union post january 2011

NEWS YOU CAN USENION POST

JANUARY 2011

PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE IRISH CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONSTHE

UPicture: Paula Geraghty

FULL STORY PAGE 3

HANDSOFFOUR PAY

European Commission warned over alleged‘interference’ in Ireland’s labour market

people’scongressFEB 5

Octagon Room, King’s Hall, Belfast

FOR A BETTER, FAIRER WAY

CONFERENCEDETAILS P2

TRADE UNION NEWS NORTH AND SOUTH

INMO VOWSACTION ONNURSING STUDENTSPAY CUTS P4

THE European Trade UnionConfederation will met European Commission chiefOlli Rehn over reports theEU is "intervening" in national collective bargainingrights.

Under existing agreements,the Commission has no powers to determine wagelevels in individual states.

In a letter to Mr Rehn,ETUC general secretary JohnMonks, pictured, slammedthe use of "diktat pressure"

to cut minimum wages andpensions in countries strug-gling to escape the economiccrisis, claiming this amountedto "an attack on Social Europe".

Mr Monks told a meeting inDublin on January 19 thatwhat Europe needed mostwas a “a spirit of generosity”to help hard-hit countries,“not the kind of penaltyregimes and punishmentsquads imposed at present”.

2 THE UNION POST � January 2011

THE UNION POST is produced by Brazier Mediafor the Irish Congress of Trade Unions

INMO vows campaignover student pay cut

How journos unionhelped Wikileaks chief

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Delegation hails ‘thespirit of solidarity’

German cops unioncalls for far right ban

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VIEW: Oligarchies &how to thwart them 17

Northern Ireland CommitteeIrish Congress of Trades Unions4-6 Donegall Street PlaceBelfast BT1 2FN Northern IrelandTel: 02890 247940Fax: 02890 246898Email: [email protected]: www.ictuni.org

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UNION POST

people’scongressThe Octagon Room, King’s Hall, Belfast10am - 2pm, Saturday, February 5, 2011

Registration: 9:30

Conference Chair: Avril Hall-Callaghan, Chair NIC-ICTU

10:00First Session: The Facts of the Real Economy and the Myths used to Justify CutsIntroduced by Peter Bunting, ICTUOverview by Dr Andrew Baker, Economist, Queen’s University Belfast

10:30Second Session: Towards an Economy which serves Society, and not vice-versaIntroduced by Eugene McGlone, Unite & Vice-President, ICTU Overview by Paul Nowak, Head of Organisation and Services, TUC

Panel Discussion and open mic for questions and statements.

11:15 Break

11:30Third Session: Big Society, Small Future: The Assault on the Welfare StateIntroduced by Maria Morgan, NIPSA member on NIC-ICTU Overview byProf Eileen Evason , University of Ulster & BBC’s On Your Behalf

12:00Fourth Session: Rights in a Time of RecessionIntroduced by Pamela Dooley, Vice-Chair, NIC-ICTUOverview by Ursula O’Hare, Law Centre NI

Panel Discussion and open mic for questions and statements.

13:00Conclusion

13:30Working Lunch & End of Conference.

for a better, fairer way

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3January 2011 � THE UNION POST

ETUC: EC must clarify its rolein Ireland’s labour market

ETUC chief John Monks haswarned of the impact strict newEU rules on fiscal governance willhave on how member states man-age their economies.

Addressing the Institute of Inter-national and European Affairs inDublin on January 19, the leadingtrade unionist predicted difficultiesahead in reconciling “parliamentaryautonomy” with “European com-mitments”.

LEVERAGEThe economic governance rules,

agreed at the EU Summit in December, mean that budgetarymatters relating to individual member states will be discussed atCommission level months beforethey are put before each nation’sparliament.

Mr Monks pointed out thatthough it won’t be easy to co-ordi-nate varied economies and politicalcultures, he predicted most of theleverage applied to individual stateswill be to cut deficits.

Touching on how the Republic’seconomic plight was seen by a sec-tion of opinion in Brussels andacross Europe, he said there wasthe view that Ireland deserved it

“given the folly of the governmentguaranteeing its banks in the way itdid”.

Once Ireland did that, othercountries had to follow suit “as allthe capital flows came here [toDublin] in a weekend”.

With so many bad banking debtsbeing taken on to public balancesheets, there had been a Keynsianreaction – involving maintainingpublic spending, subsidising short-term working and cutting VATamong other measures – frommany states.

Mr Monks said this approach hadended when what had been abanking crisis became a sovereigndebt crisis sparked off by the eco-nomic collapse in Greece.

He added: “From that momenton, market attentions switchedaway from banks and started tofocus on the strengths and weak-nesses of every EU economy.”

Ireland’s austerity programme –which once had been hailed as “amodel for others in trouble” bythe European Commission – didnot stop it from being next in lineafter Greece. The lesson that wasdrawn was the original austeritymodel for Ireland did not go far

enough. Mr Monks said: “When Ireland had to go to the EuropeanFinancial Stability Facility – moreausterity was required.”

But he added that Ireland wasnot alone and pointed to toughernew stress tests for banks cominginto operation in the spring.

“Ireland already knows abouteconomic governance – others areabout to find out...”

OBJECTIONSMr Monks said the ETUC had

provoked strong objections fromsome quarters when it criticiseddetailed interventions in the labourmarket by EU/IMF teams in Greeceand Ireland.

The description of EU acting likethe “governor general or grandvizier of some quasi-colonial administration” had drawn sharpcriticism from the Commissionpresident and from Business Europe [which includes IBEC].

He claimed exception had beentaken to the description of theseinterventions resembling more aVersailles Treaty than a MarshallPlan – the former being “punitive”scheme, the latter a “generous” initiatives. Mr Monks said: “What

Europe needs now is a spirit ofgenerosity to help the hard-hitcounties – not the kind of penaltyregimes and punishment squadsthat are being imposed at the pres-ent time.”

Stressing the need for the EU toget the balance right, it wasn’t pos-sible for the ETUC to support thecurrent economic governance pro-posals.

This was because they were “imbalanced towards austerity andpunishment with not enough em-phasis on growth”.

He pointed out that what wasneeded was a focus on social part-nership “that can do the heavy lift-ing when countries are in trouble”.

Other necessary measures in-cluded the principle that everyonedoes their bit for the national re-covery – “the rich as well as thoseon benefits”.

“I look forward to the Irish rich,who made so much during theboom, paying their fair share – orwill they threaten, like somebankers and hedge-fund managersin Mayfair, to emigrate if they haveto pay normal taxes?”

THE European Trade Union Confederation will meet with EU Commis-sioner Olli Rehn after it was reported there has been direct interven-tion to cut salaries and change agreed systems of determining pay inIreland and Greece.

General secretary John Monks, left, denounced reports of what hecalled "diktat pressures” to cut minimum wages and pensions, to reduce wage “rigidities” and to make labour markets more flexible inboth countries.

In a letter to Commissioner Olli Rehn – and copied to other seniorCommissioners – Mr Monks pointed out such policies trampled over"pious Commission statementsabout the autonomy of socialpartners, the importance of social dialogue and the specificexclusion in the EU treaties ofa European competence onpay".

