The need to organise more workers into our union was the defining issue at the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) held in the Galmont Hotel in Galway City in November last year.
The SIPTU Construction Sector sponsored two motions at the conference which were unanimously passed by delegates. The first motion instructed SIPTU to “commence a political and if required an industrial action campaign to make sure that workers employed in construction are hired directly by the industry employers” rather than the continued reliance on employment agencies.
The Sector also succeeded in securing support for a motion to campaign for “greater protection against the exploitation of our young workers in construction”.
This is to include lobbying employers, “for the removal of the New Entrant Rate of Pay contained in the Construction SEO, as it does not give any incentive to young workers to enter the construction industry.”
Pic caption: (Left to Right) Construction Sector delegates James O’Brien, Willie Doyle and Billy Memory pictured at the SIPTU BDC in Galway in November 2023.