is in arrears and there is no indication of how redundancy compensation will be dealt with.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU begins strike ballot today of health service members in the Dublin region over cutbacks
16.12.2008SIPTU has notified the HSE that it is commencing a ballot of its 9,000 members in the Dublin Health Services Branch today. The ballot will conclude on Thursday, January 8, 2009. In a letter to Sean McGrath, the HSE’s new National Director for Human Resources, yesterday the Union said it was conducting the ballot, ‘In view of the fact that you have stated that you intend to proceed to dismantle our agreements with effect from January 1, 2009’.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Equality Head accuses Government of ‘effectively closing down’ Authority and ‘dumping workers rights in the bin’
12.12.2008Anne Speed, Head of Equality and Campaigning at SIPTU, today accused the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform of “effectively closing down the Equality Authority and dumping equality rights of Irish citizens and workers in the bin”. She was commenting in the wake of the resignation of the Authority, Niall Crowley, in protest at cuts of over 40 per cent in its budget.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Statement on Lisbon Treaty
12.12.2008Commenting on the conversation at the EU Summit in relation to the Lisbon Treaty, Jack O’Connor, General President of SIPTU, Ireland’s largest trade union, said today:
Read Full Story...
Government decision will secure future of Cork airport says SIPTU
11.12.2008“We welcome the decision, if it is true, that the Government is to defer for three years the break-up of the DAA and ensure the future of Cork airport”, said SIPTU Regional Secretary Gene Mealy today. “It was never a good idea. It was a PD inspired project designed to promote the Ryanair agenda. The only potential beneficiary was Ryanair, which would then have been in a position to dictate conditions to every airport in the country.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members accept Aviance rescue package and save 150 jobs
11.12.2008Aviance workers have voted by two to one to accept a rescue package that will cut operating costs significantly and save 150 jobs at Dublin airport. This is based on proposals put forward by Civil Aviation Sectoral Organiser Dermot O’Loughlin.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says any compensation package for pig processing industry must include workers
11.12.2008“While we welcome the resolution of the crisis in the pig industry we are concerned that any compensation package must include employees”, SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said today. “While we called off our protest at Leinster House today to facilitate the speediest possible resumption of production in the sector, the reality is that many of our members will have lost a week’s earnings in the run-up to Christmas.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU meat processing workers protest called off
11.12.2008The protest by pig industry workers laid-off due to the contamination of feed that was due to be held outside Leinster House at 12.30pm today has been called off following the success of talks earlier this morning.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members at Aviance to ballot on rescue package for company
10.12.2008SIPTU members at Aviance are to ballot on rescue proposals to save 150 jobs at the company’s Irish operation in Dublin airport. This follows a three hour meeting at the airport this evening where major cost cutting measures were presented to the workforce.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU meat processing workers to protest outside Dail tomorrow
10.12.2008Pig industry workers laid-off due to the contamination of feed are to protest outside Leinster House at 12.30pm tomorrow. SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said tonight they had decided to do so because of the delays in resuming production. SIPTU members from plants in Edenderry, Waterford and Kilkenny were among those expected to attend.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says beef contamination can be contained without further massive lay-offs in the food sector
10.12.2008“Fortunately the problem in the beef sector based on contaminated feed appears to be limited to a small number of herds”, SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said this afternoon. “It should be possible to protect public health fully and maintain consumer confidence without resorting to the sort of indiscriminate measures used in the case of the pig industry.
Read Full Story...
Aviance to meet SIPTU tomorrow over rescue plan for Irish jobs
09.12.2008Late last week, Aviance advised SIPTU and the Aviance workforce that it intended to close its ground handling operation at Dublin Airport. However, following discussions with the Aviance senior management team, it was agreed that SIPTU would provide a business plan in an effort to secure the continuance of Aviance at Dublin Airport.This afternoon SIPTU’s Civil Aviation Sectoral Organiser Dermot O’Loughlin confirmed that, “Aviance has advised us that it is giving active consideration to our survival proposals and a decision will be made in the next 24 hours. We are hopeful that this episode will have a successful outcome for all the workers at the company”.
Read Full Story...
So far almost 1,400 pig processing workers laid off with more workers expected to be put on protective notice tomorrow says SIPTU
08.12.2008Almost 1,400 SIPTU members have been laid off in the pig processing industry and thousands more are expected to be laid off in the lead-up to Christmas. The Union has received the following notices of lay-off so far:
Read Full Story...
SIPTU seeks urgent meeting with Minister for Agriculture
08.12.2008SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack has written to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, seeking an urgent meeting over the jobs crisis confronting the pig industry. “We only have a very short window of opportunity to deal with the problem before the damage becomes irreparable”, Mr. McCormack said.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says 6,000 jobs at risk in pig industry
08.12.2008Up to 6,000 jobs in the pig industry are at risk as a result of the current crisis of meat contamination, SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said today. “Early indications from industry sources where we have members indicate that the crisis is already leading to thousands of workers being laid off and it is far from clear how many will be able to resume work again. Any rescue package for the industry must make provision for employees as well as producers and processors.”
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says Ryanair offer of union recognition welcome
05.12.2008“SIPTU welcomes Michael O’Leary’s willingness to recognise trade unions and is available to meet him at the earliest opportunity to negotiate decent pay and conditions for his staff in Ryanair”, the union’s National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said this evening in response to the Ryanair chief executive’s latest offer for Aer Lingus. “We could also ensure that the large numbers of agency workers employed by Ryanair received proper pay and conditions, rather than the zero hour contracts many of them currently have to endure.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members vote to accept first phase of Aer Lingus alternative savings plan to outsourcing
03.12.2008Because of media queries about the process that will now take place at Aer Lingus, following the vote by SIPTU members to accept the alternative cost savings plan to outsourcing at the national air line, National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said: “SIPTU will also be analysing and evaluating the savings achieved when our members make their returns to Aer Lingus management tomorrow on their preferred options. In doing this we will have the expert assistance of Eugene McMahon of Mazars, who played an invaluable role in the process of identifying alternative savings to the original outsourcing strategy proposed by management.”
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members vote to accept first phase of Aer Lingus alternative savings plan to outsourcing
02.12.2008SIPTU members at Aer Lingus have voted by almost 80 per cent to accept the alternative cost savings plan to outsourcing over 1,300 jobs at the national air line. The turnout was 80 per cent delivering a clear overall majority in favour of the proposals.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU seeks early meeting with Element Six over job losses at Shannon
02.12.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Tony Carroll says the Union will take up the offer of an early meeting with Element Six over the proposed redundancies at the Shannon plant as a matter of urgency.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU warns Government not to be suckered by Ryanair bid
01.12.2008SIPTU members at Aer Lingus will conclude the ballot on alternative savings to the company’s outsourcing plan tomorrow. The union’s National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said this evening that he thought the latest bid to take over the national carrier by Ryanair would have little or no effect on the ballot, except to make members even more determined than ever to defend decent pay and conditions within the aviation sector.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU condemns latest bid by Ryanair to create private sector monopoly in Irish air line industry
01.12.2008Today’s attempt by Ryanair to acquire Aer Lingus is just another attempt at mischief making, SIPTU Aer Lingus Branch Organiser Teresa Hannick said today.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU President tells Labour Party Conference that supporting Fine Gael’s neo-liberal policies ‘is the political equivalent of leaping from the frying pan into the fire’
29.11.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor told delegates to the Labour Party Conference in Kilkenny today that, “Despite all the seductive potency of the language of change” employed by Fine Gael “the reality is that for any working person, shifting support from the PDs and Fianna Fail to Fine Gael is the political equivalent of leaping from the frying pan into the fire.”
Read Full Story...
Aer Lingus redundancy deal fully compliant with Redundancy Payments Acts
28.11.2008Contrary to some media reports SIPTU is satisfied that the Aer Lingus redundancy proposals are fully compliant with the Redundancy Payments Acts. The company has also said in a communication to staff that the proposal is in full compliance with the legislation.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU condemns FÁS decision to sack over 50 contract workers ‘to save money’ on same day as former Director General gets golden hand shake
27.11.2008Forty-six FÁS instructors and six general staff on temporary contracts are being let go without any compensation, SIPTU learnt today. The cutbacks are part of a plan by the state training agency to deliver savings of three per cent in its wage bill to meet the Government’s public sector targets.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU warns that hasty redundancy plans in the public service could lead to same costly blunders as in the 1980s
27.11.2008The Local Authority Professional Officers' (LAPO) Branch of SIPTU has warned against hasty decisions to cut staff numbers that could reduce many essential services to dangerously low levels and see professional staff let go only to be rehired as consultants, as happened in the 1980s.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU response to the decision of the Construction Industry Federation to renege on the National Pay Agreement
26.11.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said he very much regretted the decision of the Construction Industry Federation not to honour the new national pay agreement. Responding to news that the CIF would not be complying with Module II of Towards 2016 he said, “It is ironic that the employers who benefitted more than any other sector of Irish business from the Social Partnership model that created the Celtic Tiger, many of whom grew wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, should be the first to renege on it.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU staff in FÁS remain committed to delivering the agency’s services for the benefit of the wider community
26.11.2008SIPTU staff in FÁS expressed their concern today that the good name and reputation of the State training and employment agency is being damaged by the actions of a tiny minority of senior management.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU General President says Enda Kenny’s call to suspend the national wage agreement is ‘worst possible approach imaginable’ to economic crisis
22.11.2008“Tonight’s call for suspension of the national wage agreement by Enda Kenny is more of the ‘same old, same old’ from Fine Gael, attacking workers to shore up profits”, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said tonight in response to the party leader’s speech.
Read Full Story...