He also described the re-ports as “an attack on SocialEurope” and in marked con-trast to the “relaxed, non-interfering view on rapidly increasing levels of top pay, including bank bonuses”

Under EU treaties, theCommission has no capacityor competence to determinepay levels in individual memberstates.

The Lisbon Treaty specificallyrules out any such competence. Commissioner Olli Rehn

DESIGN [email protected]

do you need your unionpublication revamped?

MAGAZINES, LEAFLETS,NEWSLETTERS, POSTERS

AUSTERITY GROWTHTOO MUCH

TOO LITTLE

http://www.iiea.com/events/secretary-general-of-the-european-trade-union-confederation-john-monks-european-solidarity-and-the-jobs-crisis

Monks: We need spirit of generosity not punishment squads

Picture: ET

UC

http://www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf/110111_Olli_Rehn.pdf

THE UNION POST � January 20114

Cutting school funding &

staffing riskseveryone’s

futureMake your voice heard – oppose education cuts

THE INMO is to mobilise a nationwide campaign ofresistance to Irish government plans to phase outpayments to student nurses and midwives on ros-tered clinical placement.

The Department of Health intends to slashpayments from the current 80% of the minimumpoint on the staff nurse scale to 76% from nextyear, then to 60% in 2012, followed by 50% in2013, and finally to 40% in 2014.

Under the plan there will be NO PAYMENTAT ALL from 2015 on.

The INMO pointed out that during their 36-week placement, student nurses replaced staffnurses and played an integral role, providing es-sential, direct and immediate bedside care.

Describing the move as “unfair and draconian”,the union’s Executive Council vowed to fight untilthe pay cut had been reversed.

General secretary Liam Doran said: “As we saidon the day that we learned of this savage cut, theINMO will never accept its student membersbeing exploited by the government, and will fightto achieve a reversal of this cut for as long as ittakes.

‘CRUEL & OFFENSIVE’“The government decision is cruel, offensive

and smacks of pure opportunism against whatthey perceive to be young and vulnerable employ-ees.”

It is understood the INMO has already referredthe pay cut to the Labour Relations Commission.

Union sources say they will, if necessary, takethe issue to the Labour Court.

According to the INMO, the pay cut is a com-plete breach of guarantees given under the CrokePark Agreement and runs foul of requirements

contained in the EU Information and Consulta-tion Directive.

It is thought the union will also lodge a claim,under equality legislation, on the grounds that thepay cut had been introduced to a predominantlyfemale workforce.

Meanwhile, SIPTU has lashed the targeting ofstudent nurses for pay cuts as “disgraceful”.

Nursing official Louise O’Reilly said studentnurses did vital frontline work and “deserved tobe paid”.

She added: “The rostered placement is uniqueand therefore cannot be compared to othermodels of education.

“As well as learning, these students are work-ing. This proposal is disgraceful and introduces aform of slave labour for young student nurses.”

Picture: INMO

INMO VOW OVER PAY CUT

STUDENT NURSES

January 2011 � THE UNION POST 5

DIRECTOR

Dublin

A Director is required to establish and lead the work of the EIU and represent and communicate its policy positions.

The Congress Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), a union-associated research body, has recently been established to provide high-quality macro and micro economic research and analysis to support the achievement of equality and fairness on the island of Ireland, to the bene�t of working people and their families.

This is a unique opportunity for an exceptional leader to direct a programme of research that has the potential to make a meaningful contribution towards the achievement of economic equality.

As a senior economist, you will already have made your mark through the development of high-quality analysis which presents plausible alternatives to the dominant orthodoxy. You will possess a thorough knowledge of macroeconomic policy including taxation, �scal policy, income distribution and the operation of the labour market, as well as a good appreciation of the issues related to the global �nancial crisis and Eurozone governance issues.

A degree in Economics with a post-graduate quali�cation, ideally to PhD level, and a strong record of published research is a requirement. Ten years’ relevant professional experience in either research management or a senior academic capacity is necessary as are good interpersonal and people management skills. The successful candidate will have the ability to communicate e�ectively and convey complex economic concepts in a comprehensible manner, along with a demonstrable empathy for the values and ethos of the Trade Union Movement.

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Full details and job description are available at www.ictu.ie/eiu.

Applications including full CV should be submitted to David Begg, Chairperson, EIU at [email protected].

Closing date for receipt of applications is 15th February 2011. Interviews will be held in Dublin on the 24th/25th February, 2011.

We are an equal opportunities employer.

www.ictu.ie


All sectorsof societymust uniteagainst cutsNIPSA general secretary BrianCampfield has called on all sec-tors of society in Northern Ire-land to unite together to opposepublic spending cuts.

In his New Year message, hepredicted “unprecedented” cutsover the coming year andwarned they would derail anychance of an economic recoveryand lead to thousands of privateand public sector workers beingthrown on the dole.

He said: “The attacks on publicservices, on jobs, and on peopledependent upon the welfarestate cannot be disguised or hid-den and it is imperative that thewhole community take a deter-mined stand against these meas-ures, even if they are beingimplemented under the bannerof the Northern Ireland Execu-tive and our local political par-ties.

“There has to be a renewedfocus on achieving a fairer andmore equal society and thismeans raising the profile on taxavoidance and evasion practiceswhich the wealthy utilise so suc-cessfully to avoid having to paytheir fair share of tax.”

Mr Campfield added: “It iswrong that ordinary people haveto shoulder the burden of a cri-sis which has its origins in the fi-nance sector, while profits andbonuses outstrip the earnings ofthe vast majority of people.”

CONGRESS economic advisorPaul Sweeney has warned thesubstantial rise in the number ofjobless on the Live Register lastmonth was a pointer to wherethe government’s deflationaryeconomic strategy was leadingthe country.

Predicting that the situationwill worsen in the coming year,he pointed out the absence of areal jobs programme and thelack of investment in skills andtraining will mean the most vul-nerable groups will continue tobe hit most.

He said: “The rate of unem-ployment is up again to 13.4%.This figure would have been farhigher only for the resumptionof mass emigration.

“The net outflow was around70,000 to April last and it is ex-pected to be of a similar num-ber for the year to April 2011.”

He described emigration as“only a safety valve” for the gov-ernment but was for thoseforced to leave Ireland “ashameful betrayal of their ambi-tions”.

Mr Sweeney added: “Insteadof pouring billions of our savingsfrom the Pension Reserve Fundinto zombie banks, the new gov-ernment must invest this pre-cious money – which we have inhand – in jobs, in skills and inthe real economy.”

Joblessrate risepointer todeflation

UNISON has rubbished claimsthe UK’s private sector cando the “heavy lifting” on jobsas cuts to public servicesthreaten to throw tens ofthousands of workers on thedole.

The union has revealed anew analysis that details howfor every 100 vacancies avail-

able in November 2007, therewere just 68 in November2010. UNISON claims this hasexposed “a fundamental flaw”in the Tory-led coalition’seconomic strategy.

General secretary DavePrentis said: “There is serioustrouble ahead. Osborne’s and

Cameron’s economic strategyis a sham. The Tories are rely-ing heavily on private sectorjobs growth to fuel the recov-ery. But this analysis provesthere has been a shocking collapse in the number of jobsavailable, spelling real dangerfor our economy.”

