Connect April 2008

APRIL 2008 VOL: 10

NO. 1

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4th Biennial Conference Kilkenny 2008

Lyrath Estate Hotel, Kilkenny • 7th, 8th and 9th May, 2008

Editorial

Dear Colleagues, This edition of your Connect Magazine is taken up mainly with a copy of the Motions and Amendments which will be put to the CWU Biennial Conference in Kilkenny in May. This is always an extremely busy time for the Union and, particularly, for the Officers and Staff in Headquarters, as they prepare for what is always a very important event for the Union.

We face this Conference against the background of purported worldwide economic recession and surrounded by calls from the powers-that-be for workers to tighten their belts. Of course, there will be no sign of those same people tightening their own belts, as we hear once again their cries of, “do as we say and not as we do”. They also have the continued expectation of excessive profit-taking on the backs of ordinary working people. Contained in this edition of Connect, there is a cartoon which deals with the Sub Prime Lending scandal, which is universally accepted as having played a major role in the economic recession. It is important that Members understand how pure, unadulterated greed from financial institutions, in the never-ending search for more profits, has led this recession. The cartoon is an attempt to portray that, and I hope it will lead people to question the type of system and society that allows faceless individuals to cause the type of recession that impacts on the livelihoods and living conditions of ordinary people.

It is, of course, against that background that we will, as part of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, be discussing the next stage of the Towards 2016 National Agreement. There are a myriad of issues that face the Trade Union Movement, coming into those discussions – the headline issues being: a) Pay; b) Protections under labour legislation; c) The right to be represented by a Trade Union; d) The continuing attacks on defined benefit pensions; and e) The disgraceful state of many of our public services and in particular Health.

Whatever one thinks about the Social Partnership discussions, I believe it is fair to say

Contents Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2-3

Postal Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4-5

eircom Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6

Vodafone Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

Training Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8-9

Health & Safety Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-12 Congress – Exploitation is no way to build Competitiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

12

Congress Joint Women’s Committee Conference 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

13

UNI Telecom Global Bulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14-18 UNI Network International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

19

Organising Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

20

CWU’s Humanitarian Aid Link Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

Sub Prime Lending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-24 Rural Post Offices can still serve us well . . . . . . . . . . .

25

Equality Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-27 Lyons Financial Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28-29 CWu Intellectual Disability Housing Projects . . . . . . . . 30-31 CWU Development Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32-33 CWU People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-42 CWU Band calls for new recruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

43

Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44-45 Halligan Insurances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46-47 Authorisation for Deduction of Subscriptions Forms . .

48

Editor: Steve Fitzpatrick Sub-Editor: Imelda Wall Issued by: Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

Telephone: 8663000 and Fax: 8663099 E-mail: info@cwu.ie Incorporating the PTWU Journal, THE RELAY and THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKER The opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the CWU.

Photographs: John Chaney Printed by Mahons Printing Works, Dublin.

2

that, outside of Social Partnership, the only issue we would be in a position to discuss would be direct pay.

This Biennial Conference will be slightly different than our last one, in that the focus within the organisation has shifted more to the Telecoms side of the house. It is difficult to believe that less than two years ago at our Conference in Cork, eircom had not yet been taken over by Babcock & Brown. Many of the decisions we took at that time were overtaken by the sale of eircom and those decisions need now to be looked at from that perspective. In that short period of time, we have also seen an increase in competition, with the telecoms market now one of the most competitive in the country. The single biggest issue in the media, in relation to telecoms, seems to be the issue of high speed broadband rollout. It comes as no surprise to the Communications Workers’ Union, that broadband has become such a political football and, quite simply, the reason for that is, in the first place, the misguided privatisation of eircom quickly followed by the Steve Fitzpatrick, complete and absolute lack of any sensible telecommunications plan General Secretary, CWU for the country. The entry into the broadband market of the mobile telephone companies has further complicated matters but it is still not too late for Government, through the Department of Communications, to get its act together and to agree with all players upon a comprehensive telecommunications policy that is necessary for the country, if it is to continue its economic growth.

In the telecoms sector, the Union continues to grow its membership outside of the more traditional companies and discussions with O2 in relation to recognition are at an advanced stage but we continue to be frustrated by British Telecom (BT), who refuse to recognise this Union, while continuing to recognise the CWU UK in Northern Ireland. Quite simply, we will not stand for this type of discrimination and I look forward, in the near future, to mounting a very public campaign against British Telecom.

The Postal/Courier section of the Union, and indeed of our Conference, is likely to be less tense with the improvement of industrial relations with An Post. While progress has been made on most issues with the company, it is accepted that there is a long list of outstanding issues that have to be resolved, as a result of the failed previous management team in the GPO. There is also the outstanding issue of the An Post ESOP and it is extremely disappointing to report that very little progress has been made with the Department of Communications on this issue, as they prevaricate over what, in our opinion, is a solemn agreement. Your Union will have to come up with an action plan in this regard, if the Politician’s do not respond more favourably in the very near future. There is also the issue of change allowances, which over the medium term will have to be addressed, or we will face a situation in An Post where people are doing the same job on different rates of pay and where the change allowances are not applicable to An Post pensioners. This situation will become a cancer within the organisation, if it is not tackled in an organised fashion.

The Union Conference is the time when the elected National Executive Council and the National Officers are asked to account for their previous two years in office, while at the same time the Conference sets the agenda for the coming years. I look forward to the outcomes from this extremely important and democratic forum and in closing this editorial, I would like to place on record my thanks for the unstinting effort and work done on your behalf by all of your Union activists throughout the country and, in particular, by the outgoing National Executive Council. p.s. I wish to unreservedly apologise to all our Members for the recent mailings sent by one of our service providers the “Hospital and Medical Care Association”. They used Royal Mail for the posting without any contact whatsoever with your Union. It was a daft and unforgivable mistake, which does not bode well for our future dealings with this organisation. Needless to say, they have been left in absolutely no doubt as to our unhappiness with their actions and have been given the usual assurances concerning their future behaviour.

3

Postal Update

COLLECTION & DELIVERY Pay

NEXT OFFICES TO COMMENCE ARE:

The Union submitted its claim to An Post for payment of the final phase of 4.167% of the Non Consolidated Change Allowance. This matter was reviewed by the Monitoring Group appointed by the Labour Court at a meeting on the 31st March 2008. At the time of writing the Union is awaiting their decisions.

DSU Mallow Dundalk DSU 18 Sligo Clonmel Lifford

D.S.M Salary Review The Labour Court Hearing relating to the Delivery Service Managers Salary Review was postponed on the morning of the 13th March 2008. This was to enable further direct discussions between the parties following undertakings from An Post to engage in a meaningful way on the issues primarily identified by the Union with a view to completing them within a short time frame.

“Your letter to Mark Graham, Head of Employee Relations, of the 7th March and previous correspondence in relation to the above matter refers.

As recently advised, the Company is currently conducting an internal review of the Working Leader position. While this review is ongoing, I can confirm that Working Leaders will continue to have access to Company Medical Officers and to be comprehended by the Drug Refund Scheme.

I can also confirm that Working Leaders are eligible for Eating on Route Allowance subject to the qualifying criteria set out in the Eating on Route Agreement (Post Office Joint Conciliation Council Report No. 343).

GO LIVE

Limerick

Signed off

14th April 2008

Tralee

Signed off

31st March 2008

DSU 24

Underway

31st March 2008

Malahide

Underway

28th April 2008

DSU 12

Underway

21st April 2008

Ballina

Underway

28th April 2008

12th May 2008 26th May 2008 9th June 2008 23rd June 2008 23rd June 2008 30th June 2008

An Post responds to CWU representations regarding Working Leaders as follows:

COLLECTION & DELIVERY – IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE LIT

GO LIVE

Working Leaders

Implementation Schedule

DSU

LIT

The other issues raised by the Union form part of the framework of the Company review. I will contact you on completion of the review in order that we might arrange a meeting to discuss the outputs of the review.”

Consolidation of Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus to Shannon resolved with assistance from LRC

urgent business need and the customer service issues arising from the current situation, I recommend the following proposal to both parties as a means to resolving the matter on the basis that it is acceptable to both parties:

Travelling Time Newmarket-on-Fergus staff will be overtime per week and Sixmilebridge hours overtime per week, which will pending this matter being addressed in redesign of Shannon DSU.

The following proposal was accepted by An Post and the CWU: Proposal

paid 2.5 hours will be paid 3.5 remain in place the context of the

Foot/Cycle Posts

Having considered the views of both parties and recognising the Company’s requirement to address the

The Company will make available one of the following 4

Postal Update options to the two staff from these offices who do not operate CMV posts:

Post Testing The Company will advise the Regional Office West that any current applications or applications arising in the context of this consolidation should be prioritised.

• Conveyance to Shannon and to the start point of delivery by CMV. This option will require the cooperation of the colleagues of the staff concerned • Post Scooter – associated training, licensing, equipment etc to be provided by the Company • Use of personal transport – mileage to be paid at the higher rate for a period of four weeks and after that at the reduced rate

Site Visit A site visit will be arranged for all impacted staff. Lcoal management will review the office layout in conjunction with those staff and the local branch rep to optimise the placement of benches.

This to be reviewed in the context of the redesign of Shannon DSU.

Parking

Disturbance/Relocation

The parking issue will be kept under review. The Company will explore the possibility of acquiring additional land at an adjacent site for parking. Staff will be kept advised in relation to any developments in this regard.

This matter to be addressed through mediation after the move takes place.

Garaging of Vans

Canteen

Vans to be agreed at home on a personal to holder basis.

This will be subject to review in the context of future agreements.

The Company will make the necessary arrangements to extend the existing canteen space by removing the dividing wall between the canteen and the locker room.

Pouching Off

Teresa Barry

The staff impacted by the move will finish out at Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus as appropriate.

Undeliverable mail will be posted at Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus sub offices.

The Postmaster/mistress in both offices will be advised in respect by this in writing by the Company, in advance of the consolidation.

Ms Barry will be appointed on the relocation of her office to Shannon DSU.

Working Leader A Working Leader will be appointed in Shannon on the consolidation of Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-onFergus. The post will be advertised as soon as possible, among postal staff in the office (including Sixmilebridge and Newmarket-on-Fergus) subject to the usual competition criteria. The impact on POCs currently based in Shannon DSU will be addressed locally. The issue of the POC currently under scheduled will also be addressed locally.

IDFs Benches for the Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge staff will be to the same standard as those currently provided for the Shannon staff. The company will examine the possibility of providing of IDFs for all staff located at Shannon. The Company will advise the local reps by mid February of any progress on this issue.

Seniority

Implementing Date

The full integration of staff for seniority, leave purposes etc will be addressed in the context of office redesign.

While the current arrangements for absence cover in Newmarket-on-Fergus and Sixmilebridge will remain, the Company may utilise the leave reserve in Shannon, subject to availability and appropriate training, to provide absence cover in these areas as necessary.

The target date for implementing of the consolidation of both offices will be the 3rd March 2008.

Review The operation of the new arrangement will be reviewed after a period of four weeks.

5

eircom Update

Filling of permanent U.V. vacancies and temporary cover of U.V. duties.

Span Of Control Internal Build Teams A notice was issued to the relevant Branches.

On foot of our meeting on Wednesday 16th Jan ’08 and indeed previous meetings, the following sets out the required changes and the impact in detail at team level. This is required together with proposed COT reassignments, previously submitted, in order to implement SPOC in Internal Build, thus reducing the number of Build teams from 49 to 41 in accordance with the agreement.

The following proposal was agreed at the Telecoms Executive meeting in March 2008. A notice was issued to the relevant branches.

Figure 1

(a) Permanent Vacancies

SUMMARY

Following discussions between the Company and the Union, it has been agreed that permanent vacancies arising in the Utility Vehicle (U.V) function in Network Engineering will be filled in the following manner.

Central 042T

Disband

Pat Frawley

Actor

1.

Central 890T

Disband

Eric Heeney

Re-Assignment

Region

Vacancies will be offered to any unsuccessful U.V. applicants from the Stage 1 and Stage 2 process, subject to geographical/ headquarters/business requirements, under the 2007 U.V Agreement.

In the event that the process outlined at 1 above does not result in the filling of vacancies then the following will apply: 2.

All staff, regardless of current Business Unit, having the necessary skills and experience and in the relevant locations, will be asked to express their interest in the vacancies.

If the process at 1.and 2 above does not result in the filling of any permanent vacancies then further discussions will take place with a view to finding a speedy solution.

