Workplace News

Workers in Otis Lifts, members of the Technical Engineering Electrical Union, are now into the second week of their strike action. The strike was undertaken as a response to the companies’ refusal to accept a Labour Court recommendation with regard to redundancies within the company. Initially the company sought thirteen redundancies and eleven workers were prepared to volunteer.

The ESB staff pension fund has a €2 billion deficit. In putting forward new pension proposals management and the group of unions (GOU) argue that there are three main factors for the pension deficit. The stock market crash, wage inflation (i.e. pay rises) and because “We are all living much, much longer.”

The passing of the Croke Park Agreement represents an important setback for public sector workers and the working class as a whole. If this deal is implemented unhindered then 20,000 public sector jobs will be lost, working conditions will be decimated and the quality of public services from health to education etc will be driven further into the ground.

Dear Colleague,
The below-named members of the CPSU Executive Committee wish to place on record our objection to and distance ourselves from, the recent public and internal statements of our General Secretary, Blair Horan, regarding the Croke Park deal. In doing so we also wish to clarify what we believe to be the true position taken from the Executive Committee meeting of 24th June, 2010 regarding the new proposals.

In 2009, the trade union leaders, despite their desperate attempts, were unable to hold the formal “social partnership” process together. The economic crisis has shattered “social partnership” and opened up a period that will be marked by industrial action, strikes and class conflict.

Rank and file trade unionists in the public service will have to endure a ceaseless campaign from government and media as well as some trade union leaderships in support of this deal which, if passed, will in fact leave public sector workers in an even worse position than the status quo of pay cuts and penions levies which the trade union leadership was mandated to reverse by ballots taken last year.

A year ago, after three votes on a cost cutting plan, SIPTU and NBRU members, narrowly voted in favour of Dublin Bus management’s proposals.  The plan brought in work practice changes and the reduction of the fleet by 120 buses.

Public sector workers who were listening to the radio on the morning of 30 March must have thought they misheard, when details were given of the proposals for their pay which their leaders were coming back with, following talks with the government.

The most important objective for public sector workers was the scrapping of the pension levy, restoration of pay cuts, protection of pensions and terms and conditions. None of these objectives are met by this rotten deal.