Private sector jobs boast is a Tory ‘sham’

UNEMPLOYMENT

Unite: Major spendingdrive needed on water

http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2124

�� JOB vacancies in theUK public sector hit

a record low last month– under half the figurerecorded in December2009.

Figures contained inThe Reed Job Index forDecember revealedthat public sector jobopportunities droppedto a new index low of42. This marks a dropof seven index pointsfrom the month before,and ends a year ofmonthly job vacancyfalls in the sector.

It is understood thepublic sector figureswere in marked con-trast to the overall em-ployment trend acrossthe UK economy.

A GROUP campaigning against the in-troduction of separate householdwater charges has claimed theNorthern Ireland public have “everyright to be angry” about the loss ofwater supply in the recent freeze andthe way the crisis was handled.

Calling for an independent review,the Congress-organised CoalitionAgainst Water Charges insisted ques-tions needed to be asked about whyso many households had supplies cutoff – some for up to 10 days – overChristmas and the New Year.

But in a January 6 statement, theCAWC queried whether the UtilityRegulator’s Office was the right bodyto carry out any probe and pointed

out that last year it had demanded NIWater cut its costs by £91m overthree years.

The CAWC also hit back at sug-gestions from some quarters – “manywith their own agendas” – that thefault lay with the Northern IrelandExecutive’s failure to bring in thecharges.

The statement continued: “Thereis no evidence that if people had beenforced to pay an additional £400 peryear for their water supply that theproblems would not have arisen.”

Instead, the CAWC argued, morefunding could be raised throughscrapping the current freeze on re-gional rates.

UNITE the union hascalled for a major capital spending pro-gramme to fix North-ern Ireland’s crumbling– and leaking – waterand sewage systems.

Regional secretaryJimmy Kelly claimed therecent period of ex-treme cold weatherhad shown how 50years of chronic under-investment had caused“a near meltdown” ofthe system.

He said: “What the

weather has shownwas that the system isclearly on its last legsand not fit for purposein the 21st century.

What is needed is acomplete overall andthis requires majorcapital investment.”

Mr Kelly added: “Bil-lions of pounds can beset aside to prop upthe casino bankers andclean up the financialmess they have left usin.

“If money can befound to save thebankers’ skin and theirbonuses, then it can befound to sort this messout.”

Kelly: Meltdown

http://www.waterchargesnonpayment.com/

Public right to be angryover winter water crisis

NIPSA conference: P12/13

Budget USCis regressiveSIPTU has slammed the Univer-sal Social Charge, introduced inDecember’s budget, as “regres-sive and unfair”.

Speaking at the first meetingof the union’s new National Ex-ecutive Council on January 20,general president Jack O’Con-nor said the reality of the budgethad now hit home to workersseeing their net take-home re-duced by an average of 3.4%.

He said: “More than 132,000of the lowest paid workers nowfind themselves in the tax netand having to cope with a dra-matic drop in their take-homepay of up to €594 per year.”

Mr O’Connor, who is alsoCongress president, described as“grossly unfair” the fact that in-come tax payers had to shoulder90% of tax raising measures,while only 6% of the tax changesin the budget came from capitaltaxes, with no wealth tax and nomeasures to deal with tax exiles.

He added: “To add insult to in-jury, the USC is regressive withthe result that those earning justunder €26,000 will lose up to€979 annually. In contrast, some-one earning in excess of€200,000 will actually see a re-duction in their tax liability.”


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TUC chief Brendan Barber has predicted 2011will be “a horrible year” of job losses, benefit cutsand continued economic stagnation.

In a gloomy New Year message, he warnedthrowing tens of thousands of public servants onthe dole would lead to the loss of just as manyprivate sector jobs, dashing hopes of a recovery.

Mr Barber was particularly scathing about the10% cut in housing benefit kicking in after a yearof unemployment as “a top contender” for the“unkindest cut of all”.

He also hit out at the UK coalition govern-ment’s cynical strategy of frontloading cuts inlocal government and the police in the hope thepublic will forget about them before the nextelection.

Warning that public anger was “likely to grow”,Mr Barber added: “The British people are neverthat interested in politics, but do have a deepsense of fairness that goes across traditionalparty lines.

“As none of these policies were put to votersbefore the election, this could well be the yearthe country starts to say 'no' to government in away that they have not since middle Britain madea previous Tory government abolish the poll tax.

“This is going to be a year when many peoplesuffer, but it just could be the year when the cam-paign for change really gets going.”

TUC chief predicts2011 will be ‘horrible’

AUSSIE JOURNOS UNIONHELPS WIKILEAKS JULIAN

JULIAN Assange, WikiLeaks’ editor-in-chief, was presented with a newpress card at a special event in hisnative Australia last month.

The card – showing Mr Assange is amember in good standing of journal-ists’ union the Media, Entertainment& Arts Alliance – was accepted on hisbehalf by his Melbourne lawyer RobStary QC at a ceremony outside ofthe offices of The Age newspaper inMelbourne on December 23.

The campaigning journalist hadcontacted the Media Alliance in November to let them know he maynot be able to pay his union dues because of his bank accounts beingfrozen.

MA Victoria branch secretaryLouise Connor said the union hadacted quickly to deal with this “ex-traordinary situation” and that it

was decided that Mr Assange’s subsshould be waived.

She added: “We’ve drawn up a newunion card for him and offer him thefull support of his union and profes-sional association.”

ACTU presiden Ged Kearney, whomade the presentation, said Mr Assange and WikiLeaks deservedtrade union support.

She added: “WikiLeaks is simplyperforming the same function asmedia organisations have for cen-turies in facilitating the release of in-formation in the public interest. MrAssange’s rights should be respectedjust the same as other journalists.

“WikiLeaks has broken no Aus-tralian law, and as an Australian citi-zen, Julian Assange should besupported by the Australian govern-ment, not prematurely convicted.”

Picture: Kevin

Cooper Photoline

PRESS

Julian AssangePublisher, Journalist, Internet Activist

Mock up: What Julian’s newpress card might look like

Three of Northern Ireland’s most well-known journalists – front, from left: IvanMcMichael, Helen Greenaway and Deric Henderson – were recently honoured formarking up a total of 120 years membershipin the NUJ. Also pictured are Belfast & District NUJ branch chair Bob Miller and NUJ assistant organiser Ian McGuinness


Employment plan ‘sackers’ charter’Picture: MANDATE

MANDATE has accused IBEC of anunjust and opportunistic attack onlow-paid shop workers.

It follows the business association’scall – in the run up to Christmas –for a hold to be placed on the 1.25%pay rise to staff in the grocery retailsector.

Director Brendan McGinty claimedmany retailers could not afford to paythe increases, due under the terms ofan employment regulation order.

He said many of Ireland’s regulatedwage rates were too high and were “amajor stumbling block to regainingcompetitiveness” and “not sustain-able”.

Despite IBEC’s objections, the in-creases – approved by the Labour

Court and thus legally enforceable –came into effect earlier this month.

