Connect April 2012

SPRING 2012 VOL: 14

6th Biennial Conference 9th to 11th May 2012, Clayton Hotel, Galway 1

NO. 1

Editorial

Dear Colleague,

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

I use braille to do my schoolwork – My education week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Equality Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Congress Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Youth Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CWU Band marches at the recent Dublin Trades Council Austerity Protest . . . . . .

ETUC Day of Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Halligan Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . eircom Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LabourStart – Where trade unionists start their day on the net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CWU Intellectual Disability Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Education Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CWU is now a FETAC Provider . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

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

Medisan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Are you in the dark in your workplace? . . . . . . . .

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

Welcome to “good life” on Welfare . . . . . . . . . . . .

Regulation Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Uni Global Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FM Downes Mortgage Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CWU People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

FM Downs Insurances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Why join ESCCU Credit Union? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CWU Membership Application Form . . . . . . . . . . .

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The CWU delegates elected from every Branch of the Union throughout the country will gather together in early May to attend the 6th Biennial Conference of the Communications Workers’ Union. They will do so at a very depressing stage in Irish history. Three years into an economic recession they will attend Conference in the knowledge that not one of the people responsible has yet seen the inside of a court or a prison. They will attend in the knowledge that victims of the crimes of those individuals still suffer, with people losing homes and families being broken apart through emigration.

Yet, understandably the main concerns of those delegates will be the impact the economic recession has had on your jobs, pay and conditions. They will hear how the Union has lost many members, mainly through voluntary exits, but also how many of our members have been made compulsorily redundant through job closures. They will, on your behalf, debate the critical issues of the day, as well as voting to elect a new National Executive Council, President and VicePresident. They will also debate and vote on the Motions contained further on in this magazine and attempt to firmly set the agenda for the Union and its NEC for the coming 2 years. The Conference also gives an opportunity for those delegates to examine, comment and debate on the work carried out on their behalf over the past 2 years. In short, the Conference is the parliament of the Union and carries the highest authority within the Union, with the exception of a membership vote.

Furthermore, the Conference will also debate issues of national importance and there

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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.

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is little doubt that the upcoming referendum on the Fiscal Compact and the proposed household charge will be high on delegates’ agendas. As is the norm, we will have input from other Irish trade unions, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and international colleagues from the UK and Europe. These broader debates will allow us put the Irish problems into a European-wide context. The contributions from our guests will also demonstrate to us how our industries have developed in different countries and what new technologies and problems we are likely to face in the future. This year we will also have presentations from the recently reconstituted CWU Youth Committee. It is very gratifying to see young people becoming involved in their Branches and their Union once again.

The report concerning the activities in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will also be delivered as the Irish trade union movement, Steve Fitzpatrick, through the Commission on Trade Unionism, set-up last year, General Secretary, CWU attempts to make better use of the scarce resources of individual trade unions through cooperation and economies of scale. There is, for the first time, a real possibility that the Irish trade union movement, through the Commission, will improve the level of cooperation between trade unions and attempt to reduce the number of trade unions through alliances and mergers.

The CWU Conference, in my view, is a critical part of the Union’s infrastructure. Outside of the business outlined above, it creates the opportunity for people to make new friends and contacts. It allows people from companies within the same industries to compare pay and conditions, and to learn from each other how to deal with developments that eventually affect them all. It is my sincere hope that it will also re-energise those union activists for the difficult struggles that we face ahead and I trust they will carry your views to this extremely important forum.

Get into print!

Anyone wishing to submit articles or photos to appear in the Connect journal, please, either email to:

imelda@cwu.ie or post to: Imelda Wall

Communications Workers’ Union 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.

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Wear your Union Badge

I use braille to do my schoolwork My Education Week

by MICHAEL O’CONNOR (15) Mike O’Connor is a member of the National Executive Council and his son, Michael, is a second-year student in Holy Family Community School, Rathcoole. He was born with a condition called Peter’s Anomaly, a degenerative eye disorder.

The following is an interview by 96FM WAOR radio.

Monday I missed the first two classes because of a hospital appointment. I used to have them every week, but I only need to go every three or four weeks nowadays. You get used to it, I suppose. They told me that another operation is looking likely over the next year or two. It was okay but, you know, not the best news.

Luckily, there wasn’t any homework from the classes I missed – business studies and CSPE. I had English next. We were doing poetry and I took notes on my BrailleNote mPower – it’s like a Braille laptop. I can take notes and read them back on an embossed screen or I can listen to them – the voice sounds a bit like Stephen Hawking, but it does the job. I can get the notes printed as Braille or text. It’s pretty handy.

I need different machines depending on what class I’m in.

I use the mPower as a calculator in maths, but I use an old fashioned Braille typewriter called a Perkins Brailler for my maths work. That just embosses the Braille onto paper as I type. I use that for rough work in business too.

Then I have the Braille books. They are absolutely massive – Braille isn’t compact like printed text. In school, most people have a locker. I have a base room for my machines and four full-size filing cabinets dotted throughout the school to hold all my books. Let’s just say I don’t travel light.

I’m really into drama and I had that after school. I’m doing a piece from The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole – it’s good fun.

Saturday Had my piano lesson today. I don’t use Braille for music yet – I just learn the pieces on each hand by ear and then I practise, practise, practise. I’m on grade five now and it’s one of my favourite things to do. I often just play stuff that I’m listening to on my iPod at the time – Calvin Harris, Rihanna, Tinie Tempah, that sort of thing.

After that, I went to the 96FM studios to pre-record an interview for my radio slot. I usually do my show live every Wednesday, but it’s good to have that in the bag. I’ve had the show since October – I did a DJ course in Ballyfermot over the summer and I was offered the slot on the basis of that.

Sunday Watched the rugby today. When I say I watch the matches, what we do is we turn on the telly, but we turn the sound off and listen to the radio commentary. It’s more descriptive, obviously enough.

I’ve always had problems with my eyes. You name it, it’s happened – cataracts, detached retinas, glaucoma, corneal transplants – that doesn’t cover much of it, but you get the idea. Right now, I can see light and most colour. I can see a little bit of detail, but the tissues on the retina are being worn down, so that will go eventually. I was nine or 10 when I started learning Braille and using it in conjunction with print.

It was a just-in-case measure. We never thought my sight would deteriorate as quickly as it did.

Tuesday I’m actually pretty wrecked this evening. Because of all the machines and processes, schoolwork takes me ages.

Today, we had a French test – not my best subject. I did it over two classes. The whole process is quite complicated.

Basically, my teacher gives the test to my SNA who scans it

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and gets it printed into Braille. Then I do the test. I used the Perkins (that’s the typewriter) because I can lay out a letter on it, but it’s time consuming. My visiting teacher will come later in the week and she’ll translate what I’ve written to text and then my French teacher will be able to correct it.

My other classes were grand. I’m pretty good at finding my way around – a good thing since there are five different buildings and my classes are all over the place. I have a full-time SNA, but I like to make my way about myself. I trail my hand along walls and use my cane if I need it to get from place to place. It doesn’t save me from occasionally walking into a door or something, but independence is good.

Photo: Eric Luke

be tricky because the layout changes, but I managed not to trip over anything. I normally find a bench, any bench to sit on and then my friends come and find me. I think anyone with a disability can identify with how lucky I feel to have a couple of really loyal friends who stick with me.

Today, the student council was practising for a sort of radio station that they’re running in the school tomorrow and they were playing a load of pop songs during break time.

A Justin Bieber song came on at one point. We wouldn’t be Bieber’s biggest fans – a couple of us legged it outside and held the door so nobody else could get out. It was pretty funny.

Friday

PE today. At the moment, the mocks are on so we’re watching a film called The Blind Side instead. Generally, I We have a half day on a Wednesday Michael O’Connor: “I’ve had the show on can do about 75 per cent of what we and double music. Music is one of the 96FM since October – I did a DJ course in do in PE. I run on the treadmill or use classes where I don’t need an SNA – Ballyfermot over the summer and I was offered the exercise bike if I can’t take part. the slot on the basis of that.

I like managing by myself. When It was a big blow to lose so much school finished, my mother collected sight when I did. I suppose there was a bit of trauma there as me and we went over to the DSPCA to record a slot for my well because I had a lot of eye pain at the time. I still have show. My mum Lorraine is great. She’s like my personal some, but it’s either getting better or I’m getting used to it. I assistant. I worked on my interview questions and listened to take pain medication a couple of times a day, but only a a text file about the DSPCA on our way there. We visited the fraction of what I used to need. cattery and the kennels and I recorded an interview. It was I ended up missing a lot of school back then and between actually pretty funny – they have Lyric FM on the radio in that and getting to grips with Braille, I had to repeat fourth the cattery because apparently the cats prefer classical music. class. I wasn’t happy about that at all, but you just get on To top it off, I’ve no homework to do tonight. Fantastic. with it.

Looking forward to the weekend now. I might go to the cinema. They have audio description kits now – it’s quite a new development but it’s great to have. I used to be a big movie fan, so it’ll be good to get into that again.

At lunchtime, I made my way to the hall as usual. That can

Wednesday

Thursday

This Week I Was ....

Watching The news and Fair City . I’m not a massive telly fa n, but I like those.

Listenin g to Linkin P

Rida an ark, Jay-Z, Fl o d Jason on my Derulo iPod

Reading The Magician’s Apprentice by Trud i Canavan. It’s a preq uel to the Black Magic ian trilogy, which Ive just finished on audiob ook.

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Browsinligke

I YouTube – on music p u g catchin ke that. and stuff li

Equality Update

Equality Mainstreaming The Equality Mainstreaming Unit within the Equality Authority is one of the initiatives set up under the Human Capital Investment Operational Programme 2007-2013. The main objective of the Equality Mainstreaming Unit is to contribute to addressing labour market gaps in Ireland for specific groups that are experiencing barriers in accessing and participating in that market, including those created by gender inequality and wider inequalities. (Source: www.equality.ie) In 2011, the Equality Mainstreaming Unit sought tenders to develop a sectoral project to promote workplace equality and equality mainstreaming. The CWU, Mandate and IBOA submitted a successful joint application for funding for a sectoral project. This project will be delivered prior to end of April 2012 and will focus on the development of a toolkit and training for our Officials and Equality Representatives.

Aims The project aims to develop a strategic approach to mainstreaming equality within our Union structures. We will do this through the development and implementation of an integrated equality policy and procedures with practical guidelines and tools to assist in the rolling out of our project. Training will be provided for Equality Representatives and Officials as part of that process. To foster a partnership approach, An Post has agreed to be an Employer Partner to the project and will be kept appraised of our activities.

Toolkit: The toolkit will consist of a training manual that is in modular format, which will allow flexibility in both the training delivery and in relation to the particular equality subject matter. The toolkit will also consist of an Equality Policy that can be adapted by other Unions and an Equality Representative Handbook. The handbook will be based on raising equality awareness for Trade Unions and will take the format of a Representative guide on equality issues. The toolkit will be made available to the relevant Representatives within each Union and can also be downloaded on each Union’s website.

Equality Mainstreaming Mainstreaming focuses primarily on how we can integrate our work on equality into our Union structures.

The project team has identified a number of ways in which this can be done primarily through training, by using our websites and other forms of publicity. At the time of writing, a three-day training programme for Union Equality Representatives and Officials had already commenced and focuses on attitudes to equality, the relevant legislation, case studies and a strategy for mainstreaming. At the conclusion of the project, we will also have an information section on our Union websites on equality issues and will have delivered a number of briefing sessions in each partner Union. The partners will also produce a detailed end of project report.

Equality Mainstreaming Training Course The three-day training course commenced on January 31st and continued on February 17th with the final day scheduled for March 23rd. The course was held in the Mandate Training Centre and there were a number of participants from the three Unions in attendance. A course manual was produced for each participant and to date presentations have been made by Anne Casey, Carol Scheffer and Bernadette Treanor who was a former Equality Officer with the Tribunal and who is the managing consultant with BEO Solutions.

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Equality Update Day one concentrated on understanding equality, i.e. equality as a Trade Union issue, identifying workplace issues and an introduction into equality legislation. On day two, Bernadette Treanor built on the introduction to legislation with a comprehensive presentation and study work. The presentation also outlined the workings of the Institutions of the State for progressing equality claims. The focus of the afternoon was based on further case studies and using the legislation. The final day will examine our methods for equality mainstreaming and other equality policy and procedural issues for Trade Unions.

In attendance at the training on behalf of the CWU were Susan Casey, Dublin C&A, Catherine Slattery, eircom Dublin No 3, Timmy Donovan, Cork Mails Centre, Ellen Moore, Portlaoise Mails Centre, Rory Duggan, eircom Dublin No 1 and Paul Torsney, eircom Dublin No 2.

Conclusion It is hoped that on completion of the project, the Unions will have a good set of training materials and guides that will assist all those addressing equality related matters. The networking opportunities and the role that the Equality Authority has had in assisting our work will no doubt be of great benefit to the Trade Union partners.

Pictured below from l to r: Anne Casey, Project Manager Marian Geoghegan, IBOA, Carol Scheffer, CWU & Aileen Morrissey, Mandate Pictured above: the attendees from the three Unions on day two of the course.

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Equality Update

ICTU Women’s Conference

CWU delegates at the ICTU Women’s Conference Pictured l to r: Teresa Heeran, eircom Sligo District, Carol Scheffer, National Officer, Bernadette Kavanagh, eircom Drogheda C&A, Margaret Jenkins, Dublin No 1 & Susan Murtagh, Dublin Postal Amalgamated Branch.

The Biennial Conference of the Congress Women's Committee brings together over 200 delegates from more than 40 Trade Unions across Ireland. It commenced at 11am on Thursday March 1 and concluded on Friday March 2nd.

The theme of the Conference was “Bearing the brunt, leading the response: Women and the economic crisis” and was held in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast.

Union leadership roles if given a more strategic focus.

Therefore conference seeks that congress renews its efforts to address this deficit through developing mentoring and other targeted measures as required.

The CWU lodged a motion on Women in Trade Union Leadership Roles as follows:

Delegates on behalf of the CWU were as follows:

The motion was seconded by the IBOA and was passed at the conference.

POSTAL COURIER

Conference notes the ETUC resource guide "From Membership to Leadership: Advancing Women in Trade Unions" which addresses gender balance in Trade Union decision making roles. Ten measures that Trade Unions can adapt to achieve gender balanced representation are identified in the resource guide. One in particular refers to preparing women for decision making and leadership roles.

In that regard, training and mentoring for women can play a very important part in dealing with this need. Several initiatives have been put in place to provide training such as The Women at Work Skillnet, LIFT, and the Petal programme. Mentoring has also been identified in these initiatives, and could be developed more within the Trade Union movement. Accordingly, mentoring may be of great assistance in addressing the continued deficit of women in

1. Deirdre Medlar, Ballina Postal 2. Susan Murtagh, Dublin Postal Amalgamated Branch 3. Joan McLoughlin, Dublin Postal Delivery Branch TELECOMS 1. Margaret Jenkins, Dublin No 1 2. Bernadette Kavanagh, Drogheda C&A 3. Teresa Heeran, Sligo District, Sligo Section ICTU was also delighted to welcome President Michael D Higgins as a guest speaker at the Conference. This was President Higgins' first visit to Belfast since his election and he made the closing address to the conference.

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JUSTICE FOR COLOMBIA – The struggle continues A fringe event took place at the recent ICTU Women’s Conference in the Waterfront Hall, Belfast to promote the work of Justice for Colombia (Ireland).

Justice for Colombia was established in the UK in 2002 struggle her fellow human rights defenders still face. JFC by a group of trade unionists in response to the appalling Ireland is now focusing its campaign activities on Liliany human rights situation in Colombia. In 2008 the Irish Obando, who is an academic and human rights defender branch of Justice for Colombia was established with Mick and who has been imprisoned for over 3 years, again on Dowling as Chair, Mairtín MacMaoláin as Vice-Chair and false charges of “rebellion” and “administration of Jack O’Connor most recently resources related to terrorist appointed as President. The JFC organisations”.

