Connect December 2012

WINTER 2012 VOL: 14

NO. 4

Seasons Greetings to all our Members

Editorial

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

Telecoms Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

FM Downes Insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

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

Halligan Insurances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pensions – a level playing field? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

Your Voice - CWU Youth Committee AGM . . . . . .

CWU turnout for Anti-Austerity March . . . . . . . . .

E.S.C.C.U. Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Managers’ Branch Committee Representatives Seminar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lithuanian Convoy set off on a Humanitarian Aid mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Celtic Horizon Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thank You for Believing in People! . . . . . . . . . . . .

CWU Charitable Funds Donations . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fair Shop - Spend your money where workers count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CSTWF Annual Report 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

See Change in Your Workplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

UNI Global Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

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

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

CWU Membership Application Forms . . . . . . . . . .

2-3 4-9 10-18 19 20-21 22-23 24 25 26-35 35 36-37 38 39 40-41 41 42 43-44 45 46-47 48-49 50-53 54-55 56-57 58-67 68-69 70 71-72

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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Dear Colleague, As we approach the close of 2012 it is traditional that we look back over the past year and look forward to the coming one.

I believe it is fair to say and indeed obvious to all that there has been a continuing deterioration in the Irish economy over the past year. It is also disappointing to report that the main architects of Ireland’s financial collapse still remain at large with none of them having appeared in court or having had to serve any prison term. There has rarely been a starker example of two tier justice. I accept that dealing with these people through the courts will not restore the country’s fortunes but the abject failure to prosecute these people is sending out the wrong type of messages re our moral code to the youth of our country by indicating that this type of so called white collar crime is acceptable.

We also face a so called austerity budget at the end of this year which is hot on the heels of austerity budgets for the last four years. It is possible to understand the need to bring prices and wages back into line with our European counterparts but what is impossible to understand is why our Government continue to insist on policies that are now proven not to work.

The continuous attacks on the take home pay of ordinary working people has led to a collapse in the Irish domestic economy which leads to further unemployment and to an inevitable downward spiral. The budget must be balanced with job creation initiatives and investment in order to get

people back to work or things will continue to dis-improve.

Indeed already the International Monetary Fund has had to come out and state clearly that its calculations concerning the impact of austerity where wrong but its cohorts in the Troika, the EU and the European Central Bank still do not accept that fact. It is particularly worrying that numerous creative ideas from the trade union movement through its budget submission continue to be ignored and it now seems that we can expect more of the same. The lack of human empathy for the plight of working people, their families and communities is horrifying and the slavish behaviour of our government in following the recipes prescribed by the Troika is extremely disappointing.

So once more families will face Christmas with even less Steve Fitzpatrick, resources now than before and many of them will dig General Secretary, CWU themselves deeper into financial trouble in an attempt to ensure some type of celebration for their children. Many other families will face a lonely Christmas as their children have been forced to emigrate by the policies outlined above. I believe it is time to call a halt to the acquiescent behaviour of the Irish people and in the New Year we must debate what actions are necessary to be taken to provide some protection against the on-going attacks on our members and our communities.

The most sinister aspect of the present situation is the fact that one would have to assume that all politicians both domestic and European are not idiots. If you accept that fact then it must have dawned on the majority of those politicians that their failed policies continue to do damage to the people they purport to represent. If this is the case then you can come to no other assumption than that they are knowingly and willingly inflicting that damage in order to fulfil a different political agenda. That agenda quite clearly is to undermine and abolish hard won rights for workers and we see the effect of that every day with continuous attacks on the pay and conditions and pensions of our members throughout the country.

Notwithstanding those continuous attacks it is incumbent on the CWU and the other trade unions to show the necessary leadership to its members and to take whatever steps it needs to defend those hard won rights. I believe those steps should include preparing real alternatives, using our full financial might to challenge where possible through the courts, protecting our hard fought pay and conditions through industrial action where necessary and indeed urging our members to use their purchasing power to punish anti worker / anti-union employers. It is my commitment to you in the new year that I will do all in my power through the Communication Workers’ Union to ensure that those type of actions are taken in relation to our own members and through the ICTU on a national scale.

Notwithstanding all of the above, it is my sincere belief that all of our members are in a better place because of their involvement in their union and because of the continuous support for the union structures. It is now been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that we are all individually better off in a union and that easily explains the continued attacks on trade unions and their members through the right wing press and through the majority right-wing government. I trust that support will continue into the new year and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas and hopefully a more prosperous and healthy New Year.

