4000 Civil Servants protest at Leinster House

More than 4000 Irish civil servants and public sector employees took part in a rally outside Leinster House in Dublin (Ireland's parliament building) today, protesting against the controversial pensions levy the government is about to introduce.

The protest was organised by the Civil & Public Service Union (CPSU), which will announce the result of a ballot for industrial action within the next 24 hours.
If a majority of CPSU members support further action, it is expected that over 13,000 civil servants will hold a one-day strike on February 26th.

Members of the Garda [police] Representative Association (GRA) also joined the protest outside Leinster House (photo left).
Seeing policemen actively participating in such a protest (rather then accompany and police it) is quite a rarity.
But many Gardaí agree that the proposed pensions levy is unfair and that the burden of dealing with the current crisis and with the measures of economic recovery is not been spread equally across the community.

The protesters were met at the gates of Leinster House by Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore (left) and his deputy Joan Burton, who is also the party's spokesperson on Finance. Both pledged their support for the concerns of the civil servants.

Meanwhile the legislation to impose a public service pension levy was published this morning. It is to be debated in the Dáil tomorrow and next week, and is due to go to the Seanad on Thursday of next week.

The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Bill 2009 - as it is called in full - includes provisions allowing public bodies to reduce the professional fees paid by them to external service providers.
It also includes changes in the early childcare supplement and the Farm Waste Management Scheme, which were announced at the same time as the levy.

Looking at the bill's name alone one has to wonder if politicians will ever be able to put things straight and in plain English that everyone can understand. Why is it that most of our laws have odd and longwinded titles and are phrased in a way no-one speaks? Not even politicians talk like that...

On top of the whole Civil Service and public sector, the proposed levy will also apply to all TDs - including Ministers, Ministers of State and the Ceann Comhairle (Speaker) and Leas Ceann Comhairle (Deputy Speaker) of the Dáil - as well as to all Senators, the Attorney General and Members of the European Parliament.
However, due to the provisions of the Constitution, the President and the Judiciary cannot be included in the measure.

If passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas (Ireland's parliament), the levy will apply to all earnings of the people affected by it, including allowances and overtime, from March 1st. The legislation specifies that no extra pension benefit is conferred by the deduction.

In light of today's demonstration and the generally unfriendly reactions the proposal has created in a large portion of civil servants and public sector workers, it remains to be seen if the bill will actually become law in the form and way the government wants. It is a fact that no government could function without the Civil Service and the many areas of the public sector.

Maybe the recent talks of the Social Partners were broken off without an agreement a little bit too hastily. As long as Ireland's rich and super-rich, many of which caused the current crisis, do not contribute their fair share to the recovery programme (and are seen by everyone to do so), the Irish are not in the mood for ever more sacrifices from the ordinary people - in the public as well as the private sector - while selfish and arrogant millionaires keep enjoying the wealth they creamed off the nation over the past decade.

The Emerald Islander

Most Unions accept new Wage Agreement

Most Irish trade unions have now accepted the draft national wage agreement which was agreed upon by the Social Partners in Dublin on September 17th. (see my entry of that day)

Yesterday SIPTU, Ireland's largest union, voted to accept and earlier members of ten other trade unions also voted in favour of the new agreement as well.
IMPACT and Mandate meanwhile confirmed that their members voted overwhelmingly for the proposed deal, too.

The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) announced that its members, who are employed throughout the public health service, have voted in favour, and so has the construction sector trade union UCATT, whose members voted by a margin of five to one to accept the terms of the draft agreement.

To no-one's surprise the Association of Higher Civil & Public Servants, which represents 3300 members, accepted the deal with a majority of 93%.
And the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) followed closely with 90% in favour.

However, the country's second-largest union UNITE (formerly AGTWU), which represents many members across a wide range of sectors including transport and public services, voted with a clear majority to reject the offer.
UNITE is affiliated to the largest UK union of the same name. What consequences their rejection will have is at this time not certain.