MANDATE’s general secretary JohnDouglas accused the business group

of backtracking on commitments andof “looking to close the door afterthe horse has bolted”.

Speaking last month, he said: “Earlier this year IBEC agreed to paying grocery workers the princelypay increase of 1.25% – three yearsafter nearly all other workers in theeconomy got the same increase.

“Having agreed to this minimal payincrease for these workers – amongthe lowest paid in the economy –IBEC are now seeking to back out oftheir commitments.

“When taken together with the recent cuts to the minimum wage,IBEC’s move represents a further unjust and opportunistic attack onlow-paid workers.”

IBEC BLASTED OVER1.25% PAY RISE CALL

Brendan McGinty John Douglas

THE VAST majority of shop-workers in Northern Irelandare strongly opposed to the ex-tension of Sunday openinghours, it has been revealed.

Retail union Usdaw made theclaim after surveying more than1,000 of its members beforeChristmas.

It follows the recent publica-tion of a Department of SocialDevelopment consultationpaper setting out possiblechanges to Sunday trading laws.

A massive 73% of respon-dents said they were opposedto shops opening longer thanthe currently-allowed five hourson a Sunday.

More than half of those whocurrently work on a Sundaysaid they were put under pres-sure by their employer to do sowhile 71% said that they wouldbe put under even more pres-sure to work on Sundays ifopening hours were longer.

Crucially, only 54% of thosewho currently work on Sundayssaid they received any addi-tional pay for doing so.

Concern for family life, main-taining a work/life balance andthe need to attend religiousservices were the main reasonsshopworkers cited in opposi-tion to any change.

Kevin Smyth, Usdaw’s area or-ganiser for Belfast, said: “Shop-workers are all too often putunder pressure to work on aSunday, often in an informal waythat makes them feel that ifthey want to maintain a goodrelationship with their manager,or even keep their job, thenthey have no choice.

“Shops can already open 149hours a week, 363 days a yearand Usdaw does not believethere is a clamour from thepublic for extending Sundayopening.”

Retail staffoppositionto Sundayhours plan

FORMER joint Unite general sec-retary Tony Woodley is taking upa new role as executive officerfor organising with the union.

The move follows the electionof Len McCluskey as Unite’s firstsole general secretary in Novem-ber. Mr Woodley, who becamejoint secretary with ex- Amicuschief Derek Simpson in 2005,said it was clear the union wasnow ready to “move on in a uni-fied way” following the electionof a new leader.

It is understood he will con-tinue to lead Unite’s attempts tosettle the BA dispute.

Mr McCluskey said he was “de-lighted” Mr Woodley would con-tinue working with the union. Headded: “His role will help thisunion deliver on its pledge tostop the most vicious attacks onthe lives of working people forgenerations."

Unite chiefin new role

CONSTRUCTION unionUCATT has called new UKgovernment proposals on employment a “sackers’ charter”.

It is reported that ministersare intending to extend theperiod when bosses can dis-miss workers without beingsubject to a claim for unfairdismissal from one to two

years. The government is alsounderstood to be consideringbringing in fees for workerstaking claims to an employ-ment tribunal as well as reducing the period whenstatutory sick pay is payable.

General secretary AlanRitchie said: “This amounts toa sackers’ charter, allowingunscrupulous employers to

hire and fire workers at will. “In an industry such as

construction where work isalready highly casualised andmany workers don’t evenhave a contract of employ-ment, these plans will simplyincrease levels of exploitationand will further reduce workplace justice.”

A ‘SNOW’ OF SOLIDARITY: Mandate members mount a picket in sub-zero temperatures outside the Athlone branch of Laura Ashley in support of their colleagues at fashion retailer’sGrafton Street store in Dublin who have on strike since October 22 last year. The December18 action taken by the Athlone workers was described by Dave Moran, the union’s divisionalorganiser, as “an act of breathtaking selflessness”.


TWO major UK public service unionshave voted decisively to rejectchanges to the civil service redundancy scheme.

On January 14, it was revealed that90% of the 80,000 PCS members whocast a vote – on a turnout of 32% –voted against the changes, with 96%also backing the union’s ‘There is analternative’ drive.

This was followed up on January 17with news that the Prison Officers Association had voted by 95% – on aturnout of 48% – to reject the newcompensation scheme.

The POA balloted its 31,000 eligiblemembers, which means a total of

almost 90,000 civil servants have nowvoted against the changes.

PCS general secretary Mark Ser-wotka said: “Our members have senta crystal clear message that they willnot tolerate their contracts beingripped up simply to allow the government to slash jobs and publicservices.

“There is an alternative to thespending cuts which would see us invest in our future and target thosewealthy individuals and organisationswho go to great lengths to avoid paying tens of billions of pounds intaxes and starve our economy of vitalrevenue.”

Ballots decisively reject pension changes

AUSTERITY REALLYGETS MY BACK UP!

This protestor shows a bit of backbone outside offices of the European Commission in Brussels during the ETUC day of action on December 15

Pictures: ETUC

THE INMO has called on the gov-ernment to react with urgency tothe overcrowding crisis in the Re-public’s healthcare system.

It comes after it was revealed arecord number of people were ontrolleys waiting on an inpatientbed in hospitals on January 5.

A total of 569 people werelogged in the union’s ‘trolleywatch’ audit on the day.

Currently 1,600 beds remainclosed across the country.

General secretary Liam Doranclaimed the figure of 569 repre-sented the rough equivalent of thenumber of beds in the averagelarge hospital.

He said: “It is imperative thatthe government now reacts tothis crisis with the same urgency,and priority it has given to oureconomic difficulties and the sup-posed need of our bankers andsaving our banks.

“It is time this governmentlooked after ordinary people –many of them elderly – who arefacing this indignity, loss of privacyand potential compromising oftheir health and well being.

“Saying there is no money andwe must do more with less, is coldcomfort to the 569 patients andwill not address their immediateneeds or give them back their dig-nity.”

THE International Federation ofJournalists has warned mediaworkers remain prime targetsfor political extremists, gang-sters and terrorists throughoutthe world.

Figures compiled by the IFJshow 94 journalists and mediapersonnel were killed in 2010 –victims of targeted killings,bomb attacks and crossfire inci-dents.

Three others lost their livesin accidents.

The figures represent a dropon the total for 2009, when 139killings were recorded.

Pakistan tops the list of themost dangerous zones, with 15journalists killed – ahead ofMexico (10), Honduras (10) andIraq (6).

The IFJ represents more than600,000 journalists in 125 coun-tries.

President Jim Broumelha said:"Nearly 100 journalists killed isa heavy loss which ought to stirthe world governments into ac-tion to offer better protectionto journalists

"The sheer number of mur-ders and conflict-related inci-dents has brought into sharpfocus the high risks associatedwith the practice of journalismtoday."

http://www.ifj.org/assets/docs/205/203/5d21bcd-97a13cb.pdf

IFJ mourns‘heavy loss’of journalists

Govt mustact to tacklecrisis on beds

Broumelha: high risks

Mark Serwotka: Investment call

Doran: Urgency call

Picture: Amnesty

Picture: INMO

Experienced photographer specialises in campaigning photography

for trade unionsand NGOs.