Scale of unemployment losses must jolt Government into action to tackle the re-emerging crisis of long term unemployment
21.11.2008“With a 45 per cent increase in the numbers out of work between the second and third quarter of this year, the Quarterly National Household survey, has confirmed today what the live register has been telling us for months”, SIPTU economist Marie Sherlock said today. “In the absence of serious action by the Government, we face the very real prospect of long term unemployment, particularly for workers in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to consult members at Aer Lingus on proposals to resolve dispute at airline
20.11.2008An alternative proposal to outsourcing has been developed between SIPTU and Aer Lingus management in talks held under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission. SIPTU will be consulting with members in advance of any ballot, commencing with meetings next Monday and Tuesday.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Executive calls on Union members and their families to Buy Irish and help save jobs this Christmas
20.11.2008The National Executive Council of SIPTU has issued a call to all Union members and their families to support jobs in Ireland by buying Irish this Christmas.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls on IBEC to defend decent employment standards
19.11.2008Ireland’s largest trade union SIPTU today called on IBEC to come clean in relation to its position on standards of employment and decency in the workplace.
Read Full Story...
Some progress in Aer Lingus talks
18.11.2008Talks on Aer Lingus adjourned at the Labour Relations Commission shortly after 11.00pm. Some progress has been made in evaluating alternatives to outsourcing jobs at the airline. The talks resume at 12 noon, tomorrow, Wednesday, November 19.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU leader says any employer who reneges on terms of new agreement will be guilty of national sabotage
17.11.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor, speaking in favour of the new agreement with the other social partners at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions conference today said unions must adhere to their side of the bargain so that they could call to account the Government and employers if they breached it. “And let us call a spade a spade. Any attempt to renege upon the deal, especially on the part of those who did best in the Celtic Tiger years, will represent nothing short of national sabotage at this critical moment for our economy and society”, he said.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls on public to support Curran Aluminium workers in their fight for union recognition and fair play
16.11.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Karan O’Loughlin has called on workers and the wider community in Limerick to put moral pressure on Curran Aluminium Limited because of the firm’s refusal to concede decent pay and conditions, as recommended by the Labour Court.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU meets Labour Relations Commission over Aer Lingus dispute
14.11.2008SIPTU representatives met with the Labour Relations Commission this afternoon, as requested by the National Implementation Body, to explore possible alternative savings at Aer Lingus to those proposed by management
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members vote to accept new national agreement
14.11.2008Members of SIPTU, the country’s largest union, have voted in a secret ballot to accept the terms of the new national agreement by 80 per cent to 20 per cent. Commenting on the result SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said that he hoped the proposed terms would now be accepted by the Special Delegate Conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions when it convenes next Monday, November 17.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to attend Labour Relations Commission talks tomorrow on Aer Lingus dispute
13.11.2008SIPTU shop stewards at Aer Lingus considered the statement from the National Implementation Body tonight and have agreed to attend the Labour Relations Commission tomorrow at 2.00pm.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Retired Members say new Nursing Home Bill poses more questions than answers for elder care
13.11.2008The Nursing Homes Support Bill is fraught with difficulties for older citizens who are unwell and for their families, the Secretary of SIPTU’s Retired Members' Section Ross Connolly said today. “These difficulties are further aggravated by the general cutbacks in public health expenditure which suggest that public nursing beds will be rapidly phased out of the system completely.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU presents its proposal to NIB at Government Buildings to find a process to resolve the Aer Lingus dispute
12.11.2008SIPTU met with the NIB today. National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said afterwards that, "we outlined our concerns to them and told them we believe a process can be found that will provide a solution to the current dispute at Aer Lingus that achieves the efficiencies sought by the company without outsourcing.
Read Full Story...
More bad news on jobs front for Kildare
12.11.2008SIPTU was informed today at a meeting with management of the decision of Well Screen Technologies (WST) to close its manufacturing plant in Celbridge, Co Kildare, after an association with the locality since 1962. The plant is expected to cease production during the summer months of next year. The plant manufactures drilling equipment for the oil industry and employs a highly skilled workforce (approx 50).
Read Full Story...
The mobilisation of the ‘grey vote’ to defend Medical Cards for over-70s shows a new force has emerged on political scene says James Connolly’s grandson
12.11.2008“There is immense potential in the ‘grey vote’ to concentrate the minds of local politicians if we use it properly”, Ross Connolly, Secretary of SIPTU’s Retired Members' Section told delegates to the Biennial Conference today. He paid tribute to the way in which, “the outpouring of anger amongst older people throughout the country was wonderfully harnessed by the Irish Senior Citizen Parliament” and praised the role played in organising the event by SIPTU’s Retired Members' Section, several of whom had addressed the crowd outside Leinster House on October 22.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU accepts an invitation to attend the NIB in Aer Lingus dispute
11.11.2008SIPTU has accepted an invitation to attend the National Implementation Body tomorrow at 12.30pm to seek a resolution to the Aer Lingus dispute. The Union has served strike notice on the company for November 24 over plans to get rid of over 1,300 SIPTU members.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls on Aer Lingus management to re-enter talks as shop stewards establish strike committees to prepare for dispute
10.11.2008SIPTU shop stewards at Aer Lingus met this evening at Dublin airport following the service of strike notice on the company for November 24. They decided to set up strike committees in all locations to manage the dispute if the need arises.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU serves two weeks strike notice on Aer Lingus chief executive
10.11.2008SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack has written to Aer Lingus Chief Executive Dermot Mannion today notifying him of the decision of union members at the airline to take industrial action if the company attempts to implement change plan without agreement.
Read Full Story...
Flextronics redundancies
09.11.2008SIPTU has agreed a redundancy package with Flextronics at the companies Raheen plant, Limerick. Sixty-four of the redundancies are compulsory, mostly involving short term staff, and 54 are voluntary.
Read Full Story...
Aer Lingus workers vote for industrial action before December 1st
07.11.2008SIPTU members in Aer Lingus have voted overwhelmingly across all three airports, Dublin, Cork and Shannon, to take industrial action to prevent the management from outsourcing their jobs.
Read Full Story...
APW Galway closes with loss of 138 jobs
07.11.2008The metal fabrication firm APW Galway Limited is closing with the loss of 138 jobs. The company met with SIPTU Branch Organiser Brendan Cunningham this morning.
Read Full Story...
Graduation day for key health service support workers
07.11.2008500 health service support workers participating in a ground-breaking training and development initiative received their national FETAC (Further Education and Training Awards Council) Health Service Skills and Supervisory Management Skills Awards at a ceremony in Cork / Galway / Dublin today.This multi-million euro education, training and development initiative is funded through an industrial relations agreement between the HSE and SIPTU in the Irish health services entitled "Recognising & Respecting the Role” and is known as the SKILL (Securing Knowledge Intra Lifelong Learning) Programme. Actively supported by SIPTU and the Health Service Executive it is an example of employers and unions working constructively together and making a real difference to the improvement of quality workplaces.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU delegation meets ICTU to seek new process to resolve Aer Lingus dispute
06.11.2008A delegation representing SIPTU members at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports has met with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to seek a process to avert the threat of a major industrial dispute at Aer Lingus. Congress has agreed to contact the other social partners and the relevant Government Departments to find alternative measures to the mass sacking of over 1,300 SIPTU members* and the outsourcing of their work to labour agencies.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU expert says real figure for work related deaths is 1,400 per year not the official figure of 60
04.11.2008SIPTU Safety and Health Advisor Sylvester Cronin has called on the Government to officially acknowledge all work-related deaths in Ireland, which far exceed the official figures.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to seek intervention by ICTU and Government to avert major disruption at Aer Lingus
31.10.2008SIPTU is to seek the intervention of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in the dispute at Aer Lingus where the company is planning to shed the jobs of over 1,300 union members. National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack told shop stewards today that the company was “seeking to get rid of people in order to boost profits.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says Aer Lingus outsourcing plan poses more problems than solutions for the airline
30.10.2008Today SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack strongly rejected claims by Aer Lingus management that the Union had failed to engage meaningfully in the Labour Relations Commission process to find annual cost savings at the national carrier. “In fact we are convinced, by their refusal to answer some of the basic questions of most concern to our members, that the company was simply going through the motions”, he said.
Read Full Story...
Aer Lingus management walks out of LRC facilitated talks with SIPTU on €100 million cost savings plan
29.10.2008Aer Lingus management withdrew from the Labour Relations Commission consultation process with SIPTU this evening.
Read Full Story...
Strike at Galway Airport deferred as management agrees to defer cuts to allow for LRC intervention
29.10.2008The strike by SIPTU ground crew, fire crew and check-in personnel at Galway Airport, which was due to begin tomorrow night has been deferred. This follows a commitment by Airport management that it will not implement cutbacks in pay and hours of work unilaterally ahead of a Labour Relations Commission meeting on November 6.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU’s National Nursing Official writes to Mary Harney about adverse effects 16.5 per cent cut in student nurse training places will have on services
28.10.2008SIPTU’s National Nursing Official, Louise O’Reilly, has written to the Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, warning her of ‘the anger and dismay’ of Union members at the proposed cuts in nurse education. They were once again being ‘confronted by the failure of this Government and your Department in particular to plan for the future of the Irish health service.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU recommends Yes Vote
22.10.2008The proposal for a “Transitional Agreement” to extend for 21 months from the end of last March should be considered against the background of a sustained assault on the quality of employment in Ireland and the circumstances prevailing today.
Read Full Story...
Galway Airport workers to strike over cutbacks
22.10.2008SIPTU members at Galway Airport have voted decisively for industrial action after management unilaterally imposed significant cuts in working hours and pay. Shop stewards are meeting tomorrow to decide the timing and form of the action.
Read Full Story...
James Connolly’s Grandson says universality of medical card should be respected and many working pensioners will be hit by Employment Levy
22.10.2008SIPTU’s Retired Members’ Section says the principle of universality must be maintained for Medical Card eligibility over 70. The union’s Section, which is a major affiliate of the Senior Citizen’s Parliament, is supporting today’s rally outside Leinster House. The Section’s Secretary, Ross Connolly, who is a grand son of labour leader James Connolly, also criticised the failure of the Government to remove all those earning below the average industrial wage from the employment levy.