Irish Pensions System in Need of Reform

IBEC - the Irish Business & Employers' Confederation - has warned that a number of defined benefit pension funds in Ireland "could collapse, unless urgent action is taken by the government and the pensions board".

The organisation says that "draconian funding rules are placing huge burdens on employers and could threaten jobs".

Such a statement is not really a surprise, as the people represented by IBEC - Irish employers of all kinds, but including the most greedy and ruthless capitalists we have in the country - are always looking for ways to pay their people less and squeeze more profit out of people, the state and the system of social partnership.

In a defined benefit scheme a person's pension is a guaranteed amount and is based on a final salary.
These schemes have become less popular with employers over recent years. Instead employers have implemented defined contribution schemes, which use pension funds and do not have a guaranteed final amount.

Last week the Irish Association of Pension Funds said that a number of private company schemes were in real danger of collapsing over the coming months.

These statements highlight a problem I have been raising in articles and in conversations with various politicians for years. But so far without any success or positive response.

The fact that - apart from the basic state pension - the whole pesions system in Ireland is in private hands is the sole reason for the potential danger of collapses and failures.

When Ireland achieved independence from Britain, we inherited many British institutions and kept them going just as they were, without ever looking into the possibility of replacing them with better alternatives. The way our parliament is run, our legal system, the banks and insurance companies, and even driving cars on the left side of the road are some examples for this. And the private pension funds are another.

If we want to avoid that money reserved to pay pensions is put in danger and used for the greedy speculations and gambling by private fund managers, there is only one way: to put the whole system of pensions under the direct control of the state.

This is done in various other countries with great success. Take for example Germany, where two state-controlled public agencies run the entire pension system. They collect the regular contributions from the people - often that money is automatically deducted from wages, just like taxes - and keep the records for everyone. And when one reaches pensionable age, they pay the pension, based on the amount of contributions one has accumulated over a lifetime.

There is no speculation, or exposure of pensions money to risly international finance schemes and scams. All is safe and sound, with no risks to pensioners. The system is perhaps a bit bureaucratic in its structure, and not unlike the civil service. But that is a condition people are very happy to accept, as they know it guarantees them their pensions, regardless what happens to the economy.

Ireland could adopt the same system, which would do three things at the same time:
1) Make sure that all pensions and pension funds are safe and not used for speculation and gambling.
2) Make sure that everyone who works also contributes to the pension fund, and that all employers do the same (and in the appropriate amount).
3) Create a secure fund worth billions, which is under state control and thus an addition to national stability.

As Brian Lenihan is currently looking into various option to change and reform the financial industry, he would be well advised to look at a long overdue reform of the Irish pensions system as well.

The Emerald Islander

Agreement reached in National Pay Talks

This morning - after months of general talks and weeks of intensive negotiations - the Social Partners have eventually reached a new National Wage Agreement for the Republic of Ireland.

The last session with representatives of employers and all Irish trade unions went on for 22 hours and all through the night. Negotiators on both sides realised that they were already into the third day over the deadline set by the Taoiseach, and that might have helped their minds to sharpen and reach an agreement.

The result of the long and tedious talks is a pay increase of 6% for all workers, to be paid over 21 months.
The pay rise will be applied in two phases, with a 0.5% increase at the end of the agreement for workers earning less than € 430.49 per week, or around € 22,463 per annum.

All private sector workers will have a three-month pay pause. They will then receive a 3.5% increase over six months and a further 2.5% for the following year.

Public sector workers will have an 11-month pay pause from the last module of the Towards 2016 programme.
They will then receive 3.5% for the next nine months (commencing September 1st, 2009) and a further 2.5% for the remainder of the agreement.
The agreement also contains commitments on public service modernisation to reflect the latest OECD report.

Brian Cowen explained that the new agreement would include provisions to prevent employers using temporary agency workers to break strikes.
There will also be a statutory prohibition on victimisation of trade union members, and on inducements to encourage trade union members to leave their unions.

"The new National Pay Agreement will give a sense of confidence and stability in the challenging period ahead," the Taoiseach said earlier in Dublin.
"Even though the negotiations were very lengthy and complex, the Social Partners made commendable efforts to enable the terms of a draft Agreement to be identified."