Ireland Committee meet every two What does this mean for the future months in Dublin, with many of Colombia? The worrying fact of members of the Committee having the human rights situation is that taken part in the ICTU Global the country appears normal from Solidarity training. the outside and very little The main work of JFC Ireland information on the actual is to raise awareness of the human humanitarian crisis is reported rights situation in Colombia with either inside or outside the our own government, within the country. President Santos, who wider trade union movement and was elected in 2010, appears to also among the general public. say all the right things about JFC Ireland has hosted several committing to a peace process, public events since 2008, inviting tackling the violence against over high-level delegations from human rights defenders and Colombia which included Tarcisio bringing those responsible to Ciara Ní Mhaoilfhinn (CWU Headquarters) Moro, who is the General justice. What remains to be seen is with John O’Neill (Thompson Solicitors) Secretary of the largest of four whether these statements will be Colombian congresses of trade unions (Central Unitaria transformed into action. The international community has de Trabajadores). These delegations are hosted jointly by a role to play here. The Colombian government is very JFC UK and JFC Ireland, with the delegations often sensitive to negative publicity and highlighting these visiting the UK, Ireland and Brussels. Another very injustices outside of the country can apply pressure for important area of the Committee’s work is campaigning reforms. Justice for Colombia in the UK and Ireland are for the release of political prisoners. continuing their campaign to have the EU/Colombia Free In 2011 Justice for Colombia in the UK and Ireland, Trade Agreement postponed until the Colombian along with students in Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine in government makes firm commitments and improvements Kenmare, successfully campaigned for the release of in relation to the human rights crisis. This work is ongoing Rosalba Gaviria Toro, who was imprisoned for 27 months and the support of the trade union movement, as defenders on false charges of “rebellion”. Rosalba visited Kenmare of human rights, is critical to improving the situation for and Dublin in December of last year to talk about her our brothers and sisters in Colombia who continue to put experience as a human rights activist in Colombia and the their lives at risk to create a fair society for everyone.

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Youth Update

Barry Gorman, Portlaoise Postal Branch

What’s the first thing we think of when we hear the words ‘mental health’?

People are fearful, dismissive and even contemptuous towards mental illness.

Stigma is described in the dictionary as “a mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one’s reputation”, as if it is something to be ashamed or afraid of.

All too often our reactions are negative. For example, decades ago an Irish person with mental health problems was locked away in an asylum. Well, we’ve come a long way towards understanding mental health, but have we come far enough? For instance, did you know that 1 in 4 Irish people will experience mental health problems in their lifetime? Or that only 20% of Irish people would be comfortable working alongside someone suffering with depression?

In 2010, the See Change campaign, an alliance of over fifty voluntary organisations, state agencies, universities and youth groups, commissioned a survey on the attitudes towards mental health in Ireland, and the results were staggering: 70% of Irish people agree that almost anyone can develop a mental health problem and over 1 in 2 surveyed thought that mental health issues were very common in Ireland. Yet, at the same time, 1 in 3 would hide mental health problems from friends, 1 in 10 from family, and 1 in 3 said their family would hide the diagnosis. This is because there is a terrible stigma surrounding mental health in Ireland.

In our current economic climate, as wages, workers’ and social rights and welfare diminish, and as unemployment, homelessness and emigration rates soar, mental illness has risen dramatically. But it has also found itself appearing more prominently in the public domain in recent years, which helps to lessen the stigma as more and more people talk about and hear about mental health problems. While it may never be possible to totally eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health problems, it is possible to help reduce the stigma associated with it.

If you suffer from mental health issues, talk to a friend, family member, your doctor or one of the many voluntary mental health organisations in Ireland. And if you know someone with mental health problems, treat them the way you would like to be treated; not with fear, derision, shame or exclusion, but with understanding, acceptance, respect and support. That way, we may be able to remove the stigma which has shadowed mental health.

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Youth Update

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Youth Update coming together collectively to reach a common goal. This was, in my view, true trade unionism at its best.

As our 83 delegates started to arrive in the hotel on the Wednesday afternoon there was a great atmosphere with laughter and joy as old friends reunited, each looking forward to the seminar ahead. As soon as everyone had registered and settled into their rooms we arranged to meet in the conference room for a welcome drink and to unwind, after which we broke into our area meetings.

Our own area group, consisting of Ireland and the UK, included myself, representing CWU Ireland as Sub-Regional Officer and Ed Thompson representing Unite Ireland as Regional Officer. Lee Fishwick, (Vice-President) representing CWU UK, chaired our area meeting, where we answered all questions the delegates had about UNI and the seminar.

Over the course of the next two days we informed the delegates on all the activities the Steering Group had been involved in over the past year, which included:

UNI Europa Youth – Seminar Update Eric Partridge Chairperson, CWU Youth Committee

On the 1st to the 3rd of February 2012 UNI Europa Youth held a seminar in Manchester. The theme of the seminar was “Temporary Agency Work and Youth Unemployment”. The fundamental aim of this seminar was to highlight the impact of agency work and unemployment on young people across Europe.

The UNI Europa Steering Group had previously held a meeting in October 2011 in Toulouse after the 3rd UNI Europa Conference; the purpose of this meeting was to build an agenda and it was at that time the Steering Group decided to focus on temporary agency workers and youth unemployment.

I arrived in Manchester on the 31st January, just ahead of the seminar, to meet with the Steering Group and finalise the agenda. As we sat around the table adding the finishing touches and assigning ourselves roles it was becoming clear that, after all our hard work in Toulouse and several followup conference calls, our Steering Group’s first seminar was going to be a success. The energy and enthusiasm from the 14 young trade unionists from across Europe was just immense, if not inspiring! Here we had 14 young workers with different nationalities and from different walks of life

• • • • • • •

Conference in Manchester Post Lobby Action Day in Brussels Winter School in Stockholm Payatas Children Mission in Manila Steering Group meeting in Berlin Summer School in Turkey 3rd UNI Conference in Toulouse

Temporary Agency Work The delegates were shown the temporary agency work video interviews from around Europe. On that note, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank James Moore from the DPAB, who

James Moore (centre) attending as an observer.

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Youth Update • Workers supplied by temporary work agencies must never be used to replace striking workers or undermine industrial action • Temporary work agencies must not charge any fees to workers for dispatching them • Where temporary work agencies are permitted to operate, they must be properly regulated and monitored in order to prevent abuses of workers, such as human trafficking or fee charging in cross border placements (e.g. Irish ferries).

also attended the seminar as a delegate and is a current member of our own Youth Committee, for doing our Union’s video interview.

We hosted a number of working groups on both temporary agency workers and youth unemployment. One great success of the day was the temporary agency work “speed dating” event, where delegates got to sit face-to-face for 3 minutes before swapping seats.

There were a number of guest speakers during the seminar, including:

Youth Unemployment

Sally Bridge (CWU UK) who spoke on the effect temporary agency work is having on young workers within the UK and how they are dealing with this ever growing crisis.

There was also a guest speaker on youth unemployment. The Chairperson of the European Youth Forum, Thiebaut, stated that 9.7% of Europe’s workforce is unemployed. 21.4% of this workforce, those aged between 18-24, are unemployed.

Ireland has the fifth highest unemployment rate in Europe, with the highest rate of youth unemployment just behind Lithuania 15.5%, Latvia 16.1%, Greece 16.6% and Spain 22.6%. While the EU averages show one part of the story, each individual country has different challenges to overcome.

Youth unemployment is a problem everywhere, but Greece and Italy face grave challenges relative to overall unemployment. Ireland has a particular problem with male unemployment, a hangover from the construction bubble, while in Greece female unemployment is more of a concern.

In order to address these problems, a range of policy initiatives should be taken at European and national levels to invest in the future of our nation’s youth.

The seminar was a great success and the contribution made by all delegates was informative and educational. We left Manchester deeply satisfied and look forward to continuing the work of UNI Europa Youth.

Giedie Lelyte (UNI) who gave a European view on temporary agency work and cross-sectoral issues.

As more and more companies shift from permanent to agency staff, temporary and agency work must become a cross-sectoral issue and all UNI sectoral global unions should be actively involved in supporting and organising campaigns for agency workers worldwide. Some of the challenges facing temporary agency workers are: • • • • • • • • •

lack of national legislation rights to equal treatment low coverage by collective agreements few opportunities for training redundancy pay or claims for unfair dismissal no rights to maternity, paternity and parental leave wage level working schedules – no rights to flexible working hours benefits: pensions, access to loans/mortgages

If not well regulated and monitored temporary agencies could position themselves as a low-cost alternative for companies and employment of agency workers can be abused to replace directly employed workers or can be abused to replace workers on strike.

Union principles on agency workers should be as follows: • The primary form of employment shall be permanent, open-ended and direct employment • Workers provided by temporary work agencies must be accorded equal treatment and opportunities, including equal pay for equal work, with regular and permanent employees with respect to terms and conditions of employment • Adequate and continuous social protection for agency workers, including social security coverage, must be ensured

Eric Partridge (right) UNI Europa Youth SubRegional Officer, CWU Youth Chairperson.

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Youth Update of 0.9% and the European Commission far more pessimistic, expecting a meagre growth of 0.5%. Add to this the morphing predictions of employment creation – last April we were promised 102,000 jobs by 2015, this was revised to 62,000 in December, and it is now 100,000 rising to 200,000 by 2015 – and one gets the impression that the government is struggling to stay on top of the figures.

Beyond this, however, the Action Plan for Jobs primary failure lies simply in its approach. Austerity budgets continue to drive down domestic demand and the government’s ideological opposition to investment means the economy will continue to contract. Investment in public infrastructure projects – projects such as repairing Ireland’s water infrastructure, for example – using funds from private pension funds and the National Pension Reserve Fund could create thousands of jobs in the beleaguered construction sector, and could, in the long run, save money. More than that, job creation of this type would have significant knock-on effects on all sectors of the Irish economy. This is just one example of how public investment could create jobs.

Instead, the government parrots the mantra, again seen in the Action Plan for Jobs, that “governments don’t create jobs, successful businesses and entrepreneurs do”.

Until the approach of government changes, Ireland will continue to lose thousands of its brightest young people to emigration every year. The situation is not helped by the current demonisation of the unemployed, exemplified by the wildly ramped-up figures of welfare fraud emanating from the Minister of Social Protection Joan Burton. Enda Kenny is correct about one thing: “There is no quick path to full employment – we have to rebuild our economy piece by piece... if we are to create new jobs.” This is true, but the correct choices regarding which pieces to play must first be made. A fundamental change in approach is required if Ireland is to develop jobs at the kind of rate that is needed. Until the ideological devotion to austerity is reversed and significant investment is made, the situation for our young unemployed will continue to deteriorate.

It is essential that the trade union movement continues to advocate an alternative to the continued austerity programme being pushed by the government and the troika – a programme that could be ratified into law should the upcoming Fiscal Compact treaty be passed by referendum.

There are undoubtedly challenges for trade unions in proposing that alternative, with hostility towards trade unionism still evident in the pages of many of our national newspapers. Nevertheless, the CWU, and trade unions as a whole, must continue to grow and organise and offer the young people of Ireland an alternative to the failed policies of this current government.

Youth Unemployment The significant fanfare surrounding the government’s ‘Action Plan for Jobs’ along with the recent reduction in the live register figures suggest all is rosy in the land of job creation – surely good news for the thousands of unemployed young people across Ireland. A closer examination, however, reveals the true picture – and it ain’t pretty.

The scale of the task currently facing the country is difficult to overstate. Figures have become scary things; it has become hard to take the amount paid to bondholders, the size of the budget deficit or the GDP growth projections and still remain positive about the future of the country. Perhaps the scariest figures of all, however, are the current figures on youth unemployment and emigration.

Currently, unemployment for those under the age of 25 stands at approximately 30%, and approximately 75,000 people – many of them under the age of 30 – are leaving the country every year. The live register figures for January seemed to augur well for 2012, with the number of under 25s on the live register dropping 6,892. However, these figures, well advertised by the government’s press office, simply conceal the true scale of the youth unemployment crisis in Ireland. As John Stewart, the coordinator of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed correctly stated “the figures are now beginning to reflect the reality that very significant numbers of people have given up hope of finding a job in Ireland and have decided to emigrate”.

Thus there can be no doubt that leadership from government is needed. “The ultimate goal and top priority of government has always been to get Ireland back to work,” said Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the launch of the government’s Action Plan for Jobs. “That is why government has put together this Action Plan for Jobs...we will improve the way government interacts with businesses by cutting costs and cutting red tape.”

Admirable sentiments; and it is difficult to argue with any proposal which aims to create jobs in the Irish economy. The question that must be asked, however, is whether or not this jobs plan does enough?

The answer, unfortunately, is no. The first problem is that the government is operating off an ever-changing set of figures that are, at best, highly optimistic. Government projections for GDP growth in 2012 stood at 2.5% in May 2011, before being dramatically reassessed to 1.3% in December. However, even this latest figure exceeds all independent estimates, with the ESRI predicting a growth

Until the ideological devotion to austerity is reversed and significant investment is made, the situation for our young unemployed will continue to deteriorate.

Joe Galvin Research & Markets Branch

14

Youth Update

CWU Youth Committee AGM

Marita Davis and Carol Scott enjoy the Youth AGM

General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick addressing the first Youth Committee AGM In January of 2012 the Youth Committee held its first Annual General Meeting. There was a good attendance and discussion was at a very high level. The AGM was addressed by the General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick, and the Committee members were pleased to be able to raise their issues directly. The newly elected Chair (Eric Partridge) and Vice-Chair (Caroline Corcoran) of the Committee have since taken the initiative and have made great strides in the short time since the AGM. The Committee will continue to receive ongoing support from Head Office and the outlook is good for the future of young members in the CWU.

Newly elected Chair Eric Partridge and Vice-Chair Caroline Corcoran The Youth Committee understands that it is essential to the future of the CWU to engage with younger members of the Union on issues that affect them and to re-vitalise the membership to build a new generation of activists.

CWU Band marches at the recent Dublin Trades Council Austerity Protest

15

ETUC Day of Action

Ireland needs a Social Compact that puts people, jobs and growth to the fore. ICTU, along with other Irish trade unions, have put forward plans to create jobs and boost growth, at little or no cost to the Exchequer:

29th February 2012 Members of the CWU, along with members from several other Irish trade unions, took part in a demonstration outside the European Commission Head Office in Dublin as part of the ETUC Day of Action on Wednesday, 29th February. The theme of the Day of Action was “Austerity is not working” and trade unions in over 30 countries took part in protests and demonstrations, all carrying this message. The main focus of the Irish action was to highlight the social and economic effects of the current crisis and to call for jobs and growth, instead of the programme of continual spending cuts being followed by this government. Instead of growth, we have recession; instead of job creation, we have record unemployment; instead of investment, we see spending and services cut. This must end now!

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More than €5 billion remains in the National Pension Reserve Fund. It should be invested to create jobs and boost domestic demand Private Irish pension funds hold over €70 billion in assets.

They should be encouraged to invest in productive projects here Investment can also be secured from the European Investment Bank to help fund major projects that will create jobs

The campaign against austerity is continuing and your Union will support ICTU and our European and global affiliates in this fight.

16

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eircom Update A key enabler of the implementation of this new Field organisation model is the commitment that this restructuring will not result in the displacement of existing Fixed Access Field Operations employees in the period January 2012 to January 2013 save for the curtailment of the NGA programme.

In the event of the curtailment of the NGA programme the parties will meet to discuss the employee impact.