Read Full Story...
Over 40 per cent of funding cut for Dublin childcare centres under new Government scheme
19.10.2008SIPTU childcare workers, parents and management representatives of childcare service providers have called on the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Barry Andrews, to abandon the Community Childcare Subvention Scheme (CCSS), which has seen funding for childcare projects in Dublin cut by 42 per cent since 2007. The meeting was organised by the newly formed SIPTU Community Childcare Campaign Caring for the Future. The campaign held its first meeting in Liberty Hall this weekend.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Retired Members' National Committee to support picket of Dail in protest over Budget cuts
17.10.2008An emergency meeting of the National Committee of SIPTU’s Retired Members’ Section was held to-day in Liberty Hall to consider the implications of the Budget on older people, and in particular on those over 70 years of age who are threatened with the withdrawal of their medical cards.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Dublin Region condemns health cuts in Budget
16.10.2008Delegates representing over 76,000 SIPTU members in the Dublin Region condemned the Budget proposals to withdraw medical cards from the over-70s and the 50 per cent increase in A&E charges. SIPTU Vice-President Brendan Hayes said the myth that we could maintain a low tax regime and high quality public services had to be confronted. At present those who could afford it were able to obtain ‘add on’ health cover while others struggled to obtain basic care, while also being hit with stealth taxes.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU General Secretary calls for urgent Government action to reduce burden on low paid workers
16.10.2008SIPTU General Secretary Joe O’Flynn told the Union’s Dublin Regional Conference this afternoon said that the employment levy in the Budget would seriously undermine the positive aspects of the new national agreement and the prospects of workers voting for it. He also proposed that the Government intervene to end the high charges of between 20 per cent and 30 per cent that workers face on occupational pensions.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Dublin Regional President attacks failure of Government and opposition parties to find solutions to crisis
16.10.2008“While we congregate here there are cutbacks in frontline services, embargoes on staff recruitment, and tinkering with budgets for carers, the disability services, and outreach units for drug rehabilitation”, SIPTU Dublin Regional President Jack McGinley told delegates to the Union’s Conference this afternoon in the Mansion House.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to defer ballot on National Agreement until after trade union Leaders meet with Government over Budget
15.10.2008The General President of SIPTU, Jack O’Connor, made the following statement this afternoon: “The National Executive Council of SIPTU met today to consider the terms of a new National Wage Agreement. In view of the decision earlier today of the Executive of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to seek a meeting with the Taoiseach to discuss issues arising from yesterday’s Budget the SIPTU Executive adjourned and decided to postpone the Union ballot due to commence tomorrow morning.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says unemployed should not have to bear brunt of crisis created by unholy alliance of Government, bankers and developers
15.10.2008Cutting back the jobseekers’ benefits in the Budget “really scrapes the bottom of the barrel when unemployment is soaring”, Anne Speed, SIPTU’s Head of Equality and Campaigning, said today. “They should not be made to pay for a crisis created by an unholy alliance of the Government, bankers and developers.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to meet Wyeth management over threatened job cuts
14.10.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Adrian Kane is to meet Wyeth management tomorrow afternoon over threatened job cuts at the company’s Newbridge plant. Mr Kane said the jobs of 110 permanent staff and 50 temporary staff - all members of SIPTU - are among those affected.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU President condemns one per cent levy as ‘crude instrument’ that makes middle and low income earners pay for economic crisis
14.10.2008The one per cent levy in the Budget was described as “a crude instrument that disregards the principle of ability to pay and will inflict further hardship on those on middle to lower incomes”, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said this evening. “While we recognise the reality of the scale of the problem in relation to the public finances, the principle applied should have been to ensure that those who benefitted most from the Celtic Tiger should have paid the most.
Read Full Story...
Mount Carmel settlement proposals to be put to ballot tomorrow
13.10.2008Settlement terms to the week long dispute at Mount Carmel hospital have been agreed between SIPTU and management under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, after seven hours on intensive talks. The terms, which SIPTU Health Services Branch Organiser Paul Bell described last night as "significant and unique" in terms of a Transfer of Undertakings agreement, will be put to members in a ballot tomorrow at 11am. The pickets will remain in force while the ballot is conducted.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU delegates hear new agreement is best possible in time of economic crisis
13.10.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor told delegates to the Union’s Special Delegate Conference on the new national pay deal today that they should not reject it unless they were sure there was an alternative strategy that would "take us to a better place ". Responding to criticism of the terms, he said that while it was certainly not the best deal ever negotiated it had been negotiated at what was "certainly the worst time for negotiations since these national agreements began".
Read Full Story...
Mount Carmel dispute driven by property speculation and targets elderly women workers
12.10.2008Mount Carmel workers will picket Noel Recruitment, the labour agency supplying strike breakers, from 9am to 1pm tomorrow. Pickets will be placed on Noel Recruitment’s head office at 46 Dawson Street, Dublin, its South Dublin head quarters at 5 Sandyford Office Park, Blackthorn Avenue Sandyford, Dublin 18 (opposite last Luas stop on Green Line) and its main Tallaght office at St. John's House, Tallaght Village, Dublin 24.
Read Full Story...
Nursing Homes Union demands fair deal for care workers
09.10.2008The proposals in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill (the ‘Fair Deal’ scheme) which provides for public funding of care in private nursing homes, effectively makes such homes part of the health service, Paul Hardy, SIPTU’s Organiser for the sector said today.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to seek all-out picket at Mount Carmel over out sourcing of jobs
08.10.2008Over 60 SIPTU catering and laundry staff at Mount Carmel in Dublin began an official strike this morning. They are protesting at the outsourcing of their jobs to a private company which will lead to lower pay and poorer conditions in the long term.
Read Full Story...
Galway nursing home workers vote to strike
07.10.2008Nursing home staff at Coral Haven Residential Nursing Home, Headford Rd, Galway, have voted to take industrial action, according to SIPTU Organiser Paul Hardy. Mr. Hardy is SIPTU’s organiser for nursing homes and is based in Forster Court, Galway.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members to ballot on ‘Irish Ferries’ Mark II move by Aer Lingus management
06.10.2008SIPTU members in Aer Lingus decided this evening to ballot for all out industrial action. Responding to management plans to outsource all ground operations and introduce a pay freeze and poorer terms and conditions for other staff, SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said, "This is Irish Ferries Mark II. It represents a fire sale of good quality jobs by a management that can see no further than the next quarter’s profit and loss sheet.
Read Full Story...
Championing the right to organise and defend democratic standards is one of the major challenges posed by the collapse of the neo-liberal experiment
04.10.2008The right to organise is fundamental to a free society and a democratic Europe, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor told delegates at the Union’s South-West Regional Conference today.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU economist says pay deal should match inflation
04.10.2008SIPTU’s head of research, Manus O’Riordan, told delegates to the Union’s South West Regional Conference in Tralee today that the six per cent pay increase secured under the new national agreement should match inflation over the next 21 months. Mr. O’Riordan said that the two phases of the agreement, worth 3.5 per cent for six months, after a three months pay pause and 2.5 per cent for 12 months, should be 0.3 per cent above inflation and could be worth up to one per cent.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU response to Aer Lingus statement
03.10.2008The statement by Aer Lingus was not unexpected. SIPTU will be meeting the company on Monday at 3pm, after which it will have a further meeting with its Shop Stewards.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU General Secretary warns that Government must give priority to protecting workers' pension funds in any bank restructuring
02.10.2008SIPTU General Secretary Joe O'Flynn has warned the Government that it must move to protect workers pension funds in the current financial crisis. We are living in a very volatile and challenging economic period, not just here at home but worldwide, brought about by the greed of those in a golden circle who had little or no regard for the implications of their reckless and irresponsible actions , he told delegates at the opening of the Union s South-West Regional Conference this evening. At the same time workers are witnessing the near collapse of their pension schemes with a massive reduction in equity, property and other returns which are undermining defined benefit pensions.
Read Full Story...
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown move to allow Panda control waste market will probably see charges double warns SIPTU
03.10.2008Our members in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown waste collection are angry and dismayed to hear that their jobs are being outsourced to a private contractor by County Manager Owen Keegan , SIPTU Branch Organiser Ramon O Reilly said today. In Drogheda charges have more than doubled since Panda took over.
Read Full Story...
Greed should never have been allowed to become the cornerstone of our economic policy says SIPTU leader
03.10.2008Economic commentators said private enterprise markets would meet every need “from health to banking”, but the “catastrophic collapse of financial markets in Wall Street and its knock on effects in Ireland are conclusive proof that greed should have been allowed to become the cornerstone of our economic policy”, SIPTU Regional Secretary Gene Mealy said this evening. He was speaking at the opening of the Union’s South West Region Conference in Tralee.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members in Cavan agree to suspend sick pay scheme to help poultry producer deal with difficult trading environment
03.10.2008SIPTU members employed at Carton Brothers Processing in Shercock, Co Cavan, have taken “a most courageous and difficult decision to freely suspend their Sick Pay Benefit Scheme for a three month period”, Assistant Branch Organiser Vernon Hegarty said today.
Read Full Story...
Government's proposal to merge equality and rights agencies would undermine social justice in Ireland
17.09.2008Anne Speed, SIPTU’s National Campaigns Organiser, welcomed the launch of a broad based campaign to defend a right to independent advocacy currently under threat by the coalition Government’s announcement that it intends to merge up to five agencies in a bid to achieve savings in public expenditure.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU makes clear to Aer Lingus management that it remains opposed to outsourcing
01.10.2008SIPTU representatives met with management at Aer Lingus today under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission.