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CONGRESS marked InternationalHuman Rights Day by hosting a del-egation of Colombian trade union-ists and civil rights activists onDecember 10.

The high-powered group washeaded by Tarcisio Mora, chief of theCUT trade union federation.

They were joined by Lina Malagonof the Colombian Commission ofJurists and Reinaldo Villalba from the‘Jose Alvear Restrepo’ collective ofhuman rights lawyers.

Congressman Hernando Hernan-dez, who represents Colombia’s in-digenous population in theColombian Congress, was also partof the delegation. And it turned outto be a busy day for the visitors.

They first met with Congress gen-eral secretary David Begg and presi-dent Jack O’Connor – who visitedColombia last year – before appear-ing before the Oireachtas Commit-tee on European Affairs.

They held discussions with a num-ber of Irish parliamentarians, includ-ing Foreign Minister Micheal Martin,Labour chief Eamon Gilmore, beforeattending a special meeting at Lib-

erty Hall, jointly organised by Con-gress and trade union network Jus-tice For Colombia.

In his speech, Mr Mora underlinedhow Colombian trade unionistswere united in opposition to anyFree Trade Agreement between

their country and the EuropeanUnion. He warned any deal on tradewould reward a government re-sponsible for human rights abuses.

Mr Mora insisted that the Euro-pean Union – with its fundamentalrespect for human rights and

democracy – should only agree sucha deal when the Colombian adminis-tration had proved it respects basichuman rights.

At his inauguration last year,Colombian president Juan ManuelSantos had claimed that “respect forlife” was “a sacred principle” for hisadministration.

But since then local trade union-ists and human right activists havecontinued to be targeted.

According to the ITUC, tradeunionists across the world are in-creasingly the subject of arbitraryarrest, imprisonment, assault andworse.

The latest figures show a surge inthe number of trade unionists mur-dered because of their activism –30% up on the previous year.

Before leaving Dublin, the delega-tion said they were impressed bythe friendly reception and empathyshown for their cause by those whoattended the meeting.

Lina Malagon added: "This spirit ofsolidarity gives us a lot of energy forour struggle in Colombia."

Activists Lina Malagon and Reinaldo Villalba spoke at event

The Colombian delegation with Unite regional secretary Jimmy Kelly and Congress president Jack O’Connor

Left: Tarcisio Mora

Pictures: John Chaney/Congress

DELEGATION HAILS‘THE SPIRIT OF

SOLIDARITY’

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DEFENDING JOBS & SERVICES

NIPSA general secretary BrianCampfield has called for the “re-claiming” of society “from the clawsof neoliberalism”.

He warned hundreds of branchreps at a special conference at theKing’s Hall in Belfast on January 14that the Tory-led coalition was usingthe economic crisis as a “cover” todemolish the welfare state.

Mr Campfield said: “We are facinga further step in an overall neoliberalplan to force the free market intothe remaining facets of the everydaylife of ordinary people.”

This involved an attack on social

security provision, pay, jobs and pen-sions – basically on everything thatmakes society “decent and civilised”.

But he said NIPSA recognised pri-vatisation was a threat to publicservices, democracy and accountabil-ity.

“We must oppose these develop-ments and start to reclaim our soci-ety, our economy and our servicesfrom the claws of neoliberalism.”

Mr Campfield predicted Stormontministers will “protest” that they’vebeen “dealt a poor hand” by the gov-ernment and claim that they have nochoice but to implement the cuts.

“They tell us they need our helpand want our co-operation. Even ifwe were sympathetic to the North-ern Ireland Executive’s dilemma, wemust ensure that we are not co-opted to the cuts agenda and its im-plementation.”

Noting that the Stormont adminis-tration had no “fiscal powers” andwas unable to tackle tax evasion andavoidance, he added that it was in-stead reduced to “begging” for alower corporation tax.

Posing the question how NIPSAshould respond, he claimed this was“fairly straightforward”.

“The Northern Ireland Executivesay they a have a job to do. Well, wehave a job to do as well. And that isstanding up for our members’ jobsand terms and conditions of employ-ment standing up for public services.”

He told delegates this meant “get-ting organised, building our strength,being clear about what we standfor”.

Mr Campfield added: “Not beingafraid to protest, to lobby, to picketand, if necessary, to prepare for in-dustrial action in a planned and intel-ligent way.”

NIPSA SPECIALCONFERENCE

SAVE SOCIETYFROM CLAWS OFNEOLIBERALISMCampfield: ‘Get organised & build strength’

DELEGATES heard a detailed analysisof the impact the December 15budget will have on jobs and servicesin Northern Ireland.

In a wide-ranging speech, assistantgeneral secretary Bumper Grahamnoted how the political parties atStormont had buckled before Chan-cellor George Osborne’s cutsagenda.

Initially they had issued a stronglyworded letter expressing concernabout the cuts before last October’sComphensive Spending Review –only then to indulge in the usual “po-

litical point scoring” – before becom-ing embroiled, by December, in a“Dutch auction” over pay freezes.

He wondered if this change hadbeen prompted by Finance MinisterSammy Wilson finding “some Svengalimagic” to sprinkle over his fellowStormont ministers.

Mr Graham then outlined the ex-tent of the cuts faced by the publicsector, listing these as:

� £4bn cut from Northern Ire-land’s bloc grant over four years upto 2015,

� £1bn cut from Annual ManagedExpenditure, affecting social benefitsin particular, and

� 40% slashing in the capitalbudget – some £600m – over fouryears.

He slammed the “utter nonsense”of selling off government land assetsat a time when values were at rockbottom, and asked: “Who is going tobuy the land when they can’t evenmake use of the Maze and the vari-ous army barracks that are lyingthere for redevelopment?”

Mr Graham also criticised the

BUDGET ANALYSIS LAYS BARE THE CUTS

Fisher: Osborne policy rubbished

‘Chilling’ look at the SouthIN his address, PCS policy officer AndrewFisher delivered a scathing overview ofChancellor George Osborne’s economicstrategy.

He detailed how working people were hav-ing to bear the brunt of “fiscal consolida-tion” – code for “cuts for you and me” – andnoted that a public sector pay freeze overtwo years was, in effect, a 10% pay cut [as in-flation in the UK is currently running at 5%].

Mr Fisher pointed out that Osborne’s pol-icy was based on the mistaken convictionthat the private sector “will ride to the res-cue and solve everything for us” and that,somehow, the public sector was responsiblefor the crisis.

Against a backdrop of unprecedentedspending cuts, Mr Osborne had gifted bigbusiness with £24bn in corporate tax breaksin his budget in June last year.

He told his audience of 250 public servants

that, in the Chancellor’s view, “your jobscaused the crisis – it was all down to you!”

Mr Fisher also referred to the example ofthe Irish Republic, where the governmenthad already tried the Osborne approach – attacking public sector jobs, pay and pensions – with predictable results.

He said: “If you want to look at what’s instore for the UK economy, just look south ofthe border – a chilling reminder of what thisso-called economic theory can do.”

Mr Fisher underlined how the value ofwages as a percentage of UK GDP had fallenby 10% since the 1970s along with a rise from13% to 21% GDP in corporate profits overthe same period.