Trade union leaders and the representatives of the employers' organisations are now putting the new draft agreement before their members for approval. There will be internal discussions and a detailed examination of the agreed terms, and a result is expected in about two weeks.

"This has been a long and arduous process, played out against a background of rapidly changing economic reality for workers and the economy as a whole," said Jimmy Kelly, Regional Secretary of Ireland's second-largest trade union UNITE, after the talks had ended and rows of exhausted negotiators emerged from Government Buildings in Dublin.

Turlough O'Sullivan, Director General of the employers' lobbying group IBEC, said there were "many positives in the deal".

The Emerald Islander

Still no positive Results at National Pay Talks

The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has said he is less confident now that a new national pay deal can be agreed.

Arriving for further talks at Government Buildings in Dublin today, David Begg claimed that employers had been "unhelpful in portraying the trade union movement as a problem for competitiveness in the economy".
He added that "highly negative comments" seemed to fly in the face of everything the social partners were about.

Unions and employers have indicated there is still a significant gap between the two sides, as talks on a new national pay deal resumed once more this afternoon. (for more on this subject see my entries of May 14th & 15th, June 26th & 30th, July 6th, August 5th and September 8th & 12th)

Brendan McGinty of the employers' group IBEC said it was "only fair" to recognise that there is a "substantial gap" between the parties involved in this weekend's talks.

Shay Coady of the IMPACT trade union declared that his union believed a deal was possible this weekend. The country needed an agreement, and there was a requirement on all of the parties - ICTU, the government and IBEC - to do "whatever they can" to craft an agreement.

Today's discussions are expected to continue into the night. (If it were a football match, they would be in extra time by now...)

Taoiseach Brian Cowen had set a deadline of this weekend to try to reach a deal.

Increases agreed in a national wage deal apply to over 600,000 trade union members and set an unofficial pay benchmark for many more.
Employers and unions are also at odds on collective bargaining rights for unions, pensions, public service modernisation and agency workers.

As yet it is unclear whether the government will come up with any commitments that could bridge the gap between the two sides.

The Emerad Islander

No Progress made at National Pay Talks

Talks in Dublin to secure a new national wage agreement have been adjourned with no progress and are set to resume at 2.30 pm tomorrow. When they were restarted at the begin of the week, it had been the expressed aim of all sides to come to an agreement by Friday. But so far the gap between the positions of the Social Partners seems still to be large and unbridgeable.

Employers' negotiators arrived at Government Buildings earlier today for what is expected to be a three-day intensive push to secure an agreement.

David Begg (photo right), general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) described the next 24 hours as "crucial if there is to be any hope of securing a new agreement".

He said there would have to be movement over the weekend, if the one-week time frame to broker a deal - set by Taoiseach Brian Cowen - is to be met.

All the key issues were still in play and talking over the last four days had been about securing each other's position, he told the media in Dublin earlier today.

"The Government could not put proposals on the table until it knows whether an agreement is possible," he added.

Larry Broderick, general secretary of the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), said he was not confident that a deal could be reached. There had been no sign of movement from employers or the government.

All trade unions have warned that any new agreement must protect vulnerable, low-paid workers who have been worst hit by inflation.

Cowen to assess Prospects of Deal

Meanwhile Brian Cowen said an assessment would have to be made later today on whether progress can be made on the latest round of pay talks.

Speaking in Daingean (in his home county Offaly), the Taoiseach said it had been agreed that another week would be given to try and achieve a deal between both sides, but while the talks continued, it would be necessary to carry out an assessment to see if any progress could be made in extending the process.

National Pay Talks continue in Dublin

While the country as a whole (and especially the South East) is still recovering from yesterday's All Ireland Hurling finals, life goes on, focusing on more serious matters. In Dublin the crucial talks on a new national pay agreement continue in a gloomy atmosphere, overshadowed by the economic recession the country has fallen into after more than a decade of massive boom and excitement.