Read Full Story...
Anger at decision by Odlums to end 80 years of milling at Sallins, Co. Kildare
01.10.2008Workers have reacted angrily to the decision by Odlums to close its milling and packaging operations in Sallins, Co. Kildare with the loss of 26 jobs. The time frame for the closure will see packaging operations close within a six months timeframe, with milling operations continuing for some time after, possibly up to another 12 months. SIPTU met with the Managing Director of Odlums in Naas this morning, Mr. Joe Walsh, where this information was communicated to SIPTU representatives.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU President says banks must pay premium rates for gilt edged guarantee from the tax payer
30.09.2008“This morning’s guarantee by the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, to the Irish banking system essentially represents an exercise in shoring up the pyramid”, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said today. “One has to presume that the Government reconnaissance renders them confident that their bet will never be called.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU launches JUSTICE campaign to end widespread abuse of workers at Dublin Airport
28.09.2008SIPTU has launched a new campaign to expose the levels of gross exploitation of workers at Dublin airport. The campaign, entitled ‘Join a Union, Stick Together and Improve Contracts of Employment’ (JUSTICE), it is being organised jointly by SIPTU’s Aviation and Aer Lingus Branches.
Read Full Story...
Galmoy mine to close on phased basis
26.09.2008Galmoy Mines in Kilkenny is to close on a phased basis between now and 2011. SIPTU has negotiated a redundancy package worth 6.75 weeks pay per year of service with management for the 221 workers.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU economist says reintroducing college fees is unfair and side-steps real issues in third level education
23.09.2008SIPTU economist Marie Sherlock says the renewed call by the heads of Ireland’s universities for the reintroduction of the free third level fees is side stepping the fundamental question of how to “fund, incentivise and support students” at all levels within the education system.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU extremely concerned at Swissco decision to consider closure of its Little Island factory
23.09.2008Following a Swissco management statement today that it was considering the closure of its Little Island Plant, in Cork, SIPTU Sectoral Organiser Alan O’Leary met with the company.
Read Full Story...
Proposed New National Agreement
22.09.2008Proposals have emerged for a new National Agreement following protracted negotiations
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says members have already contributed massively to Aer Lingus cost savings
28.08.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Teresa Hannick said today that the union acknowledges the difficult trading conditions in the aviation sector due to rising fuel costs but the company in turn must acknowledge the tremendous contribution by staff to its continued viability. “SIPTU members have already contributed savings worth €11 million a year to the air line”, she said in response to the company’s half yearly results issued this morning.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU warns that science and maths specialist shortage will continue unless graduates offered better pay and conditions
26.08.2008“We will not attract enough students to take up science and engineering degrees on the scale needed to sustain a knowledge economy unless we offer them better jobs”, says SIPTU Local Authority Professional Officers' Branch Organiser Maurice Hearne. Commenting on the Leaving Cert results he said that SIPTU had already raised its concerns about the continuing decline in the number of students taking engineering courses with the Benchmarking Body when it was reviewing public sector pay. The fact was that employers in both the public and private sectors were not willing to provide the level of pay and conditions needed to attract young people to these demanding disciplines.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says hotel workers should not be forced to pay VAT on service charges
25.08.2008SIPTU has condemned a decision by the Revenue Commissioners andhoteliers to make hotel staff pay VAT on service charges. This stemsfrom a decision by the European Court in 2001 that any payment to asupplier, including a hotel or restaurant, is liable for VAT.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU condemns big pay awards to top business executives as local bargaining begins
22.08.2008SIPTU has served claims on up to 15 companies nationally, and dozens more on employers at local level seeking cost of living pay increases, or above where it feels that companies can afford to pay extra. The Union’s National Industrial Secretary for the private sector, Gerry McCormack, said today that up to half of SIPTU members’ agreements under Towards 2016 were now running out.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU pickets at IFSC called off as settlement reached in contract cleaning dispute
21.08.2008SIPTU has withdrawn its threat to picket the IFSC in Dublin from 10.30 am today after ISS agreed to observe Transfer of Undertakings procedures for contract cleaners at Jones and Lang. SIPTU Organiser Bernie Thornton welcomed the decision by the company.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU in talks with Howley Civil Engineering contractors over redeploying 200 workers being laid off
20.08.2008SIPTU is in negotiation with Howley Civil Engineering and a number of its contractors about securing jobs for 200 members who face lay-offs after the company was wound up by the High Court.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes the decision of G4S to extend the introduction of new security system
20.08.2008SIPTU has welcomed the decision of G4S to extend the introduction of a new security system from tomorrow to further safeguard against attacks on cash in transit (CIT) vehicles by armed criminal gangs.
Read Full Story...
Dispute over contract cleaners at Irish Financial Services Centre could spark wider dispute
20.08.2008A dispute over a Transfer of Undertakings at the Irish Financial Services Centre threatens to escalate into a wider dispute. Tomorrow cleaners at the Jones and Lang offices in Gunnes La Touché House at the International Financial Services Centre, Dublin, are mounting pickets because the new contractor ISS, is refusing to take them on. The women have between six and 23 years' service.
Read Full Story...
Educational segregation for children of migrants shows poverty of thinking on integration policy says SIPTU
19.08.2008“It is ironic that a debate on whether the children of migrant families should be segregated from mainstream education until they have developed the language skills to participate fully in classes, has begun the day after Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT) services finally closed down”, says SIPTU Education Organiser Chris Rowland.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU leader condemns proposal to reintroduce third level fees
11.08.2008SIPTU Vice President Brendan Hayes has condemned the Government proposal to examine the reintroduction of third level fees. “The proposal to reintroduce third level fees is a retrograde step that would adversely affect the children of tens of thousands of low and middle income families, including those of many of our own members. The dramatic increase in participation in third level education for children from low and middle income groups since the abolition of fees has been of immense benefit not only for those involved but the economy and for society as a whole.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU secures three per cent pay rise through interim eight month agreement in motor trade
07.08.2008SIPTU has secured an increase of three per cent for up to 5,000 workers in the motor trade to cover the eight months from May 1st to the end of the year. The agreement also provides for full implementation of a 20 per cent productivity bonus scheme agreed under Towards 2016, but not yet universally implemented.
Read Full Story...
Inflation will rise again in August says SIPTU
07.08.2008Commenting on today’s CPI figures for July, which show an easing back of inflation on the five per cent rate registered in June, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said: “While this is a welcome development, it does not in any way affect our projection of five per cent for this year.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU seeks urgent talks at Labour Relations Commission on Pfizer decision to close Little Island plant in Cork with loss of 180 jobs
06.08.2008Pfizer’s decision to close its Inchera plant at Little Island with the loss of 180 jobs is a major blow to Cork, SIPTU Sectoral Organiser Alan O’Leary said today.
Read Full Story...
Comment on collapse of pay talks between the Social Partners
05.08.2008Commenting on the situation, following the collapse of the national pay talks, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said in a statement: “For the avoidance of doubt about what trade unions were prepared to contemplate in an national agreement, we were prepared to accept that it would be somewhat better than inflation for the lower paid whilst it might be something less than inflation for the better paid. If such an agreement was supported by a Government anti-inflation strategy this would send out a very positive message about our economic management, whilst simultaneously protecting the lower paid and placing the burden of dealing with inflation on those better able to afford it.”
Read Full Story...
Rail strike deferred
30.07.2008Following intensive talks at the Labour Relations Commission today the unions have agreed to defer Friday’s strike by permanent way staff at Iarnrod Eireann for a week. Further talks are to take place to seek a resolution to outstanding issues.
Read Full Story...
Irish Equity welcomes new funding for Abbey
25.07.2008The Executive of the Irish Equity Group welcomes the recent announcement of increased and multi-annual funding for the Abbey Theatre.
Read Full Story...
Diageo agrees negotiation process with unions over proposed redundancies and plant closures
24.07.2008Diageo has agreed a format for negotiations on its plans to close plants in Dundalk and Kilkenny, as well as reducing the workforce in Waterford and relocating its St James’s Gate brewery to a Greenfield site in Dublin West. The format was agreed today under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission with the GSU, SIPTU, Unite and the TEEU, which represent workers at the Diageo plants.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU and Transroute reach agreement in Dublin Port Tunnel dispute and avert strike
24.07.2008SIPTU and Transroute, the operator of the Dublin Port Tunnel, have reached agreement on all outstanding pay matters between the parties today. The agreement has been brokered further to detailed negotiations between the parties and with the assistance of the Labour Court.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes Labour Court proposals on Dublin Port Tunnel dispute but threat of action remains over apparent reluctance of company to do so
23.07.2008SIPTU has welcomed proposals from the Labour Court to resolve the Dublin Port Tunnel dispute, which could lead to traffic chaos in the capital. However Branch Organiser Owen Reidy has expressed concern that the company has yet to indicate its willingness to do so. Both sides are meeting tomorrow morning. Meanwhile industrial action due to begin today has been deferred.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls on Kildare County Council to save the Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge
17.07.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser, Michael Dowling has condemned plans to close Kildare’s only arts centre in Newbridge, Co Kildare. Strategic Arts Management (SAM) has put staff at the Riverbank Arts Centre on protective notice after running up debts of over €80,000. The staff are members of SIPTU.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says Supreme Court decision highlights need for universal health insurance
16.07.2008“The Supreme Court decision on risk equalisation in the health insurance sector effectively spells the death knell of the co-existence of private and public medicine”, SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor said this afternoon. “It is now clear that the interests of society can not be served through the marketisation of the health services.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members join strike by local authority workers in North this week in pursuit of 6 per cent cost of living increase
14.07.2008SIPTU members in Northern Ireland will participate with other local authority workers in a two day strike this week in pursuit of a six per cent pay claim. The strike action will take place on Wednesday, July 16. SIPTU Industrial Organiser Kevin McKinney says it will be the first of many such stoppages if the Government does not improve on its offer of a 2.47 per cent pay rise.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU serves strike notice at the Dublin Port Tunnel
09.07.2008SIPTU has served fourteen days strike notice on Transroute Tunnel Operations, the operator at the Dublin Port Tunnel. The notice comes into effect on July 23 and if the strike goes ahead it will close the Tunnel.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members to picket Dail tomorrow over refusal of Government to reconsider closure of language training and integration services for refugees
02.07.2008Staff from nine Integrated Ireland Language and Training (IILT) centres around the country will picket the Dail from 2.00pm tomorrow following the refusal of the Department of Education to reconsider its decision to stop funding the service. SIPTU representatives met with officials from the Department in Athlone today but failed to secure any commitments on funding or redeployment for the 44 people involved.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU rejects call by Hotels Federation for pay pause
02.07.2008SIPTU, which represents workers in the hotels and restaurant industry, has rejected calls by the Irish Hotels Federation today for a pay pause. The Union’s Dublin Regional Secretary Patricia King said, “This industry generates profits for some of the wealthiest businessmen in the country, yet most of the 97,500 workers it employs are earning only slightly more than the national minimum wage. Are hoteliers seriously suggesting that these workers must tighten their belts when the soaring price of essentials eats up a disproportionate percentage of their wages already?