In this context Field technician roles will be filled by assignment based on business needs in terms of location, current discipline and skill set. In addition internal resource options will be explored to maximise the utilisation of existing internal resources to support this programme e.g. ‘stood down’ technicians, displaced employees etc in the appropriate locations.

Thereafter the new contractor engagement agreement will be used to ensure ongoing business and customer requirements are met in the FAO area.

As a pre step to the selection process for Fixed Access Field Operations Wave 2, existing FAO staff will be asked to express an interest in the NGA organisation. The Company will endeavour to meet these expressions of interest subject to the needs of the business. Where skills, grades and location are equal seniority in the grade will used to differentiate.

As the NGA programme is implemented the Company may seek further expressions of interest from staff not deployed on NGA activity.

Level 3 management roles (Service Operations Managers) will be located at operational bases in line with the geographic footprint established in ‘wave1’ of the Group Technology reorganisation and will be filled by assignment based on business needs with reference to expressions of interest preferences.

Existing Front Line Managers and Customer Team Managers in Fixed Access Operations (FAO) Field roles will be asked to express an interest (4 preferences) in the Front Line Managers roles in the new Field organisation.

Existing Front Line Managers will then be assigned to Front Line Managers roles in the new Field organisation based on business needs with reference to expressions of interest preferences.

The remaining vacant Front Line Managers roles will be then filled through a closed resourcing process, which consist of a competitive, competency based interview based on the preferences expressed by the existing Customer Team Managers in the FAO Field organisation.

It is agreed that all field Front Line Managers will adopt the mobile office concept of working and will be allocated a CMV. On completion of the selection and assignment process all level 4 management roles will be standardised at Front Line Manager (FLM) level.

The new organisation will be fully operational and the parties fully commit to ensuring a smooth implementation while meeting the needs of the Business.

Wave 2 Mobilisation for NGA After many months of negations between a sub group of the telecoms executive, and company management, agreement was reached on wave 2 reorganisation in the fixed access operations FAO and the mobilisation for next generation access NGA. I would very much like to thank every representative be they executive member, district coordinator, branch secretary or ordinary member for all their hard work.

This document is a collective agreement between eircom and the Communications’ Workers Union (The Parties) which sets out how Fixed Access Field Operations will be restructured to mobilise for Next Generation Access while meeting the demands on the business.

A key element of eircom’s recovery plan and immediate market strategy is the launch of retail and wholesale NGN products into the mass markets. Underpinning this strategy is the accelerated build of the fibre based Next Generation Access Network. To support planned market launches it is now crucial that we urgently move to bring this capability to the first 100,000 homes, served from the 10 priority exchanges by July of this year. Simultaneously we will advance the planning and deployment of the same capability in the next 45 exchanges.

In the context of this business imperative the parties have agreed the implementation of a new Fixed Access Operations Field organisation structure detailed in Appendix 1 including

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Implementation of the new integrated service team operating model, right sized and distributed across a new 44 workstack and primary area structure. The national response team and service cabling teams will be joined by the pressurisation team as part of the Fixed Access Service Team; Implementation of the new integrated Fixed Access Build unit, right sized and encompassing contract management and preventative maintenance including a new integrated, right sized NGA unit; Implementation of operational and productivity enablers and a number of process improvements including the completion of WOSAT implementation in the existing WCC centre structure; Implementation of a new contractor engagement agreement.

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eircom Update APPENDIX 1 Fixed Access Field Operations Wave 2 Fixed Access Operations Service organisation

Fixed Access Operations Build Organisation

1. Baseline Manpower Numbers The implementation of the field organisation module of the Fixed Access Operations “Wave 2� transformation programme will enable the mobilisation of resources to undertake the NGA programme.

Set out in table 1 is the distribution of the current resource and the manpower requirements.

Table 1

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eircom Update It should be noted that the Service teams includes service cover. The following paragraphs give a more granular breakdown at a functional level.

Management Centre (WMC) deliver the needs of the Service Assurance field force and the Cork WMC meet those of the Service Delivery field force.

Alignment with the new field operating structure will see Sligo meeting the needs of delivery and repair for the western field force. Cork will manage the work flow to the delivery and repair field force in the east. This realignment will not require any resource movement.

1.1 Service Assurance/Service Delivery Field Force The existing Service Assurance & Service Delivery field teams will be merged to form service teams, organised in a 44 work stack structure, supported by 3 National Response Teams and 4 Cabling Teams.

2.3 Works Control Centre Full roll out of WOSAT will impact on the WCC in Killarney , Waterford and Galway in that all operatives will be working to the new system, process and work methods.

WOSAT is already deployed and activated in each of these WCC. It will now extend to all teams served from these centres. A small number of centre operatives remain to be trained on WOSAT procedures.

1.2 Fixed Access Build The Fixed Access build field organisation will be deployed in a 30 team structure organised around Internal Build including contract management , Utility Vehicle Poling fleet, Preventative Maintenance and Pole Test teams. As existing build teams are composed over wide geographic areas, the manpower impact is tabulated by region and discipline. The pressurisation teams, which currently resides in the Fixed Access Build units will move in the new organisation to Field Service Unit . The current PQO model will change from dedicated teams of PQO’s to PQO’s within the Build teams. PQO numbers will reflect contractor activity.

2.4 Work Control Centre, Drogheda The Work control centre at Drogheda will not be directly impacted by the reorganisation of the field teams. WCC admin will be impacted indirectly by the implementation of the full roll out of Works Order Scheduling and Allocation Tool (WOSAT). On implementation, certain administrative processing will be carried out by the WOSAT control centre and will no longer fall to the admin support centre to complete. There will be a reduction in the demand on the WCC administration centre.

1.3 Next Generation Access The Next Generation Access Programme has no current strength as it is a newly established entity.. This is an initial organisation structure which will be reviewed throughout the programme roll out. As work activity on NGA will be concentrated in a smaller number of specific exchange locations, technicians assigned to NGA will be expected to be on duty at the normal starting times, within existing agreements / arrangements.

3. NGA Field Technician Assignment As a pre step to the selection process for Fixed Access Field Operations Wave 2, existing FAO staff will be asked to express an interest in the NGA organisation. The Company will endeavour to meet these expressions of interest subject to the needs of the business. Where skills, grades and location are equal seniority in the grade will used to differentiate.

2. Support Centre Organisation Implementation, on foot of the collective agreement, of the field force element of the Fixed Access Operations ‘Wave 2’ reorganisation is delivering mobilisation of the required field resources to initiate this programme. It is now necessary to resource the NGA works control requirements from within the existing support centre structure.

It is further required to re-assign geographic responsibility between the two Works Management Centres to serve the new merged service team structure in the field.

3.1 Assignment processes for Fixed Access Field Operations Wave 2: The following sets out the technician assignment processs for Fixed Access Field Operations Wave 2: •

2.1 Resourcing NGA requirements The estimated resource requirement to deliver the Works Control Centre functionality for the NGA programme is 15 people.

The Provision Control Centre at 1 HSQ has current headcount strength of 29 people. The assessed PCC work load amounts to an FTE requirement of 12. There is sufficient under utilised resource available in PCC to take up the NGA Work Control Centre activity without impact on existing throughput and service level.

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2.2 Works Management Centres The current division of responsibility sees Sligo Works

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Assignment will be based on Location and Skill-Set (i.e. ETIPS / KnowHow); Where these are equal seniority in the grade will used to differentiate; Selection Rounds for technician roles Round 1 selection - limited to people operating presently within the particular discipline. e.g.

Assurance Technician – Assurance roles , Build Technician – Build roles, Round 2 selection - expanded to encompass comparable disciplines e.g. Delivery Technician & Assurance Technicians – Build roles Round 3 selection (if required) – available resources

eircom Update

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from same or other business sub areas in a different region/geographic area that match the stated criteria for any available roles Round 4 selection (if required) - the Group Technology population

5. NGA Milestone/Timeframes The NGA unit will be established in March with training ongoing This is a summary of the wave 2 NGA agreement all district branch secretaries can forward a full copy of the agreement on request.

4. Implementation Timelines This agreement will be implemented immediately in a series of concurrent steps.

LabourStart – where trade unionists start their day on the net world. Much of the content on the site is provided by individual trade unions within these countries who can report in a timely and accurate manner on the true events relating to workers’ right, human rights and all other information on the labour movement within their own cities and/or countries.

Another extremely important feature of the LabourStart website is the online email campaigns.

Workers’ rights, trade unions’ rights and human rights are exploited daily in countries the world over. Through the sharing of information on these violations by trade unionists with LabourStart, online campaigns are built to send messages to political leaders, company owners, or any individual involved in these violations. All it takes is a minute or two to fill in your name, union and email address, and a click of a button to send. These emails can make a significant difference in the lives of workers who are being targeted by political regimes, anti-union companies, or other groups with an interest in repressing the labour movement.

All that said, the CWU would recommend that all our members with access to the internet check the website regularly and take part in the email campaigns. There is often news relating to our own Irish labour movement and all trade union members are free to contact LabourStart with reports that may be of interest. In today’s globalised economy companies operate without borders and therefore we, as trade unionists, must also operate on this basis and show solidarity with our comrades in every country. Their fight is our fight.

Some of our members may be familiar with the links to online campaigns run by LabourStart which are regularly posted on the Union’s Facebook page.

LabourStart is an online news service that is run by a dedicated network of individuals, whose aim is to provide relevant information to the global trade union movement. This network was founded by Eric Lee in conjunction with the publication of his book The Labour Movement and the Internet: The New Internationalism. LabourStart maintain a website (www.labourstart.org) which is updated regularly with stories on workers’ rights from countries around the

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~ CWU INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY HOUSING FUND ~

A Presentation of €10,000.00 was made to the Donegal Parents and Friends of People with Intellectual Disability

The CWU has provided funding for some of those housing projects. In Donegal the construction and extension of Cill Aoibhinn, Killymard, Donegal Town and the renovation of St. Agnes will always be a reminder of the commitment of CWU members to improving housing conditions for people with intellectual disability.

The Parents & Friends are grateful, not only to the individual members of the CWU, but also to the representatives who attended St. Agnes in February at the time of the handing over of the cheque. Among those representatives were Monica Hempenstall, Financial Officer of CWU, Charlie Kelly, a native of Letterkenny and former President of CWU, and local representatives of the Union.

Present on the day were Martin Gillespie, Paul Crawford, Hugh Quinn from An Post and Seamus McAnew, Breege Mulroe from eircom.

County Donegal Parents & Friends of People with Intellectual Disability Limited were delighted to accept a cheque for €10,000.00 as a contribution towards the renovation of St. Agnes, Donegal Town.

The funding will go towards extension of a bathroom and the widening of doors to facilitate wheelchair access.

Vincent O’Donnell, on behalf of Parents & Friends, was delighted to accept the cheque and paid tribute to all members of the Communications Workers’ Union, who contribute on a weekly basis to the fund.

St. Agnes was built in the 1980s but requires significant updating to meet the needs of wheelchair users. County Donegal Parents & Friends was established in 1963 and has worked closely with the HSE and previously the North Western Health Board in providing housing and services for people with an intellectual disability.

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~ CWU INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY HOUSING FUND ~

A Chara, Our son, Shane , was born with a severe disabi palsy. He starte lity of cerebral d in St. Agnes’ D ay Care Centre age of 2 years. in 1990 at the St. Agnes’ Day Care Centre ha home to Shane s been a second , it is the best pe ace of mind an have. y parent can It is a breath of fresh air to have our son, Shane Agnes’, knowin , attend St. g with full conf idence that he environment. W is in a caring e appreciate St. Agnes’ and the much. staff very, very Not alone do th ey take great ca re of Shane bu take care of th t they also e parents and fa m ily members in A big thank yo vo lved. u to the Comm unications Wor and all individu kers’ Union als and partners involved that m donation of €10 ade a valuable ,000. This dona tion will enhanc staff members e the lives of and clients of S t. Agnes’ Day Care Centre.

Kindest regard s

The Gillespie Fam ily, Donegal Tow n.

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Education Update

2012 Training Calendar is announced As per our February circular, the Union is pleased to announce our training calendar for 2012.

Chairperson’s Course Wednesday March 28th – Friday March 30th (3 days) Venue: Dublin All newly-elected Chairpersons are required to attend this course, as well as any Chairperson who may not have had the opportunity to attend in the past.

Branch Secretary Stage 1 Course – Trade Union Representative Skills April 17, 18, 19, 25 & 26 (5 days) Venue: Dublin All newly-elected Branch Secretaries are required to attend the Stage 1 course, as well as any Branch Secretary who may not have had the opportunity to attend in the past. Those who wish to gain the accreditation will have assessments to complete. While all newly elected Branch Secretaries are required to attend the course, it will be at their own discretion as to whether they would like to avail of the certification. For further information on this course please contact the Education Officer, Carol Scheffer directly.

Subject to numbers and the availability of training dates, we may be in a position to offer this course in the autumn to established Branch Secretaries.

Branch Officers Course Tuesday May 29th & Wednesday May 30th (2 days) Venue: Dublin All newly-elected Branch Officers other than the Chairperson and Branch Secretary should attend or anyone who has not had the opportunity to attend before. The course is open to Assistant Secretaries and Vice Chairpersons.

Treasurers Training Course Tuesday May 29th & Wednesday May 30th (2 days) Venue: Dublin All newly-elected Treasurers should attend this course.

Branch Secretary Stage 2 September 18, 19, 20 (3 days) Venue: Dublin This course should be attended by Branch Secretaries who have completed Stage 1 and are in their second or consecutive term as Branch Secretary. This course is subject to numbers requiring the training.

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Education Update Training calendar for 2012 contd: Equality Representatives Tuesday September 25th & Wednesday September 26th (2 days) Venue: Dublin The Equality Representative is a support role to the Branch Secretary who can assist with equality related matters such as work life balance, statutory and non-statutory leave, disability in the workplace etc. This course is open to all Branches.

COMMITTEE COURSES This course is normally 2 half days in duration, the dates of which will be set with Branches as required.

Venue: To be agreed with the local committees The Education committee will make courses available at regional venues so as to facilitate Branches who have their own individual requirements for committee training. Availability will be subject to numbers requiring the training and any necessary release. The Branch Secretary will be responsible for attendance.

All newly elected Committee members are required to attend training as well as any Committee members who may not have had the opportunity to attend in the past. Please contact Carol Scheffer directly to discuss your Branch training requirements.

Please note that it is mandatory for all those who are newly elected into their Branch roles to be trained by the Education Committee.

Participants must fill in the relevant nomination form for the courses they wish to attend so that we may contact them regarding course arrangements. Please also note that all of the forms can be downloaded from our website www.cwu.ie (under Union Education). It is essential that members who applied for training in previous years and did not have the opportunity to attend send in a new nomination form, as participants for all the above courses will be selected only on receipt of the current nomination forms.

Forms must also be signed by the Branch Secretary as relevant and be sent to Union Head Office at the earliest.

CWU is now a FETAC Provider In 2011, the CWU decided that there would be great benefit to our activists if we were to register with FETAC. Accordingly, the CWU would be in a position to offer FETAC awards to our Representatives.

Registration with FETAC was undertaken through a process of agreement of the provider’s quality assurance policies and procedures. On registration this means that the CWU as a provider could offer one or more training courses that lead to a FETAC Award(s). Awards are based on the Common Awards System at levels 1-6 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

The Union submitted an application to comply with the FETAC requirements for becoming a provider. We were very pleased to be informed by FETAC in early

February that our application was agreed. The Union is therefore now registered with FETAC to offer programmes subject to validation leading to FETAC awards on the NFQ. It is the intention of the Union to offer initially the Trade Union Representative Skills Level Award to our Branch Secretaries and thereafter to determine how we can expand on the FETAC awards we could offer our activists.

