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Why European Year for Development is a Trade Union Issue
Posted on January 22, 2015
David Joyce, International Development and Equality Officer, Congress
David Joyce, Congress Equality Officer
President Michael D Higgins was guest of honour at the Irish launch of the European Year for Development (EYD) in Dublin Castle, which was an appropriate way to mark this potentially critical year – for trade unions and wider society alike.
Over the course of 2015 two United Nations summits will effectively define the parameters for future international policy making:
- In September, the UN will agree new goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a new ‘Sustainable Development Framework’ – to tackle poverty, inequality and environmental destruction,
- In December, the Climate Change Summit in Paris will set new climate action targets, to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: Development • Equality • Global Solidarity • Climate Change
Freelance Workers to Regain Union Rights
Posted on January 12, 2015
Esther Lynch: Legislation & Social Affairs Officer, Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Esther Lynch, Congress Legislation & Social Affairs Officer
A new ruling from the European Court of Justice (CJEU) may force authorities across Europe to reverse policies that have resulted in the effective denial of full union rights to freelance workers, for over a decade.
The ruling – delivered by the court in December - arises from a case taken by Dutch unions which challenged the classification of freelance musicians as individual business ‘undertakings’.
Under competition law this meant they were not entitled to bargain collectively with their employer.
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: Freelance Workers • Collective Bargaining
The Charter of Corporate Rights
Posted on December 12, 2014
David Begg
Sometime in the not too distant future an Irish government could move to increase the minimum wage or introduce a living wage (http://www.livingwage.ie/), in order to boost growth and living standards.
Nothing very extraordinary in that, except perhaps that it runs counter to current orthodoxy which claims that driving down wages is the only way to secure recovery.
But after six years of this self-defeating nonsense, we are left with embedded depression and over 26 million people out of work across the Eurozone.
In such circumstances, it is entirely rational for electorates and governments to think anew about policies and politics that might actually work.
That would be the norm in any modern, democratic society.
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