Read Full Story...
Don't turn a recession into a depression!
26.06.2008SIPTU economists emphasise importance of both consumption and investment for economic recovery
Read Full Story...
SIPTU solidarity strike with locked out workers likely to spread
24.06.2008SIPTU members at the Vita Cortex plant in Cork have taken solidarity industrial action in support of colleagues who have been locked out for the past two weeks by the company in Navan. Workers in other Vita Cortex plants, including Athlone and Dublin, have also balloted for industrial action.
Read Full Story...
Lisbon vote shows Government must address workers' concerns
23.06.2008“Workers’ concerns about deteriorating security and quality of employment were manifestly evident in the Lisbon vote and the Government must move to address them and work to create a sense of belonging”, SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, said today at a press conference to launch a Union pamphlet reviewing the post-Lisbon referendum landscape.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls on Minister for Education to reconsider closure of language training and integration services for refugees
20.06.2008Over 500 people took part in today’s march to the Department of Education and Science to mark World Refugee Day with a protest over the proposed closure of the country’s nine Integrated Ireland Language and Training (IILT) centres. SIPTU Education Branch Organiser Chris Rowland handed in a letter for the Minister, Batt O’Keeffe, asking him to reconsider his decision to stop funding the IILT and for his officials to enter into meaningful discussions with the Union and staff immediately.
Read Full Story...
Staff and students at IILT to mark World Refugee Day with protest at proposed closure of education and integration services for refugees
19.06.2008The board of Integrate Ireland Language and Training has told SIPTU representatives that it is going into voluntary liquidation because of the decision to stop funding by the Department of Education and Science. The Union, which represents staff at IILT centres in Balbriggan, Ballina, Castlebar, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Mullingar, Sligo and Waterford is to hold protests tomorrow, World Refugee Day to highlight the closure of services, which are aimed at helping refugees learn English and integrate into Irish society.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to consider further action at Bantry oil terminal as 48 hour stoppage ends
13.06.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Eddie Mullins said today that the Union will review its options over the next few days in its dispute at the Conoco Phillips storage facility in Bantry Bay. Members concluded a 48 hour stoppage at 8 am this morning.
Read Full Story...
Government reneges on deal with Finian McGrath as Department of Education cuts funding for language training centre with loss of 42 jobs
12.06.2008The Department of Education and Science today cut funding for Integrate Ireland Language and Training (IILT) and its out reach services, resulting in the loss of 42 jobs. The IILT provides support services for every school in the country with non-English speaking pupils, as well as language training for adults.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes breakthrough on Agency Workers Directive
10.06.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor has welcomed the breakthrough on a draft EU Directive for agency workers.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU workers at Bantry Bay oil terminal to mount 48-hour stoppage on Wednesday
09.06.2008SIPTU workers at the Conoco Phillips storage facility in Bantry Bay are to begin a 48-hour stoppage at 8.00 am on Wednesday. They are seeking pay parity with workers at the National Oil Refinery Authority plant in Whitegate and the restoration of full time off in lieu for unsocial hours, including night shifts.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU statement on Lisbon Treaty
09.06.2008“We believe next Thursday’s referendum on the Lisbon Treaty entails a critically important decision for the Irish people, for workers in Ireland and perhaps for the people of Europe as well.
Read Full Story...
Raw deal for School Caretakers highlighted by SIPTU at Oireachtas Education Committee
05.06.2008Research carried out by SIPTU has found major anomalies between School Caretakers employed directly by the Department of Education and those employed through Board of Management structures. These issues were presented to the Oireachtas Joint Committee for Education and Science today.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU shop stewards insist no compulsory redundancies or reduction in conditions during Diageo restructuring
03.06.2008SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack has warned Diageo that his members will oppose any compulsory redundancies during the company’s restructuring programme in Ireland. He was at a meeting with the Union’s National Shop Stewards Committee at Diageo in Portlaoise.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU construction leader says Government must invest more in frastructure and social housing to avert employment crisis in sector
03.06.2008SIPTU’s National Organiser for the construction industry, Eric Fleming, has called on the Government to become far more pro-active in tackling the decline in employment for his sector. “FÁS has increased its projections for job losses in construction very significantly, to over 67,000 workers or a quarter of the total number of people employed in the sector. The Government has no choice but to act now if it is to avert what will be a devastating blow not just to construction but the wider economy.
Read Full Story...
SR Technics agree to SIPTU proposal to resolve aircraft handlers dispute
02.06.2008SR Technics has agreed to a proposal from SIPTU to refer its dispute with its 21 aircraft handlers to the Labour Court, or some other third party, for binding arbitration. This should allow the company to notify Aer Lingus that it can meet the terms of the ten year maintenance and secure the jobs of 1,200 workers at the plant, many of them SIPTU members.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU officials to meet aircraft handlers and SR Technics management tomorrow
01.06.2008The SIPTU committee representing aircraft handlers met this evening to discuss the current dispute. “After a very constructive discussion we identified a mechanism that we believe can resolve the current impasse”, SIPTU Branch Organiser Pat Ward said.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU seeks meeting with SR Technics to resolve outstanding issues
30.05.2008SIPTU has offered to meet SR Technics to resolve the one outstanding issue over workplace change at the company involving 21 aircraft handlers. The handlers have rejected a productivity proposal to refuel aircraft that was introduced at a very late stage in the current restructuring programme.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU will not support Lisbon Treaty unless Government commits to legislate fully for Rights Charter
30.05.2008SIPTU will not support what it terms “a watered down” version of the Lisbon Treaty that exposes workers to its “Free Market” aspects, while denying them the benefit of “balancing measures” which are integral to it.
Read Full Story...
Cork train drivers return to work
29.05.2008Cork train drivers agreed this afternoon to accept a return to work formula brokered by Tom Pomphrett of the Labour Relations Commission. The decision was made at a joint meeting of SIPTU and NBRU drivers in the city, who have been involved in an unofficial dispute over the past eight days. Normal train services in the South-West will resume tomorrow.
Read Full Story...
Joe O'Flynn re-elected General Secretary of SIPTU by large majority
29.05.2008Joe O’Flynn has been re-elected General Secretary of SIPTU, the country’s largest trade union, by a margin of more than three-to-one over the only other candidate, Kieran Allen of the Union’s Education Branch. O’Flynn’s management of the Union’s resources over the last six years has helped it achieve its highest ever membership, which now stands at 276,000.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Executive to decide position on Lisbon Treaty tomorrow - Friday
29.05.2008The National Executive Council of the country’s largest trade union will meet on Friday morning to decide whether or not to recommend acceptance or rejection of the Treaty to its 200,000 plus members.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes settlement to rail strike
28.05.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Jackie Pearson has welcomed the outcome of two days of talks under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission to resolve the week long Cork rail dispute. “I am reasonably happy that we have achieved what we originally set out to do through local negotiations last week, thanks to the assistance of Tom Pomphrett and the LRC. Our priority has been to have our people restored to the payroll and to get trains running.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Executive to decide position on Lisbon Treaty on Friday
28.05.2008The National Executive Council of the country’s largest trade Union will meet on Friday morning to decide whether or not to recommend acceptance or rejection of the Treaty to its 200,000 plus members.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes LRC intervention in the Cork train dispute
26.05.2008SIPTU has welcomed the intervention by the Labour Relations Commission in the Cork rail dispute. Branch Organiser Jackie Pearson says the Union representatives will attend the exploratory talks in Cork tomorrow afternoon.
Read Full Story...