This had caused “a huge shift in the powerof wealth from working people to big busi-ness.” Concluding, Mr Fisher insisted thattrade union rights “translated into higherwages… and that’s good for the economy”.


UNDOCUMENTED migrants could contributeup to €100m a year in taxes, permit and immigra-tion fees if they were legalised, the Migrant RightsCentre Ireland has claimed.

The organisation called for an “earned regulari-sation” scheme to be put in place allowing illegalimmigrants to work and pay taxes before beinggiven residency.

According to the MRCI, many of the 30,000 un-documented migrants in Ireland are at a increasedrisk of exploitation – working long shifts for lowwages – because of their status.

Describing the regularisation scheme as a“thoughtful and responsible” reaction to the issue,Edel McGinley of the MRCI warned “the problemis not going to go away”.

Regularising willgenerate €100m

Govt must callrip-off IrelandinvestigationCONGRESS president Jack O’Connor has calledon the government to appoint an independentexpert to probe alleged profiteering across theIrish economy.

It follows the results of a recent Eurostat sur-vey that revealed consumers in the Republic paidsignificantly more for goods and services thantheir counterparts elsewhere in the EU.

Mr O’Connor, who is also SIPTU general presi-dent, said: “These consumer prices are remainingpersistently high against a background of fallingincomes and a deliberate policy of allowing un-employment to fester inorder to drive downwages.

“It is impossible to un-derstand why home-pro-duced items such asbread, meat, milk or eggsare costing between 20%and 40% more here thanin other EU memberstates, including ournearest neighbour andbiggest trading partnerBritain.

“It is quite clear profit taking is continuing on amassive scale. While working people are beingcrucified with falling incomes and rising taxation,certain elements in business are continuing tocream it.”

Mr O’Connor called on ministers to appoint anexpert from abroad “with no connections withbusiness interests here” to report on the situa-tion.

He added: “Such a measure would contributefar more to competitiveness across the economythan the government’s prurient preoccupationwith cutting the wages of the poorest workers inthe country.”

Picture: John

Cha

ney

O’Connor: probe call

��THE Congress of South AfricanTrade Unions has threatened

the “mother of all boycotts” if a£1.5bn/€1.8bn deal giving US giantWal-Mart a controlling stake inlocal retailer Massmart goes ahead.

COSATU has claimed Wal-Mart isanti-union and, according to the organisation president SidumoDlamini, “has never done anythingfor workers”.

Wal-Mart claim they will workwith local unions and respect allcontracts.

DEFENDING JOBS & SERVICES Pictures: Kevin Cooper, Photoline

Millar: Pushed case for organisation

Graham: Stormont buckled before George Osborne

“foolishness” involved in freezing theregional rates over the past threeyears and slammed the “idiots”pressing for a “go it alone” approachto corporation tax.

Describing the draft budget con-sultation document as “inadequate,ill-informed and ineffective”, hewarned it would “extend poverty,embed further social disadvantage,reduce public services to the stan-dards of many decades ago and casttens of thousands of workers untothe scrap heap of unemployment”.

BUDGET ANALYSIS LAYS BARE THE CUTS

DEPUTY general secretary Alison Millar un-derlined the important role played by branchactivists in reaching out to the wider mem-bership of the union.

She said winning the “hearts and minds” ofordinary, less-involved members was vitaland could not be achieved without “muchhard work” on the part of those who shoul-dered branch responsibilities.

But Ms Millar emphasised to delegates thatthe union had never successfully fought acampaign in the past without such hardwork.

She also conceded: “Perhaps one of thethings we’re not always good at is publicisingour own successes.”

And, of course, she reminded the audiencethat “membership grows with success”.

Ms Millar also flagged up the need for theunion at all levels to keep its message simple– even though the issues that faced negotia-tors and activists were often complicated.

She called on those who took roles in thebranch to use “any and every opportunity”to engage with other members.

While it was always necessary to keep ahandle on what was important at branchlevel, it was also necessary to look at muchwider issues affecting the union.

Ms Millar said the ideal was to have an “in-terested, well-informed and active” mem-bership, and highlighted the leading rolecommunications and training played inachieving this.

She added NIPSA was concentrating on giving branches the tools they needed tostrengthen their organisation – and claimedthe union’s rep training was “second tonone”.

Ms Millar urged activists not to get dis-heartened if confronted with low attendanceat union meetings but to keep plugging away.

She added: “You won’t win every battle butyou certainly can win the war.”

Play to strengthsat branch level

57% of NIteacherssay theyare victimsMORE than one in every two of NorthernIreland’s teachers have suffered some form ofviolence or abuse, a new survey has revealed.

INTO senior official Terry Carlin claimedthe results, involving 2,356 responses takenbetween May and June last year, made “dismalreading” and called for the issue to be priori-tised by education chiefs.

The survey, jointly commissioned by man-agement and teachers’ side of the Joint Nego-tiating Committee, revealed 57% of teachershad been targets of offensive language, insultsor undermining behaviour.

Another 30% had never received behaviourmanagement training while 32% claimed theirstaff handbooks did not address the issue.

Mr Carlin said: "This reports clearly inden-tifies problems and gaps in the systems andprocesses that are in place to ensure schoolsare safe and that the health and welfare ofteachers is a priority.”

He added: "People do not feel safe becauseof a lack of secure entrances to schools, ag-gressive behaviour, intimidation, bullying andthreatening behaviour from parents andother family members."

Hike in attackson NHS workers


WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

UNISON has slammed as “an absolute dis-grace” figures that show a sharp increase in violent attacks on NHS workers over the pastyear.

The 2009/2010 data, compiled by NHS Secu-rity Management Services, showed staff work-ing in mental health trusts were exposed tothe highest levels of violence – with an assaultrate of 191.7 per 1,000 employees.

In ambulance trusts, the assault rate was32.9 while acute trusts recorded a rate of16.9.

UNISON’s head of health Karen Jenningsclaimed the statistics made “sad and shockingreading”.

She said: “Nurses, paramedics and otherhealth workers should not have to go intowork fearing that they may be at risk of attack.

"It is appalling that some members of thepublic see NHS staff as soft targets for assault.

“UNISON would like to see tougher legalaction against those people found guilty of as-sault"

Picture: GdPGERMANY’S police union GdP has called

on the German government to renew efforts to ban the far-right National Democratic Party.

A previous attempt in the ConstitutionalCourt to ban the extremist political partyin 2001 didn’t succeed after it was revealedthat several high-ranking members weresecret service agents or informers.

The NDP currently holds seats in two ofGermany’s 16 state parliaments.

Though acknowledging that banning thegroup and driving it underground mightmake it more difficult to monitor, GdPchief Bernhard Witthaut said it was important to send out a clear signal in thefight against extremism.

He added: "I think it's terrible how theymock foreigners living in Germany, I thinktheir concept of a state is terrible."

Cops union in call forban on far-right group

GdP leader Bernhard Witthaut

UNISON has secured more than half a million pounds incompensation payments for its members in NorthernIreland last year. The personal injuries payouts – involv-ing 143 cases – totalled £559,509 in 2010.