(b) Temporary Cover of U.V. Duties

Team in scope

Action

Team Manager

Comments

or Amalgamate John McDonnell Central 889T 893T

Re-Assignment

or Amalgamate Eamonn Morris Central 889T 893T

Re-Assignment

West

791T

Disband

Eamon Gorrell

Re-Assignment

West

634T

Disband

Brendan O’Leary

Reassigned to UV

South

194T

Disband

Kieran Butler

VL

South

449T

Disband

Mairice Keily

VL

South

537T

Disband

Ger Whitmore

Actor

894T

Retain

David Reilly

VL

873T

Retain

Kevin Behan

VL

790T

Retain

Christy Brady

VL

Figure 1 summarises the teams that we are disbanding, the associated TM and their status. I have also included teams associated with TMs who have availed of VL and that are not being disbanded.

You may also be aware that in order to implement the SPOC we need to do a number of things including updating the various systems with the relevant new information. In this respect Network Engineering intend to “go live” at the beginning of the next Quarter i.e. first week in April. It is therefore vital that the internal communications process begin as soon as possible to meet the “go live” target date and to this end we propose to commence the communications process shortly.

It is accepted that when a member of a U.V. is on leave the duty must be covered so as to ensure the Utility Vehicle remains “on the road”.

This temporary cover is normally provided following contact between relevant CTMs and these arrangements should continue. It is further agreed that any technician, who provides temporary cover in these circumstances, will not be adversely disadvantaged compared to his coworkers, in any upcoming reorganisations.

While the process at 1. and 2. above is in train the arrangements outlined at (b) above will apply.

6

Vodafone Update

Vodafone (Ireland) ESOP Submitted by Mike O’Connor

Pictured at the Vodafone (Ireland) ESOP Presentation, l/r: Professor Michael O’Keeffe (Director National Children’s Eye Centre), Antoinette Murphy (ESOP Company Secretary), Mike O’Connor (ESOP Chairman), and Sister Bernadette Lanigan (Manager National Children’s Eye Centre) The Vodafone (Ireland) ESOP was established to compensate participants of the eircom ESOP, who transferred to Vodafone, arising from the sale of Eircell in May 2001. At the time, staff who transferred were deemed to be “no longer eligible to avail of further notional allocations of eircom shares from that date”.

By way of compensation, eircom funded the establishment of the Vodafone (Ireland) ESOP. All of the money was used by the ESOP Board to buy Vodafone shares, on behalf of the participants. Since then, these shares have been appropriated and distributed to participants and also to the estates of deceased Members.

Dividends on shares, held for a period of time by the ESOP, were used to pay various expenses. Money left over was donated to a registered charity, in accordance with the terms of the ESOP Trust deed. The Vodafone (Ireland) ESOP has now been wound up and removed from the Company Register.

T

he final chapter of the successful Vodafone (Ireland) ESOP ended recently, with the presentation of the ESOP’s residual funds (€47,500.66) to the National Children’s Eye Centre in Temple Street Hospital, Dublin.

The presentation was made on behalf of the ESOP by Mike O’Connor (Chairman) and Antoinette Murphy (ESOP Company Secretary). Accepting the cheque, Professor Michael O’Keeffe (Director, National Children’s Eye Centre) thanked the ESOP for their kind donation, and said that the money, “would be used to help fund research and the purchase of new equipment for the Centre” 7

Training Update

CWU Welcomes O2 Committee to its First Training Session

Pictured l-r: Sean Holland, Marie Dante, Mark Fox, Paul O’Neill, Warren Smith, Bridgid Power & Eric Delaney

The Union was delighted to have the O2 Committee attend training in Union Head Office. Ian McArdle, CWU Head of Organising and Regulatory Affairs, secured paid release with the company for the Committee to attend the training.

The course aim was to provide participants with the skills and knowledge necessary to be proficient in their role as Trade Union Representatives. The following topics were covered: • • • • • • •

The Role of Unions, Global, Social & Economic Issues Recruitment & Organisation Equality Legislation & Promoting Diversity in the Workplace Employment Law Grievance & Disciplinary Procedures Dealing with Bullying & Harassment New Concepts of Industrial Relations Mark Fox

The training was provided by the Education Committee and the course was very participative. National Officer, Carol Scheffer, stated that she was looking forward to having the Committee in Union Head Office again for a second training session in the coming months.

8

Training Update

Employment Law Seminar – Union Head Office A training course on Employment Law was organised through the Positive 2 Work Skillnet in Union Head Office, at the end of January of this year. The course was given by Mr Paul Joyce, from the Free Legal Aid Centre (FLAC). The course was well attended by the National Executive Council and National Officers. The first part of the course concentrated on new legislative initiatives, most notable the Employment Law Compliance Bill, which will underpin the statutory powers of the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA). Particular focus was also paid to Unfair Dismissals, Agency Workers, Collective Redundancies, and Contractual issues. It was an ideal opportunity for attendees to brush up on their knowledge of Irish Employment Legislation and also to get clarity on issues in this area. Comprehensive notes were presented that also covered the Industrial Relations Systems in Ireland, the Organisation of Working Time Act and Transfer of Undertakings Regulations.

The Union would like to thank Mr Joyce for delivering this excellent course, which will no doubt prove to be of huge benefit to the Union, when dealing with industrial relations issues.

Pictured left: Ger Nolan, Danny Long and Emmanuel Cassidy

Pictured right: National Officer, Joe Guinan

Pictured left: Paul Joyce of FLAC

Pictured right: Martin County, John Halton and Billy Ronan - An Post

9

Health & Safety Update immediate danger to the safety and health of employees by polluting the atmosphere, should be removed without delay.

Health & Safety in the Workplace

Room temperature For sedentary office work, a minimum temperature of 17.5° C, so far as is reasonably practicable, is achieved and maintained at every workstation, after the first hour’s work. In cases where it is difficult to maintain an adequate overall temperature, it may be necessary to provide effective local heating, protective clothing or cooling at individual workstations.

The fact that a maximum temperature has not been specified in the Regulations does not mean that any temperature is acceptable. At high or uncomfortable temperatures, especially when not caused by temporary weather conditions, a means of cooling should be provided.

Workers are entitled to have some means readily available to them, to measure the temperature. In practice, this means that if an employee wants to measure the temperature, there will be a thermometer readily available. Other points to note include:

Report by Pat Kenny.

SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELFARE AT WORK (GENERAL APPLICATION) REGULATIONS 2007 - S.I. No 299 0F 2007 As advised in the last issue of Connect, the Union intends to cover the various aspects of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 over the next few issues of Connect.

In this edition, we have concentrated on Chapter 1 of Part 2, which relates to the workplace. We have summarised the main points, which are not intended to be a legal interpretation of the legislation.

Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the General Application Regulations deals with the physical environment at the place of work and sets out the welfare facilities, which should be provided as standard facilities for a premises used as a workplace. It covers the physical environment, stability, ventilation, fresh air, temperature and lighting.

Pedestrians and vehicles must be able to circulate safely.

Traffic routes, entrances and exits must be kept clear.

Floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, doors and gates, loading bays and ramps must be safe. Companies are obliged to provide adequate toilet, washing and welfare facilities.

Any employees working outdoors should be protected against bad weather, noise, etc.

• •

Changing rooms and shower rooms should be adequately heated.

Excessive heat from the sun shining through windows, skylights or glass partitions must be avoided. This can be achieved by various means ,including internal blinds, external blinds, use of low-emissivity glass, white-washing of windows etc.

Natural and artificial lighting An employer shall ensure that— places of work receive, as far as possible, sufficient natural light and are equipped with artificial lighting, adequate for the protection of the safety and health of the employer’s employees.

Ventilation of enclosed places of work An employer shall ensure that—

Whilst the provision of natural lighting takes precedence over artificial lighting, in practice, both will be required. Artificial lighting should be adequate and properly maintained, for the safety and health of persons at work. To maximise the use of natural lighting, windows, skylights and glass partitions used for lighting workrooms should be kept clean on both inner and outer surfaces.

Sufficient fresh air is provided in enclosed places of work, having regard to the working methods used and the physical demands placed on the employer’s employees.

In most cases, the natural ventilation provided through windows and doors will be adequate. Mechanical ventilation systems should be maintained in good working order, as part of a plant maintenance system.

If air-conditioning or mechanical ventilation installations are used, they should operate in such a way that employees are not exposed to draughts, which cause discomfort. Any deposit or dirt, likely to create an

Emergency routes and exits All emergency routes to emergency exits and the exits themselves are to be kept clear at all times. People often fail to appreciate how quickly a fire can spread. It is vital

10

Health & Safety Update that fire exits are not blocked or obstructed and that any such obstruction is moved without delay.

General Welfare Requirements 1. Cleanliness The employer has a responsibility to ensure that any place of work is maintained in a clean and hygienic condition and that any rubbish, dirt, refuse and waste is not allowed to accumulate and is removed on a regular basis.

Other points to note: • • •

In the event of danger, all employees should be able to evacuate all workstations quickly and safely Emergency exit doors should open outwards Emergency routes and exits requiring illumination should be provided with emergency lighting

2. Seating Seating is required, where most of the job can be carried out while seated, or where there may be opportunities for workers to sit down between tasks, without detriment to their work. If seating is not practical, some other form of support is required, so that workers are protected from the health effects of prolonged standing.

Movement of pedestrians and vehicles in danger areas An employer must ensure that outdoor and indoor places of work are organized in such a way that pedestrians and vehicles can circulate in a safe manner. Some points to note in relation to this: •

•

• •

• •

3. Drinking Water The employer is required to provide an adequate supply of wholesome drinking water at locations that are accessible to employees.

Passageways should be wide enough and the surfaces suitable for the safe movement of the largest vehicle liable to use them.

Sharp bends and blind corners should be eliminated as far as possible. Where they otherwise remain, warning signs and mirrors should be used to reduce the risk of accidents.

Traffic routes for heavy traffic should avoid the areas mainly used by pedestrians.

The need for vehicles to reverse when collecting or delivering goods should, where possible, be avoided.

Suitable pedestrian crossings should be marked out.

Vehicles should be provided with flashing lights, reversing alarms etc., as an effective means of warning pedestrians of their approach, where the driver’s view is restricted.

4. Facilities for the taking of meals The employer is required to provide suitable and adequate facilities, to allow employees to eat and drink any meals or beverages. The facilities provided must have means for boiling water.

Sanitary and washing facilities The employer should provide adequate and suitable sanitary facilities for the use of employees. The table below sets out the minimum number of sanitary facilities and washbasins that should be provided. The number of people at work refers to the maximum number of people likely to be in the place of work at any one time. Where separate facilities are provided for a group of employees, for example men, women, office workers or manual employees, a separate calculation should be made for each group.

Room Dimensions

NUMBER OF PEOPLE AT WORK

1 to 5 6 to 15 16 to 30 31 to 45 46 to 60 61 to 75 76 to 90 91 to 100

Workrooms must have sufficient surface area, height and air space to allow employees to perform their work, without risk to their safety, health or welfare. When considering this, it should be remembered that overcrowding can increase the risk of accidents.

When calculating the allocation of space, a reasonable approach should be taken with regards to discounting any large spaces taken up by unusual fittings. For example, in a room including a counter, the space up to and under it should be included, when calculating the space available for each person behind the counter.

In offices, 4.65 square meters should be the minimum amount of floor space allowed for every person employed in any room. This should include the area occupied by the office desk and chair but should exclude filing cabinets and other office furniture.

Above 100

NUMBER OF WATER CLOSETS

NUMBER OF WASHBASINS

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 8 + 1 WC and washbasins per 25 persons or fraction thereof

Washing Facilities To be adequate and suitable, facilities for washing should include running hot and cold water, as well as soap and clean towels. Separate facilities should be provided for men and women. Washing facilities should have adequate lighting, be sufficiently ventilated and appropriately maintained and kept clean.

11

Exploitation is NO WAY to build Competitiveness

by David Begg, General Secretary, ICTU

Despite the protestations and claims of employers, Ireland probably has the most flexible labour market in the OECD.

legal.

Consequently, agency-supplied workers are redefining the traditional employment relationship for the entire workforce.

Congress does not oppose the use of agency workers, but will do everything necessary to stop them being used to evade equality provisions and undercut existing wages.

Therefore it is imperative that legislation be enacted which regulates agencies, and confers on their employees the same entitlements as all others in the workforce.

The European Union has tried to get agreement on a Directive which could incorporate protections for agency workers and set basic standards below which employers could not go. The most recent proposal was tabled in December and would have seen the right to equal pay and conditions kick in after six weeks, in any given job.

We feel they should start on day one, but were prepared to accept the compromise.

Unfortunately, both the UK and Irish governments would not compromise and they blocked the proposal. We are now effectively pariahs in Europe, as virtually all other countries have built such rights into their domestic law.

Surprise, surprise, they haven’t seen the sky suddenly fall in.

By coincidence, Mr McGinty’s article was published just after reports that the Chairman of Louth County Council, Cllr Mulroy, advocated paying migrant workers less than Irish workers. While he later retracted these remarks, they did provide a revealing glimpse into the business mindset in this country, wherein all standards of equality and decency are subordinate to the pursuit of competitiveness.