Talks on redundancies at Sanirish to begin on Wednesday
27.05.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Allen Dillon is to meet management at Sanirish on Wednesday to discuss a redundancy package for 22 members being made redundant at its Edenderry plant. The company, which makes pumps for showers and washing machines, says the plant is no longer competitive compared with locations abroad.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU drivers not allowed to operate mainline and suburban trains in Cork today
26.05.2008SIPTU drivers not involved in the Irish rail dispute in Cork who reported for duty this morning were not allowed to drive the trains they were rostered to drive. These were the early morning trains to Cobh and Dublin.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU workers win month long battle to regain jobs with new owners of Ballymun hotel
22.05.2008SIPTU Organiser Miriam Hamilton says the new operators of the Ballymun Plaza Hotel have agreed to employ former workers and the majority of sacked staff will begin work this weekend. She has welcomed the commitment as a victory for the union and local community leaders, who had “waged a month-long fight on behalf of the hotel workers to see that they be returned to work as soon as a new operator was found for the hotel”.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU defers strike at Enterprise Plc for a week to allow for further talks at the Labour Relations Commission
19.05.2008SIPTU has deferred tomorrow’s strike at Enterprise Plc, a British based contractor responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of the Bord Gais network in Dublin and Leinster. The decision was taken after progress was made in negotiations at the Labour Relations Commission on Friday.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU construction leader warns Government of need to take employment crisis in sector
16.05.2008SIPTU’s National Organiser for the construction industry, Eric Fleming, has called on the Government to become more pro-active in tackling the decline in employment in his sector. “FÁS has predicted that 50,000 jobs are under threat this year in construction and the Government must act now to avert such a devastating blow to the industry and the wider economy.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU proposal to resolve dispute at Aer Lingus accepted by company
16.05.2008At a meeting in Dublin airport today SIPTU shop stewards adopted the following resolution: SIPTU rejects the company plan to unilaterally implement management proposals, as outlined in the letter of May 14. However, in an effort to avoid a damaging dispute for the employees, the company and the travelling public, the Shop Stewards Committee has unanimously endorsed a proposal for an interim agreement to allow the implementation of the proposals in the areas which have accepted them. Parallel discussions will commence to find a resolution for the sections which rejected the proposals, which would be held under the auspices of a third party.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU Psychiatric Nurses to consider new proposals to resolve their dispute on Friday
14.05.2008SIPTU and the Psychiatric Nurses Association received new proposals from the Labour Relations Commission late this evening to resolve their two week old dispute. SIPTU Nursing Official Louise O’Reilly said the proposals represented “significant progress”.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU strike notice served on major Bord Gais contractor over victimisation of shop stewards and displacement of direct labour
14.05.2008SIPTU has served strike notice on Enterprise Plc, a British based contractor responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of the Bord Gais network in Dublin and Leinster. Industrial action is scheduled to begin next Monday (May 19th) and may affect the ability of Bord Gais to maintain its network. SIPTU National Construction Organiser, Eric Fleming has warned that the dispute could be bitter and blamed Bord Gais for not tackling irregularities on the construction side of the gas industry.
Read Full Story...
Settlement proposals to psychiatric nurses dispute hammered out in two days of talks at LRC
10.05.2008The Psychiatric Nurses Association and SIPTU have hammered out a framework proposal with the HSE to conclude negotiations on a new compensation scheme for nurses injured as the result of assaults at work. The proposal was hammered out in two days of intensive negotiations with the HSE at the Labour Relations Commission.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to meet management to assess damage at Kildare factory fire
09.05.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Adrian Kane said this evening that the fire at the Kildare Chilling Company was a major blow to the town, where it is the main employer. Two of the three main production lines had been badly damaged, if not completely destroyed, by the fire.
Read Full Story...
Psychiatric nurses vote to suspend action
16.05.2008SIPTU psychiatric nurses have voted to suspend their industrial action following acceptance of a new compensation package for members assaulted at work. The new scheme greatly extends the number of grounds for claims, recognises the importance of dealing with the psychological trauma such attacks can cause and increases payments by up to 66 per cent.
Read Full Story...
Protest goes ahead tonight after hotel director fails to produce €50,000 arrears owed to former Ballymum employees
09.05.2008Workers from the Ballymun Plaza Hotel are to protest outside its sister operation, the Tallaght Plaza Hotel, at 7pm today after management failed to meet commitments to pay arrears of €50,000. SIPTU deferred the protest, originally due to take place yesterday, for 24 hours to allow management to come up with the money. The €50,000 is wages, holiday pay, minimum notice and other monies owed to the 40-odd workers laid off after the sudden closure of the Ballymun Plaza Hotel three weeks ago.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls for centralised bargaining strategy at Guinness
09.05.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser John Dunne says the Union will be adopting a centralised bargaining approach to changes at Guinness in consultation with other unions. “While the Guinness Staff Union dances the greatest challenge we will also suffer significant job losses, particularly in Kilkenny and, to a lesser extent Dundalk and Dublin.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU says any redundancies at Guinness must be voluntary and workers' long term interests protected
09.05.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser John Dunne says the Union will use the nine months facilitation process provided by the Labour Relations Commission to minimise the impact of new Diageo plans for Guinness production in Ireland on members. “Fortunately the proposals, which include 250 redundancies, do not affect our members as much as those of other unions”, he said.
Read Full Story...
Unions representing psychiatric nurses to attend talks with the HSE at Labour Relations Commission tomorrow
09.05.2008The two unions representing psychiatric nurses, the PNA and SIPTU, have accepted an invitation to talks at the Labour Relations Commission tomorrow to discuss the dispute with the HSE, which is over compensation for nurses injured as the result of assaults at work.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU condemns big awards for Aer Lingus bosses and prepares for ballot on industrial action to secure outstanding wage increases
08.05.2008SIPTU has condemned pay rises awarded to Aer Lingus Chief Executive, Dermot Mannion, its finance chief, Greg O’Sullivan, the chairman, John Sharman and other board directors. It has written to the company today seeking payment of outstanding arrears to employees under national wage agreements and in-house agreements which are worth 7.5 per cent. The company unilaterally imposed a pay freeze on staff last October and has refused to go to the Labour Court on the issue. If Aer Lingus holds to this position the Union will ballot members for industrial action.
Read Full Story...
Protest deferred 24 hours to allow hotel director to produce €50,000 owed to workers
08.05.2008A protest organised by workers from the Ballymun Plaza Hotel, outside its sister operation the Tallaght Plaza Hotel at 7pm today has been deferred for 24 hours. This is to allow management to come up with €50,000 in arrears of wages, holiday pay, minimum notice and other monies due to the 40-odd workers affected by the sudden closure of the Ballymun Plaza Hotel three weeks ago.
Read Full Story...
Ballymun workers protest to demand answers
07.05.2008Workers from the Ballymun Plaza Hotel, who lost their jobs almost three weeks ago, will protest tomorrow (Thursday, May 8) outside the Tallaght Plaza Hotel at 7.00pm.
Read Full Story...
Psychiatric Nurses to escalate dispute from Monday
06.05.2008The two unions representing psychiatric nurses, the PNA and SIPTU, have given the HSE notice that action by their members will escalate from Monday if no progress is made in resolving the dispute over compensation for staff injured in assaults at work. The unions are planning to withdraw co-operation in the redeployment of nurses from community based services to psychiatric and general hospitals. All Dublin’s major acute hospitals, except Beaumont, will be among the facilities affected.
Read Full Story...
Action by Nursing Unions highlights HSE mismanagement over long number of years says SIPTU
05.05.2008SIPTU National Nursing Official Louise O’Reilly says her Union and the PNA are likely to escalate their dispute when the joint strike committee meets tomorrow. The dispute is over the lack of a decent compensation scheme for members injured as the result of assaults at work.
Read Full Story...
Aer Lingus Pension Fund
02.05.2008Contrary to some media reports there is no reason to believe that any losses have been incurred by the First Aer Lingus Supplementary Pension Fund (worth approximately €70 million), or that the scheme is unable to provide indexation if that becomes necessary.
Read Full Story...
New trade union learning network to train activists in how to reach out to most vulnerable and exploited members of the workforce
01.05.2008Three of the country’s largest trade unions, with a combined membership of 360,000, have launched the Union Learning Network (ULN) today at Liberty Hall, Dublin, to improve services to members and also reach out to the most vulnerable and exploited members of the workforce. The programme will provide 700 training places at a cost of just over €1 million. Skillnets will provide 85 per cent of the funding and the balance will come from the unions. It is being launched by Sean Haughey, Minister of State for Education with special responsibility for Lifelong Learning.
Read Full Story...
May Day wake-up call for Ballymum regeneration project
01.05.2008At 5.00pm today workers from the Ballymun Plaza Hotel joined with other local people to hold a rally in the centre of Ballymun to protest at the closure of the hotel with the loss of over 40 jobs. Some 5,500 local people have signed a petition calling for the re-opening of the hotel. The workers, who are members of SIPTU, and their supporters say the way job creation is being handled in the Ballymun Regeneration project, is undermining the future viability of a community that is still coming to terms with decades of neglect.
Read Full Story...
May Day call for sacked hotel workers in Ballymun who stood for their rights and their community
29.04.2008On Thursday 40 workers at the Ballymun Plaza Hotel will hold a rally to highlight the fact that Ballymun’s regeneration has been built on the backs of the taxpayers and local people like themselves, who were given low paid employment by fly-by-night developers.
Read Full Story...
Strike notice served on Milford Private Nursing Home
29.04.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Martin O’Rourke today stated that he shared our membership’s bitter disappointment that as representative of the workforce of Aras Ui Dhomhnaill, Private Nursing Home, we have failed to secure a meeting with the company to discuss issue of concern to our membership despite SIPTU having requested one almost three months ago. We had written to the employer to seek a meeting, we expected as per best practice that they would have responded but thus far they have failed to address our memberships issues. We are disappointed that the worker’s patience and perseverance over this extended period was not rewarded.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members reject Aer Lingus cuts
25.04.2008SIPTU members in Aer Lingus have rejected the company’s cost cutting proposals in a secret ballot concluded today. It is clear that intensive local discussions did not reach an acceptable conclusion in all areas of the operation.
Read Full Story...
Unions learning to organise and represent workers
27.04.2008Three of the State’s largest unions, representing over 300,000 members, have come together to launch Union Learning (Network) Limited (ULL). This is a two year programme for up to 700 full-time union officials, shop stewards and other union activists to help them become better organisers and workplace representatives.
Read Full Story...
Government should honour dead and injured workers
28.04.2008SIPTU’s General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn, has called on the Government to honour ‘International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers’ – celebrated around the world on April 28 - by taking steps to eliminate work-related deaths.
Read Full Story...