The employers' lobby group IBEC has eventually decided to join the talks this afternoon, while representatives of the trade unions and the government resumed negotiation this morning.

Going into the talks, some of the unions rejected out of hand the notion of a pay freeze, which has been mooted especially by IBEC (and supported by some members of the government).

Both employers and trade unions are trying to secure a new national pay agreement by Friday, but the signs are not particularly encouraging.

Betty Tyrrell-Collard of the CPSU - which represents lower paid public service workers - declared that a pay pause for her union's members would be "an absolute non-runner".
She said a pay pause for people who earn more than € 50,000 per year would be acceptable. But she added that clerical staff that are low paid and work hard to secure bonuses for higher paid positions could not suffer.

Jack O'Connor, general president of Ireland's largest trade union SIPTU, said he wanted to "make sure a deal could be done". But the unions would "not agree on an exercise to insulate businesses profits".
He refused to reveal details of what SIPTU would be demanding, but said that all unions needed to decide on a way forward.
"There is a broad consensus on a deal that will take the economic condition into consideration and protect lower paid workers," he stated before entering the talks.

John Douglas of the Mandate trade union (which has many members employed in the retail sector) said that "there will be no deal unless the low paid are protected".
He pointed out that the ball was in the court of the employers, and "something will have to be found to deal with the difficult issues for low paid workers, who have not been dealt with fairly in previous agreements". Now more than ever efforts were needed to deal with the low paid.

Larry Broderick of the Irish Bank Officials Association said he was not optimistic heading into the talks, adding that "the government needs to put something constructive on the table if the talks are to be successful".
He emphasised that his staff would not react well to a pay freeze and said that "a new structure is needed and new legislation on constructive bargaining as well". He also suggested a "flexible arrangement on pay at local level, so different approaches can be taken in different companies".

Peter McLoone, general secretary of IMPACT, said he hopes that at the end of the week a clear package for public sector workers will be on the table. What the government has in mind with regard to a public sector pay freeze "must be clear" and "the purchasing power of low paid people within the public sector must be protected".
"It makes no difference what sector you work in when it comes to buying products and trying to live."

Well, Mr. McLoone - as usual - puts things clear and simple as they are. And he is absolutely right with his statement. Given the massive and constant increases in the costs of living, especially the rocketing prices for food, fuel and electricity, this is the most important element in the pay talks for the vast majority of Irish people.

Taoiseach is "available to assist"

Meanwhile Taoiseach Brian Cowen has stated that "all sides in the talks must take account of the changed economic circumstances".
Speaking in Tullamore (in his home county Offally), Cowen said he would be "available to assist the parties on an ongoing basis, as I was indeed in the last phase, which - unfortunately - did not mean that the fact that I was available brought about a successful conclusion".

Asked if he was more optimistic about a successful outcome this time, Cowen declared that there was "a growing realisation that there are a lot of pressures in the economy". He added that the many job losses this year are "a reflection of the downturn in economic activity".

He said that "we do need to come up with an affordable solution for the medium term, so we can find space to bring about changes for the better" in what he called "a very challenging international environment".

Views differ after National Pay Talks collapsed

Tánaiste Mary Coughlan (left) is still "very hopeful" that an agreement between Irish trade unions and employers can be reached when pay talks reconvene in Dublin in three weeks time. The negotiations of the Social Partners over a new national wage agreement had collapsed without a result last weekend.

Mary Coughlan said there was "absolutely no acrimony between the sides" and it was "appropriate for Jack O'Connor of SIPTU to reflect that he was taken aback by headlines over the weekend". What happened in the breakdown should not be heightened in any way.

Meanwhile SIPTU president Jack O'Connor (right), head of the country's largest trade union, warned that employers who fail to address pay claims could face industrial action. He said that there had been "no indication that employers would adopt more reasonable approaches" if partnership talks were to resume.

However, Irish employers insist that excessive pay increases would "damage competitiveness" and trigger even more job losses.