We are in no doubt that access to FETAC awards will prove advantageous to our membership. On a final note, we very much look forward to working with FETAC in the future and we wish every success to all those who avail of FETAC Awards.

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Education Update

Education Grant Scheme is continued for 2012 The Union is pleased to announce that we are continuing the education grant scheme for 2012, which is open to members and their dependents.

The CWU Education Grant Scheme enhances further education on behalf of our members and their dependents in approved courses through recognised Third Level institutions, Second Level education and through Gaeltacht grants.

3. Gaeltacht Awards for Members’ Dependents Up to 20 awards will be made each year for the dependents of members to help cover the cost of their participation in a Gaeltacht course. The grant will help cover course materials, tuition fees and accommodation for up to 22 days to a maximum value of €350. This payment will be made retrospectively.

The CWU Education Grant Scheme is made up of the following three categories: 1. Members/Members’ Dependents in Third Level Education

Application Criteria for the three Grant Schemes

The scheme will offer four awards every year. Each award will be worth €2,000 for each year of study up to a maximum of four years. These awards will be made to Union members or members’ dependents involved in study or research on a subject relating to Trade Union issues and Industrial Relations at Diploma, Degree, PostGraduate Diploma or Post-Graduate Degree level such as through the UCD Quinn School of Business (Centre for Distance Learning). Equally, in the event that members wish to attend similar courses in other third level institutions throughout the provinces, their applications will also be considered by the National Executive Council. Members who have already commenced approved courses will likewise be considered.

Awards will not be given for a repeat year and will be made on an annual basis for each year of study.

2. Second-Level Awards for Members and for Members’ Dependents Up to 30 awards will be made each year to second-level students. Each award will be worth €400 to help with the purchase of schoolbooks and class materials.

Members can only avail of the grant scheme for each dependent once while they are in second level education.

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An applicant must have at least one year’s membership of the Union and be in benefit when both the application and the payments are made and for the duration of the course.

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For transparency purposes, applications must be made on the official form and no other version of the form will be processed.

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Only one application per member, per dependent, per category will be accepted. However, members may enter each of the three categories if they have family members attending the Gaeltacht, second level or third level institutions.

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Grants will be awarded by means of a draw which will take place at a date and time to be decided by the National Executive Council.

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The decision of the National Executive Council on all matters relating to this scheme shall be final.

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Grants will be non-transferable

Review of Scheme

Members studying for the Junior and/or Leaving Certificate as mature students will also be considered for this award.

The Union is committed to monitoring this scheme and it will be reviewed on an annual basis by the Education

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Education Update Committee in light of the applications received, budgeting and requirements of members.

Applications A circular will issue in mid-April seeking applications for the grant scheme. The application forms will be included in that circular and will be made available through your Branch, from Union Head Office and from the Union website www.cwu.ie. The circular will also include the details of the third level approved courses.

In this year’s review, it was noted by the Education Committee that there was a high demand for Second Level Awards in 2011. Accordingly, and in order to ensure that as many members as possible could avail of the awards; we realigned the 2012 budget to meet the demands of the membership. In that regard, for 2012, we are now offering 4 grants for Third Level Awards and have increased the number of Second Level Awards from 20 to 30.

In the interim members are asked to contact Union Head Office with any queries or feedback on the education grant scheme.

Introducing the Trade Union Skillnet Trade Union Skillnet is a new network and is comprised of a merger of two existing Skillnets i.e. Union Learning Skillnet and Women at Work Skillnet. The two existing Skillnets have operated separately and successfully over the past number of years. However, it has been agreed to combine resources and unite them as one network. The new Skillnet has secured Skillnet funding for 2012. The Trade Union Skillnet is funded by member companies and the Training Networks Programme, an initiative of Skillnets Ltd. funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Education and Skills.

The Steering Group of the Trade Union Skillnet will consist of one representative from each of the following groups: Congress (ICTU), CWU, IBOA, INMO, Mandate, representatives, SIPTU & TEEU. The Trade Union Skillnet has identified several training modules that will be of benefit to the union. Some of these include, Trade Union Studies, Employment Law, Communication Skills, Health and Safety, Public Speaking, Industrial Relations and Information Technology Skills.

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Postal Update

Full Steam Ahead for MAIL TRAIN a training method at the Company’s four mail sorting centres, uses a computerised replica of the actual primary sorting bench in use at the Delivery Office and a generic IDF (International Delivery Frame) to help improve sorting accuracy.

The project was established at the request of the Union which has continually expressed concern over the apparent hit and miss approach adopted to training in different parts of the country. The Executive Council has selected Emmanuel ‘Mono’ Cassidy as the Union’s representative on the project, working alongside Liam Carpenter and Colin Moore. In addition to his role as part of the MAIL TRAIN team, Mono is also tasked with liaising with local Branch Representatives both in advance of and during the MAIL TRAIN’s visit to any Office.

Delivery Offices visited so far include Athenry, Athlone, Bandon, Cavan, Claremorris, Crumlin, Cootehill, Drogheda, Galway, Letterkenny, Lifford, Loughrea, Macroom, Maynooth, Monaghan and Tuam.

Feedback from staff in relation to the MAIL TRAIN experience has been extremely positive and we look forward to its continued success.

MAIL TRAIN at Letterkenny Martin McGinley and Tony Duffy from Letterkenny DSU pictured with Liam Carpenter and Mono Cassidy A Joint Training Programme MAIL TRAIN has been established between An Post and CWU to identify and address training issues at Delivery Offices.

The MAIL TRAIN project, which was previously used as

required by the very same Regulator to tighten their belts and improve the quality of service. You would have to ask what exactly is the point in the Company employing route optimisers, utilising the most up to date methodology to determine the most efficient route, in circumstances where former Managers of An Post now employed with Comreg, appear to want to turn back the clock by reintroducing second deliveries? While members would be happy to deal with such a proposition, the big question is, how will it be paid for at a time of unprecedented volume decline.

One could be forgiven for believing they had a ‘bad hair day’ at the Comreg office in March but this followed on from an even a more inexplicable decision by the Regulator to initiate legal proceedings against An Post, with a view to fining it €12 million for allegedly not meeting next day delivery targets. While the Company has confirmed it will vigorously defend itself and the Union has issued strong condemnation of Comreg, it does pose the very serious question, if Comreg can form such a warped view of correct addressing, what does this say for the quality of addressing used in Comreg’s Quality of Service measures upon which it is relying to justify the €12 million fine.

More Double Standards from Comreg In March 2012 An Post was obliged to challenge the authority of Comreg to adjudicate on Customers entitlement to Postal Deliveries from specific Delivery Offices. This arose from a quite ludicrous situation whereby Comreg issued a decree that a residential house in Co Cork was entitled to have delivery of mail from two separate delivery offices. The directive issued by Comreg set out that the resident had two valid addresses for the same house and that An Post was obliged to service both of them, albeit there was only one delivery point, with one letter box. Such bizarre decision making by Comreg is particularly difficult to understand given its insistence that the Company must conduct its business in the most cost effective manner.

Postal workers are baffled at this bizarre situation as it adds additional operational expense, as well as forcing the Company to expend scarce financial resources on legal eagles. It is senseless at a time when staff are being

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Postal Update

Watchdogs investigate mystery of lost letters opened, but I would be a lot more annoyed if it was.

‘I don’t particularly want my details bandied about and I will be taking this matter up with my credit union to make sure this doesn’t happen again.’

Adam Conlon, manager of Finglas Credit Union, said: ‘We take confidentiality and data protection very seriously.

‘We issue a statement and AGM booklet to our members once a year, and this year we contracted CityPOST to deliver these items.

‘We know the vast majority of these letters were delivered correctly.

‘We are very disappointed to find a small number of letters were not delivered or returned to us but, instead, were disposed of in a manner that risked confidential details of our members being read by parties who were not entitled to do so.’

Dublin-based CityPOST is finalising plans to roll out a private postal service. Since 2002, the company has been contracted to deliver the national telephone directory.

This is believed to be the first time in the company’s 24-year history that post has ended up being tampered with.

10th March 2012

by Neil Michael “Daily Irish Mail” Chief Reporter GARDAÍ and the postal watchdog ComReg have launched enquiries into how confidential letters containing financial records went missing.

A batch of 13 letters had been due to be delivered by CityPOST – An Post’s rival – to members of two credit unions.

Instead, they were sent anonymously to the Irish Daily Mail.

A number had already been opened.

Eight letters from Dublin’s Finglas Credit Union arrived at the paper’s offices with an anonymous typed note. It was claimed the letters had been found at a Dublin premises. Then two days later, five more letters – one of which had been opened – arrived at the paper. These had been due to be delivered to Dublin 12 addresses of members of the city’s St Agnes Credit Union.

Instead, they arrived with a short handwritten note which again claimed they had been ‘found in Crumlin’.

The handwriting on both envelopes appeared identical, as if they were sent by the same person. Letters sent by credit unions typically contain sensitive private information detailing the size of loans taken out by members and how much they had paid back.

The 13 letters sent to the Irish Daily Mail all bore the postal mark of CityPOST, the independent postal firm which also delivers mail for four other credit unions nationwide.

The Finglas Credit Union letters had been sent out six weeks ago as part of a consignment of 13,000 letters containing each member’s annual statement. A similar number of letters had been dispatched to members of the St Agnes Credit Union.

Gardaí – who are to interview staff at CityPOST – are investigating how someone could have obtained the letters, which should have been delivered to addresses on postal routes that are about 20 kilometres apart.

It is an offence to open, attempt to open, delay or stop the delivery of an item of post belonging to someone else under the Postal and Telecommunications Act 1983. Penalties are a fine of up to 60,000 or five years in jail.

CityPOST boss Ian Glass said: ‘On foot of 13 pieces of confidential post being sent to the Irish Daily Mail – which we consider is the work of a disgruntled employee – the company put ComReg on notice of the information.

‘Any breach such as this is taken extremely seriously. The company is co-operating in every manner possible with ComReg and… additional security, vetting and process improvements are immediately being implemented.

‘We regret these two incidents and we intend making sure this does not happen again.’

The Irish Daily Mail delivered three of the Finglas Credit Union letters.

One recipient, Cecilia Cummins, aged 69, said: ‘I am astonished that this has happened. Luckily, my statement wasn’t

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Postal Update

ComReg’s Unprecedented Fine of

M 9 .

1 €1

Will Cost An Post Jobs All stakeholders in the Irish postal market were caught by surprise on February 8th when the regulator, ComReg, announced its intention to initiate legal proceedings against An Post with a view to fining the company for €11.9m for failing to meet the next day delivery targets set by the regulator.

This action by ComReg would be hard to take at the best of times but given the very serious challenges being faced by An Post already arising from postal liberalisation, falling mail volumes and e-substitution this action is incomprehensible. The reality is that if this fine has to be paid, it will have a devastating effect on An Post finances which are already operating on a knife edge. It beggars belief that a semi-state body, which is delivering a loss making vital public service, without any state support and whose profit margins are a fraction of 1% would be hit with a fine that is a multiple of last years profit. It is worth noting that previous fines issued to hugely profitable multinationals in the telecoms area are tiny amounts in comparison.

The bottom line, in circumstances where An Post is operating on such fine margins, is that if this fine is imposed it will lead to even further job losses and one must surely ask if this is in the best interest of the postal market and the workers and customers who depend on it.

The CWU reaction to this news has been swift and the General Secretary has written to the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte on behalf of our postal members to express his deep concern at this action as well as reminding the Minister that kind of approach to regulation will cost jobs. In addition to this the General Secretary wrote to the members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Communications who had just had ComReg in to address the Committee with their plans for 2012 the week before the news broke. He noted that at no stage were the elected Dáil members alerted by ComReg of their intention to fine An Post even though quality of service was discussed at that meeting.

In addition the CWU issued a press statement where the

General Secretary described ComReg’s threat as “an outrageous and wasteful attack by an unaccountable quango against An Post and the Irish postal service that will result in the loss of thousands of jobs.”

It went on to say that the legal action being taken by ComReg is totally unjustified in circumstances where the company, working with the CWU, has made huge investments in improving the quality of service which has led to year-on-year improvements in the service levels which are now very close to meeting the target of 94% next day deliveries.

For its part An Post has indicated that it will contest the action ‘vigorously’ and has expressed its surprise and disappointment at the decision given that the company has made significant improvements in quality of service. The company has also said that it has repeatedly sought clarification and increased transparency on how ComReg’s monitor system works but to no avail.

On the 21st February in a written answer to Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald who asked whether expensive legal action was the best way for ComReg to address this issue the Minister said he ‘would hope to see the issue in question resolved speedily and without resorting to court action.’

While the Minister did not indicate how this might happen a commitment at this level to avoid costly legal action is to be welcomed because it is worth noting that An Post will be liable for all legal costs, including those of ComReg, regardless of the outcome of the case.

At present the CWU is considering all of its options and will decide on whether a legal and/or a political challenge might be worthwhile in the coming weeks. In the meantime the Liberalisation Sub-Committee will convene to discuss the matter and decide whether we should involve the broader membership in some lobbying activity in relation to the TDs on the Oireachtas committee for Communications. In any event the CWU will add its voice to any challenge to this short sighted and ideological attack on the postal service, the national operator, its staff and the customers who rely on it.

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Vodafone whistleblower ‘must be reinstated’

by Stephen Rogers Wednesday, March 28, 2012 Irish Examiner Online

Vodafone wrote to him and ordered him to return to work on June 27. He neither responded nor returned to work.

The company wrote to him again telling him his absence was considered unauthorised, that he was being removed from the payroll, and that could lead to disciplinary action against him.

A series of disciplinary hearings were scheduled during July which Mr Bagge did not attend.

After a hearing on July 21, which Mr Bagge did attend, Vodafone started proceedings to dismiss him, saying there were allegations against him which amounted to acts of misconduct.

Impact appealed the company’s actions to the Rights Commissioner. The union argued the sacking was the culmination of years of victimisation, which followed Mr Bagge’s decision to reveal fraud in his workplace.

The commission did not comment on that claim.

However, it ruled the company’s sick leave policy was silent on how a difference in opinion between the company’s and employee’s doctors should be handled.

"I find that in the absence of stated company policy/ procedure on how such a difference in medical opinions will be dealt with, the claimant could not be found to be in breach of company policy in this matter," said the commissioner.

"How such a difference in medical opinions is dealt with by the employer who has a duty of care to the employee is particularly pertinent in a situation where the medical symptoms are workrelated stress..."

She found Mr Bagge was unfairly dismissed and should be reinstated from the date of dismissal to the position he previously held. Vodafone is reviewing the documentation.

A rights commissioner has ruled that a Vodafone employee who blew the whistle on a multimillion-euro fraud at the company and was later dismissed, should be reinstated.

The commissioner did not link the dismissal of John Bagge, a former compliance analyst with the company, to the whistleblowing.

However, she found he was unfairly dismissed after an absence from work due to work-related stress.

Four years prior to his dismissal, Mr Bagge had blown the whistle on a senior staff member who was committing a major fraud.

Vodafone later claimed Mr Bagge should have reported the fraud much sooner, saving the firm from the significant losses it incurred.

However, Impact, the trade union representing Mr Bagge, said Vodafone management failed in its duty of care to offer ongoing support afterwards.

A case was taken in 2009. The Labour Court recommended Mr Bagge be awarded €12,000 compensation. The court said the absence of appropriate supports and procedures in the company caused him to suffer significant anxiety and distress, resulting in him requiring a prolonged period of sick leave.