Across the UK as a whole, £27,398,985 was paid out tomembers in settlements resulting from injuries sufferedbecause of assaults, car crashes, back injuries and slipsat work.

General secretary Dave Prentis said: "A lot of theseinjuries could and should have been prevented. Thesejobs are not dangerous – nursery workers, dental techni-cians and dinner ladies – but, because employers havebeen negligent, some UNISON members have lost theirhealth, families, confidence and careers.

"Employers have a duty of care and where they fail,workers and their families deserve compensation forthe pain and suffering caused by personal injuries.”

UNISON COMP0 HAUL

SSIIMMPPLLEE.. EEmmaaiill bbrraazziieerrmmeeddiiaa

@@bbttiinntteerrnneett..ccoomm

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UNION POST?

Picture: UNISON


CHANGES to VAT and corporationtax in the UK mean that bankscould soon be paying a LOWER taxrate than consumers, basic rate tax-payers and small businesses, theTUC has claimed.

VAT in the North and across theUK increased from 17.5% to 20%on January 4.

While the headline rate of corpo-ration tax is to fall from 28% to 27%in April, the TUC argues the effec-tive rate for large multinationals fellto 21% in 2009, having dropped by ahalf percentage point in every yearsince 2000.

Thus multinationals could legallypay as little as 19% in 2011.

The fiscal changes will further

skew the UK tax system in favour ofhigh profit industries such as bank-ing over small businesses hit hard bythe VAT rise.

It is claimed UK banks will also beable to offset the corporation taxrate cut against the £2.5 billion bank

levy outlined in the budget and ac-tually cut their tax bill in 2011.

The TUC insists giving banks a taxcut makes a mockery of ministers’rhetoric about getting tough withbanks for causing the global financialmeltdown.

General secretary Brendan Bar-ber said: “People will not be happyto learn banks have managed toearn themselves a tidy tax cut as areward for their failure while therest of us suffer from job losses, taxhikes and the wrecking of publicservices.

“It's about time the governmentstops being in thrall to them andimplements some serious reform.Otherwise banks will make thesame mistakes again and everyoneelse will be forced to pay the price.

“Consumer spending and growthare crucial. The last things we needare mass job losses and VAT hikesthat will stifle growth and spreadmisery across the country.”

TUC: Banks ‘pay LESS tax than rest of us’

THE Australian Council of TradeUnions has called on the FederalGovernment to rethink its plan toget the national Budget into sur-plus following the dev-astating Queenslandfloods.

President Ged Kear-ney insisted it was vitalministers reconsiderthe move after esti-mates that the flooddamage bill could top$20bn,

She said: “It would bedetrimental to Aus-tralia’s long-term pros-perity for the extracosts of the floods toresult in a reprioritising of impor-tant government spending initia-tives on infrastructure, or cuts tohealth, education and other serv-ices.” Pointing out that the Aus-

tralian deficit projection of 0.8%GDP was low by internationalstandards,

Ms Kearney added: “Australiansunderstand that a mod-est deficit is an entirelyreasonable way of funding nation-buildinginfrastructure.

“No Australianswould begrudge thegovernment extendingthe deficit when thefunds are to be usedfor rebuilding flood af-fected parts ofQueensland.”

Meanwhile, Australianunions and their mem-

bers have already donated morethan half a million dollars to theQueensland Premier’s Flood Ap-peal.

ozfloodhelp.org

Don’t let floods bill hitspending on services

Kearney: Budget call

Commenting on Goldman Sachsplans to pay staff nearly £10bn(€11.8bn) in pay and bonuses for2010, TUC general secretary Bren-dan Barber said: “These earningswould make Gordon Gekko blush.They have stuck two fingers up toausterity Britain while shelling outmega bonuses again. This govern-ment is overseeing a fast return tothe worst excesses of the 1980s.”

THE IBOA has expressed shockthat a small number of seniorBank of Ireland staff have pock-eted substantial bonuses whiletheir colleagues have had tostomach a pay freeze.

The bulk of employees havealso faced a deferral of outstand-ing pay awards, a cut in pensionbenefits and more than 2,500 redundancies to help secure thefuture viability of the bank.

IBOA General Secretary, LarryBroderick: “To add insult to injury, quite literally, our members who have made thesesacrifices have had to put up withabuse and derision from customers and the public at largein the mistaken belief that allBank of Ireland staff have received these payments.”

He said the IBOA had madesenior management aware of the

strong feelings felt by membersover the move.

The IBOA has also written tothe Republic’s Finance MinisterBrian Lenihan to seek engage-ment on reforming remunerationpolicies within the financial services sector.

Mr Broderick added: “It is longpast time that we moved awayfrom the reward practices intro-duced over the last decade or so,which have distorted the signifi-cance of performance-relatedpay in comparison to basic pay.

“These practices have also facilitated the shift in the cultureof banking towards an excessiveobsession with amassing super-profits – at the expense of ordi-nary customers and staff – andwith devastating consequencesfor the wider economy.”

Bonuses for a few at top ofBoI but rest face pay freeze

Larry Broderick: Members shocked by move

Picture: IBOA

Picture: ACTU

STAFF at Superquinn inNaas, Co Kildare, have votedto accept a deal on redeploy-ment and redundancy nego-tiated by Mandate, SIPTUand BFAWU.

The 103 employees – somewith up to 30 years service –had been informed the firmintends to close the store onFebruary 4.

Union officials were lockedin talks for two days broker-ing a deal with management.

Mandate Assistant generalsecretary Gerry Light de-scribed the outcome as notan “ideal situation”, adding:“The workers would muchprefer for things to be con-tinuing as they have for thepast 30 years. Be that as itmay, we had to deal with thesituation as we found it and

try and get the very bestdeal for our members as wecould under the circum-stances.’ The deal includes:

�� A three-month time-frame to switch between re-deployment and voluntaryredundancy options,

�� Redundancy offer of fiveweeks pay per year of serv-ice, and

�� A series of innovativearrangements including theretention of a right to ashare of an agreed sharepool, if and when available.

Mr Light added: “In thecontext of the current eco-nomic climate, we believethis represents a fair deal,which is why we were willingto recommend it and whywe’re pleased our membershave accepted it”.

Staff of Superquinn storefacing closure accept deal

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A UKRAINIAN trade union activist is inhiding three months after a court orderedhe should undergo a psychiatric examina-tion.

In a judgment straight from the pages ofGeorge Orwell’s 1984, prosecutors arguedAndrei Bondarenko has an "excessiveawareness of his own and others' rightsand [an] uncontrollable readiness to defend these rights in unrealistic ways".

Amnesty International has urged authorities in Ukraine to stop the harass-ment of Bondarenko, who has no record ofmental illness and has already undergonethree psychiatric examinations – most recently last October – to prove he is sane.

Andrei Bondarenko has campaigned foremployees’ rights in Vinnytsya region since2006 and his work has often exposed theunlawful and irresponsible behaviour oflocal officials.

He also appears to have angered authori-ties with his work on behalf of sugar factory workers.

These seasonal workers are employed

for only a few months each year followingthe sugar beet harvest – and it is claimedthey are frequently not paid for theirlabours.