Threat to mental health services
25.04.2008Members of SIPTU and the PNA have rejected the compensation package on offer for nurses working in the mental health services who are injured as a result of an assault at work. Both unions have balloted their members and the vote in favour of taking action to secure improvements in the scheme were overwhelming.
Read Full Story...
Ballymun workers protest over job losses
25.04.2008The workers from the Ballymun Plaza Hotel, who lost their jobs last week, will protest tonight (Friday April 25) at the Tallaght Plaza Hotel at 7.30pm.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU leader calls on unions to rise to challenge of globalisation by organising and educating workers
23.04.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor called on unions and the Government to meet the challenge of boosting the skill levels of our workforce head on by creating a new University targeted at trade union members. He said that if the Government would not rise to the challenge then the trade union movement must seek out its own strategic partners in the field of education to do so.
Read Full Story...
New pay talks must deliver on pay, exploitation and upskilling
17.04.2008SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor told the ICTU Special Delegate Conference on entering a new round of pay talks today that unions should be prepared to “engage fully” with employers and the Government on pay increases in the context of the wider economic problems facing the country. But he criticised the “disingenuous campaign under way on inflation that is pitting jobs against wage costs”.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members to re-ballot in Aer Lingus
15.04.2008SIPTU is to re-ballot members on alternative cost savings to PCI-07. The full shop stewards committee met at Dublin Airport this afternoon and considered sufficient progress had been made during intensive discussions with management since the original proposals were made to warrant a re-ballot of members.
Read Full Story...
Investment in Health Services - Black Hole or Forward Planning?
15.04.2008Delegates at the SIPTU National Nursing Convention in Wexford today were told that the HSE is unaccountable and our politicians are indecisive.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU General Secretary critical of 'Americanisation' of Health Service
14.04.2008Ireland’s two tier health system is being heavily promoted by a Government policy that is driving the Americanisation of our health service - where the patient is seen as a commodity rather than a person in need of care, declared SIPTU General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn.
Read Full Story...
Minister for Health too busy to meet Union
14.04.2008SIPTU’s Nursing Council sought a meeting with Mary Harney to discuss the impact of the latest recruitment embargo on nurses and midwives but she said she was too busy.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU delegates vote to enter talks on new national agreement
14.04.2008SIPTU delegates voted overwhelmingly today to enter talks on a new national agreement. However the Union’s General Secretary Joe O’Flynn said afterwards that, “These will probably be the toughest set of negotiations since the current generation of agreements began over twenty years ago. The current economic difficulties are due to factors outside the control of ordinary working people, such as the irresponsible speculation of major financial institutions. It is neither morally nor socially acceptable that ordinary working people be accepted to pick up the tab.
Read Full Story...
Best practice model needed on drugs rehabilitation
11.04.2008"Trade unionists are willing to play an active role in helping communities to campaign against an ever increasing drugs culture,” declared Dr. Jack McGinley, President of SIPTU’s Dublin Region – representing 70,000 members.
Read Full Story...
Job losses to be minimised as Tesco relocate tallaght workers
09.04.2008SIPTU says it will work to minimise job losses at Tesco following management’s decision to amalgamate its warehousing operation in Tallaght with its Donabate site. The decision effects 220 SIPTU members.
Read Full Story...
Aer Lingus shop stewards seek more time to conclude local negotiations
09.04.2008SIPTU shop stewards at Aer Lingus met tonight to review the situation at the airline. It was decided to write to the company seeking time for local negotiations to continue in all areas with a view to resolving outstanding issues as soon as possible.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU ask Aer Lingus to re-engage with staff at local level to address concerns over new work practices
03.04.2008SIPTU has asked Aer Lingus management to engage with union representatives at local level to resolve outstanding issues, particularly the lack of workable rosters. The Union’s National Industrial Secretary, Gerry McCormack, said after today’s meeting with shop stewards that, “local discussions have already begun on outstanding difficulties, such as the need for workable rosters and we are urging a speedy resolution to these talks.
Read Full Story...
Bertie Ahern's legacy is enormously significant but poses major challenges for Irish society
02.04.2008Commenting on the announcement by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, of his intention to resign, SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor said "two enormously significant developments have come about during the tenure in office of Bertie Ahern."
Read Full Story...
SIPTU members vote to reject cost cutting plan at Aer Lingus by three to one majority
01.04.2008SIPTU members have voted by three to one to reject a set of proposals to resolve an ongoing dispute regarding cost savings in Aer Lingus. National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said after the votes were counted this evening that, “the Union has put a huge effort and resources into trying to secure agreement in the different local areas on cost cutting measures. However the company’s failure to produce workable rosters in line with the proposals has contributed significantly to the decision by our members to reject them.”
Read Full Story...
Time to widen definition of work-related deaths
01.04.2008SIPTU’s General Secretary, Joe O’Flynn has welcomed the call for a widening of the definition of work-related deaths by Dr. Jukka Takala, head of the European Agency for Safety and Health.
Read Full Story...
Ambulance strike averted
28.03.2008The threat of industrial action by the country’s 1,200 paramedics has been averted, following intensive negotiations with the HSE Employers Agency and health service unions last night.
Read Full Story...
Help save our ailing health service
28.03.2008"The HSE ban on recruitment is hitting services, hurting patients, undermining staff morale and threatening the advances made in nursing over the years,” according to SIPTU’s National Nursing Organiser, Louise O’Reilly.
Read Full Story...
Cork County Council debate motion on agency workers
27.03.2008Cork County Council are due to debate a motion on the exploitation of agency workers at their meeting on Monday, March 31, 2008.
Read Full Story...
Unions rally for a decent public health service
26.03.2008The Dublin Council of Trade Unions and the ICTU Congress Youth Committee are campaigning for a decent public health service now. According to Des Derwin, President of the DCTU, the decline in our health services can be directly attributed to the drive towards privatisation. "The only way we can safeguard the interests of patients and staff is by defending and improving the public health services," he said.
Read Full Story...
Minister ignores School Caretakers
26.03.2008The Union representing school caretakers has called on the Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin to talk about the scandal of discretionary payments by Boards of Management to its caretaker members
Read Full Story...
Jack O'Connor gives guarded welcome to new Employment Law Compliance Bill
18.03.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor has welcomed the publication of the Employment Law Compliance Bill by the Government today. However he added that the Union would need to study the measure further before giving a final verdict on its contents. SIPTU warned that it will not enter talks on a new national agreement unless this important commitment in Towards 2016 was delivered. The legislation was originally supposed to be enacted by the end of 2007.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU to meet Wavin over proposed restructuring
14.03.2008SIPTU Branch Organiser Michelle Quinn is to meet Wavin management on Tuesday over proposed restructuring at the company and the loss of 50 jobs. Wavin manufactures plastic piping, primarily for the construction industry.
Read Full Story...
Latest inflation trends impacts hardest on low to middle income families
13.03.2008“The renewed rise in inflation is extremely worrying, especially as the greatest increases affected health and food costs” SIPTU General Secretary Joe O’Flynn, said today. “Health costs have risen by 5.7 per cent on an annualised basis, almost double the comparable figure of 2.9 per cent for last year, and food has risen by 8.5 per cent, compared with 1.1 per cent in 2007. These increases impact hardest on people with low to middle incomes, especially families with children.”
Read Full Story...
Guarded welcome for new Nursing Home Standards
11.03.2008SIPTU has welcomed the new standards for nursing homes, approved by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). However, SIPTU’s Nursing Homes Organiser, Paul Hardy, said it was unfortunate that employment standards barely get a mention.
Read Full Story...
Ambulance crews to strike on April 7, 2008
10.03.20081,200 ambulance personnel nationwide, have served notice of industrial action on the Health Service Executive (HSE) to expire at 8.00am on April 7, 2008. The dispute concerns the HSE’s unilateral decision to sign contracts with three private ambulance service providers in contravention of an existing agreement between the HSE and its ambulance personnel that no such action would be taken without their prior acceptance.
Read Full Story...
Strike at Novem ends
10.03.2008Over eighty workers have ended their three week strike at Novum after the Labour Relations Commission upheld their claim that the method of selection for lay-offs should be ‘last-in first-out’.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU calls for Commission on Women's Incomes
07.03.2008SIPTU’s National Equality Secretary, Rosheen Callender made a passionate plea for “pensions parity between men and women” and for “levelling-up rather than levelling-down” of pensions generally.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU rejects call for pay cuts in construction industry
05.03.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor has rejected a call by Tom Parlon, Director General of the Construction Industry Federation, for a 12 month pay freeze and a 30 per cent cut in entry rates for construction workers. Mr. O’Connor said that the call had the potential "to turn building sites into battle grounds".
Read Full Story...
Union calls time on Irish Hotels Federation celebration of high profits based on low pay
03.03.2008“The hotels and restaurants industry employs 130,000 people and rakes in most of the €6.5 billion in tourism revenue each year, yet it pays some of the lowest wages”, SIPTU Regional Secretary, Christy McQuillan said this evening at a protest meeting in Kilkenny to highlight abuses in the sector. It is being held to coincide with the annual conference of the Irish Hotels Federation in the city.
Read Full Story...
Jobs expansion at IVAX welcome
03.03.2008The announcement by IVAX Pharmaceuticals Ireland - part of the Teva Group - that they are expanding their workforce by 165 is welcome news for workers and the community, said SIPTU Branch Organiser, Marie Butler.
Read Full Story...
Callender makes 'Leap Year' proposals
29.02.2008SIPTU’s National Equality Secretary, Rosheen Callender, has proposed to the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Brian Cowen, that he introduce an attractive SSIA-style incentive for people to voluntarily start or join pension schemes; If it doesn’t work after a year or two, she said he should start planning to make it compulsory.
Read Full Story...