Mr Bagge reported sick with work-related stress on May 27, 2011. His doctor gave him a certificate for three weeks’ sick leave, but the company doctor found "no medical reason" for his continued absence.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/vodafone-whistleblowermust-be-reinstated-188604.html)

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All of us will need help at some stage in our lives. It may be that we are facing a serious illness and the associated costs of health care. We may need to talk to someone in a confidential manner to help cope with a difficult personal circumstance, particularly in today’s challenging economic environment. The Medisan provides much needed assistance for members in need of medical care for a wide range of illnesses including cardiac illness, cancer treatment, diseases of the central nervous system such as MS and other illnesses which can impact on an individual’s life.

The fund is completely confidential and will also provide assistance toward VHI or other healthcare providers shortfall in meeting the expenses associated with such illnesses.

✁

For more details on how to avail of assistance from the fund contact your Welfare Officer – An Post (01) 7057000 or Eircom (01) 6714444

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are, in turn, prepared to recruit in their own organisations, a training course needed to be tailored to this particular group’s needs.

The purpose of the Workplace Leader training is to educate inexperienced members from scratch, building an awareness of what trade unions are and encouraging and supporting activists’ campaigns. Ultimately, this should lead to the establishment of self-sustaining Branches and Committees. The training should also serve as a mentoring service in the absence of a Branch Secretary or Committee – the traditional ‘mentor’ in bringing new activists forward.

The training is designed to take place over a series of sessions providing information and support on topics including the members’ role within the Union, the importance of organising and campaign building.

Training has already begun for Meteor and Vodafone retail members and in non-union companies such as Siemens/ ATOS. As these members gain in confidence the Union can only benefit from a new generation of enthusiastic activists.

This initiative could not have been achieved without the invaluable support of Education Officer Carol Scheffer and the Education Committee; the Organisers would like to thank them for all their assistance and support.

Siemens/ATOS campaign gains momentum During the summer of 2011, a group of workers in Siemens IT Solutions’ Cork facility were faced with a dramatic fight to protect their rights. After contacting the CWU, staff joined the Union and secured proper treatment from their employer.

Because of quick action by the workers and the CWU, the situation was resolved and all affected staff were relieved to receive a fair redundancy package, including the ex-gratia payment they had previously been denied. What would prove to be most important was that the Company conceded that should issues arise again, affected staff would be heard collectively and would be allowed to be represented by the CWU. The door had been opened for the remaining employees in SIS’ Cork facility to join and continue the good work of their former colleagues. Of course the result of successfully securing redundancy terms for workers is that they move on and are no longer members of the CWU. Having subsequently been bought out by IT services company ATOS, there were only and handful of remaining members amongst staff in the facility. However, the reaction of remaining staff to seeing their colleagues so successfully represented was that there was a real feeling of positivity toward the Union.

This group has now grown and has begun the process of creating and strengthening a Union presence in the centre.

Members have already undertaken the first two modules of the Union’s new Workplace Leader training and are extremely enthusiastic and hopeful for the future.

Call Centre Action Month In November the CWU held its first Call Centre Forum in Jury’s Croke Park Hotel in Dublin.

Organised to mark UNI Global Union’s annual Call Centre Action Month, the event was intended to bring call centre workers from all parts of the country and industry together. The event was held on a Saturday specifically to accommodate those members who work for ‘anti-union’ employers and who would not have been released to attend mid-week. Considering everyone who came did so on their own time, the turn out was very positive with workers from call centres as diverse as An Post, American Airlines, O2, Siemens and Vodafone.

Workplace Leader Training Throughout the last year the Organisers have been working on delivering a state of the art training programme to develop ‘Workplace Leaders’.

While CWU training is highly regarded and extremely successful for members in established companies with recognition agreements, new members in ‘non-union’ companies require a different level of support to reflect their lack of experience in union activity. Any training for these members has to take into account their complete lack of Branch structure and all the support that goes with it. Many new members, particularly in call centres, are young and may not have as deep an understanding of their employment rights as more experienced members in areas benefitting from strong local Branch support. The retail area offers its own obstacles, because while there are Branch structures in place in the main centres, the nature of retail work means that these members are often isolated.

Many of the newly recruited members are working in companies that are hostile to union activity and as such new members may be apprehensive about taking the next step in becoming active. In order to create confident activists who

John Kenny Vodafone taking part in the Call Centre Forum The call centre industry continues to change both in Ireland and abroad. Large numbers of Irish jobs are being ‘off-shored’ and those jobs that remain are under increasing pressure for ever greater productivity. This pressure causes many problems for workers including unreachable targets, poor work-life balance and the stress and health issues that result. We believe that call centre workers are no different to any other and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect

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in the workplace. The aim of the UNI Call Centre Action Month and the CWU Call Centre Forum is to develop strategies that encourage call centres to operate according to the principles of quality employment The day started with general introductions to break the ice. Attendees were asked to share stories about an issue or incident at work and how it was resolved – if it was. It was instantly apparent how workplaces with union representation compared with those who had no such support. During this discussion, attendees were asked to candidly identify where the union could improve and what other supports are necessary for members in these situations.

The members were then given a crash course in what a well-organised workplace looks like. The purpose of this exercise was to help the attendees to identify where the problems were in their workplace and to work toward addressing them. Issues such as poor (or non-existent) Branch structure and poor communication were some of the most obvious problems that were recognised as being major issues in the ‘anti-union’ companies.

Finally, in the afternoon, participants were asked to build a ‘Call Centre Charter’. Every aspect of work in the contact centre industry was covered. Breaks and leave, pay and benefits, health and safety, and targets were all discussed.

The purpose of this exercise was not simply to talk about existing laws, it was about the ideal conditions that we would

all hope to work under in a call centre environment.

All these standards are being compiled into a Charter for call centre working. This document can be used to engage with employers to adopt these best practices and to recognise where there is room for improvement in workplaces.

The event was a great success. Participants expressed their enjoyment of the day and appreciated the opportunity to meet other workers who faced the same obstacles in their daily work. The CWU will continue to engage with its members to address the challenges faced by call centre workers and will work toward changing the landscape for the better.

Call Centre Forum 2011

New Workplace Leader Volunteers Show Value of Organising in Retail The last few months have been a very busy and exciting time for the organising retail campaign. In addition to the budding Retail Forum at Vodafone (Dublin) there are many other significant developments which we would like to bring to your attention.

Cork Retail Workplace Leader Training In March 2012, Organisers visited Cork and provided Workplace Leader training to retail members. The training was attended by a number of eircom and Vodafone retail workers. The training is one component of our overall strategic plan to organise in mobile retail stores. Training was attended by Eva-Jane Twomey, Owen Thornhill and Michael O’ Brien of Vodafone and by Kate Finerty and Danielle Condon of eircom. The training is designed to encourage members to take a more active role in your Union, as worker involvement is a critical component of the drive towards an organising union from a servicing union. Our next task is to formally set up a “Cork Retail Forum” which the attendees of the training have agreed to become part of.

In addition we aim to continue to rollout Workplace Leader training across the country. We are planning our next Workplace Leader training in the west, in either Galway or Limerick. If you work in a mobile retail outlet and would like to take a more active role in your union let us know.

Contact gerard@cwu.ie

Pictured l to r: Adam O’Maolagáin (CWU) Danielle Condon (eMobile) Michael O’Brien (Vodafone) Kate Finerty (Meteor) Owen Thornhill (Vodafone) Eva-Jane Twomey (Vodafone) Gerard O’Rourke (CWU)

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Vodafone Retail Points of Contact • • • • •

Lindsey Beggs is the point of contact for Nutgrove Blackrock, Tallaght and Dun Laoghaire Dobrawa Buajkowska is the point of contact for Blanchardstown, Newbridge, Carlow, and Navan Michael Fleming is the point of contact for the four Dublin city centre stores in Henry St and Grafton St Stephen Kiernan is the point of contact for Liffey Valley, Dundrum, Wexford and Waterford Emily Olohan is responsible for Swords, Drogheda, Dundalk, Donaghmeade and the Omni Centre.

Congratulations to Emily Olohan

Pictured l to r: Ceilí Flood (Meteor Retail), Michael Stafford (Meteor Retail) Dobrawa Bujakowska (Vodafone retail) Gerard O’Rourke (CWU)

Emily Olohan works as a retail agent for Vodafone; she is employed at the Pavilions store in Swords. Emily was recently elected to the Vodafone Branch Committee. Emily is the first person from retail member to be elected to this position. We send Emily our congratulations.

Dublin Retail Workplace Leader Training Training was also provided for retail members in Dublin on 1st March. The participants were Michael Stafford of Meteor Ilac Centre, Ceilí Flood of Meteor Northside and Dobrawa Bujakowska of Vodafone Blanchardstown. Dobrawa is the fifth Vodafone retail member to complete the training. This has facilitated the appointment of Workplace Leaders to provide points of contact across a number of Vodafone stores in the Dublin and eastern region. We hope to replicate the Vodafone Retail Forum model to the eircom retail outlets.

Ceilí and Michael have agreed to become the first two members of the eircom Retail Forum in the Dublin and Eastern region. We look forward to more volunteers in eMobile and Meteor retail stores who wish to take a more active role in their Union. If you are interested or would like to know more, contact gerard@cwu.ie

Vodafone Retail Forum Meetings in Dublin!

David Carr, eMobile, Galway, pictured with Union Organiser, Gerard O'Rourke.

The Vodafone retail Workplace Leaders have hit the ground running and have met as a group on a number of occasions.

These meetings are organised in a similar way to a Branch Committee meeting and attendees discuss issues that have come to attention in the workplace. The Vodafone Branch Secretary, Michael Farrell, and Union Organisers also attend the meetings. The group then decides on any actions which are then followed up by the appropriate person. The Forum members are focused and aware of the role that the union plays in the workplace. Recently, members of the Forum proposed a Motion to Conference on the issue of maternity pay. The Motion was accepted and will now go to conference for consideration. At the most recent meeting the group agreed to provide the role as the local point of union contact to their colleagues in stores in the Dublin and eastern region,

Organisers visit Galway As part of the retail organising campaign Organisers recently visited Galway. The visit involved meeting a number of eircom members and staff at Meteor and eMobile stores in Galway. In the evening we met a number of members from Vodafone stores who work in Athlone and Galway. A number of issues were raised at the meeting that were forwarded on to the Branch Secretary to be pursued.

Organisers also informed members of our ongoing campaign in retail and of our plans to commence workplace leader training in the west. Do you work in a Vodafone or an

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eircom store? Would you like to get more involved in your union? If so contact gerard@cwu.ie

concerns that they have in their workplace. Organisers met with a number of workers in Dublin and Portlaoise postal amalgamated branch secretary Helen Dunne-Phelan met with workers in Portlaoise. Following these meetings a number of workers joined the union.

The union is currently pursuing an agreement with An Post management that will provide a framework agreement for all An Post subsidiary companies.

PrintPost Workers join Union PrintPost is a wholly owned subsidiary of An Post and recently Organisers were recently contacted by a number of workers from the company. They raised a number of

WORKPLACE ACTIVISTS BUILD UNION STRENGTH IN MOUNTAINVIEW the Vodafone branch committee and the other activists for all their support so far and we look forward to more successes in the future.

Vodafone/Rigney Dolphin Mountainview The Vodafone/Rigney committee has been going from strength to strength since the organising team went to Mountainview in November last year. Having targeted the inbound call centre for recruiting with help from the local activists and committee the organising team were able to use this opportunity to recruit many new members.

John Kenny, one of the new work place leaders, has recently been nominated and brought on to the branch committee to represent issues that affect Rigney Dolphin staff, who make up the bulk of the call centre employees.

Currently the organising team are in the process of mapping the outbound area of Vodafone and are hoping for the same success with a similar campaign in this section. The organising department will also be training up a number of new work place leaders in the outbound section so they can be points of contact and help with the recruiting in the same way the activists in inbound did. The work place leader activists in the inbound section were instrumental in the recruitment of their colleagues to the union and have found the training invaluable.

Once trained it is hoped to launch another publicity campaign out in Mountainview by putting up posters as well as the branch secretary sending out circulars to the staff reminding them of the great things that the union has done in the work place over the last number of months. It is hoped that with activists in both inbound and outbound as well as the increased visibility in the call centre that the union will be on peoples minds when we go out to recruit.

We would like to take this time to thank Mick Farrell and

Staff in Research and Markets get organised and take issues to Management A new company that has joined up with the CWU is Research and Markets. While still in the early stages this committee and their lead activist Joe Galvin, have been taking great steps towards gaining a strong voice for all the employees in the company.

Due to changes to work practices and lack of communication from senior management within the company these employee’s decided to contact the CWU and get organised. With the help of the organising department they managed to focus their frustration in to a set of requests that they brought to management collectively. Like many private non union companies the management were more then willing to listen to issues on a one to one basis but they did not want to liaise with the staff collectively. The committee however stood fast and the company had their first employee forum in February where the staff raised their issues collectively.

We in the organising department would like to congratulate the committee on the members on the great work they’ve done so far and how much they’ve achieved.

We look forward to working to build the union and it’s presence within the work place over the coming year.

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The organising department continued with their visits to the Churchfield site throughout November and December meeting with many of the new groups that were starting there. They were joined by two members of the NEC; Ray Lawlor and Martina O’Connell who provided essential support as the Union got the opportunity to meet all the newly recruited staff with a view to organising them into the Union. This approach proved very successful as over ninety new members were signed up from these meetings. As a result of these staff coming together and joining the CWU they helped to identify a number of issues that were subsequently dealt with by the local committee who quickly proved to these new recruits that you are better off in a union.

A stand was also placed in the canteen to increase visibility of the Union on the site and so any staff that had any questions or issues were able to speak to the organisers one to one. After running a very successful campaign over the two months the organisers have passed the responsibility of recruitment and union visibility to the Colette Healy and the rest of the new branch in First Source. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to seeing this branch go from strength to strength and note that already Colette has done some sterling work organising the remaining staff into the union to ensure that we have a strong branch in Churchfield that can represent members’ issues.

Organising Drive with First Source in Cork gets big results

CWU organisers Amanda O’Hara and Adam O’Maolagáin with the stand in Churchfield.

VODAFONE ADMIN DUNDALK

After over ten years the doors to the admin department finally closed in Vodafone Dundalk. As part of Vodafone Ireland’s outsourcing measures the departments work was moved to India. The team was a mix of Vodafone and Rigney Dolphin employees but both stood side by side with the backing of the Communications Workers Union locally during the Union’s campaign. Thanks to this campaigning the redundancies that were taken were voluntary and for those not willing to accept the redundancy they were reassigned to other desks within the Dundalk call centre. The local branch as well as Vodafone Ireland’s main branch would like to wish them all the best in the future and thank them for their support during these hard times.

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Union Secures 2% Wage Increase In the last edition of Connect, we reported on difficulties the Union was experiencing with Obelisk (the company that Vodafone have transferred its Network Operations to, along with long-serving staff employed on the Network). Obelisk was attempting to renege on the terms of a framework agreement designed to protect our members’ terms and conditions of employment. As a result of this, the Union conducted a ballot for industrial action and 100% of the members voted in favour of industrial action in a secret ballot.

At a meeting on the 13th January, Obelisk informed the Union they did not intend to pay the 2% wage increase due from the 1st January, despite the fact that the pay increase was provided for in the Framework Agreement. The Union launched a campaign of industrial action, which included a workto-rule and despite the best efforts of Obelisk to circumvent the dispute, our members stood firm. For their part, Vodafone did nothing to resolve the dispute, despite the fact that they are signatories to the Framework Agreement. Vodafone supported Obelisk and showed a callous disregard for longserving staff who between them have given over a thousand years service to Vodafone and its predecessors.

Obelisk referred the dispute to the Labour Relations Commission and the Commission issued the following proposals, which were accepted by Obelisk and the Union.