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Telecoms Update 8th November 2012

INFORMATION

Members consider Industrial Action

Re: Recent Communication from new CEO

At a recent well-attended meeting of former Vodafone staff who transferred to Obelisk, it was agreed the Union would conduct a ballot for industrial action in the event that Obelisk continued in its attempts to breach the transfer agreement and change our members’ conditions of employment. Members attending the meeting gave numerous examples of Obelisk’s attempts to introduce changes without agreement. The meeting of members followed on from a Labour Relations Commission hearing, which dealt with a claim submitted by the Union concerning Obelisk’s refusal to pay bonus payments due to members, on the grounds of “inability to pay”.

Obelisk stated as at June 2012, Vodafone maintenance, including insurance and back office support, was running at €991k net loss. This claim beggar’s belief when one considers that the contract between Obelisk and Vodafone is a fixed-price contract and Obelisk carried out a due diligence exercise prior to signing the contract and was well aware of all of the costs associated with securing the contract from Vodafone. Obelisk also made a bizarre claim that it has turned the Vodafone network “from the worst performing network in Europe to the best performing network in Europe”.

Dear Colleague, The recent letter sent to staff in eircom by the new CEO, Mr Herb Hribar, was discussed in great detail at a meeting of the National Executive Council on November 7th.

As a result of that meeting, the following has been decided.

1. We should double-check through our sources all of the figures given by the CEO to justify the content of his letter.

2. We should have an in-depth check on all staffing levels including contractors and consultants with a view to ensuring the maximum levels of employment for our members’.

3. We should seek immediate legal advice in relation to the threat to our members’ who are over 60 years.

4. That the Union take whatever action necessary should the Company attempt to implement any measures contained within Mr Hribar’s letter without explicit agreement with the Union.

It is believed that the information, which we need to gather, will strengthen the demands of the Union in whatever discussions take place in the future.

The Rights Commissioner adjourned the hearing to enable him to examine information he has requested Obelisk to provide to him.

Yours fraternally, Steve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary

€4.10 for children.

Please see the enclosed brochure for further information.

If you are not already a member and would like to join, please complete the application form, tear at the perforation and post back to us in the FREEPOST envelope provided.

We will notify your payroll section to commence deductions and send you a cancellation letter to forward to your current insurer. Please be assured that there are no waiting periods to be re-served when switching.

If you are already a member and would like to make changes to your plan, please call FM Downes & Co Brokers on 01 855 6666 or email: cwuhealthinsurance@fmdownes.com to advise of changes.

Due to eircom payroll cut off for 2013, new applications and changes must be with FM Downes & Co Brokers by Friday, 23rd November 2012.

1st November 2012

INFORMATION RE: CWU saves you money on Health Insurance in 2013 Dear Colleague, CWU has secured a special rate with Aviva Health through FM Downes & Co Brokers to help control the cost of your private health insurance.

This comes at a time when private health insurance premiums continue to spiral, mainly due to the high levy imposed by the government. Since the start of the scheme members have saved thousands of euros from switching from VHI. Through payroll deduction, eircom staff can avail of a discount on the whole range of corporate plans from Aviva, with a further discount on Business Plan Hospital +. This comprehensive hospital plan is only €16.50 per week for adults, €7.08 for students &

Yours fraternally, Steve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary

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Telecoms Update 8th October 2012

INFORMATION Re: GPS Dear Colleague, The Telecoms Sectoral Executive at its October meeting recorded agreement on the following matters:• • •

GPS reports Loss of Earnings Compensation for loss of “Acting Allowance” FLM vehicle

Loss of Earnings Compensation for loss of “Acting Allowance” Branches were recently circulated details of Loss of Earnings compensation for Loss of “On Call” allowance.

Compensation for both losses of “On Call” and “Acting” were detailed as part of the eircom Rescue Plan. Details of the terms agreed for loss of “Acting Allowance” are detailed in the attached document “Loss of Earnings Compensation for loss of “Acting Allowance”.