Irish business will sooner or later have to reconcile itself to the reality that a sustainable economy needs a cohesive society and a cohesive society cannot be built on the backs of exploited workers, whether Irish or foreign.

And it is not unfair to ask Government where its priorities lie. Are they to build a competition state in which the interests of business are privileged over the interest of its citizens? The alternative is a developmental state in which economic and social progress are interdependent.

The Government has learned the rhetoric of the latter, but in reality acts to ensure the interests of the former.

Unless IBEC and Government move towards resolving this critical issue, then a chasm will open between them and our movement which it will not be possible to bridge on any other issue.

Unfortunately, far too many employers have developed an unhealthy fixation with ‘flexibility’ as the panacea for all economic ills, both real and imagined.

Equally troubling is that too many employers stubbornly cling to outmoded and one-dimensional views of ‘flexibility’, in which it has become a synonym for low standards, poor regulation and cheap labour.

It is the view of Congress that in the modern workplace – as in the workplaces of our key competitors – flexibility and indeed competitiveness are built around a skilled and educated workforce that enjoys all the tools and supports necessary to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. That is where you gain competitive advantage.

But as can be seen in the current debate on Agency Workers, employers seem determined to try and build future competitive advantage on cheap labour and workers with imagined and non-existent rights.

The employers’ contribution to this debate – as penned by Ibec’s Brendan McGinty, Feb. 20 – can only be characterised as obscurantist. Thus, he dealt with every aspect of employment law relating to agency workers, except that which is most crucial to their fair treatment.

Irish equality legislation allows that any worker who feels discriminated against, by comparison with a colleague, can bring a case to have his or her rights vindicated. But there is one rather crucial exception – a worker that has been ‘supplied’ by an employment agency enjoys no such right.

Their conditions, for better or worse but usually the latter, can only be compared with those of another agency worker, not the full time staff in the company they are working in. And no matter how long they may be placed in a given company, this condition does not change.

Thus, we have the increasingly common scenario of two colleagues doing precisely the same work with one being paid perhaps half the rate of the other. And it’s all perfectly

Irish business will sooner or later have to reconcile itself to the reality that a sustainable economy needs a cohesive society and a cohesive society cannot be built on the backs of exploited workers, whether Irish or foreign.

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Congress Joint Women’s Committee Conference 2008

Women and Leadership Brandon Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry.

Submitted by Carol Scheffer, National Officer, CWU. Pictured at the Congress Joint Women’s Conference, from l to r: Carol Scheffer (National Officer), Martina O’Connell (Cork Outdoor Branch), Imelda Wall (Union Head Office), Siobháin Power (North Kerry Postal), Mary Byrne (North Kerry Postal), and Catherine Needham (Tralee Telephones Branch).

The ICTU Women’s Conference was held in the Brandon Hotel in Tralee, Co Kerry, between March 7th & 8th. The CWU was well represented by Union Head Office, the Diversity and Equality Committee and by local Branches.

Conference recognises the significant impact that training and development has on the role of women in Trade Unions. The development and the utilisation of the Union Learning Representative is one mean of assisting that continued training. It is noted that in the UK, legislation is in place that gives recognition and time off during working hours for Union Learning Representatives to carry out their vital function.

However, no such legislation exits in Ireland and in the absence of same, the role of the Union Learning Representatives will be tenuous.

Therefore, Conference calls on the Congress Executive Committee to lobby the government, to put in place legislation that supports Union Learning Representatives, so that they can be a vital training resource for all women in Unions.

The following attended on behalf of the CWU: Catherine Needham, Tralee Telephones Branch Siobháin Power, North Kerry Postal Mary Byrne, North Kerry Postal Martina O’Connell, Cork Outdoor Branch Imelda Wall, Union Head Office Steve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary Charlie O’Neill, Assistant to the GS Carol Scheffer, National Officer

Carol Scheffer formally proposed the motion and in doing so, urged Congress to promote the role of Union Learning Representatives. This was seconded by Martina O’Connell. The motion was unanimously passed and the Union was very pleased with the response it got from the other Unions, who also got up to speak in support of the motion The final set of motions under the ambit of “Women and Society” were continued on the Saturday. In all, 17 motions (excluding emergency motions) had been put forward by various Unions for debate. Grainne Healy of Marriage Equality gave an excellent speech on the need for legislation to underpin same sex marriage as marriage automatically confers legal rights that are not enshrined in civil partnerships. Also, Ambassador Ramaidi of the Lesotho Embassy gave a resounding speech on women and leadership.

Saturday, March 8th also marked the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day so this was of key significance to all the Unions present.

Overall, the conference was very well received.

The theme of the Conference was Women and Leadership. Patricia McKeown, President, ICTU gave the opening address and Jo Morris of Trade Union Congress (TUC) of the UK was the first keynote speaker and she gave a presentation on equal pay. The presentation consisted of a documentary showing the struggle of women cleaners in Belfast seeking equal pay through the courts. It was very informative and inspiring for delegates present, who campaign through their Unions to close the gender pay gap.

Conference then moved to the first session of motions on Women in Unions, with motions seeking a review of female representation in unions, the continuation of the LIFT project, and seeking positive action measures for women in unions. The next session on Women and Leadership continued after lunch. The CWU had a motion on Union Learning Representatives in this session which read as follows:

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Vodafone signs union recognition deal in the UK

CWU seek Trade Union recognition at O2 Ireland

Connect, the union for professionals in communications, signed a landmark deal with mobile phone operator Vodafone on October 11. The agreement, which gives formal union rights to hundreds of Vodafone employees, marks the first time the company has recognised a British trade union. The deal was welcomed by the wider trade union movement as a demonstration that unions could develop in private sector companies with no previous experience of formal union relationships.

The agreement follows years of campaigning by workers in Vodafone, who have been determined to win an independent voice in their workplace. It covers around 500 people working across Vodafone's Regional Operations, part of the company that is essential in keeping its network up and running. The union will now have the formal right to negotiate on behalf of its members in this part of the company on issues such as pay, holiday and the hours people work. The agreement follows a decision by the Central Arbitration Committee which has legal powers to require employers to recognise trade unions.

The management at O2 Ireland has been refusing to recognise the CWU Ireland for collective bargaining. O2 are part of the Telefonica group which has signed a framework agreement safeguarding labour rights with the UNI and also commit to respecting the ILO conventions on collective bargaining. UNI has been working with the CWU Ireland members at O2 Ireland so that they can get equal access to the labour rights that are enjoyed by their colleagues at other O2 companies and in the group. At present discussions have been taking place between the management of O2 Ireland and the CWU about their compliance with the agreement.

UNI meets mobile workers in India and agrees programme for organising UNI Telecom in conjunction with UNI Apro and the Indian UNI Liaison Council met with young workers from the mobile phone industry to discuss how UNI could help them move forward to developing union structures in the rapidly expanding mobile companies in India. Workers from a number of companies, most of whom were carrying out customer service work for Indian mobile companies, gave many ideas and thoughts on why the wanted to work with UNI to develop union structures to assist mobile phone workers to cope with stressful working hours, unrealistic overtime demands and conditions that are less than those enjoyed by workers in the parent companies. The seminar developed a realistic action plan to move forward and to assist these workers to establish proper working structures where they could assist workers to achieve their aims of better and more even working conditions.

Something to hide?

UNI refused permission to enter HCL call centre doing BT work A UNI delegation in Delhi for the UNI World Executive and a UNI Telecom seminar on organising mobile phone workers was disappointed that they were refused permission to visit HCL, one of India's leading call centre companies and the company carrying out British Telecom customer service work in India. UNI Telecom World President, Shoji Morishima and UNI Head of Telecom, Neil Anderson were part of a delegation that visited the call centre and spoke outside to members of the UNITES Professionals union who have many hundreds of members in the company.

Despite a final request while at the site for this high level delegation to visit and see for them selves how BT is carrying out this work offshore, permission wasn't granted.

N. Anderson, speaking to the workers, asked what HCL and BT got to hide. He said, "this wasn't a visit to slam BT or HCL but to see how the work is carried out, to make sure they are meeting the promises they have given to UK unions about working conditions, labour practices and the workers' rights. Does this mean something is not going right? Now we can't be sure and the workers we managed to speak to do tell us there are issues that they've been working with the company to resolve in respect of hours of work particularly overtime that workers are virtually obliged to undertake." Up to 1500 workers are in several call centres that are part of the Noida complex undertaking customer service work for BT dealing with UK customers.

UNI and ETNO in joint statement on European communications regulations UNI and ETNO (European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association) are pleased to announce the publication of their joint statement on the European regulatory framework for electronic communications. The full text and press release can be at: www.uniglobalunion.org/UNITelecom.nsf/0/231007_EN_58

Vietnamese Union joins UNI Global Union In its closing session in Delhi, India the UNI World Executive Board agreed to the affiliation of the Vietnamese Post and Telecommunications union. The Vietnamese union is the first from a Communist country to join the UNI family of more than 900 unions in 150 countries around the world. The move follows more than ten years of training 14

invited by KPN to re-open negotiations for a new collective agreement for the callcentre workers of KPN Contact and SNT on October 10. KPN have assured the union that this is not a false hope that there is substantially more to offer the workers. ABVAKABO FNV accepted the invitation and cancelled another planned strike. Negotiations are still ongoing.

from UNI and founding partners for union reps from the communications and other unions in Vietnam and growing involvement by unions there in the activities of UNI-Asia Pacific.

"We are convinced that the time has come to accept a request for affiliation from the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications union," UNI Deputy General Secretary Philip Bowyer told the Executive.

Vietnam is well on the road of transition from a centrally controlled Communist country to a market based economy and is enjoying strong economic growth. It's also a member of the fast developing ASEAN grouping of South East Asia nations, which is working on plans for a trading group covering 500 million people.

Trade Unions in action: Strike in Turk Telecom Collective bargaining process in the communication sector, which started on May 29, resulted in a failure. The Turkish telecommunications sector labour union Haber-Is has announced that workers of the country's fixed-line phone operator Turk Telekom are on strike. Haber-Is President Ali Akcan said they had exerted great efforts to reach a deal during collective bargaining sessions but that they were unable secure a positive response from the employer. The first strike in TĂźrk Telekom's history has continued since its launching on October 16, but workers are now prepared to try negotiations once again. The Haber-Is union represents 25,680 employees of Turk Telekom in talks over a new contract. It is affiliated to the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TĂœRK-IS) which is one of four major national trade union centres in Turkey.

Philip J. Jennings, UNI General Secretary, sent a letter to the Turkish government and the management of Turk Telecom expressing UNI's support to workers fighting for decent wages and better collective agreement.

Verizon condemned for trampling Union rights in independent report A blistering report from American Rights at Work (ARAW) denounces Verizon for interfering with workers trying to organize, taking a "low-road" approach to what were once good jobs, and letting service quality deteriorate for millions of customers. The report by the independent workers' rights group provides first-hand accounts of management's abusive and intimidating behaviour from Verizon Business technicians who have tried to organize through CWA and the IBEW. It describes how a technician at a Verizon Business facility in Monsey, N.Y., was disciplined and made an example of for posting a pro-union advertisement. To keep an eye on the worker, the company assigned a manager to sit directly behind his desk. Verizon's threatening - and following through on threats - to shut down worksites if employees organize is a common tactic, the report found. The report said the company closed down two call centers where workers were organizing - in Orangeburg, N.Y., and Morristown, N.J. - moving the work to South Carolina, North Carolina and Arizona, all states with "right-to-work" laws that weaken unions.

ARAW found that the company's customers aren't treated much better. The report criticizes Verizon for failing to maintain or upgrade service for its landline operations while it is diverting its resources to the more profitable fibre optic, or FiOS network. It also slams the company for threatening future service quality to millions of its existing customers by selling off its rural landline access lines.

"Under Verizon's current business model, tens of thousands of secure, well-paying jobs are at the risk of disappearing," ARAW concludes.

Trade Unions at Polish TPSA demand 10% wage increase Trade unions at Poland's largest telecom TPSA (Telekomunikacja Polska) were demanding a 10 % wage increase and had entered into a collective dispute talks with management. The management representatives declared they were ready to discuss the increase in 2008 but less then demanded 10 %. The trade unions also wanted TPSA, controlled by France Telecom, to pull out from plans to outsource more jobs. Stanislaw Kiezik, trade unions' representative at TPSA, mentioned the company wanted to outsource 800 jobs. According to analysts, the union demands may cost the company 150 mln zlotys a year.

TPSA plans to cut up to 5,700 jobs in the next three years as part of a voluntary layoffs plans agreed with the trade union in late 2006. Currently, TPSA has 26,2 thousand employees.