•

•

A Working Group will be convened, initially weekly, subsequently, as required (including at short notice), with a view to resolving operational problems; positive outcomes to be updated to the Procedures Manual. Should agreement to change work practices emerge, outcomes will be recorded and will, from time to time be reviewed at Partnership level;

•

The Union raised example(s) of Health & Safety concerns regarding the training levels for the safe carrying out of duties. This matter to be examined by a Working Group, as referred to above;

•

The Company has raised the issue of reporting/updating of work progress/outcomes.

This matter, too, will be addressed by a Working Group;

•

Early Scheduled Work: Both sides have undertaken to engage locally in meaningful discussions on this matter. They may revert to the LRC subsequent to those discussions, if necessary.

We salute our members in Obelisk for their determination and courage in standing up to an employer whose intention was to change their terms and conditions of employment and deprive them of a wage increase.

A 2% pay increase to be implemented effective 1st January, 2012;

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The following is an article which was published in the Irish Independent recently which shows exactly how the Independent manipulate situations to tell the story they want but which have no bearing on the actual facts!

From the Irish Independent:

From the Irish Independent:

‘Magda’ (36), not her real name, described her life on the dole in Donegal as a ‘Hawaiian massage’.

Apart from her clear intent to take advantage of our social welfare system, to describe her home as a s***hole just adds insult to injury

From original Article:

From original Article:

Magda can do a basic massage, a Hawaiian one and a hot stone one that she’s learnt at a free course organised by the social welfare office.

“Do I have a problem with being on benefits?” She ponders the question. “Yes. I don’t want to live off the state, that’s why I treat the benefits as an aid, which will help me to start my own business.”

“In the afternoon we grab a 3 euro coffee. We could have a similar one at home, but it is important to help the local business, explains Magda.

From the Irish Independent: Magda doesn’t identify the town in Co Donegal where she lives but she does call it a “s***hole”.

From original Article: Donegal, a county on the Northern tip of Ireland, for some it’s the most beautiful place in the world, for others – biggest nowheresville. Wherever you look, green hills and beaches stretching towards the horizon, just like on a postcard.

From the Irish Independent: He in turn bragged about the county’s wonderful golf courses.

From the Irish Independent:

From original Article:

Sometimes I sleep till noon and the nearest beach is five minutes away

This last one confused me as I could not find any reference in the original article to the guy playing golf. Notice this though, it does not actually say he plays golf. Just that he is “bragging” about the golf courses. This is an interesting line as it creates a false illusion in your mind. He says in the original article that Donegal has nice scenery and good beaches and golf courses – is this ‘bragging’ or stating a fact?

From original Article: “I always start my days in the same way: I go down to the beach to see the sunrise. It sets me up for the rest of the day. I used to sleep until noon, but now I don’t want to waste my life.”

40

Regulation Update that this kind of duplication was both unnecessary and that it made no financial sense. The CWU pointed out that across Europe postal regulators are not responsible for the monitoring system the way ComReg is and that at the very least the regulator and the postal operator agree on a single system between them. The General Secretary made a very strong case for this approach to be adopted in Ireland. An Post and ComReg should come together and agree a set of measurement standards within a system that is transparent and independently operated to ensure its integrity and which will provide all stakeholders with outputs that can actually be used to improve the postal market. The officials felt that this idea was worth exploring and agreed to take the matter to the other parties concerned.

First, however, the officials explained that they would to check whether this approach would be acceptable to the European Commission. The Commission confirmed that legally this approach was acceptable within the postal Directives and that the Department could proceed. An Post confirmed that it would be willing to consider this option which meant ComReg were the only remaining party whose support was needed.

The CWU understands that the proposal was put to ComReg sometime in January but that the regulator dismissed it out of hand. There does not appear to have been much of an explanation given but subsequent events to do with recently the announced fine might explain their decision. In any event their dismissal of a proposal that would save millions of euro and which had the backing of the Department of Communications, An Post and the European Commission throws into sharp relief the attitude of ComReg to other stakeholders in the market it is responsible for regulating.

ComReg Refuses to Shed Light on Quality of Service The issue of next day delivery targets and quality of service in general is one that the CWU has been looking into in recent months and has in fact has met with the Department of Communications to discuss the matter. In December of last the General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick accompanied by the Head of Regulation, Ian McArdle met with senior officials from the Department to discuss a range of issues to do with the postal market. Chief among them was the fact that there are two quality of service measurement systems being operated, at significant cost, to measure the same thing - An Post’s delivery standards. ComReg operates one measurement system and An Post operates another which is designed to copy the ComReg one.

Why is this duplication necessary? It is required because ComReg will only share the final result of its measurement system i.e. what the per cent figure for next day delivery is, but it will not give any insight into where the problems might be occurring in the An Post system. Or to put it another way, the regulator operates a comprehensive monitoring system that should be used to improve the quality of service in the postal market but refuses to share its findings with anyone.

They can confirm there is a problem but it’s up to An Post to figure out what the problem is! As a result of this lack of information sharing An Post must run its own monitoring system to try and figure out what ComReg won’t tell them.

At the meeting it was put to the officials in the Department

Inequality has reached its highest level in 30 years.

Two new reports further underline the rich-poor divide. The USA triennial survey of consumer finances shows that the share of wealth of the top 20% is about 87.2%, while the bottom 80% share the remaining 12.8% of wealth. Further comparative research shows that in 2007 the Forbes 400 wealthiest individuals accounted for $1.54 trillion or roughly the same wealth as the entire bottom 50% of American families. The six descendents of Walmart founder Sam Walton have combined wealth equivalent to the total wealth of the entire bottom 30%.

The OECD have weighed in with a new report “Divided we stand,” which has found that the gap between rich and poor in the OECD countries has reached its highest level for 30 years. The OECD has found that the average income of the richest 10% is now about nine times that of the poorest 10% across the OECD. In an unusually stark message, the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría observed, “The social contract is starting to unravel in many countries.”

As austerity policies bite in the USA and EU, the rich-poor divide will grow.

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MORTGAGE SERVICES FOR CWU MEMBERS

in any event, cannot provide you with independent advice.

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The process therefore should start well in advance.

You need to prepare your mortgage CV, readjusting small but critical financial habits to ensure that your 6 month track record is squeaky clean to get your mortgage application approved. And it’s the simple things that can trip you up! Whilst on the surface this may simply appear an exercise in gathering paper, a blip in anyone one of these items and you’ll probably be rejected by every lender.

Getting Mortgage Approval Contrary to public perception banks are lending, however gaining that all-important mortgage approval is like trying to apply for and securing an elusive job (in a country with almost 500,000 unemployed). The same key actions are required – preparation, preparation & preparation. Recent research highlights the fact that the cost of funding a mortgage for a first time buyer is almost as low as it ever has been.

Combined with the estimated 50% plus fall in house prices, a low interest rate environment and the

improvement and extension to mortgage interest relief for first time buyers, there has probably never been a better time to buy a new home.

Therefore when you decide you want to get a mortgage you need to deal with it in an efficient and professional manner ensuring that you get your application right first time. Going it alone is no longer an option. Banks are focused on their need not yours and you will rarely deal with a dedicated and experienced mortgage advisor in a bank branch which,

All of the documentation needs to be perfectly presented. For example:

✓ ✓ 42

Current accounts should be clean, with no referral fees or unapproved charges. Certain transactions are frowned upon and viewed negatively by Lenders.

You should have a demonstrable savings record and if a balance of funds is being provided by

way of gift, this needs to be clearly evidenced and supported by an appropriate gift letter. You don’t need to save with the bank you borrow from and in the current environment it is probably best that you don’t.

✓

prospect of dealing directly with their bank regarding repayment difficulties; hence the need for independent and professional services on what can be an extremely emotive subject.

Mortgage Negotiators is a fee-based advisory service, however FM Downes has negotiated a fully confidential initial phone-based consultation free of charge for CWU members. During this initial consultation you will receive advice regarding your rights and protection as a borrower, the manner in which your bank is likely to engage with you and advice regarding your options and any action required by you. A discounted fee package has also been negotiated for CWU members should you decide to engage their services.

If you are currently experiencing difficulties meeting your mortgage repayments or anticipate difficulties in the future, you can call Mortgage Negotiators (make sure to say you are a CWU member!) on

You have to be able to prove that you can afford the loan. Lenders assess this based on your Net Disposable Income and repayment capacity.

As a CWU member you will receive high quality professional mortgage advice and support throughout the mortgage process from the initial discovery meeting through to receiving the keys to your new home. If you would like to buy your first home or are thinking of moving house, call us on 01 8556666 or log on to www.fmdownes.com

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CWU People

Paddy and the Wall

Drogheda-Independent.ie FORMER Louth GAA star Paddy Mathews of Drogheda District Branch, is setting up a Palestinian support group in the county after a humbling visit to the Middle East that saw him come under tear gas attack by Israeli soldiers.

“This Christmas season we should spare a thought for the city of Bethleham’s native people, the Palestinians,” he declared.

He has just returned from a trip to the Holy Land and came across the controversy at first hand.

Paddy, who had the likes of Peter Kearney from Clogherhead in his party, was aware of the ‘controversy’, which includes the 26ft high ‘security wall’, before arriving.

This wall prevents a normal relationship existing between Palestinians and Israelis and it is an intimidating sight.

He attended a peaceful protest in the Palestinian town of Bilin but was left with sore eyes after soldiers opened fire with tear gas.

“For the international tourist, Bethlehem is a ‘must see’ especially the church of the Nativity, and other historical and

religious sites nearby. For most travellers staying in nearby Jerusalem or in Israel they most likely will not notice the wall as they pass through with little security hindrance and enjoy the scenes. However for the Palestinian Muslim or Christian, if you live on the wrong side of the wall life can be hell.

“I went there with a group of people on an alternative tour of the Holy Land, with people interested in human rights, some who work in NGOs and others, like me, interested in Palestinian issues and wanted to get a feel for daily life in the area.

“We met Christians, Muslims, Jews and Bedouins and various groups, to hear their views and plight. We did tours of some cities and towns such as Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus, villages, universities, schools, settlements, refugee and Bedouin camps, (+ a brewery in Taybeh) mostly in the West Bank. We stayed just over a week in Bethlehem with 7 days of organised tours and meetings and the last day free to do what we wished.

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CWU People a walkway above the crowd with gun pointing and finger on trigger. After about twenty minutes, the turnstile began to turn, and people began to move. Of course there was queue jumping and very uncomfortable squashing conditions. One man got very cranky, jumped up on and rails and rushed the turnstile pushing people out of the way. A small row ensued with punches being traded. Turnstiles stopped for short period until calm was restored.

“On getting through these turnstiles you entered another concrete room where there was another queue for a control cabin where soldiers now checked your permit / passport.

There was plenty of shouting here and some Palestinians were turned away.

“On our last morning some went to Bilin village to participate in a peaceful protest against the Wall which has taken land from local villagers and farmers, and divided their natural landscape. There was around 100 people with 17 of our group taking part. There was a film crew from Brazil and a few Israeli refusniks, who also joined the locals led by local community leader in solidarity for their weekly protest.

We walked about a kilometre, which brought us up a pathway to the wall. There was a ring of barbered wire, which kept people around 30m from the wall. As we approached the IDF began firing tear gas, and this continued with varying degrees of concentration for the period of half an hour or so until people dispersed. I was never in such a situation before and there is definitely a bit of a fear factor.

Tear gas attacks eyes, and airways through nose and mouth.

My eyes gave me bother immediately and I covered mouth and nose with a spare t-shirt.

“We had builders’ masks but of course we forgot to bring them from the hotel. We had a tri-colour with us and we got plenty of chants in as gaeilge. I wasn’t to the fore, but I still managed to inhale quantities, and it made some get sick, made plenty cry and have difficulty breathing. It can blind you also for period of time and we helped each other avoid major plumes. The main concern was to avoid the canisters flying through the air and take remedial action. One bounced on a path a couple of metres away from me. The tear gas canisters set some of the local vegetation on fire and made for your typical riot/war zone. Some local youths breached the barbed wire and rubber bullets were fired. As we retreated one man was laid low and we met an ambulance on the way to assist.

“That may have seemed enough excitement for one day, BC) for lunch and then on to the Dead sea. The beach we were at is more of a mud bath experience than the beautiful ones we are accustomed to in Bettystown and Termonfeckin.

The sea itself contains so much salt, that it is impossible to swim and you bob about like a cork. I got a splash of water in my eyes and it is definitely worse than tear gas. You are supposed to spread the mud over your face and body to get rid of impurities. My roommate said I looked ten years younger.”

“On the second last day I skipped from the official tour with two others, to go into Jerusalem to see the sites, as I could not go home without telling the mammy of the old city. We decided to take the local route through the wall, which meant walking the short distance from our hotel to the checkpoint. This wall is a thick concrete construction four times higher than the Berlin wall and 700 km long, built

by Israel as ‘security’ for its state. It weaves round Jerusalem and Bethlehem and divides the countryside and villages, excluding Palestinian people but not its land and is deemed illegal by UN and international bodies.

“All Palestinians living on the southern portion of the West Bank must go through this checkpoint in Bethlehem to enter Israel. You can see Jerusalem from many places in Bethlehem and the checkpoint is only 11km from the Jaffa gate in the old city, but there are obstacles in getting there and it is in effect a very long distance for most local Palestinians. There is no easy movement for Palestinians in the West Bank, as it is sealed by the Israeli army, either by a security zone along the Jordan river or the wall, and within there are hundreds of checkpoints.

“The West Bank is broken into distinct regions which are similar to little Gaza’s, and Israel control all aspects of life, water, utilities, movement which can be switched off at a whim and many view as an apartheid system. No Palestinian can leave the West Bank without a permit, and for a man under 55, or woman under 45 it is particularly difficult and to obtain a permit from the local Israeli administration office you must have a residency card plus I.D. card and a very good reason.

“I was speaking to a young man of 20 and this year was only the second time he was ever able to leave the West Bank, on both occasions to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

On the I.D. card are all your personal details including fingerprints and retina image. A visit permit is generally only given for a day and after 10 p.m. you will be arrested if caught in Israel. Worker permits are generally renewed for longer periods, but 3 months is the longest period. If any ‘incident’ occurs, borders are generally closed, permits revoked and all must reapply.

“We arrived at the wall at 9.30 a.m. and it took us 45 minutes to get through. In the early morning queuing starts very early and can take over 4 hours. There are no refreshment or toilet facilities in the security complex. On reaching the wall there is a caged passage, around 70m long where you must queue.

“This leads to a turnstile and on going through has a xray machine for luggage similar to airport type security, with armed guards. On leaving this you go through an open yard to another building with a hall and rails leading to another turnstile. When we entered there were only around a hundred people bunching, as rails did not facilitate orderly queuing.

There was a complete standstill and you could hear some shouting and roaring beyond barriers. This was the situation for about twenty minutes and sporadic shouting also began on our side as impatience grew. An armed guard appeared on

45

CWU People

Kieran Dalton Retires Recently retired postman Kieran Dalton, Ardfert S.O, Co. Kerry was given a special presentation for his service to the North Kerry Postal Branch, where he served as a former Branch Secretary. A Presentation to mark his retirement was made following the North Kerry Postal Branch AGM, by, Ger O’Brien NE. (Branch Secretary), Also there to mark the occasion was Danny Roche (Assistant Secretary), Steve Fitzpatrick (General Secretary CWU), Kieran Dalton.

Pictured from l to r: Danny Roche (Assistant Secretary), Steve Fitzpatrick (General Secretary) and Ger O’Brien (NE Branch Secretary), who made the presentation to Kieran Dalton.

Donal ‘Doc’ Gleeson Awards Concert

Pictured l to r: Dave Bell (Treasurer), Sile O’Brien, Claire O’Brien, Theresa O’Halloran, Darren Rea and Willie Mooney (Branch Secretary).

In memory of their colleague, Donal ‘Doc’ Gleeson, the Dublin Postal Clerks Branch of the Communications Workers’ Union has established a fund to enable University College Cork to provide a number of instrumental tuition awards.