The Tánaiste's comments came as bank workers were expected to press ahead with their claim for an increase of 10% in their pay over the next two years. The Irish Bank Officials Association is to meet in two weeks' time to discuss this claim.
The Association's general secretary, Larry Broderick, said that his union lodged its pay claim six months ago and that workers could not afford a pay pause.

The collapse of partnership talks has triggered a new push on pay, with private sector unions set to lodge pay claims this week on an employer-by-employer basis.
Unions say they must protect the interests of their members, whose pay has been eroded by inflation over the last two years.

The nation's employers' lobby group IBEC (Irish Business and Employers Confederation) is advising its member companies not to engage in local bargaining, at least until after the Taoiseach meets the Social Partners to review the situation at the end of the month. They fear excessive pay hikes would damage their competitiveness.

However, the SIPTU president warned that any direction by employers to refuse to engage with unions would contravene most collective agreements and could raise the prospect of industrial unrest. Jack O'Connor said there had been no indication that employers would adopt a more reasonable stance if talks resume - and in those circumstances unions have no alternative but to press ahead with claims against individual employers.

The Emerald Islander

No Deal involving Pay Cuts

Ireland's trade union leaders, arriving for today's pay talks at Government Buildings in Dublin, have warned that there will be no deal involving pay cuts.

Trade unions, employers and the government are attempting to reach a new National Wage Agreement amid growing concern about the worsening economic situation.

John Douglas (left), General Secretary of the Mandate trade union, said that his members in low-paid sectors could not afford cuts in salaries, as prices for food and fuel continued to rise.

Unions also warned that any cutbacks in services, particularly health and education, would be deal breakers.

Larry Broderick of the Irish Bank Officials Association acknowledged that there were challenges in the economy, but said that workers were being subjected to a pre-emptive strike by employers and the government.

The employers lobby group IBEC said that the economy was under pressure, with 7000 people joining the unemployment register each month.

IBEC's Director General Turlough O'Sullivan said that employers remain committed to social partnership and that any new deal must be good for Ireland and good for jobs.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen (right) warned that painful cutbacks are on the way as Exchequer returns have already experienced a shortfall of € 1.2 billion this year.

The economy is now in decline and apparently the government is powerless to control some of the key international factors involved, including oil and food prices.

Serious cutbacks are on the way in a bid to balance the books, the government announced. All the optimistic promises made by the government parties before the last general elections in May 2007 seem to be forgotten now, and all the extra money promised for major improvements will be spent by the end of this year.

The latest economic returns, out on Wednesday, will set the economic backdrop for negotiations.

For the last week, employers and trade unions have been sniping at each over the airwaves. IBEC wants continued investment in the national plan, but a pay freeze for workers.

Also on the agenda are tricky non-pay issues, including pensions, agency workers and collective bargaining rights. Many analysts believe the talks could drift on into the autumn, if they do not break down completely. The consequences of that could be disastrous for the already weakened Irish economy, prolong the recession and destroy most of the advantages Ireland has gained in the twelve years of the "Celtic Tiger" boom.

The Emerald Islander

Trade Union Leaders reject Pay Freeze Idea

The general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), David Begg (right), has rejected a call from the employers group IBEC for a pay freeze to help tackle the economic recession. In a robust response he said that IBEC had "a brass neck to suggest pay restraint for low-paid workers at a time when many top executives are receiving millions in salaries".

David Begg was obviously angered by the call for a wage freeze and said that ICTU would make no sacrifices to continue the Social Partnership model. He outlined increasing pressures facing the average worker - especially the low paid - including food and fuel increases, and hikes in interest rates. For those people, he explained, a pay pause was "a non-starter" which he was not even prepared to entertain.
He stated that - because of inflation - many workers had already endured a pay freeze, if not a pay cut, over the past two years and added that he would not advocate sacrifices on behalf of workers to maintain social partnership in its current form when others in society had "their snouts in the trough".

The Taoiseach has declined to comment directly on David Begg's comments. Speaking on his way into an IBEC dinner in Dublin, Brian Cowen said that Mr. Begg was expressing his own view.

In a separate statement the Impact trade union has described the proposal of a pay freeze across the public service as "an absurd proposition".

