Archive for 2017
The Business of Human Rights
Posted on December 19, 2017
Protest at Qatar's failure to uphold workers rights
David Joyce looks a closer look at Ireland's first National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights
The first National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights finally saw the light of day, in late 2017. The Human Rights Unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs is to be commended for its work in developing the plan and getting Government approval. You can view a range of civil society responses to the plan here but for a trade union perspective on it read on…
The National Plan’s stated aim is:
Permanent link | Categories: human rights • global solidarity
Can the EU Social Summit Deliver for Working People?
Posted on November 16, 2017
ETUC Confederal Secretary
As the Social Summit opens in Gothenburg, the ETUC's Esther Lynch asks if the EU can deliver real gains for working people
‘Fair Jobs and Growth’ is a key focus of the much-heralded Social Summit in Gothenburg, a theme that many feel has been long neglected by an EU more concerned with fiscal rules than the well-being of working people.
And there is something concrete and worthwhile to discuss: President Juncker’s European Pillar of Social Rights.
The Pillar comprises 20 commitments and rights including “the right to fair wages”, the right to a high level of health and safety protection at work and “the right to adequate social protection.”
Permanent link | Categories: Social Pillar • ETUC
Are Young People Hostile to Trade Unions?
Posted on October 19, 2017
Promoting trade unions
Kurt Vandaele, Senior Researcher at the European Trade Union Institute, looks at how young workers can be attracted into trade unions
The percentage of employees paying union dues has almost universally declined across Europe in recent decades. Moreover, much of the unions’ existing membership base is generally ‘greying’, with many members aged in their mid-40s to early 50s, as Figure 1 below shows.
Figure 1. Median age of union members in 2014 and its change compared to 2004 in Europe. Source: European Social Survey. The original survey question refers to membership of a union or similar organisation. *Italy: 2012 data.
In terms of organising, young people are considered to be the most ‘problematic’ of the different categories of under-represented groups in unions.
Permanent link | Categories: Youth • Trade Unions • ETUI
End Corporate Greed: The World Needs a Pay Rise
Posted on October 03, 2017
Sharan Burrow addresses BDC 2017
To mark World Day for Decent Work Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) says its time to end corporate greed and raise wages globally
The global economic model has failed working people. It is driven by corporate greed and is working against sustainable development. It is time to change the rules and the governments who signed up to act on the Sustainable Development Goals need to do just that.
In fact 85 per cent of people want the rules of the global economy rewritten.
Permanent link | Categories: World Day for Decent Work
No Homes To Go To
Posted on September 22, 2017
At the launch of the Housing Campaign, Sept 20, RIA Dawson Street
Congress Communications Officer Macdara Doyle on plans to build a broad coalition to press for resolution of the housing crisis
For more than a century social housing in Ireland was successfully constructed, provided and maintained by local authorities.
Indeed in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s spending on social housing in this country was amongst the highest in Europe.
Those were turbulent decades for the newly-emerged state, as it struggled to cope with successive and deep crises: the destructive legacy of the Civil War, the impact of the Wall Street Crash and global depression, Economic War with Britain in the 1930s, followed by the outbreak of World War II in 1939 and then the near economic collapse of the 1950s.
Permanent link | Categories:
The Development Agenda
Posted on August 30, 2017
Ahead of the annual Global Solidarity Summer School Theo Morrissey of the International Trade Union Confederation looks at how Sustainable Development can become a global reality and how trade unions can play their part
The trade union understanding of development runs far deeper than simply increasing national wealth: instead it focuses on improving quality of life and life chances for the majority of citizens.
Decent Work is central to achieving this goal. It is a key factor in the fight against poverty and inequality in all its forms and in how we achieve a Just Transition to a more sustainable economic model.
Permanent link | Categories: Agenda 2030 • Global Solidarity
How to Survive a Performance Management Review
Posted on June 23, 2017
How to Survive a Performance Review
Workers should be mindful that midterm reviews can be used to undermine their performance but help is at hand, says the FSU’s Gareth Murphy
I have been dealing with people undergoing performance management reviews for more than a decade.
It is hugely frustrating for workers when they find objectives are arbitrarily imposed and goalposts are moved. The tendency of some employers to mark people down, regardless of their work, is also a source of enormous frustration.
In my experience, elaborate bureaucratic structures can be used to force people into a rating structure that bears little resemblance to the team or group dynamic.
In a recent survey of a large bank in Ireland, both staff and managers were highly critical of their system. As one manager put it:
Permanent link | Categories:
A New Contract for a New Economy
Posted on May 29, 2017
Congress Equality Officer David Joyce looks at the likley impact of the Digital Economy on the world of work and how we can ensure a 'just transition'
Daily we are bombarded with propaganda that promotes the 'gig' economy as exciting and empowering. It is also referred to as the 'sharing' economy, implying that it operates in a manner that benefits all participants equally.
That is clearly untrue.
What is often overlooked is the fact that workers in this new economy are expected to renounce their rights to employment contracts, regularised working hours, social security and even job security.
In fact none of these standard protections seem to apply once the goods and services are delivered via an app or a web platform.
Permanent link | Categories: Digital Economy
Don't Hold the Front Page
Posted on April 26, 2017
Acting NUJ General Secretary
Ahead of World Press Freedom Day and as Ireland drops in the Press Freedom rankings, NUJ Acting General Secretary Seamus Dooley says yes, there is a crisis in the media and yes, we should be worried
Those who lament the passing of the traditional newspaper are in danger of sounding like a blacksmith bemoaning the arrival of the automobile.
The digital revolution has swept away old certainties and challenged our assumptions about ‘news’.The fact that everyone can become a reporter is empowering. No longer do you have to buy ink by the barrel in order to exercise power and influence.
Permanent link | Categories: Press Freedom • fake news • media ownership
A Victory for Respect, Solidarity, Trade Unions & the Beautiful Game
Posted on April 06, 2017
The Irish Women's National Football Team outside Liberty Hall
Ethel Buckley, SIPTU Services Divisional Organiser on how the Irish women’s national football team stood together to win a new deal from the FAI
!n the early hours of Thursday, April 6, SIPTU and Professional Footballers Association of Ireland (PFAI) representatives secured a landmark agreement with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) that our members believe will address their concerns and take their team to the next level.
This hard fought victory can be shared by all workers who are badly treated by their employer. It should give all trade unionists hope that with the right energy, enthusiasm and commitment we can prevail.
Permanent link | Categories: Women's Football • PFAI • Respect