Four awards are made each year to outstanding students in the Department of Music to help defray the cost of their instrumental or vocal tuition.

We were delighted to present a performance by this year’s recipients, which took place on Friday, 24th February.

2012.

Jimmy Boyle Retires

Pictured Back Row l to r: Noel Curley, Paddy Mathews, Tony Carolan, Pat Lynch, Paul Coleman, John O’Donoghue, Ciran Mc Donnell, Peadar Donlon, Front Row l to r: Padraig Kilcoyne, Martin Woods, Mickey Rice, Jim Boyle with his Union Scroll presentation, following his retirement from the eircom Drogheda Section, Lorcan Traynor, Pat Hand, Alan Brennan.

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CWU People

Congratulations to Eileen Flaherty, on her Graduation!

Pictured is Eileen Flaherty, who recently graduated with a B.B.S.(hons) degree, (HR stream), from N.U.I. at Dublin Castle. Eileen is currently based in the Resource Business centre in Athlone.

Nicky Ryan leaves eircom In July 2011, Nicky Ryan, former Secretary, National Executive member for the Dublin No. 2 Branch, decided to avail of the V/L scheme and left eircom.

Nicky was Secretary of the branch during the turbulent times within the Company, during the 1980s and 1990s. He was extremely forceful in his views while he was Secretary of this branch and was highly respected by both Management and members of the branch.

Nicky was extremely hard-working, honest and trustworthy in all of his dealings with the Company and the members. He went on to be a Worker Director in the Company for a number of years. In his latter days in eircom, he was a National Partnership Co-ordinator and was very much involved in the Partnership Training for all branches, when we had the Partnership model, within the Company.

Recently the branch made a presentation to Nicky and also presented him with the Union scroll and long service badge, for the work that he has done over the years at both local and National level, within the CWU. The Branch Secretary thanked Nicky most sincerely for all of the time and effort he put in, representing the members of this union over many years. Everyone involved with the CWU wish Nicky best wishes for the future and a very long and happy retirement.

Steve Crilly presents Nicky Ryan with his Union Scroll on his retirement.

Steve Crilly

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CWU People

Big Ronnie Retires Galway Postal Branch recently held a thoroughly Indeed he recollects at that time a young Steve enjoyable function to mark the retirement of their Fitzpatrick, Branch Officer of the Districts Branch, colleague, Ronnie Ward. The popular Galway Postman attending a meeting during the dispute and offering the achieved 34 years’ Branch their support, service with An Post and handing over a financial packed his bag for the contribution as well as last time on the 24th engaging in a few February. He gave a fond sociable refreshments. farewell to his The Branch Officers, longstanding friends and committee and members customers, as he would of the Galway Postal say himself, “back the Branch also west”. acknowledge Ronnie’s Ronnie’s colourful unwavering support for character brought the Union, his fond enormous joy, comfort friendship and they and satisfaction to the regard him to have been businesses and residents a great father-figure of the West End, all of down through the years. whom were very sad to In more recent years, see him leave but Ronnie encountered a Pictured from l to r: Paul Kennedy, Chairperson, delighted that he had very serious illness and, Galway Postal Branch, retired in good health. were it not for his making a presentation to Ronnie Ward The larger-than-life optimistic outlook and character tucked into a strong will and big breakfast, a daily ritual on his route, at Erna Walsh’s determination, he would not have recovered to the good residence in Sea Road. Being a great man for the news health with which he has been able to retire. Such and the chat, Ronnie digested and developed many a story optimism was not shared by the so-called Welfare at Erna’s tea house. Indeed, it was out of one such soirée Department of An Post and it is Ronnie’s regret that they during Galway’s famous Racing Festival that top jockey, did not deal with him in a more caring, understanding and Richard Dunwoody, reserved a mention for Ronnie in his compassionate manner at that time. However, he is, as book Obsessed, about his encounters over the tea to are his colleagues, extremely pleased that he proved them establish the insiders’ track on the tips of the day. wrong.

While An Post and its customers acknowledge Ronnie’s Ronnie wishes to record his sincere appreciation for the dedicated service, Ronnie was also a staunch Union Union’s support to him and his family down through the activist and supporter throughout his career. He was years and most particularly during his illness. He also renowned for his colourful contributions at Branch wishes to extend great praise to Mike Hannon, DSM, for meetings, enjoying the banter of the arguments but always his assistance. On his very first day of service with the supportive of the democratic decision. Although he Company Ronnie managed to find himself sacked. enjoyed his time at An Post, he experienced some very However the Union stepped in and saved the day, difficult times, such as the 1979 P&T Strike and also in resulting in Ronnies motto, You’re much better off in a 1986, the testing three-and-a-half weeks’ dispute at Union Galway’s Sorting Office in Eglinton Street. One traumatic Ronnie’s trojan efforts in working for An Post all had event was an armed robbery that took place while he one objective, to provide for his family: Barbara, his wife, performed night duty. Ronnie fondly recalls the sons, Ronald and Gary and daughters, Elizabeth and camaraderie displayed by the members of the Branch Paula. The CWU wishes Barbara, Ronnie and family the during the 1986 dispute and in particular the moral and very best of health, good wishes and long life in financial support of the Dublin Branches. retirement.

48

CWU People

Donor Awareness Campaign

Bronagh Daly, POC, Dundalk.

There are currently over 650 people in Ireland awaiting life saving organ transplants including heart, lung, liver, kidney and pancreas.

The focus of Organ Donor Awareness Week is to raise awareness about the ongoing and ever increasing demand for organ donation and transplantation, and to seek support from the public to make an informed decision to carry an Organ Donor Card. Organ Donor Awareness Week runs from 31st March to 7th April 2012 and one of our own members, Bronagh Daly, wishes to highlight the benefit she gained from someone else carrying an Organ Donor Card.

Bronagh Daly lives in Greenore in County Louth and is a Post Office Clerk in Dundalk Post Office. She has been a member of the Union for nearly twenty years. Bronagh who is married with two children (age 2 and 6) and is 40 years of age, had a massive heart attack in the lead up to Christmas 2010 while leaving her house with her two young children.

Bronagh has always led a very active life playing badminton and golf, and she is also a keen walker who walked every day.

Imagine the shock for her and her family when she had a heart attack at such a young age considering she was so active and healthy.

Bronagh’s heart was so badly damaged that she required an urgent heart transplant in order to survive. Bronagh was hospitalised for two months until a suitable heart became available, in February 2011. Bronagh is very grateful to her donor who is always in the back of her mind. It is thanks to the selfless act of the family of her deceased donor and their decision to donate their loved ones organs at a very sad time, that Bronagh is now enjoying ‘the gift of life’.

Organ Donor Awareness Week also serves as a fundraising exercise for the Irish Kidney Association. Throughout the Week (31st March- 7th April, 2012) Irish Kidney Association volunteers will be out on the streets and in shopping centres throughout the country selling 'forget me not flower' emblems (the symbol of transplantation), brooches, magnetic car ribbons and pens.

Please sign the back of the donor card and ask your next-of-kin to sign it also. It is important to have a discussion with your loved ones about your decision to become an organ donor in the event of your untimely death. It is your next-of-kin who will make the decision for your organs to be donated and this selfless decision at a very sad time will be made easier if your family know they are honouring your wishes.

Organ Donor Cards can also be obtained by phoning the Irish Kidney Association on LoCall 1890 543639 or Freetext the word DONOR to 50050, you can also visit website www.ika.ie It is now possible to store an Organ Donor Card as an ‘eCard’ on Smart mobile phones - simply search for ‘Donor eCard’ at the iPhone Store or Android Market Place.

49

CWU People

An Post Staff climb for Paul Hurley’s Four Mountain Challenge for Childaid, 10th March, 2012

If anyone wishes to contribute to John’s Childaid challenge, please log onto the www.mycharity.ie – click on sponsor a friend and then type in Paul Hurley and click on Four Mountain Challenge

Pictured back row l to r: Declan Walsh (CMC), Ian Kelly (CMC), Paddy Barry (DAF), Paul Hurley (Little Island DSU), John Keane (Little Island DSU) and Tony Murnane (Little Island DSU).

Pictured front row l to r: Ger McCullagh (Little Island DSU) and Pat Kearney (Little Island DSU).

John Keane taking a well earned break at the summit

50

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CWU People

Kells Branch Retirements

Kells CWU Postal Branch hosted a function in Crover House Hotel Mountnugent Co Cavan on Friday night 2nd December 2011 to mark the retirement of six former Members.

Pictured front row l to r: Michael Cronin Ballyjamesduff DSO, Sean Croghan Oldcastle DSO, May Timmins Oldcastle DSO, Margaret Tierney Oldcastle DSO, Eugene Carolan Bailieborough DSO, Joe Gavin Kells DSU Back row l to r: Pat Compton CWU Worker Director, Cyril Pakenham Kells Branch Chairman, Marian Morris Kells Branch Treasurer, John Tansey CWU NEC and James Quail Kells Branch Secretary.

Vita Cortex Cheque Presentation

Margaret Hegarty, Gerry Quirke, Martina & Joe Moore with Vita Cortex (ex) staff. presenting a cheque in support of their sit-in.

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CWU People

Carrick-on-Shannon Section Retirements

Padraig Mac Manus Section Secretary presents Paddy O’Rourke with his Union scroll

Padraig Mac Manus Section Secretary presents Sean Reynolds with his Union scroll

Padraig Mac Manus Section Secretary presents ??????? with his Union scroll.

Padraig Mac Manus Section Secretary presents Peter Quinn with his Union scroll.

Presentation to retired eircom Carrick-on-Shannon section members

Pictured from l to r: Sean Reynolds, Pat Logan, Padraig McManus (Section Secretary), Peter Quinn, Paddy O’Rourke and Christy Graham (Section Chairman)

53

CWU People

Dan Brennan Retires Dan Brennan, An Post Kilkenny Branch, retired on the 23rd December 2011 after 25 years’ service. He was made a presentation by his colleagues, who all wish him a happy and healthy retirement.

Pictured from l to r: Thomas Deegan (Branch Secretary, Kilkenny), Paddy Barry (Chairman), Dan Brennan and Sean Morrissey (Treasurer)

Gerry Corbett Retires

Tom Geraghty presenting Gerry Corbett with his Union Scroll

Galway Postal Branch Committee Members pictured l to r: Tom Geraghty, Mary Conroy and Anthony Kelly presenting Gerry Corbett with his Union Scroll to mark the occasion of his retirement from An Post.

Possibly the best cartoon of this century!

I personally would suggest government.

They never go to jail.

54

CWU People

Kilkenny Branch Retirees receive their Union Scrolls at the AGM in Kilkenny

Pictured l to r: Joe Guinan, Dan Brennan, Paddy Barry (Chairperson), Breda Brennan, Tommy Deegan (Secretary) and Sean Morrissey (Treasurer)

Pictured l to r: Joe Guinan, Kathleen Hayden, Jim Hayden, Paddy Barry (Chairperson), Tommy Deegan (Secretary) and Sean Morrissey (Treasurer)

Pictured l to r: Joe Guinan, Debra Tyrrell, Jim Tyrrell, Paddy Barry (Chairperson), Tommy Deegan (Secretary) and Sean Morrissey (Treasurer)

55

CWU People

eircom AEH Bandon Retirement Party

A function was held in the GAA Pavilion in Bandon to honour the retirements of five employees, who retired from the Bandon Branch in 2011 and who had, between them, all completed over 30 to 39 years’ service.

They were: (pictured l to r) Donie McCarthy, Joe McCarthy, Carmel O’Dwyer, Christy Walsh and Tim Dwyer.

T C Breachnach receives a presentation of the Union Scroll and Badge from Section Chairperson, Dermot Hayes, on his retirement.

T C spent 10 years on the National Executive and also served as Secretary and Chairperson of the Bandon branch for over 30 years.

Dermot Hayes makes a presentation to Joe McCarthy on his retirement.

Tim Dwyer receiving a presentation on his retirement from Micheal Whelton, Secretary of the Bandon Social Club

Carmel O’Dwyer receiving a retirement presentation from Greg Mc Kenna, Bandon Social Club.

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Donal Mc Carthy, Branch Secretary and Chairman of the Bandon Branch receiving a retirement presentation from Tom O’Brien, Chairperson of Bandon Social Club

CWU People

John Whelan’s Retirement

Pictured from l to r: Steve Fitzpatrick, John Whelan and Terry Delany.

Terry Delany, John Whelan and Tony Dunne – all former Branch Secretaries of the Dublin Postal Drivers Branch.

A function took place to mark the retirement of John Whelan, former Branch Secretary of the Dublin Postal Drivers’ Branch.

John affectionately known as “JKA” entered the Department of Post & Telegraphs in June 1965 and commenced work as a Postman at the Pearse Street Sorting Office. In early 1970s John took up driving duties and became a member of the Dublin Postal Drivers’ Branch. He was a member of the Branch Committee for several years and eventually took over the position as Branch Secretary in 1986, a position in which he served with great distinction until 2001. During that time, John was also a member of the National Executive Council of the Union. John took up a position as a Partnership Co-ordinator in 2002 and he brought a wealth of experience to that position.

During his time as Branch Secretary, John was known as a very tough and highly respected negotiator and he had many achievements to his credit that brought about improvements for members of the Dublin Postal Drivers’ Branch.

One such achievement which was referred to in well-deserved tributes was the application of the full terms of the Partnership for Progress Agreement to members of the Dublin Postal Drivers’ Branch, a result which would not have been achieved were it not for John Whelan’s efforts. It is a tribute to John that so many of his retired colleagues and former Branch Officers attended the retirement function.

We wish John a long and happy retirement.

Pictured l to r: Tony Dunne Former Branch Secretary, Eugene Keenan Former Branch Treasurer, Terry Delany DGS and Ken Stevens, Former Branch Chairperson.

A few old friends celebrate with John, on his retirement.

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CWU People

Ennis Branch Retirements

A Function was held in the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point, Co. Clare, to mark the retirement of five eircom Ennis Branch staff, Michael McGuane, Frank O’Loughlin, John Queally, Johnny Aherne and Pat Frawley. A large number of eircom workers from Ennis, Dublin and Nenagh were represented, along with their family members, where the Union Scroll was presented to all.

Ennis Branch made a presentation to John Sullivan and John Murphy (seated centre of photo), who are going out to Kenya and South Africa on the 27th January 2012.

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John Sullivan, Ennis Branch, who going to South Africa with the St Ethel Normoyle township, South Africa.

CWU People

The Dublin No 3 Branch V/I and Retirements 2011 The Dublin No 3 Branch, like many other eircom Branches, was no exception when the V/l and and early retirements took its toll on its membership last February and July, 2011.

In total, 25 members left the branch and at a CWU Presentation held in Briodys, Marlborough Street, on Fri Dec 9th, we bid our friends and colleagues farewell and wished them all the best for the future.

Included in the group was former Branch Secretary, Denis Douglas, who, over the years, had willingly shown his dedication, hard work and loyalty both at committee and at branch secretary level. Charles O’Keeffe, also an active member of the branch, retired in September. Special thanks were also extended to Mick Gillick and Peter Slattery, who served for many years at committee level.

The Dublin No 3 Branch wishes to thank everyone who retired and to acknowledge their contribution both at branch level and to the CWU in general.

Union Presentations were made in recognition of their service to the following members of The Dublin No 3 Branch: Go n’eiri an bothar libh go leir !

Patrick Bergin John Carroll Gerry Creighton Pat Dowling Brendan Dunne Ann Gaughan Peter Slattery Gerry Carpenter Denis Douglas Michael Gillick Valery Leahy Tony Little Bridget Mahony

Liam McDermot Patricia Moran Christopher Murphy Noreen Nolan John O’Carroll Charles O’Keeffe Patrick O’Meara Noel Quinn Thomas Ryan Barbara Shevlin John Shevlin Monica Stapelton

Submitted By Catherine Slattery, Branch Secretary

Pictured from l to r: Charlie O’Keeffe, Ray Lawlor and Dennis Douglas.