The union’s general secretary, Peter McLoone (left) said that the suggestion was neither sensible nor acceptable, as workers would not support a social partnership deal which made no provision for a pay increase.

Speaking on RTE Radio, he said there was a large number of public sector workers whose pay was well below the average industrial wage.
“It is an unrealistic proposition to ask people of those levels of earnings to go without any increase for the duration of an agreement,” he explained.
“Very little progress” had been made at the partnership talks which commenced two months ago. All sides had yet to fully engage on the most important issues.

The Emerald Islander

Two separate Shows at Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle, originally built under the orders of Prince John as a Norman stronghold and later used for centuries as the HQ of power and oppression on this island, is now popular for various reasons. While tourists from all over the world come to visit it and learn of its history, our own interest in the venue is of a different kind. The Castle has long been - among many other duties - the home for our so dearly cherished tribunals and meeting place for the great and good of the Republic. Today the ancient building was particularly busy.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (left) arrived this morning for a meeting of the Social Partners and said that Ireland would have "to maintain and improve competitiveness", or the economy would be in trouble. He warned that "expectations for the pay talks will have to be realistic". This is of course the same Bertie Ahern who only recently - regardless of expected economic trouble - awarded himself a pay rise of € 38,000 per annum, thus becoming the highest paid political leader in the world. He also rewarded his ministers handsomely, with increases of € 25,000 per annum on average.
These increases in payments for leading politicians are more than many Irish people earn in a whole year!

Today's meeting was concerned with launching a mid-term review of the current national agreement, Towards 2016. With the existing agreement on private sector pay due to expire next month, and the public sector in September, pay is a major part of that review.
The Taoiseach said two new pieces of legislation in this area would be published soon, and he hoped this would "reassure people".

IBEC Director General Turlough O'Sullivan insisted that a new pay deal would have to take account of "the difficult economic situation facing many companies".

But there are other issues, too. Many trade unions have expressed serious concerns about worker protection, and in particular the enforcement of the minimum wage.

SIPTU General President Jack O'Connor (right) warned that his union would not even enter the new round of talks unless issues of worker protection and agency workers were addressed. In the fast changing world of the Irish economy in the past-boom era, with hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in the country and age discrimination against job seekers above the age of 45 prevalent, SIPTU will be the hope of many working people in Ireland.

The Conference of Religious in Ireland (yes, there are still some left) criticised the government for "not giving enough attention to social policy, particularly in primary health care, adult literacy and supporting carers". It is a pity that the same religious people were not so concerned about these matters in the past, when they were the dominating force in Ireland's hospitals, schools and other social institutions. But - better late than never.


Meanwhile, in another part of Dublin Castle, broadcaster and sports pundit Eamon Dunphy (left) testified he was told that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was "taken care of" to support a shopping centre develop- ment in the 1990s.
Dunphy told the Mahon Tribunal he could not say where or exactly when the conversation with developer Owen O'Callaghan took place, but he thinks it was in Dublin, between 1997 and 1998, when the two men were involved in a project to bring Wimbledon FC to Dublin.

He stated that Mr. O'Callaghan referred to his Golden Island Shopping Centre development in Athlone and told him that the then Minister for Finance, Bertie Ahern, "was taken care of to support tax designation for the site", but did not deliver on the deal.

Dunphy said he took this to mean that Mr. Ahern received a bribe. The conversation with Owen O'Callaghan was confidential and he was not wearing his journalist hat at the time.
The former footballer added that he had not questioned the Taoiseach's integrity, specifically during an appearance on the Late Late Show before last year's general election. He said he did not think the allegation was "particularly striking in the overall scheme of things".

In a separate statement, the Taoiseach denied Fine Gael claims that his legal challenge to the Mahon Tribunal will delay its work for up to six months. Mr. Ahern told reporters that the tribunal has been going on now for 11 years and he did not think he had caused it any delay. He said he was ready to give evidence to the tribunal next week, as scheduled. What ever happens then, one thing is certain: More lawyers will make even more money, with a delay or without.

The Emerald Islander