Danish TDC technicians on strike

KPN invited Trade Unions to re-open negotiations

A few hundreds of technicians in the Danish telecom group TDC went on strike protesting against new GPS equipment being installed in their vans. They find this will increase control and surveillance. According the company the proposals serve to improve customer service rather than pressure workers. Furthermore, TDC wants to close down 13 local workplaces and workers think the case hasn't been

As from June this year UNI affiliate, ABVAKABO FNV called actions and strikes to put pressure employer to reopen negotiations in order to make a decent and fair collective agreement. After months of hearing nothing from the employer, KPN broke silence. Trade unions were 15

properly discussed in the workers' council. TDC said it was an illegal strike of its technical personnel which spread to several region in Denmark and now involves 736 workers.

TDC has announced some striking staff members will meet today to decide on whether to take up work, while others will meet on Friday. TDC A/S is the leading provider of communications solutions in Denmark.

inaction of the Labor Department to swiftly resolve the ongoing labour dispute involving the rank and file employees of the country's number one telecommunication firm PLDT. On October 12, elements of the Manila Police brutally dispersed the picketing workers, resulting in the arrest of the three and four others.

Philip J. Jennings, UNI General Secretary, sent a letter to the Labor Secretary demanding immediate release of arrested trade unionists.

Finnish labour ministry postpones telecoms strike

Telstra tries to introduce a nonUnion employee collective agreement

The Finnish labour ministry decided to postpone a possible strike of managerial and clerical workers in the telecommunications industry belonging to the Union of Salaried Employees (TU). The national conciliator had made the proposal to postpone the strike in order to allow sufficient time for talks. The strike by about 6,000 clerical workers at Elisa, TeliaSonera and their subsidiaries is to begin on 15 November, with managerial workers joining the industrial action in several stages and at a greater number of companies the next day. Talks to avert the strike are to resume on 5 November.

In an attempt to make major changes to working conditions in the company, Telstra has announced that it will offer a section of its employees an Employee Collective Agreement. It contains major changes from the current Enterprise Agreement (EA) to the way wages are paid in Telstra and to redundancy entitlements. The new Agreement - the Telstra Contact and Service Centre Agreement 2007 - would replace the current EA and would apply to all employees in the Customer Sales and Service and Customer Support workstreams.

The form of agreement is called an employee collective agreement, although the Telstra employees affected have played no part in drafting or negotiating the agreement. The CEPU has played no role in negotiating the agreement either.

The whole idea of employee collective agreement is to cut the unions out of the negotiations and so leave employees with less power in the bargaining process. The CEPU has produced informational leaflets informing all members about the details and the meaning of this proposal. Telstra has threatened the CEPU with legal action over material the union has circulated to members warning them of the dangers of the Telstra Contact and Service Stream Agreement 2007. But legal threats will not stop the union telling its members and other Telstra employees its view of the Agreement. More information at: http://www.uniglobalunion.org/unitelecom.nsf/7f9bc1ab9d 900747c1257044004ba821/c836bce629a3e971c12573870 033e60d?OpenDocument

Inter-Union strike call at La Poste and France Télécom on 20 November The FAPT CGT - F3C CFDT - SUD PTT - FO Com and CFTC P&T trade union federations met on 29 October to pave the way for the day of action on 20 November.

Together they discussed the demands put forward by employees at France Télécom and La Poste several months ago and various actions undertaken on issues as varied as purchasing power, employment conditions, restructuring activities, as well as the impact of these on their quality of life, and the defence and improvement of the public service.

It has now been decided that the CEOs of these companies, mindful of their responsibilities, have a duty to enter into negotiations on these specific issues. The unions call upon all employees at La Poste and France Télécom to come out on strike, to unite, and to participate in large numbers in the demonstrations planned for 20 November.

Violent Dispersal of Hunger Striking Workers

Outsourcing of service and installation at Cablecom – good conditions for the employees affected

In 2007, after recording a net income of 17.2 Billion pesos in the first half of the year, PLDT declared 575 employees redundant. Included in the list are 26 union officers, one of which is a national executive officer. After an unsuccessful dialogue with Philippine Department of Labor Secretary Arturo Brion, the top three leaders of Manggagawa sa Komunikasyon ng Pilipinas (MKP, Philippine Long Distance Telephone company rank & file union), their President (Pete Pinlac), First Vice-President (Arturo Castillo) and 2nd Vice-President (John Beato) declared a hunger strike. This was the union's answer to

Cablecom is outsourcing its service and installation departments. The 49 employees affected by outsourcing will enjoy the same conditions of employment and their jobs will be guaranteed for 12 months. These excellent terms are concluded in an agreement that has been negotiated between the Communication Workers' Union and the staff representatives at Cablecom to cover any commercial restructuring.

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From 1 November 2007 Cable transfered its service and installation work to eight regional and one supra-regional partner companies. The agreement will apply to the affected employees. It was agreed this year by Cablecom, the Communication Workers' Union and staff representatives. It provides for terms that are clearly better than the minimal provisions. Accordingly, the jobs of the employees, as well as pay, working time, holidays and place of work will be guaranteed for twelve months. There are additional provisions for workers aged 57 and over.

Their jobs are guaranteed for 18 months. In addition, Cablecom has pledged that if jobs are lost for commercial reasons, they will re-employ those affected on the same terms and conditions that applied at the time of the change.

Moreover, after 18 months in the new company a one-off payment will be made into each employee's providential fund; it will be graded according to age and seniority.

The quality of the agreement and the transparency and desire for sustainable social dialogue shown by Cablecom send out a very positive signal regarding industrial relations in the Telecom sector.

35,000 more jobs threatened at Deutsche Telekom Some 35,000 additional jobs are reportedly threatened in German telecom giant Deutsche Telekom, on top of the tens of thousands already being lost. The company employs some 249,000 people worldwide, 89,000 of them outside Germany. It has lost thousands of clients, mainly from fixed line contracts, in favour of mobiles. More than 30,000 jobs had already been earmarked for the axe. The weekly magazine Der Spiegel has seen internal company documents calling for more job losses despite Telekom already being in the process of restructuring. German incumbent denies press report that it aims to shed a further 35,000 positions. Deutsche Telekom Chief Executive Rene Obermann declined to confirm this figure in the interview with Der Spiegel. He said that in the long term, he could see DT investing in developing countries. Earlier this year Obermann had said the firm had no immediate plans to invest in emerging markets, and was accused of missing the boat compared with its rivals.

German trade union ver.di said it will react with decisive opposition if those plans prove true. In the course of recent restructuring, DT outsourced around 50,000 jobs earlier this year. According to ver.di, it has cut around 10,000 jobs each year since its listing in 1995.

UNI meets with the CWU South Africa and the Solidarity Centre to evaluate Vodacom organising success UNI Telecom and UNI Africa held an evaluation workshop to look at the progress that has been made with the organising of Vodacom workers in South Africa and to plan a way forward to strengthen the union membership in this South African based mobile phone company, part of the Vodafone Group. Earlier this year many UNI affiliates supported the strike action the CWU South Africa Vodacom members took to gain union recognition. The workshop has looked at the strengths and weaknesses of the campaign and planned a way forward to make sure the union has support to build on this excellent organising campaign and to expand their efforts into other South Africa based multinational mobile phone companies such as MTN. A comprehensive plan of action was developed and a new phase of activities will be underway including building better union networks in Vodacom and MTN.

FUNCTIONAL SEPARATION – More Companies face these changes: Telecom Italia – discussions on structural separation Telecom Italia is under pressure by regulators who want Europe's fifth-largest telecommunications company to place its fixed-line network under independent management by the end of the year to guarantee equal access to all competitors. Chief Executive Officer Riccardo Ruggiero has hinted it might go even further, saying he does not exclude a structural separation of the network and the sale of a minority stake. Separating the management of the network would follow in the steps of BT Group, which set up Openreach, a separate division to manage its UK network. Nordic operator TeliaSonera aims to do the same in Sweden. Telecom Italia in the second quarter paid Fastweb 60.7 million euros in compensation for failing to comply with regulations that allow clients to switch from Telecom Italia to other companies.

Croatian Telecom makes online training available for workers The Croatian Telecom company HT - Hrvatske telekomunikacije, has on-line training available for workers. HT workers can access training on MS Word Writing and text processing, MS Excel - Production of table calculations, Internet basics, www and e-mail, MS PowerPoint - Production of presentations, MS Access Relation data bases and IT basics. The workers can access the training, which the company says will not only help them in their work but for their future, on the company's intranet: http://intranet.t.ht.hr

Polish Regulator favours TPSA functional split Poland's market regulator favours functional - not structural - separation of dominant telephone operator Telekomunikacja Polska SA and expects the final decision 17

in the middle of next year. According Anna Strezynska, the head of Urzad Komunikacji Elektronicznej (the Polish regulator body), functional separation is the best way to guarantee fair competition by giving all operators equal access to TPSA infrastructure, at equal prices. UKE will

Telecoms Regulation Agenda gathers pace in Europe In November 2007 the European Commission proposed reforms to the regulatory environment for Telecoms in Europe that would among, other things, provide national regulators with the power to impose functional separation on national telecoms operators. This remedy is being made available to national regulators in order that they may deal with any perceived market abuses which might be taking place in a context where insufficient competition exists in the market place.

In conjunction with this the European Commission is very much focused on short term, last mile competition which it sees as fundamental to creating a truly competitive telecoms market place that will ultimately drive the creation of new services at lower costs. A concern among Trade Unions across the European Union is that this short termism does nothing to enhance much needed investment on an ongoing basis that will ensure the development of next generation networks which are key to the development of new services across the telecoms industry. The CWU and other Unions are concerned that the investment environment that may result from the Commission’s proposed reforms would be one whereby next generation access networks would only be rolled on a piecemeal basis with operators concentrating their investments in urban high population areas to the cost of rural communities.

Needless to say, in a largely rural country like Ireland this would only exacerbate the issue of the digital divide that already exists.

Whilst functional separation tends to be at the forefront of any discussions on the regulatory framework review it should be noted that a number of other important issues are dealt with including the proposed creation of the European Electronic Communications Market Authority (EECMA) along with the views on access and services and stake holder participation among others. Set out below is a review of the position paper adopted by UNI Europa Telecom in recent weeks.

make a final decision on whether TPSA has to proceed with the functional separation by mid-2008. The organizational work may take up the whole of 2009, with the first effects of the separation being seen in 2010.

FUNCTIONAL SEPARATION “Functional Separation is a costly burdensome and a longterm regulatory remedy, which could turn out to be ill suited to the dynamic nature of the electronic communications market in Europe”.

This sentence captures the essence of the UNI view on, what is considered by many to be, the drastic step of functional separation as a remedy to ensure that dynamic competition exists in the Telecom market places in each member state. As CWU members will no doubt know, functional separation does not appear to be on the agenda for eircom, instead they are considering the far more extreme measure of structural separation and divestiture whereby the retail and mobile elements of the business will be sold in order to create a telecoms network utility. In both cases many questions remain unanswered as to what the implications will be for those workers in the industry affected by these strategic approaches. It has been identified that functional separation has the potential to drastically alter working conditions and employment opportunities for staff in the sector. The Lisbon Strategy clearly sets out that the objective of the EU is to create more and better jobs but the Commission’s promotion of a functional separation agenda does not appear to give adequate consideration to the very real employment effect that this approach might lead to. Aside from the fact that functional separation can potentially undermine working conditions, this strategy does not appear to take into consideration the fact that the skills base for this category of worker could also be adversely impacted by this change. UNI has called on the Commission to be highly wary of the issue of divestiture given that investment bankers have made claims that as much as €20 billion could be achieved from the sale of separated telecoms companies.

ACCESS AND SERVICES In its regulatory review the Commission appears intent on separating access and services in the definition of the universal service and users rights directive. UNI considers this both unwise and far from timely. The view is that a separation between access and services at this juncture would effectively establish pre-conditions for the 2008 review of the scope of Universal service. The Union view is that access and services are indivisible in the context of public service

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obligations and it should be understood by all members that a myriad of services that cannot be accessed are meaningless. Unions would prefer to see the review of universal service take place in the first instance and that high speed internet services be included as part of this process of redefinition.

STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION Quite rightfully UNI is keen to see appropriate and sufficient account taken of the employment and wider social consequences of regulatory decisions and in that context stakeholder participation is vital. UNI’s view is that “the European Commission’s failure to adequately consider research and evaluate social considerations is deeply regrettable”. Nowhere in the proposed review does the European Commission mention the fact that 1.25 million people are employed in the Telecoms Sector and to ignore this sizeable workforce and their concerns and issues is a considerable worry for Trade Unions throughout the European Union. The considered view is that Telecom employees and their representatives should be given the opportunity to play an active role in the direction of and decision making within their industry. As has been identified by the CWU in the past, national regulators who are not democratically accountable are given considerable power to make decisions that have grave implications for employment within the sector to say nothing of the wider social consequences arising from these decisions.