Catherine Slattery, Dennis Douglas and Charlie O’Keeffe.

Imelda Kelly PMC Retires Pictured from l to r: Joe Guinan (CWU), Helen Dunne-Phelan (Branch Secretary, Portlaoise Postal) and Imelda Kelly (Postal Sorter PMC).

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CWU People

Steve Crilly’s Retirement The Dublin No 2 Branch held a Retirement Function for Steve Crilly, Branch Secretary in the Gingerman Pub, Fenian Street, Dublin.

There was a very large attendance there on the night, the CWU friends from England, Northern Ireland and many parts of the Republic of Ireland attended. Steve’s family and cousins from Belfast were also present.

A number of presentations were made on the night, John Moynihan, CWU London, Laurence Huston, Northern

Ireland Regional Secretary, Fintan King, Dublin No 2 Branch Secretary and the CWU General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick, made presentations and speeches of farewell.

Steve has been involved in the Union for over 39 years.

He held every position within the Dublin No 2 Branch and was Branch Secretary for the last seven years.

It is with great thanks for all his dedication over many many years we each and every member wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement.

Young Steven and Siobhan Crilly, Steve’s children

Steve Crilly, Martina O Connell NEC & Christy Brannigan

Charlie O Neill, Union Head Office, Steve Crilly, Laurence Huston, Northern Ireland, Jimmy O Connor, National Officer CWU

YOUNG Lorraine & Imelda, Head Office with Steve

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CWU People

Christy Brannigan, Steve, Alex Pearson CWU Manchester, Laurence Heuston, Northern Ireland, John McLoughlin, Northern Ireland, Steve Rowlands, CWU Manchester, Shay Devine, Dublin No 2 Branch

Ray Lawlor NEC & Steve Crilly

John Moynihan, CWU London, Steve in the background

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CWU People

Galway Postal Branch Retirements There were two retirements from the Galway Postal Branch recently - that of Ronnie Ward and Mike Hyland. All of their former colleagues wish Ronnie and Mike, and their respective families, all the best for a long and happy retirement.

Pictured from l to r: Damien Tuohy, NEC and Jarlath Heneghan, Galway Postal Branch, making a presentation to Mike Hyland

Pat McCandless Retires A presentation was made by Management of An Post and colleagues of Pat McCandless who retired on the 17th February 2012 after 23 years of loyal service to the CWU and An Post. Pat delivered the mail in the Carndonagh area of Donegal and was held in high esteem by his colleagues in the office which was very evident on the morning of his retirement. Pat received his Valedictory letter and CĂş Chulainn Statue from Mr Paul Harkin (Cluster Manager) and his CWU Retirement Scroll from Michael Gallagher (Branch Secretary).

Pictured Front Row from l to r: Paul Harkin (Cluster Manager), Paul McElhinney, Joanne McLaughlin, Thomas Brophy, Pat McCandless (Retired), Michael Gallagher (Branch Secretary) and Owen McGuinness (Postmaster Carndonagh PO).

Back Row l to r: Patrick Moyne, Ray McGoldrick, Patrick Brennan, Colm Doherty, Paddy Doherty, Michael McLaughlin and Gerald McErlean.

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CWU People

Seán McGeough Retires

Drogheda Branch Committee..

Seated l to r: Pat Rushe, Eugene Stenson, Sean McGeough, Paddy Mathews, Standing l to r: Aiden Kelleher, Michael Goldrick, Paul Flynn, Mick Fox, Jim Mc Carron, Jude Sullivan, Jim McCartney, Barney Foley, Gerry Bourke, Gerry Clerkin.

“Big Jim” O’Neill Retires Branch Secretary, Jim O’Neill, retired on Monday 16th January, 2012.

Jim worked tirelessly for all the members here in the Bray Branch of the CWU and nothing was a problem for him.

He was on the Branch as Secretary for over five years.

On behalf of all the members, we would like to wish “Big Jim” a happy retirement, to him and his family.

Photo shows Jim being presented with his Scroll by Cormac O’Dalaigh, NEC, looked on by Gerry Whelan, Chairman.

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CWU People

Austin McEvoy Retires Austin McEvoy, Blanchardstown DO, recently retired after 39 years’ loyal service to the Union.

Austin served for many years as Treasurer of the DPDB. There was a full house in the Clonsilla Inn to mark the occasion and a great night was had by all.

Frank Donohoe, Branch Secretary, DPDB presents Austin with his Union Scroll.

Mick O’Connell Retires A great night was had by all in the The Step Inn, Stepaside, on the occasion of Mick’s retirement.

Mick O’Connell, Foxrock DO, being presented with his Union Scroll by Frank Donohoe, Branch Secretary DPDB.

Reggie Doyle Retires A function was held in Molloy's pub, Talbot St. to mark the occasion and there was a great turnout from many of his colleagues.

Reggie Doyle, Rutland Place DO, being presented with his Union Scroll by Frank Donohoe, Branch Sec. DPDB, on the occasion of his retirement.

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CWU People

Central Managers Branch Presentation Night

Pictured front row, from l to r: John Clarke (C/Man) Shay Gaffney, Matt Ryan, Joe Martin, Dave Dillon, Back row, from l to r: Pat Ryan, Matt Keenan, Terry Moorehouse, (Secretary) Mel O'Hara, Kenny Deveraux, Vincent Perry, Paddy McMahon (Treasurer)

their Union Scrolls, and was supported on the night, by Branch Chairman, John Clarke and Treasurer Paddy McMahon.

John, thanked all who attended for their support over the years. He also wished all branch retiree's and their families, a long and happy retirement, and hoped that many would take the opportunity keep in touch with the CWU through the newly formed CWU Retired Members Branch.

The Central Regional Managers held a branch presentation night in Chaplins Lounge, Hawkins Street, for resent (and some not so recent) eircom leavers.

Among the group was former Branch Secretary, and long time CWU activist Pat Ryan, who previously served the union in the Dublin No 1 branch and also in the old Dublin No 4.

The “new� Branch Secretary Terry Moorehouse, presented members with

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CWU People

Jim Carey Retires

Pictured from l to r: Ken Good(CWU) on behalf of the National Executive Council presenting Jim Carey with a Scroll in appreciation of his long and loyal service to the Union. Jim Retired from An Post(Letterkenny) in February after also 43 years’ service.

Paddy Donnelly Retires The Presentation of the CWU Union Scroll took place in the Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan after our AGM on February 18th.

Paddy retired on his 63rd birthday, after 45 year’s of loyal service, which commenced in the capital as a JP. He delivered in Emyvale, where he was hugely popular with the people on his route, who had a fantastic night for Paddy and his family back in November. He was vastly proud of his Union membership, and is remembered locally for a stirring interview he did, randomly, on Radio 1 on December 8th, 2009 (?), when a reporter caught up with him, in the company of other postal workers, before he boarded the bus for home. You can just imagine the cheer, and the slagging he got!

We wish Paddy the very best for a long and happy retirement!

Pictured from l to r: John Tansey (NEC), Paddy Donnelly, Paddy’s wife Rose Donnelly and Committee Member Martina Clerkin, presenting a bouquet to Rose.

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CWU People

Dublin No. 1 AGM

“Investment” the key in challenging times!

In his report, Branch Secretary, John Egan, said he saw 2011 as being “one of toughest years for this Branch”. John added that he was in no doubt that with the conclusion of Wave 1 and the imminent rollout of Wave 2 “unprecedented changes would come to the way we do our business”. As a Branch “we must prepare ourselves to meet with all new challenges”. If ever there was a point, “where we need to stand strong and united together it is now. We must trust and support our National Executive Council and National Officers to deliver the best outcome for our members and for the economic survival of eircom. In conclusion, he said it is now time “for the banks, or whoever our new owners are to be, to show us that they are serious about eircom and to begin the badly needed investment into the next generation communications network”.

As there no elections required on the night, it was very much as you were with the branch, officers, while Pat Broderick (Citywest) has joined the branch committee.

With so much speculation in the media in recent times regarding the future of eircom, it was timely therefore, that CWU General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick and National Officer, Jim Browne attended this year’s Dublin No1 branch AGM, held at Liberty Hall. (23rd Feb)

Meteor Members attending the Dublin No. 1 AGM.

In his address the Steve Fitzpatrick, outlined the current situation with the eircom, and brought members up to date on the possible scenarios in light of the financial state of the company. The exit of STT, following an unsuccessful attempt at financial restructuring with the banks, had created a new and evolving situation. The priority for the CWU, (having previously entered into a restructuring agreement with STT) remained steadfast, and was the “provision of investment capital in telecommunications infrastructure” to meet industry demands, and ultimately to “secure jobs into future for our members”.

Willie Meegan makes presentation to Claire Kelly, at Dublin No. 1 AGM

Finally on the night, a presentation was made by Branch Chairman, Willie Meegan, to CWU activist Clare Kelly, to mark her loyal, and dedicated service to the branch, both as member of the branch committee, and for many years as the Dublin No1 representative on CWU Standing Orders Committee. To Claire on behalf of the Dublin No 1 Branch we wish her a long, and enjoyable retirement. (JC March 2012).

New members, Cormac Farrell and Leo Logan, at the Dublin No. 1 AGM.

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CWU People

Postal Retirements A Retirement Function was held in Shearwater hotel in Ballinasloe to celebrate the retirement of Joe Sammon, DSM with 43 years’ service, Dermot Naughton, Postman, with 39 years’ service and Aidan Duffy, Postman, with 30 years’ service.

Pictured Front Row l to r: Ann Naughton, Dermot Naughton, Joe Sammon, Patricia Sammon, Aidan Duffy Back Row l to r: Mike Grenham, Demelza Dooley, Arthur Fitzgerald and Damien Touhy NEC.

Retirement function held in Loughrea Hotel for John Wade Postal Sorter with 45 years’ service.

Pictured Front Row l to r: Sharon Wade, John Wade, Angela Wade and John Wade jnr Back Row l to r: Jimmy Spaight DSM, Marion Kiely, Michael Mc Gowan and Damien Tuohy NEC.

R.I.P Michael Porter It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our great friend and colleague Michael Porter on the 16th of December following an illness borne with great dignity and courage. His quiet sense of humour and wit is sadly missed by his colleagues and friends.

Michael joined the P & T on the 18th of August 1980 having worked briefly as a trainee mechanic with CIE He moved through the ranks of what is now access networks, CPE, PCB and Fax repairs and finally to IT support.

If you needed a licence for some piece of software Michael was the man it had to go through.

His technical ability in many areas combined with his tremendous patience, generosity and willingness to help was admired by those of us lucky enough to have known or worked with him.

He was a keen sportsman in his day and a handballer of renown. In an astonishing career Michael won twenty one Connacht titles (1976-2006) and eleven All-Ireland handball titles (1976-2003). With his doubles team mate Francis McCann, they won 19 Connacht titles & 5 national titles. Michael played his part in the success of the Irish 1-Wall Nationals which Sligo hosted from 1999-2008 and officiated at many of the finals. He also participated in the eircom national handball championship In later times he had taken to the golf course and it was in the process of getting the handicap down.

Michael is survived by his beloved wife Margaret, Son, Jonathan and daughters Catherine and Sarah, both his parents and sister Marian. He will be sadly missed by his family, his colleagues in eircom and the Handball family.

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Why Join esccu Credit Union?

We are a non for profit organisation

We have members not customers No hidden fees or charges

We offer a variety of services such as discounted insurances at favorable rates to credit union members

Each member has a say in the running of the credit union

Members Each member has an have Control over option to nominate a person to their own finances receive their funds on their death.

Death Benefit Insurance: We also provide all qualifying members with a Death Benefit Insurance, we automatically insure all members who have joined before the age of 70 and have a minimum share balance of `250 at the time of their death with a Death Benefit Insurance.

During the life of the insured it gives the family added security and reduces worries about the future.

Fixed

Loan rates and low interest rates

We offer financial advice We offer members a Budget facility, meaning we work with our members to ensure that there is sufficient cash in their budget account each month cover all their living expenses.

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Books reviewed by Adrienne Power THE KINDLE – THE ULTIMATE BOOK! It is priced at €109.00 in PC World.

The Kindle is the electronic reading tablet sold by Amazon. The name of the device is taken from the meaning of the word, i.e. to light up, ignite, to arose or inspire feelings. It is light and easy to carry. You can download books in 60 seconds! Mind-boggling! Its storage capacity is up to 1,400 books (calculated that if you read 24 books in a year it would take 58 years to read what you can store on the Kindle). There are 1.1 million books or periodicals available to download. You only have to charge it approx once a month for 3 hours.

I love books and love to read. However, the downside of books is they take up space, gather dust, dirt and germs. They can be heavy to carry. It was always a hassle when you were getting near the end of the book and had to carry another volume along so you would not run out of reading material. With a Kindle that is no longer a problem.

It is very simple to use if you buy the Wi-Fi version. You just put in your Wi-Fi code and you are good to go. You can just click on when you want to turn the wireless connection on and off to download books. There are lots of free books available and others cost as little as a dollar or two. You don’t have to buy books in advance of your holidays anymore or fret about the weight of carrying books abroad. You can now simply download from anywhere Wi-Fi is available.

Another highlight to Kindle is you can increase the font size and don’t then have to carry reading glasses around with you anymore.

I personally love the application of being able to organise my downloaded books into my own individual collections. You can set up your little library to suit yourself and carry your whole library around in your pocket! Now I don’t have to worry about my library being a fire hazard anymore.

The find button is a wonderful function. If there is a piece you read and you want to go back to. No more searching through pages.

You can use the keypad to type in the word and search it out.

I didn’t think I would like the idea of looking at a screen and not being able to physically turn pages but the screen of Kindle is not like a computer screen and you still turn the pages by button. No more busting the spine of a paperback (which normally happens to me).

On the downside, not all books will be available on Kindle. Also, all photos will be black and white only (at present).

Then there is the fact that if your Kindle falls it most likely will be kaput! However, your books are backed up on the Amazon website. It still more than likely means a new Kindle though.

Another very important reason to use a Kindle is you are saving trees and therefore doing your part to save the planet.

Mind-boggling!

THE KOURGE This book is written by Paul Boylan who works for eircom.

It is his first book. Sold on website www.originalwriting.ie for €9.00 School is coming to an end. Exams are finishing up and there is a buzz of summer holidays on the horizon. Both Luke Boylan and Evan Watson, who are best friends, are disappointed as they both know they will not get to go away anywhere this summer. Evan’s family bought a new car and Luke has a new baby brother, meaning in each case their families cannot afford a holiday that year. As they are sitting in the school yard eating lunch they notice a teacher come out and put something on the notice board. It is a notice looking for volunteers to clean and tidy the school building and yard. They decide they might as well volunteer to work at their school during the holidays. At least that way they can hang out together.

The two lads are assigned the cleaning out of the basement. There are stories about it being haunted but the boys are not put off by this. They find a hatch door with a strange symbol of an animal, possibly a wolf or bear. Luke and Evan set out on the adventure of their short lives in the hunt for a monster. The concealed door leads them to a secret world full of challenge, revenge, old world magic and a search for peace and redemption for a hidden land and their people.

If you like Harry Potter you will love The Kourge!

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CWU NO. .............................

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Branch Branch Secretary ........................................... Name ..........................................

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Current Grade/Job Title ...........................................................................

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THE DIRECT DEBIT GUARANTEE

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__________________________ from my basic pay in respect of my contribution under the Scheme of deductions of Subscriptions to Staff Associations and pay that amount to the Communications Worker’ 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.

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