Many of these factories are officiallyowned by shadow companies, although it isrumoured the real owners are often well-connected locals.

Bondarenko started taking these firmsto court to demand payment of wages.

The court ruling against Bondarenkocomes after a number of incidents includ-ing the assault and harassment of Ukrain-ian activists.

On October 15, police in Vinnytsyasearched the house and office of DmytroGroysman, the chair of Vinnytsya HumanRights Group that supports asylum-seek-ers and campaigns against torture.

Andrei Fedosov, the chair of a mentaldisability rights organisation Uzer, was assaulted by unknown assailants last May,after receiving threatening phone calls theprevious month. It was claimed local policetook no action.

For more information visit www.amnesty.org.uk/tradeunions

Forced to undergo psych examsREPORT Andrei Bondarenko


Picture: Amnesty Internationa

l

TUC general secretary BrendanBarber has warned proposals tointroduce a £2.50 hourly rate forinterns will allow “unscrupulousemployers to ignore the nationalminimum wage”.

The proposals were put forwardby the UK’s Chartered Institute ofPersonnel and Development onJanuary 10.

Mr Barber pointed out the gov-ernment had abolished a specialNMW development rate in 2006after it was found to have beenwidely abused.

He added: “The TUC is stronglyin favour of good training schemes,but we must always be on ourguard against rogue bosses whowant to use unpaid interns insteadof paid workers.

“We urgently need more rigor-ous enforcement of the NMW toensure that so-called interns arenot exploited and abused.”

£2.50 per hourproposal ‘will exploit interns’

THE ASTI is to ballot its memberson the Croke Park Agreement.

It comes after clarification wasgiven to the union following talkswith officials at the Department ofEducation and Skills.

The ASTI’s 180-member CentralExecutive Committee met on Janu-ary 22 to discuss what had comeout of those discussions.

General secretary Pat King said:“The CEC has always beenadamant that frontline teacherswould have the final say on the out-come of the talks between the ASTIand the Department of Educationand Skills.

“This ballot is of utmost impor-tance as it has major implicationsfor the pay, working conditions andjob security of second-level teach-ers.”

It is understood a postal ballot ofmembers will be held over thecoming weeks.

ASTI ballot onCroke Pk deal

Andrei Bondarenko


THE COMING ELECTIONSPOTLIGHT

Picture: INMO

“THEY started out idealistic and democratic buteventually became dominated by a self-servinggroup of people, who have achieved positions ofpower and responsibility. They became enthralledby their elite positions and more inclined to makedecisions that protect their power, rather than rep-resent the will of the group they are supposed toserve.”

You could be forgiven for believing that thisis a reference to the current government andthe state which Ireland finds itself in.

However, these are words coined by theGerman sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911publication Political Parties, The Iron Law of Oli-garchy.

One hundred years ago, Michels recognisedthe inbuilt tendency of all complex social or-ganisations to turn bureaucratic and highly un-democratic.

According to Michels, even left-wing partiesof Western Europe in the pre-World War 1era who were committed to mass democracyand equality tended to become de facto oli-garchies.

DECISIONSHe noted that even in his own fundamentally

democratic organisation, The German SocialDemocratic Party (SDP), only a few people inexecutive positions actually held power andmade all the important decisions.

Eventually, the SDP leaders gained real leg-islative power and public prestige, but insteadof serving the collective will of the mass mem-bership they were, in fact, dominating and di-recting it.

Over the past three decades, Ireland, itcould be argued, has developed its own fineversion of the ‘Iron Law of Oligarchy’.

The political oligarchy is the last one stand-ing or, at least, the one in the public eye.

However, it is clear that there were alsobanking and business oligarchies, among oth-ers, who gained their own elites who cor-nered power for their own interests.

Consistent with the ‘Iron Law’, many ofthese oligarchies were controlled by evensmaller elite groups within them rather thanthe larger body whom they purported to rep-resent. Hence, widespread apathy evolvedfrom the early 1990s on with consistentlylower levels of participation in democratic or-ganisations and in referenda and general elec-tions.

The irony of the ‘Iron Law’ is that such apa-thy fosters even better conditions for the oli-garchy and preserves their dominance for farlonger than it would otherwise do.

The apathy that has existed for well over adecade now, has suddenly been arrested by the

How to stopoligarchies in their tracks

VIEWPOINTINMO deputy general secretary

Dave Hughesshock of the disastrous outcome of the be-haviour of some of those oligarchies – particu-larly the banking and political ones.

Hence a widespread alienation has emergedwith all forms of establishment, and out ofthat alienation a growing tendency is evolvingwhere economic and business commentatorsare being proffered as some form of super-in-tellectual, managerial elite who could sort outall our problems.

In most cases people suggest that thesepeople should not even have to be elected butshould come from some form of list or pre-ferred system which would allow them nothave to answer to the people.

In fact, almost all of the people calling forpolitical reform are actually arguing for re-duced democracy and not more, and aretherefore, arguing for lesser accountability andeven more extreme forms of oligarchy thanwe have experienced.

As citizens we must all take responsibilityfor taking an active role in our community lo-cally and nationally.

The preoccupation with an economy hasbeen indulged at the expense of our commu-nity and, particularly, our health system.

The spectre of hundreds of people waitingon trolleys is an annual event, both in the

good times and now in the bad times. It is a growing indication that society simply

does not care until the problem comes to itsown doorstep.

We will have an election soon and the onlypeople who we can vote for are those who willput their names on the ballot paper.

There is every possibility that many newfaces right across the existing political partieswill emerge from this election and politics willchange as a consequence.

To indulge in the folly of following those whoconcentrate only on the economy and offer ap-parently quick-fix solutions will be a bad mis-take.

We must seek commitments from our politi-cal parties that wrong doing will be punishedand that laws, such as our Offences Against theState Act, will be revised to encompass whitecollar crime and those who put the nation inperil.

We must demand of those canvassing us thatour health service will be a priority and not anafterthought, and that the standard of educa-tion of our children is of high quality in termsof international comparison.

BANK DEBTWe must demand that they prioritise work

for our people and that instead of pouringmoney down the black hole of bank debt, theydemand of the banks of the world that mort-gages reflect the actual value of property nowrather than the grossly-inflated and unjustifiedprice that was demanded from the ordinaryhouseholder over the past decade.

These are indeed extraordinary times but itis important to note that the ‘Iron Law of Oli-garchy’ suggests that people wishing to avoidoligarchy should take a number of precaution-ary steps.

They should make sure that the rank-and-filecitizens remain active in the politics of theircountry and that leaders should not be grantedabsolute control of a centralised administration.

As long as there are open lines of communi-cation and shared decision making betweenleaders and the people, an oligarchy cannoteasily develop and sustain itself.

Money is still the root of all evil and powerstill corrupts.

We must avoid allowing our frustration withwhat has happened lead us to the point ofhanding away our democracy to monosyllabicexperts whose cure may be worse than thecause.

We can make a change and we can changepolitics by participating fully in the coming gen-eral election and making it clear that we will bethere to judge those same people on the nextoccasion and every one thereafter.

As citizens wemust all take

responsibility fortaking an

active role inour community

both locally and nationally

union post january 2011

Documents

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