Clearly the ability for employee representatives in Trade Unions to ensure that workers’ concerns and issues are heard both at the national and European levels should be bolstered in any review process.

The CWU continues to actively represent its members at the European level and will continue to work in conjunction with UNI to ensure that the European Commission’s review of the regulatory framework for electronic communications and services takes adequate consideration of the concerns and issues of the workforce. In addition to this it will make every effort to guarantee that the Commission is appropriately wary of the potential high cost of low prices in this sector and that the creation of the EECMA does not lead to the development of the EU base quango that is not answerable to those people most directly affected by any decisions it might take in the future.

If TNT doesn't yield in response to our letter-sending action, we will organise a campaign against TNT.

TNT Action

TNT N.V. Group Head Office Neptunstraat 41-63 2132 JA Hoofddorp P.O. Box 1300 1100 KG Amsterdam

Dear colleagues, For your information, we attach a letter from UNI's General Secretary to Peter Bakker, the ceo of TNT.

LETTER TO BAKKER

14 January 2008

Dear Mr Bakker,

Following postal market liberalisation, our UNI affiliate ver.di secured a minimum wage for the postal sector in Germany. TNT-Post Germany, a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based TNT Group, is refusing payment of the minimum wage to its employees and instead wants to impose a business model that is based on wage and social dumping. To that end, it is deliberately violating German law.

The dubious nature of TNT's actions in Germany is also shown by the fact that, encouraged by employers, a trade union has been set up with which TNT-Post Germany has negotiated agreements, in order to undermine the collective agreements negotiated by our UNI affiliate. The leaders of the employer-associated trade union come directly from the executive offices of a postal service provider. Its executive secretary is a business consultant. The financing of the trade union is opaque and shady. A German court has rejected the trade union's registration in the register of associations, on the grounds that it lacks the necessary attributes of a trade union. Also the German labour minister has serious doubts about the aforementioned conduct. But all this is of no interest to TNT. As far as UNI is concerned, the dispute is of fundamental importance. If, after the liberalisation of the postal market in the EU, the big postal groups don't abide by the law and legislation, then a precedent will be set. The same methods will be used to circumvent legislation and collective agreements in all countries.

We therefore call on all UNI affiliates in all UNI sectors to send protest letters to TNT ceo Peter Bakker, urging him to comply with the postal minimum wage negotiated by our German affiliate ver.di. Please send us a copy of your letter.

If TNT doesn't yield in response to our letter-sending action, we will organise a campaign against TNT.

The EU Parliament has opened the way for further postal market liberalisation in Europe through a new Postal Services Directive. UNI has been able to influence the speed of liberalisation, the regulatory framework and the social implementation parameters. We are proud to say that UNI has had a significant impact on the political debate and processes in Europe.

We have paid special attention to the some two million workers in Europe’s postal sector. We do not want postal market liberalisation to adversely affect the working and social conditions of the sector’s employees. We want competition in the postal sector to be through quality, innovation and product variety. We reject a strategy of seeking a competitive edge through a business model based on wage and social dumping.

We were successful in bringing the European Parliament to grant EU member states a range of possibilities to accompany the opening of postal markets with social flanking measures.

That endeavour can be served by, among other things, social licensing requirements and collectively agreed minimum wages. The EU Parliament also requires all member states to strictly apply labour law and collective agreement provisions to all postal service providers. The EU Council of Ministers, in the compromise proposal of the Portuguese Council Presidency, followed in essence the EU Parliament’s decision.

In the implementation of market liberalisation, more importance must be attached to social considerations.

In 20 of the 27 EU member states, statutory minimum wages are developing an impact on the postal sector. In five EU member states, collectively agreed minimum wage guarantees are applicable. Many UNI affiliates are seeking, alongside market opening, collectively agreed minimum wage guarantees in the postal sector, based on the working and pay conditions in the traditional postal operators.

In Germany, the postal market was opened on 1 January 2008. The other EU member states intend to open their markets as from 2011/2013. In Germany, the opening of the market was accompanied by the introduction of a minimum wage in the postal sector.

It is with some annoyance that we note that TNT-Post Germany has publicly stated that it does not want to pay this minimum wage. With outrage we note that, obviously guided by employers in dubious circumstances, a trade union has been set up, with which TNT-Post Germany is concluding agreements, in order to bypass the postal minimum wage and to establish wage and social dumping as a permanent business model.

TNT's address is: TNT N.V. Group Head Office Neptunstraat 41-63 2132 JA Hoofddorp P.O. Box 1300 1100 KG Amsterdam (see: http://group.tnt.com/home/contact/index.asp) Yours sincerely, Philip Jennings General Secretary UNI Global Union

19

Submitted by Ian McA rdle

IBM refuses recognition for O2 Staff In recent months the CWU Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) has been conducting intensive discussions with O2 Management on the Transfer of O2’s Technology Staff to IBM and British Telecom.

Central to these discussions has been the issue of Collective Representation for the transferring of staff.

From the very outset CWU Members affected by the outsourcing strategy being pursued by O2 insisted in the strongest terms that the issue of Collective Representation should be a priority issue for the JCC. Members felt strongly on this issue for a number of reasons, chief among them the fact that any questions staff have on the implications on the transferral process cannot be answered until after the transfer itself has been completed. The transferring staff have invested many years of loyal service in O2 and have understandably built up a positive and trusting working relationship with their employer. However, the transfer to IBM or British Telecom presents the beginning of a new working relationship and in the absence of a vital element of trust that exists with O2, staff have quite rightly sought protection and benefit of independent and collective representation by a Trade Union.

The difficulty, however, is that both IBM and British Telecom have made it clear that they do not want to enter into a relationship with a Trade Union that will provide collective representation for the transferring staff.

However, under the European Communities (protection of Employees on Transfer of undertakings) Regulations 2003/S/I 121 of 2003, provisions are made for the protection of employee’s representation in order that the status and function of employee’s representatives affected by the transfer be preserved on the same terms and subject to the same conditions that existed before the transfer. The CWU

Ian McA rdle Head of Organising and Regulatory A ffairs, CW U.

has raised this point on several occasions with O2 Management and stressed to them the critical importance that members place on the issue of collective representation post transfer. The Union has sought, via O2, meetings with IBM and invited their representatives to attend the JCC Meetings, but so far IBM have refused to take up these invitations.

Following representations made by CWU on behalf of staff transferring to IBM on the issue of collective representation, O2 Management has advised the JCC that IBM will not have any dealings with a Trade Union, nor will it recognise the JCC as a forum where O2 staff can raise issues collectively in conjunction with a Trade Union.

This response by IBM has caused serious concern and disquiet among the transferring staff who already have some serious apprehensions about the move.

The fact that O2 Management would permit this situation to reach this point also runs contrary to their aspiration to be seen as one of the best employers in the country. Any organisation aspiring to this accolade would surely place a high value on placating the fears and addressing the concerns of staff who are engaged in a programme of change that will deliver very substantial savings to O2, but which will fundamentally alter the employment relationship and career paths of the effected staff. It is in this context that the Union are seeking a positive resolution to this vital issue as soon as possible. However, in light of the fact that IBM appears to have no intention of respecting the transfer of undertaking legislation, the Union have been forced to raise a complaint with the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). At the time of writing this complaint was the subject of some scrutiny within the LRC. 20

CWU’s Humanitarian Aid Link Up

by Steve Crilly, Secretary Dublin No 2 into the future. Over the past two years, HA's Carl Webb addressed the No 2 branch AGM's and received very positive from the Branch.

A meeting was arranged with the General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick, and the CWU's Humanitarian Aid representatives. Steve was extremely enthusiastic about such a joint venture, and following recent meetings with eircom and An Post, he reported that both companies were very happy to get involved.

It is hoped that a joint convoy with the CWU, (UK) CWU, (NI) and CWU, (ROI) will take place sometime in September 2008. This will involve two drivers from eircom and two drivers from An Post taking trucks on the convoy.

At present, Members of the Branch are involved in putting together the necessary aid for the trip. It is hoped that this will not be a once off event and that next year other CWU Branches will get involved in the Humanitarian Aid convoy.

The Communications Workers’ Union, (UK) Humanitarian Aid (HA) was set up in 1995 in response to an appeal from Trade Unionists living in war-torn Bosnia.

Trade Unionists, families and friends who work in Britain's Postal and Telecoms industries decided to get involved in a response to the plight of vulnerable children in Bosnia and other countries.

At the end of the war, CWU Humanitarian Aid with the support of BT, & Royal Mail delivered much-needed aid to hundreds of orphanages, foster and adoption centres. They also delivered directly to vulnerable families in numerous countries throughout eastern Europe. British Telecom and Royal Mail loaned the vehicles and supplied the fuel for this very worthwhile venture.

Over the past couple of years, discussions have taken place between CWU, Humanitarian Aid Committee, the Dublin No.2 Branch and CWU Northern Ireland, with a view to becoming involved in a joint convoy at sometime

Pictured from l to r: Laurence Houston Steve Rowland Alex Pearson Carl Webb Steve Crilly John Dunleavy

21

SUB PRIME LENDING

ACE MORTGAGE BROKERS “We make your dreams come true”

AT THE MORTGAGE BROKERS

Gee, I’d like to buy a house but I haven’t saved any money for a deposit and I don’t think I can afford the monthly payments. Can you help me?

ACE MORTGAGE BROKERS

ACE MORTGAGE BROKERS

“We make your dreams come true”

“We make your dreams come true”

And we can give you a really low interest rate for a few years. We’ll raise it later, ok?

Sure no problem, but there is one problem, my boss is a very real Prat and may not verify my employment.

Would that be a problem?

You guys are awesome!

You are really willing to work with guys like me.

No, we can get a special “Liar’s Loan” and you can verify your own employment and income.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC “Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Open your Christmas Club Account Today”

NEW MORTGAGE FILE

I’d better get rid of these crappy mortgage loans.

They are starting to stink up my office. Thankfully the really smart guys in Dublin will buy them and perform their financial magic! I’ll call them right away!

LET’S SEE WHAT THE SMART GUYS ARE DOING...

Well, we don’t actually lend you the money, a bank will do that so we don’t really care if you repay the loan. We still get our commission.

Wow! Let’s get started.

FIRST BANK OF BANKLAND LTD.

A FEW WEEKS LATER, AT THE BANK...

Sure, since the value of your house will always goe up, we don’t need deposits anymore!

But who would buy this crap, Boss?

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs” But who would buy this crap, Boss?

Phew!!!! Let’s get rid of these shitty mortgages before they start attracting flies.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

But Crap is Crap, isn’t it? I don’t get it.

I’ve got it! First we’ll create a new security and use these crappy mortgages as collateral. We’ll call it a CDO or maybe CMO. We can sell that CDO to investors and promise to pay them back as the mortgages are paid off.

22

Sure, individually these are pretty crappy loans, but if we pool them together, only some of them will go bad – certainly no all of them. And since housing prices always go up, we really have very little to worry about.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC “Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs” I don’t get it.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs” If some of the mortgages fail, as surely some might, we will promise to pay investors holding the “Good” traunch first. We’ll pay the “Not-So-Good” investors second, and the “Ugly” investors last.

The new CDO will work like this: It will be made up of three pieces (or traunches) and we’ll call then “the Good”, “The Not-So-Good”, and “The Ugly”.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

I’m starting to get it. And because the “Good” investors have the least risk, we’ll pay them a lower interest rate than the other guys, right?

The “Not-So-Good” will get a better interest rate and the “Ugly” guys will get a nice fat interest rate.

Exactly! But wait, it gets better. We will buy bond insurance for the “Good” mortgages.

If we do that, the Rating Agencies will give it a really great rating, in the AAA to A range. They will likely give the “Not-So-Good” ones a BBB to B rating - still pretty good. We won’t even bother asking them to rate the “Ugly” ones.

So you have managed to create AAA and BBB securities out of a pile of stinky, risky mortgage loans. Boss, you’re a genius!

Ah yes, I know.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

Ok, now who are we going to sell the three pieces to?

The assholes on the SEC won’t let us sell this stuff to widows and orphans, so we’ll sell it to our sophisticated institutional clients.

Like whom?

Like insurance companies, banks, small towns in Norway, school boards in Ballyhalfwit - to anyone who is looking for a high quality safe investment.

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

“Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs”

But surely nobody would buy the “Ugly” piece, would they?

Of course not, nobody is that stupid! We will keep that piece and pay ourselves a handsome interest rate.

This is all great, but since we are only using the smelly mortgages as collateral on an entirely new security, we haven’t really gotten rid of them Don’t we have to show them on our balance sheet?

RSG INVESTMENT BANK OF IFSC “Trust the ‘Really Smart Guys’ for All Your Investment Needs” That;s great, but why would they let us do that?