FAS Opportunities Fair shows way towards a knowledge based economy
29.02.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor has welcomed the opening of FÁS Opportunities 2008 today. He said the state training and employment agency was playing a leading role in addressing our skills deficit. “I would like to pay tribute to everyone at FÁS, not alone for the tremendous work they have done in mounting Opportunities 2008, but for their commitment throughout the year in helping our workforce gear up for the challenging times ahead.
Read Full Story...
HSE breached terms of Towards 2016 - Labour Court
28.02.2008In a recommendation issued on February 24, the Labour Court said the way in which the Health Service Executive introduced its recruitment embargo was in breach of the terms of Towards 2016.
Read Full Story...
Exploitation of agency workers devalues society
21.02.2008Speaking at a public forum in the Imperial Hotel in Cork on the exploitation of agency workers, Mr. Mealy told his audience that SIPTU is determined to fight this exploitation and bring about equal treatment for agency workers.
Read Full Story...
Agreement reached on change process at Aer Lingus
24.02.2008Aer Lingus management and SIPTU have reached agreement on the change process at the national airline after almost 34 hours of continuous talks.SIPTU National Industrial Secretary Gerry McCormack said, “Agreement has been reached subject to a ballot of our members. We accept there has been genuine commitment by both sides to reach an agreement and the process has protected SIPTU members’ interests and also prevented disruption to Aer Lingus passengers.”
Read Full Story...
SIPTU accepts invitation to talks by Aer Lingus
22.02.2008SIPTU has accepted an invitation to talks it has received from Aer Lingus management. The union would prefer to conduct negotiations under the auspices of the Labour Relations Commission, as was agreed by all the parties, but it has accepted the invitation in order to seek a solution to what could otherwise be a long and bitter dispute.
Read Full Story...
Aer Lingus shop stewards meet to consider threat to impose new conditions
20.02.2008SIPTU shop stewards in Aer Lingus are meeting at Dublin airport on February 21 at 4.00pm to discuss and respond to the decision by management to unilaterally implement their proposals contained in the ‘Flexibility and Mobility’ document. Members of the Union are currently balloting to reaffirm their previous decision to take industrial action.
Read Full Story...
SIPTU welcomes Labour Party and Sinn Féin motion to protect agency workers
19.02.2008Welcoming the initiative by the Labour Party and Sinn Féin in proposing a motion in the Dáil in support of agency workers, SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor said this “contrasts sharply with statements from some public representatives who seem to think agency workers are expendable.
Read Full Story...
Productivity is key to future economic success, not low pay for workers
15.02.2008Union General President, Jack O’Connor said “today’s exhortations of pay restrain on behalf of top management ring hollow with those trying to cope with one of the highest costs of living in Europe - especially when these same people have been awarding themselves multiples of the increases workers have been receiving over the past few years”. Mr. O'Connor made his comments at the plenary meeting of the social partners at Dublin Castle to review progress on Towards 2016.
Read Full Story...
Strike at Novum
15.02.2008Over eighty workers at Novum (Overseas) Ltd., Clonshaugh, Co. Dublin, began strike action today in a dispute over lay-off procedures. SIPTU Branch Organiser, Gerry Lynch said the dispute centres on the fact that management has unilaterally changed the way workers are selected for lay-offs.
Read Full Story...
No new national agreement unless abuse of agency workers ends
11.02.2008SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor says there will be no further social partnership agreements unless the abuse of agency workers is ended and their rights to equal treatment with other workers enshrined in law. Mr O’Connor gave his warning at a meeting of SIPTU in the Granville Hotel, Waterford, this evening. It is one of a series of meetings being organised around the country by Ireland’s largest union as part of its campaign to obtain a better deal for agency workers.
Read Full Story...
Industrial action likely at Novum (Overseas) Ltd
08.02.2008Over eighty workers at Novum (Overseas) Ltd., Clonshaugh, Co. Dublin. have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action in a dispute over lay-off procedures. SIPTU Branch Organiser, Gerry Lynch said one week’s notice had been served and the industrial action would begin on Thursday, February 14, 2008.
Read Full Story...
Legal challenge to Hotels JLC withdrawn
07.02.2008The decision by the Irish Hotels Federation to withdraw its challenge to the legal mechanisms under which the Hotels Joint Labour Committee (JLC) operates has been welcomed by the Union’s National Industrial Secretary, Gerry McCormack.
Read Full Story...
Government must deliver commitments in Towards 2016 before talks on new agreement commence
04.02.2008Key commitments in Towards 2016 are still outstanding, Trade Union Federation (TUF) leaders, SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor and TEEU General Secretary, Owen Wills have warned. In a joint statement they said, “there is an assumption abroad that talks on a new agreement are automatic, but members of SIPTU and the TUUE will be assessing any proposal to enter talks, on the basis of how far the Government has delivered on the existing agreement. They will want to know what has been done on employment rights compliance, given the central role this issue played in securing the support of workers for Towards 2016.
Read Full Story...
Allergan job losses underline need to upskill workers in at-risk sectors – O'Connor
30.01.2008The impending loss of 360 jobs at Allergan in Arklow is only the latest in a series of large scale redundancies in the manufacturing sector, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said today. “Time is long past for the Government to put in place an ambitious programme for upskilling workers, particularly in this sector, who have contributed so much to our prosperity in the past.
Read Full Story...
Workers lose as Allergan plans to export jobs
30.01.2008Workers at Allergan Medical in Arklow are extremely disappointed at the decision taken by the American parent company to consolidate production to Costa Rica by 2009, with an expected loss of 360 jobs.
Read Full Story...
Nurses angry at proposed HSE compensation scheme
25.01.2008The terms of the compensation scheme for psychiatric nurses assaulted during the course of their work, fall far short of what was expected, according to SIPTU’s National Nursing Official, Louise O’Reilly.
Read Full Story...
Benchmarking Report reflects Govt. failure to address growing disparities in society
10.01.2008The Report of the Public Service Benchmarking Body confirms a trend in the Irish economy where a relentless war has been waged on workers’ wages and conditions, according to SIPTU Vice President, Brendan Hayes.
Read Full Story...
Local authority professionals angry at Benchmarking Report
16.01.2008Local authority professionals have reacted with disbelief and anger at the failure of the Public Service Benchmarking Body to award any increase to the vast majority of engineers and planners in local authorities.
Read Full Story...
220 jobs go at Jacob Fruitfield
25.01.2008The announcement that Jacob Fruitfield is to close its manufacturing operation in the Belgard Road site in Tallaght came as a major shock to its long-serving employees, according to SIPTU. “The decision will mean over 200 workers losing their jobs on a phased basis from August 2008 to March 2009, and joining the growing dole queues,” said Assistant Branch Organiser, Peadar Nolan, who represents fifty percent of the workers.
Read Full Story...
55 jobs axed at Unilever
22.01.2008Fifty-five sales workers employed by Unilever are angry over a management decision to axe their jobs. SIPTU Branch Organiser, John Dunne, said the workers – all of whom have long service with the company - feel very let down by a review process which excluded any input from their Union. Last year 125 jobs were lost at the Inchicore plant.
Read Full Story...
Nurses compensation scheme must recognise psychological injury
22.01.2008The compensation scheme for nurses - due to be published shortly - must recognise psychological injury/stress, according to SIPTU National Nursing Official, Louise O’Reilly. “The dangers facing health workers in the psychiatric services were graphically illustrated by the incident in St. Anne’s day-care centre in Limerick last week,” she said.
Read Full Story...
Limerick incident highlights the dangers for mental health workers
18.01.2008The frightening attack on two staff members at the HSE-run St Anne's day care centre in Limerick highlights the dangers to which workers in the mental health service are exposed on a daily basis, according to SIPTU’s National Nursing Official, Louise O’Reilly.
Read Full Story...
Delivery of healthcare under threat from new HSE control measures
17.01.2008The HSE’s latest attempt to control jobs within the health service has provoked outrage from SIPTU Nursing.
Read Full Story...
Resources needed to deter armed attacks must continue
10.01.2008SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, has called for a further commitment of Garda resources to combat the ongoing threat of attacks by armed gangs on cash-in-transit deliveries.
Read Full Story...
Nurses undervalued by Benchmarking Report
10.01.2008Nurses have been undervalued in the second report of the Benchmarking Body, according to SIPTU’s National Nursing Official, Louise O’Reilly who has expressed grave disappointment with the zero percentage awards made to many nursing grades.
Read Full Story...
24-hour work stoppage under way at FAS in Tallaght
09.01.2008Staff at the FÁS Tallaght Training Centre have begun a 24 hour work stoppage today (Wednesday, January 09) in a dispute over breaches of a long-standing work-place agreement.
Read Full Story...
Action needed on education and retraining to prevent return of long term unemployment
08.01.2008With up to 80,000 young construction workers reportedly at risk of long-term unemployment because of the downturn in house building and their lack of educational qualifications, there is an urgent need for a strategic shift in our training and education programmes, SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor said today. He was responding to comments attributed to the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, Tom Boland.
Read Full Story...
24 hour work stopage set for Tallaght Training Centre
08.01.2008Staff at the FÁS Tallaght Training Centre are due to engage in a 24 hour work stoppage on Wednesday, January 9, in a dispute over breaches of a work-place agreement.
Read Full Story...
Shop Stewards agree to NIB proposals on Aer Lingus
03.01.2008SIPTU shop stewards agreed to remain within the process established by the National Implementation Body to find alternative ways of achieving the €20 million savings being sought by Aer Lingus management under the PCI-07 programme. "Shop stewards considered the proposals made by the NIB on December 21 and are happy it is achieving our objective of identifying alternative savings to the proposed cuts in pay being sought by the company", Aer Lingus Branch Organiser Teresa Brannick, said.
Read Full Story...
Burlington closure a major setback
02.01.2008The closure of one of Dublin’s best known hotels, the Burlington, represents a major setback for over 400 employees and for the tourism industry, according to SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor.
Read Full Story...
Previous and Next: 2009 | 2007