Aren’t we just moving our own crap around?

Sure, but we have convinced them that it is vitally important to the health of the Irish financial system that investors not know about these complex transactions and what is behind them!

No, of course not. The guys who write the accounting rules allow us to set up a shell company in the Caymen Islands, to take ownership of the mortgages.

The crap goes on their balance sheet, not ours.

The fancy name for it is “Special Purpose Vehicle”, or SPV.

OFFICE OF THE CZAR OF ACCOUNTING “No Nit Too Small to Pick”

LET’S DROP IN TO SEE THE TS ...

ACCOUNTAN

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Sir, as an investor and a concerned citizen, I demand that you force our financial insitutions to show greater transparency and openness in their financial reporting!

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

OFFICE OF THE CZAR OF ACCOUNTING “No Nit Too Small to Pick” Ah, Get Lost!!!!

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

RSG INVESTMENT BANK Yeah, I mean’t to call you, but it’s been really crazy around here. It seems that the assholes who took out the mortgages backing your CDO aren’t able to pay them off

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND But you told me that housing prices always go up and that your borrowers could always refinance their mortgages!

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

Yeah, they screwed up too!

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND Well, that’s just great, asshole. What am I supposed to tell my villagers?

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

GEE, WE NEV ER SAW IT COMING! NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND Wait a minute! We bought the AAA “Good” piece of the CDO. You know? The safe one. We’re supposed to be getting paid first!

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

RSG INVESTMENT BANK Well, unfortunately the loans were quite a bit crappier than we originally thought, and there is very little cash coming in. Frankly, I assure you that we are as disappointed as you are.

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

Yeah, that was a bad assumption.

We screwed up.

Sorry!

Bad assumption, my Norwegian ass! What about the AAA rating from the agencies?

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

But this security was insured!

What about the insurers?

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

Hey, Man! What the hell is up? We’re not receiving our monthly payments!

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

NORWEGIAN VILLAGE PENSION FUND

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

RSG INVESTMENT BANK Are you kidding? There’s no way they have enough money set aside to cover this mess.

They screwed up!

RSG INVESTMENT BANK

Tell them you Screwed up!

24

THE END

Rural Post Offices can still serve us well

by Noel Whelan The following article appeared in The Irish Times on Saturday, 8th March, 2008. (Reprinted here with permission.)

The post office, a key traditional institution in Irish Villages, can keep its commercial and social relevance....

MY MOTHER retired this week after 50 years of running the local post office in a village in south Co Wexford. She has been a postmistress longer than Ian Paisley has been in politics, having established Ballycullane post office with my dad in January 1958. In an interview with a local newspaper this week she reflected on the changes over the last five decades.

Inside the post office the dominant aromas were once those of sackcloth mailbags and sealing wax. Now most parcels and letters are sent in selfsealing cartons. Licking stamps was once the most distasteful part of the job but stamps now come adhesivebacked.

The thud of the office date stamp on letters and social welfare payment books is one of the abiding memories of my youth but, thanks to bar codes and new franking technology, the date stamp has fallen silent.

The daily and weekly reconciliation of the post office accounts was the most stressful part of my mum’s working life, particularly in the days when they were done by long hand in hard copy journals. Now Ballycullane, like most post offices, is completely automated.

Other consequences of modernity are the large glass-and-steel barrier on top of the counter and the time-

delay safe, all designed to guard against the trend of sub-post office robberies. Ballycullane post office itself was robbed in 1986.

Thankfully, it occurred in the middle of the night when we were all asleep.

A gang forced the iron bars of the front windows and pulled the modest post office safe from its perch under the counter, brought it up the road to a local building site, prised it open and made off with the contents.

The early and mid-1980s were dark times in country villages, with Saturday bringing a depressing queue of social welfare recipients to the post office, most of them unemployed men and some women who couldn’t emigrate because they were married with young families.

The economic turnaround of the late 1980s and early 1990s brought a dramatic and welcome fall-off in this aspect of the post office’s business.

Like many post offices we also had a small grocery shop on the premises with a butcher counter on Fridays and children’s allowance days. The shop is long closed because supermarkets in the towns and even in one or two of the neighbouring villages have rendered small local shops unprofitable.

For all the technological advances, one central feature remained unchanged. The post office has always been at the heart of community life. It was the first port of call for travellers looking for directions, even for Americans looking for ancestors. More importantly, it was the first refuge of many people looking not only for stamps but for company. Each Thursday and Friday hundreds from the village and surrounding townlands came to collect their pensions and for some it was one of their few weekly outings. It provided a plethora of other local services including school keyholder or information officer for local newspapers checking match results,

25

for those confirming a funeral arrangement or which of the doctors was on call.

While there has been a surge again in the population of rural villages, there is a lot less social infrastructure than in past decades. The age profile of the church’s manpower is rising rapidly and some parochial houses have been boarded up. Many rural Garda stations have closed or become non-residential. Rural shops face competition from a second wave of even larger and cheaper supermarkets. Local pubs are closing at a striking rate. In those circumstances there is still much about local post offices that needs to be preserved.

The post office network and the men and women who staff it, whether as An Post employees or as sub-contractors, are not looking for a free lunch. They have proved incredibly adaptable to competition and the threat posed by the changing pattern in social welfare payments.

The range of services has grown exponentially. You can order your passport, develop photographs, avail of a full range of banking facilities and even purchase gift vouchers for Dublin department stores at your local office. The rural post office network should be preserved not for its own sake on an unprofitable basis but because much more could be delivered, and delivered well, through local post offices.

Developing them as community citizen information centres should go hand in hand with further expansion of their commercial services.

As for my mum, she’s looking forward to her retirement. My dad worries that she’ll be at home under his feet. She says there’s no chance of that with her travel plans. Having been tied to a counter and to the service of a community for five decades, there is much of this country and indeed of other countries that she wants to see.

Equality Update

2008, European Year of Intercultural Dialogue

An Post has marked the year with this stamp displaying the year’s logo.

The European Parliament and the Member States have declared 2008 the “European Year of Intercultural Dialogue”.

programmes and actions in 2008, the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue will make it possible to raise the profile and increase the overall impact of these actions in the context of the Year.

The Year will also involve close cooperation between the Member States to concentrate efforts on awareness-raising and communication activities.

The European Commission in partnership with civil society stakeholders will be hosting a series of seven themeatic “Brussels Debates” throughout 2008. The first debate has already commenced in March and took place in the Residence Palace in Brussels to discuss the “Impact of Migration on Intercultural Dialogue”. The next debate will continue on the theme of Arts and Culture. It is estimated that the Brussels Debates will shape future EU strategy on intercultural dialogue.

Intercultural dialogue has long been a principle supported by the European Union and its Institutions. It aims to draw the attention of people in Europe to the importance of dialogue within diversity and between diverse cultures.

With an overall budget of €10 million, the European Year will draw on the wealth and diversity of a series of specific projects to be implemented during 2008 through Community programmes and other actions. Culture, education, youth, sport and citizenship will be the main areas concerned.

CWU Input for the Year

Generally speaking, the European Year is expected to: •

•

promote intercultural dialogue as an instrument to assist European citizens, and all those living in the European Union, in acquiring the knowledge and aptitudes to enable them to deal with a more open and more complex environment;

The Union will be marking the year by embarking on diversity training for activists with a view to rolling out a new module during the year. The Diversity and Equality Committee is agreed that significant work must be done to embrace our increasingly diverse membership. We have already approached An Post, eircom and several other companies where we have members to discuss joint initiatiaves on cultural diversity as we are aware that there is a lack of policy and procedural guidance in the areas were our members’ work.

raise the awareness of European citizens, and all those living in the European Union, of the importance of developing active European citizenship which is open to the world, respectful of cultural diversity and based on common values.

Representing a unique opportunity to strengthen “mainstreaming” in all of the relevant Community

For more information, please log on to: http://www.interculturaldialogue2008.eu/ 26

Equality Update

Action Plans discussed to progress Women’s Participation in the Union.

Members will be aware of our recent initiative to increase female representation in the CWU. Four focus groups had been organised at Union Head Office to discuss participation of women in the Union. A fifth and final Focus Group was organised at the end of January to discuss the survey results and recommendations made at the previous four Focus Groups.

The aim of this last workshop was to develop an action plan that would seek to advance female participation in the Union.

The day was broken into four sessions, in session 1 participants were asked to identify the top three priorities for the Union.

Session 2 looked at the suggestions from the survey and previous focus groups and participants ranked the suggestions in order of importance so as to identify three actions under each of the following headings: • • • •

Direct Communications - notice board, suggestion boxes, website, newsletter etc.

Indirect Communications - local, regional and national meetings etc.

Representative Structure - mainstreaming women’s issues etc.

Training and Development - branch level, certification and qualifications, assertiveness training etc.

Session 3 identified what the implications of these actions would be and the fourth session identified how the Union should proceed on foot of these actions.

The fifth Focus Group was made up of the National Executive and of the Officer Board including the General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick. Very lively and interesting debates took place on the role of women in the Union and our future action plans. The agreed action plan will be built into the final report, which at the time of writing will be issued to those who took part in the focus groups in the coming weeks.

Pictured above: Steve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary, Imelda Wall, CWU Office Manager & Fintan King, President.

Pictured left: Charlie Kelly, NEC member 27

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29

CWU Intellectual Disability Housing Projects

CARRICK-ON-SUIR A presentation of â‚Ź25,000 was made to Camphill Community, Carrick On Suir towards their new housing development Project in Castle Street. Aine Taylor of Carrick-on-Suir Camphill Community expressed their appreciation of the generosity of the members of the CWU who contributed to this fund. Building of the first phase of the development in Ballingranna will start in April 2008.

Attached photographs illustrate to you the tremendous work carried out by these communities which the CWU has supported for many years due to your generous support.

Fergus Fitzgerald , Dawn Poleg, Kristina Rippen, Helen Liffeg, Seamus Walsh (CWU An Post Carrick), James Walsh, Yokann Ivors, Aine Taylor, Monica Hempenstall (CWU Dublin HQ), Tom Fahy (CWU eircom Clonmel), John Murray (CWU eircom Waterford), Bill Colfer (CWU An Post Waterford), Neil Maclean

The Journey Programme, Carrick on Suir was also presented with a cheque amounting to â‚Ź30,000.00 this Camphill initiative is to facilitate the future of young people who have an intellectual disability. Many young people find it difficult to access training after leaving school in established centres, due to their exceptional needs, their lack of gaining literacy skills or their exceptional communication needs.

The new centre will accommodate 20 people partaking of the day time programme and four young people in the residential situation. Without your support these projects would not be achieved.

Fergus Fitzgerald, Helen Liffeg, Dawn Poleg, Kristina Rippen, Seamus Walsh (CWU An Post Carrick), Eileen Kennedy, Laura Brazil, Heather Lynch, Monica Hempenstall (CWU Dublin HQ), Tom Fahy (CWU eircom Clonmel), John Murray (CWU eircom Waterford), Bill Colfer (CWU An Post Waterford), James Roche, Neil Maclean, Yokann Ivors

30

Camphill, Carrick-on-Suir Crafts Centre residents making candles.

31

CWU DEVELOPMENT FUND programs for all our children and to monitor their progress and change each individual programme accordingly based on scientific methods of data collection. There is daily data collection using precision teaching as well as daily and weekly chart review.

A visitation was made to the Saplings School Goresbridge, Kilkenny where the CWU made a presentation of €5000.00 to the Saplings School to help children with Autism. Applied Behaviour Analysis allows them to structure completely individualized teaching

From Left to right: John Morris, Secretary, Kilkenny, Postal, Mairéad Ryan, Saplings School, Pat Conery, Saplings School, Monica Hempenstall, Financial Officer, CWU, Dr Maeve Bracken, Saplings School, Noel O’Farrell eircom, Kilkenny.

TANZANIAN APPEAL eircom NENAGH SECTION A presentation of €5000.00 was made to the Tanzanian Appeal towards construction work for a New Hospital Building in aid of Mama Huruma Hospital, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Arusha run by Father Louis Sisti,

Pallottine Fathers. An expression of gratitude was extended to all the CWU members contributing towards these very worthwhile projects.

Left to right: Pat Delaney, Section Secretary, Nenagh eircom, Fr Matthew Sanka, Pollattine Fathers, Willie Keane, Fundraising Co-ordinator, Willie O’Reilly, Secretary Chairperson, eircom, Nenagh, Aileen Bourke, Nenagh President Walkers Club and Trish O’Shea, Nenagh Walkers.

32

Monaghan Project Official opening ceremony of the Millbrook & Brookvale Group Homes which the CWU financially supported with a grant of â‚Ź25,000.00 in order to provide accommodation for seven people all of whom are moderately handicapped.

Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, officially opened the ceremony

Mary McAleese at the official opening ceremony in Millbrook & Brookvale Group Homes in Monaghan.

Monica Hempenstall, Financial Officer, CWU, and Charlie Kelly, Vice President, CWU at the official opening ceremony in Monaghan.

33

CWU People

eircom Dundalk Section awarded CWU Service Pins ordinator, and Section Chairman, Matt Pepper, who did the honours on the night.

eircom Dundalk Section members received their CWU Service Pins for 20 years’ and 30 years’ service, which was held at the Social Club Christmas Dinner Dance in Dundalk in November, 2007.

The Union was represented by Section Secretary, Barney Fahy, Seán McGeough, Co-

Submitted by Barney Fahy, Section Secretary, Dundalk Photos taken by Eugene Quigley.

34

CWU People CASTLEBAR TELEPHONES BRANCH AGM

MARTIN O’CALLAGHAN DEPARTS FOR PASTURES NEW

Pictured at the Castlebar Telephones Branch AGM where a presentation was made to Ray Lawlor National Executive Council and Terry Delany Deputy General Secretary for all their efforts are: Ray Lawlor (NEC), Mary Corcoran (Committee Member), Ann O’Malley (Assistant Secretary), Terry Delany (Deputy General Secretary), Mary Daly (Assistant Chairperson), Mary Mc Manus (Chairperson), Mary Macken (Secretary), Ann Reilly (Treasurer).

We learned with regret in November of the departure from the Union and An Post of Martin O’Callaghan.

Martin served as Secretary of the Mallow Postal Branch for many years and as a member of the National Executive Council since 2001. He was also on the negotiating team from the start for the Collection and Delivery Project and has established a reputation for integrity, hard working, steely determination and a sharp brain. Anyone who encountered him during the long hours he put in, whether commuting from his native Mallow to Dublin and other parts of the Country or engaged in detailed and protracted negotiations, could not but be impressed. By it’s nature, much of his work involved varying degrees of tension and controversy but that never deterred him in his pursuit of fairness. A sharp wit, delivered with a proud Cork lilt, did him no harm either. It says much for his character that, irrespective of whether or not they agreed with him, he earned the utmost respect from all who dealt with him.

As he departs for pastures new, Martin carries with him the deepest gratitude of the CWU and all our best wishes for the future.

SANTA SPRINT IN THE CORK MAIL CENTRE Submitted by Jerry Browne, NEC

Phil Clifford is a Postal Sorter in the Cork Mail Centre. For the past ten years at Christmas, Phil has done a “Santa Sprint”.

This, in effect, requires Phil to sprint the length of the Mail Centre, dressed in full Santa suit, complete with all the “trimmings” of boots, hood and, of course, Santa’s flowing white beard.

The purpose of Phil’s “run” is to raise funds for the Children’s Leukemia Ward of the Mercy Hospital, Cork, which I’m sure you will agree, is a very worthwhile cause indeed.

Down the years at Christmas time, the staff and the local Branch have been more than generous in their contributions and I’m sure this will continue to be the case.

35

CWU People

Success for Paddy Cosgrave, DublinNo 2 Branch

Caroline wins top award

Congratulations are due to Paddy Cosgrave, (Dublin No 2 Branch) who has been co-opted to South Dublin County Council for the Terenure / Rathfarnam Ward.

Paddy, has been a long time Labour Party activist in the area, and replaces Councillor Alex White, following his appointment to the Seanad.

Caroline McGovern, (Capita) was named the 2007 Team Leader of the year at the Call Centre Managment Awards (CCMA) held in the Burlington Hotel. Caroline is a Team Leader with Capita in Telephone House and is a member of the Dublin Clerical Admin Branch.

Jerry Melinn goes to the Olympic Stadium Jerry Melinn went to see AEK Athens and Panathanaikos in the Olympic Stadium. He says, “It was a great atmosphere but there were no Panathanaikos fans at the match because there is always trouble and all derby matches in Athens are home fans only. I wore a suitable jersey for the occasion. I couldn't wear my Irish jersey because of the colour and shamrock (Panathanaikos) which meant I wouldn't have got in!�

Kieran Murphy Retires!

Submitted by Jim Brennan Left are the eircom staff pictured together in Spollenstown HQ, Tullamore Co Offaly, to mark the retirement of Kieran Murphy who worked in eircom for over 35 years approximately.

Kieran retired under the last scheme which was around the end of August, 2007.

36

CWU People

Branch and Union Loses Loyal Servant to Mandate Submitted by Frank Donohoe, Hon Branch Secretary, Dublin Postal Delivery Branch

On the 29th December 2007, Dave Moran, Hon Branch Secretary, Dublin Postal Delivery Branch, CWU, announced to his Branch Officers and Committee that he would be leaving his position to take up the role of Industrial Officer within the Mandate Trade Union.

After the initial shock, the Officers and the Committee wished Dave the very best of luck for the future, but soon realised that he would be a great loss to the Branch and the CWU. This was a very tough decision for Dave, as I know how much he enjoyed representing our members. Having worked side by side with him, as Assistant Secretary for three years, I can say that his dedication and commitment to the Branch was second to none. His expertise and negotiating skills were truly incredible and I have no doubt that he will excel in his new position.

Dave joined the Company over thirty years ago as a Junior Postperson and almost immediately became

involved in Union activities. Over the years he represented the members at many levels until ultimately he became Branch Secretary in 2005 and was elected to the National Executive Council in 2006.

It has been an absolute pleasure and excellent learning experience for me to work alongside Dave for many years.

He has become a true friend to me personally and he will be sadly missed by myself and many others within the Union. Dave has given me the confidence and the knowledge to take up the position of Branch Secretary, but I realise he will be a very hard act to follow.

On behalf of all the members in the Branch and the Union, I would like to thank Dave for his devotion and his allegiance to the Union and its members over the last thirty years and wish him well in his new venture. Hopefully our paths will cross in the future and I am sure that the door will always be open for Dave to return to the CWU.

Pictured here with his colleagues Timmy Walsh, John Green, Adrian Watson, Deirdre Manley, Tim Lane, Pat Hurley and Marian Mc Mahon.

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Tim Lane Retires from Cork Outdoor Postal Branch and An Post

CWU People

MacDara Glynn Retires Submitted by Pat McCarthy Subsequently, on moving to new work areas, he became Branch Secretary of the Telephone Officers’ Union, and later the Communications Workers’ Union. In all, discussions and negotiations over the years, his colleagues were never in any doubt that their best interests were always served, and he never left the table until he was sure that he had achieved the best possible outcome on their behalf.

In addition to representing various Branches as Secretary and Chairman, and carrying out negotiations on behalf of Branch Members, he attended Annual Conference on a regular basis. He also played a leading role in the organisation of the Union’s National Conferences, his involvement always ensuring that the Union’s annual deliberations were carried out in an appropriate environment, with a good balance between the serious business of policy-making and the lighter social side of events.

MacDara will be remembered for all the right reasons by his colleagues, many of whom have since retired themselves. He will be remembered, in particular, for his role in bringing together the various social clubs under on umbrella. This resulted in many new and everlasting friendships being forged during the various social events, such as golf, pitch & putt, bowling, card playing, boating adventures, weekend outings, foreign holidays, sports days . . . the list goes on! And to ensure that no-one was left out, there were the “Santa Parties”. All this he did with an appropriate sense of humour and “devilment” that inevitably added to the enjoyment of the occasion.

It did not end there. Through the Social Club, he negotiated discounts with the business community in and around Galway, including theatre and cinema, hardware companies, oil companies etc. These discounts enabled Staff in eircom to avail of greatly reduced prices for essential household goods, as well as entertainment and social outings.

In recent years, his role as Facilitator of partnership groups within the Partnership structure in eircom enabled Staff who were confronted with Restructuring make the transition in a manner that addressed, first and foremost, any negative impact this change in working conditions imposed on them.

An enjoyable social night marked MacDara’s departure, where his many colleagues and friends recorded their appreciation to him for a lifetime of voluntary service on their behalf. Everyone wished him, and his wife, Assumpta, many years of health, happines and a very active retirement.

Voluntary early retirements have become the order of the day in eircom, mainly due to the changing nature of the telecommunications business.

As a result, the Communications Workers’ Union has lost many outstanding Union volunteers in recent years. The 31st day of January, 2008, could be classed as a real watershed in the life of the Communications Workers’ Union, in particular for the Galway Clerical & Admin Branch.

After over thirty-six years of service, one of its most dedicated Branch Representatives, MacDara Glynn, decided to call it a day and left eircom for the last time.

Having started out in the Department of Post and Telegraphs, the predecessor to eircom, he served with distinction as an employee in many diverse and varied roles.

However, it was in his role as Union activist that MacDara made his greatest contribution to his work colleagues.

Almost immediately after joining the Department of Post and Telegraphs, he identified issues which adversely affected the working conditions of staff employed in the Galway Telephone Exchange. In order to address these problems, he campaigned for, and was successful in having a separate Branch of the Post Office Workers’ Union, established to represent all part-time and full-time staff.

He served as Branch Secretary for many years, during which time he, not alone successfully represented many individual issues on behalf of Members, he also was instrumental in securing new agreements and changes which were of benefit to all.

It is easy to forget in these more enlightened times, how difficult it was back then to be a Union Representative, and the many personal sacrifices which had to be made, in order to address injustices and make the working life of others more acceptable.

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CWU People

Paddy Flynn wins the George Best Fiver Competition!

Peadar Coyne & Jimmy Crowe Retire from Galway Postal Branch

Paddy receiving his commemorative George Best Fiver from Ivor Reynolds of the NEC. Congratulations to Paddy Flynn from the Dublin No 1 Branch, who won the George Best Fiver Competition held in the last Connect Journal.

Paddy was presented with his prize by Ivor Reynolds of the NEC.

Back Row l to r: Ger Madden (HR Manager) with Brian O’Connor, Tommy Kelly, Damian Touhy, Mike Harmon, Ronnie Ward.

Front Row l to r: Geraldine Thompson, Peadar Coyne, Jimmy Crowe and Ann Crowe.

Drogheda Presentation

DUBLIN NO 1 AGM The Dublin No. 1 AGM was held in Liberty Hall on Thursday, 31st January, 2008.

Jim Browne National Co-ordinator

Pictured from l to r: John McGeady, Terry Deleany, Eileen Hogan and Ray Lawlor

John Egan Branch Secretary Dublin No 1 39

CWU People

Former Post Mistress Celebrates her 100th Birthday!

Submitted by John McGeady, Branch Secretary Kitty McGeady was Postmistress of Dunlewey Post Office from 1956 to 1972. She was also a member of the old Postmasters’ Union. Mrs McGeady is pictured here receiving cheque for €2,540, which is a gift from the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese for all centurions. The cheque is presented by her grandson and local Postman and CWU Member, Edward McGeady.

Kitty still resides above the post office and is in very good health. She enjoys playing cards with family and friends everyday.

This article was submitted by John McGeady, grandson of Kitty and Branch Secretary of the Drogheda C&A Branch.

We wish Kitty health and happiness for the future.

Mullingar DQ Branch Voluntary Leaving Scheme The three officers of the Mullingar DQ Branch decided to avail of the Voluntary Leaving scheme.

The Union would like to acknowledge their work and commitment during their years of involvement Pictured with Ray Lawlor NEC and Terry Delany DGS are Ann Purcell outgoing Chair, Carmel Smith outgoing Treasurer and Marie Mc Manus outgoing Secretary.

Harmonstown DO has been missing many familiar faces following the recent retirement of Derek Pugh, Joe Sheridan, Dermot Reid, Des Kennedy, and Dessie Eyre. All were long-term DO 5, CWU Members, with over two hundred years, service between them.

The most recent retirement bash was held in the Artane Beaumont Social Club, when Derek Pugh, Joe Sheridan, and Dermot joined forces on the night and were given a great send-off by their many DO5 colleagues, family and friends.

Also retiring over recent months was Des Kennedy (ex Chairman, Social Committee) and Dessie Eyre, who bid farewell to Harmonstown after a lifetime of service in An Post.

On behalf of their many colleagues and friends in the CWU, we wish Derek, Joe, Dermot, Des and Dessie, and their families a long and happy retirement….they deserve it!

Harmonstown Retirements clock up over 200 years’ service

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CWU People

Michael John Donovan R.I.P. Submitted by William Creedon, Cork Mail Centre of Poems, printed by Forward Press Ltd., Peterborough, as well as Mercier Press. He was also a member of the Great Island Poetic Society in Cobh, where he lived with his wife, Pauline, and three children.

He is sadly missed by all who were privileged to be associated with him.

Michael John Donovan passed away on December, 2006, whilst on duty at the Cork Mail Centre. He was as obliging a person as one could wish to meet, and was well respected by all who knew him.

One aspect of this man’s life, which was unknown to many, was the fact that he was well established in the field of poetic and literary circles, having had numerous articles published, both here and in the UK. He had a book of poems published under his name, entitled Little Book

Here is one of his poems, “When the ball was mine”, a tribute poem he wrote on 04/12/2005 honouring the memory of George Best.

When the ball was mine (in memory of G.B. 1946 – 2005) “I’ll be George Best today ok!” cried my ten year old self, waiting for David Troope to contradict my own belief.

“Ok, I’ll be the Lawman,” he reluctantly replied.

Then said, “I’ll be Best tomorrow and you can be Nobby Stiles.”

“The sweetest goal I ever scored,” said George with a cheeky smile, “Was with San Jose Earthquakes when the ball was mine.”

Dribbling through a packed defence defenders tackling on themselves.

The goalkeeper surrendered and the ball danced into the net.

“He gave defenders twisted blood,” Paddy Crearand once said.

Turned them inside out and left them there for dead.

Sitting on their backsides bewildered and bemused, cursing the long haired whippet score and raise an arm in salute.

“Yes, George Best, you were the greatest,” Pele did one remark, The ultimate compliment from the great Brazilian star.

This week I’ve shed a thousand tears for the hero in my life.

The man who made me dream when I was a child.

Ya, Bestie weaving magic with the Lawman bearing down and Charlton loading bullets defenders trying to stand their ground.

“Georgie pass the bloody ball.”

Screamed Matt Busby from the bench.

But ‘El Beatle’ rock ‘n rolled and tore Bernfica up in shreds.

When the ball was mine.

Michael John Donovan 4/12/2005

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CWU People

Kevin O’Riordan R.I.P. It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Kevin O’Riordan RIP former chairman of the Cork Drivers Branch. Kevin served as Chairman of the Branch from 1979 until 1988 and remained active in the Union up until his retirement in 1994.

Kevin was a great character his nickname was Goldberg after a famous Cork Solicitor although Kevin always claimed that he was more famous than the man himself.

The nickname came about because of Kevin’s ability to give advice to colleagues on any subject. One of his favourite sayings was I might not be right, but I am never wrong. Kevin was a great public speaker and at Union Conferences’ he was never shy about “advising” the General Officers and National Executive where in his opinion they were going wrong. Kevin campaigned vigorously for improvements in pay and conditions for his fellow workers, his union activities were time consuming and would not have been possible without the support of his beloved wife Kathleen.

Kevin had a personality and a presence that could light up a room, he had a great singing voice and was much in demand on social occasions, and Kevin was always happy to oblige with a song. It was appropriate on the day of his funeral and in the best traditions of the O’Riordan family that Kevin’s son Kevin John gave a beautiful rendition of one of Kevin’s favourite songs. To his wife Kathleen, his daughters Marie and Catherine, and his sons Bertie and Kevin John we extend our deepest sympathies.

Tom O’Neill R.I.P. It was with sadness that we learned of the death of Tom O’Neill, R.I.P. Tom was a former member of the Thurles Post Office Clerks Branch and served on the Branch Committee from 1970 to 1972, following which he took up the position of Branch Chairman until 1976 and then served as Branch Secretary until 1980. Tom also served the Union at national level – he was a Member of the Standing Orders Committee and was Chairman of Standing Orders in 1985.

In addition to his Union activities, Tom was active in the local community in Thurles. He was a member of the Thurles musical society for many years. Tom loved sport and the GAA in particular. He was a member of the Thurles Kickhams and was also actively involved in the Thurles Crokes Football Club in a coaching capacity and would have been involved when the club won County titles, a fact of which he was very proud. Tom was a gentleman who will be sadly missed. To his wife Mary and his sons, Eamon, Tom and Paudie and his daughter Maura we extend our deepest sympathies.

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CWU BAND CALLS FOR NEW RECRUITS

by Jimmy O’Keeffe, Honorary Secretary

• Do you play a brass or woodwind instrument or the drums?

• Does anyone in your family, circle of friends or their children play?

THEN I’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Rumours of the demise of the CWU band have been, as Mark Twain was reputed to have said, “greatly exaggerated”. We are still going strong. Unfortunately the plug was pulled on the SIPTU band earlier this year so that now we are the only union band in the country.

We generally do two concerts per year, one in May and one in December. We are also available to play for functions in your own local organisation, parishes etc. We played at a mass for the presentation of Papal medals in Dick O’Leary’s parish. We rehearse on Sunday mornings in our band room in Shelbourne Road at 11.30am. We hope to organise a weeknight rehearsal after the summer holidays.

If you are interested, please contact me (Jimmy O’Keeffe) by phone on 01 4540753 Or at 21 Herberton Drive Dublin 12.

You can Support the CWU Band for as Little as Three Cent a Week!

State Company: ___________________________________ (i.e. An Post/eircom/Other) Until further notice and commencing on ________________, please deduct €0.03(3 cent) per week or €0.06 (6 cent) per fortnight from my basic pay (delete whichever is inappropriate) in respect of my contribution to the CWU Band.

I recognise that these deductions, being made solely as a measure of convenience to me, may be terminated at any time.

I also recognise that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the deductions have in fact, been made form my pay rests with myself, and that beyond making remittances on foot of sums deducted for credit to the account of my Union, the Company accepts no responsibility of any kind in this matter.

Staff Number: _________________________________ Signature: _____________________________________

Address _____________________________________

Name: ________________________________________

_____________________________________________

(BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE)

Date: _________________________________________ Note: When completed this form should be returned to the General Secretary, Communications Workers Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

Books reviewed by Adrienne Power

ARE YA WIDE SHAM!

by Maitias O’Gormaile

Price €12.99 (A percentage of all profits will be donated to the charities Gorta and Concern) To order copies of this book, please contact: Maitias O’Gormaile, Fearann Buird, Tuam, Co Galway Or Telephone 087-2910173 or 093-60393

A wonderful miscellany of family history, customs and happenings in Tuam from the 1940s to the present day. We hear about local characters in Tuam. We visit Summers and Christmases past, Weddings, Wakes and Fairs as well as Circuses, Carnivals and Travelling Shows.

Maitias spent about half a century working for the Postal Service and was Branch Secretary of the Tuam Postal Branch for a good many of them. Not only is Maitias a marvellous Orator (who can forget the Conferences when he kept us so entertained at the podium) but also a wonderful scribe. His warm character reflects through his reminiscences. The book is also packed full of wonderful photographs.

Comhgáirdeas (Congratulations) Maitias on this marvellous achievement.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER by Walter Lord ISBN: 9780805077643

Publisher: Owl Books (NY)

The Classic Book of the most famous ship in history and probably one of the most famous disasters in history.

It was first published in 1955, and remains the definitive tale of the sinking of the Titanic. Walter Lord interviewed more than 60 survivors before committing their searingly vivid recollections to his minute by minute account of the Titanic’s fatal collision and the experiences of both passengers and crew under pressure of the unthinkable – the swift plummet into icy waters of the ship promised never to sink!

A gripping and heart-wrenching read.

RAIN FALL by Barry Eisler ISBN-13: 9780451209153

Publisher: Signet

Terrific thriller about an assassin called John Rain who is half American and half Japanese.

The story takes place in Japan, so you not only get an exciting lone gunman saving the girl and become hunted story, but the exotic flavour of another culture.

A very interesting character..

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CESAR’S WAY – Cesar Milan with Melissa Jo Peltier (The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems) ISBN-13: 9780307337337

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Today both humans and canines have problems living in our Modern World and Cesar; the Dog Whisperer from the National Geographic Network is here to help us with his simple philosophy.

Cesar Milan tells a bit about his life at the start, about growing up in Mexico and having to cross the border into the US. I liked the way he pointed out how less stressed dogs in Mexico are and also dogs living rough on the streets. He shows that the modern life we live, even though we have more available to us, just creates more stress in our lives. He explains how having a dog lowers blood pressure etc and is generally good for our health.

So he is sending us back to basics – no intensive training programmes of Sit, Stay, Long Stay etc, but to keep things in proper order.

The Order is – EXERCISE, DISCIPLINE, AFFECTION An important book for any dog owner to read.

The final chapter is very good about the dog being our link with nature and how important that link is to our own lives.

THE SPANISH ARMADA by Dr Roger Whiting ISBN: 9780750936477

Publisher: Sutton Publishing

A detailed analysis of what precipitated the disaster of the Spanish Fleet during the reign of Elizabeth 1st in England, which vividly accounts one of the most important events in England’s Naval History.

The two chapters which detail what happened when the Armada sunk off the Irish Coast are very interesting and also the last chapter with a list of the Archaeological findings and the vast treasure that was on board these ships. 24 Vessels were wrecked in severe storms on the north and western coasts of Ireland, with survivors having to take refuge in Scotland (as the Irish took them as Invaders and killed most of them). About 50 vessels in all failed to make it back to Spain from 130 sent to invade England. Greatly disappointed, it was reported that Philip II, learning of the plight of the expedition, declared, “I sent my ships to fight against the English, not against the elements”.

An interesting read.

WHY NOT CATCH 21? – The Stories behind the Titles

by Gary Dexter ISBN-13: 9780711227965 ISBN: 0711227969 Publisher: Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd 50 fascinating essays which explain where the titles of famous works of literature come from.

A book you can delve into again and again to find various interesting nuggets on great writers from Ancient Greece up to modern works like Catch 22 and A Clockwork Orange.

– We find out where the Bronte Sisters found their Pseudonyms?

– Why George Orwell picked the year 1984?

– Why F Scott Fitzgerald named his great novel “The Great Gatsby”?

– Why C S Lewis named his children’s masterpiece “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”?

– Why Melville named the Whale “Moby Dick”?

– How T S Eliot came up with “The Waste Land” for his poem of that title? …..and many more….

This book is a window into the genesis of greatness!

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INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY HOUSING FUND Form of Authorisation for Deduction of Subscriptions from Pay TO: The ……………………………………................................................…………. (insert Company name) Payroll Section Until further notice and commencing on ………....................……....……… , please deduct €0.13 from my weekly or €0.26 from my fortnightly basic pay (delete whichever is inappropriate) in respect of my contribution under the Scheme of deductions of Subscriptions to Staff Associations and pay that amount to the Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1. (Please note that eircom Scale A members are already paying 13 cent per week into this fund).

I recognise that these deductions, being made solely as a measure of convenience to me, may be terminated at any time.

I also recognise that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the deductions have, in fact, been made from my pay rests with myself, and that beyond making remittances on foot of sums deducted for credit to the account of my Union, the Company accepts no responsibility of any kind in this matter.

Signature: ........................................................... OFFICE ................................................................

LEAVE BLANK FOR OFFICE USE ONLY NAME: ................................................................ DATE: ..................................................................

(BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE)

GRADE...............................................................

STAFF NUMBER

Note: When completed, this form should be returned to the General Secretary, Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

✃ HOSPICE FUND Form of Authorisation for Deduction of Subscriptions from Pay TO: The ……………………………………................................................…………. (insert Company name) Payroll Section €0.50c Until further notice and commencing on ………....................…….……, please deduct €0.13c

€1

€5

€10

(PLEASE TICK THE AMOUNT OF YOUR CHOICE)

from my weekly basic pay in respect of my contribution under the Scheme of deductions of Subscriptions to Staff Associations and pay that amount to the Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

I recognise that these deductions, being made solely as a measure of convenience to me, may be terminated at any time.

I also recognise that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the deductions have, in fact, been made from my pay rests with myself, and that beyond making remittances on foot of sums deducted for credit to the account of my Union, the Company accepts no responsibility of any kind in this matter.

Signature: ........................................................... OFFICE ................................................................

LEAVE BLANK FOR OFFICE USE ONLY NAME: ................................................................ DATE: ..................................................................

(BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE)

GRADE...............................................................

STAFF NUMBER

Note: When completed, this form should be returned to the General Secretary, Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

✃ CWU DEVELOPMENT (AFRICAN) FUND PROJECTS Form of Authorisation for Deduction of Subscriptions from Pay TO: The ……………………………………................................................…………. (insert Company name) Payroll Section For a period of one year and commencing on ………....................……....……… , please deduct €1.27 from my weekly or €2.54 from my fortnightly basic pay (delete whichever is inappropriate) in respect of my contribution contribution to the African Fund of The Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

I recognise that these deductions, being made solely as a measure of convenience to me, may be terminated at any time.

I also recognise that the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the deductions have, in fact, been made from my pay rests with myself, and that beyond making remittances on foot of sums deducted for credit to the account of my Union, the Company accepts no responsibility of any kind in this matter.

LEAVE BLANK FOR OFFICE USE ONLY

Signature: ........................................................... OFFICE ................................................................

NAME: ................................................................ DATE: ..................................................................

(BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE)

GRADE...............................................................

STAFF NUMBER

48 Note: When completed, this form should be returned to the General Secretary, Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.