GPS Reports In the case of GPS, members will recall that Agreement was reached through engagement with the LRC on the deployment of GPS technology in the eircom fleet for works management. Included in that agreement was a commitment to engage with the company on the roll out of reports which would support management in operations. Agreement has been reached on a number of reports which are detailed in the attached agreement, these reports include:• • • • • •

(also in Appendix 1 of GPS document) summarising the weeks log per driver. A similar report to second line managers will summarise activity across their teams on a per team basis. It is important to note that the company has agreed reasonable private use of the vehicles on application and that out of hours data is collected for fleet management purposes but may be accessed in the case of investigation. In all cases where a member’s driving record is being accessed the member will be advised. We intend that Branch Officers will be briefed on the implementation here in Head Office next week and that detailed information packs will be issued to all members detailing personal usage terms, BIK implications, code of practice etc

FLM Vehicle The Wave 2 agreement detailed the concept of a mobile office for FLMs. Agreement has now been recorded on the deployment of vehicles to facilitate this role. Details around personal usage terms, BIK implications, code of practice etc., will be circulated to all FLMs.

First start Last stop Shift duration Location Exception Speeding And out of hours, as detailed in Appendix 1 of document

Yours fraternally,

A weekly trend report will issue to first line managers

Steve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary

Get into print!

Wear your Union Badge

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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Telecoms Update

Statement from Steve Fitzpatrick, General Secretary CWU. Wednesday, 31 October, 2012 “We understand that the management team at eircom, led by its new CEO, Herb Hribar, is undertaking a review of its operations including current staffing levels. The Company has informed its employees of possible further reductions in staff numbers and of its intention to engage with its workers

and their representatives through the eircom trade union alliance.

We wish to reiterate that any reductions in job numbers are a matter for discussion and negotiation between the Company and its workers. I hope that we do not have to remind anyone that workers at eircom negotiated and agreed a very difficult Rescue Plan for the Company which resulted in significant cost savings - and sacrifices by workers and their families - to support the Company.

We welcome the managements’ commitment to engaging with the eircom workforce and their Union representatives and we wish to stress

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that any further reductions in job numbers must follow established protocol and be on a voluntary basis only.

We also wish to emphasise that the new management team at eircom must follow through on the investment already committed to under its Rescue Plan if the Company is to compete successfully, particularly in the roll out of its Next Generation Broadband Network. eircom retains the most significant and extensive telecoms network on the island of Ireland, and the only available platform in much of the country.�

Telecoms Update

LOSS OF EARNINGS AGREEMENT will only be paid for a maximum of three months cover in every case.

In the Autumn edition of Connect we reported on the conclusion of an agreement, as part of a “Loss of Earnings Framework”, covering loss of On-Call allowance.

This was one element of a commitment in the eircom Rescue Plan to establish a loss of earnings framework covering both “On-Call” and “Acting”. Since then we have agreed a compensation framework with the company covering the loss of “Acting Allowance”.

The details are set out below:

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Compensation for loss of acting allowance (pensionable)

Where acting arrangements cease as a result of organisational change the Staff Side may bring forward a claim for compensation. Where a compensation payment is appropriate the following framework arrangements as set out in table 1 will apply.

Revised ‘Loss of earnings’ compensation frameworks

TABLE 1

1 Introduction Under the eircom Recovery Plan there was a commitment to introduce a “Lost of earnings” compensation framework for the loss of acting allowance (pensionable). The purpose of this paper is to set out the details of the agreed framework.

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Acting in higher roles – new arrangements The requirement to act in a higher role may arise as a result of the need to substitute another employee in a higher grade when s/he is absent from work, e.g. when the substantive post-holder is absent due to annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave, or where the post is vacant pending its permanent filling. In the case of permanent vacancies, there must be an intention to fill the vacancy if acting arrangement is to be put in place.

Managers are required to give careful consideration to all alternative means of covering such vacancies which arise before seeking approval for acting arrangements.

Where acting is required in cases involving more than four weeks or more a gratuity payment may be approved by senior management.

This gratuity payment is paid an ex gratia non pensionable sum, carries no entitlement to or implications for future substantive promotions and

Period acting

Proposed compensation arrangements

< 1 year

No compensation

1 year to 2 years

Twice the actual annual loss – non pensionable

> 2 years

Allowance retained on a personal basis subject to mark time

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Scope

These arrangements relates to grades comprehended by the Joint Conciliation (JCC) only. The new framework will, in exceptional circumstances, retrospectively apply to certain employees whose acting ceased under the Group Technology restructuring programme and to a number of outstanding cases which are the subject of 3rd party consideration.

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Review

The following is accepted by the parties: •

• •

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Further discussions are required between the parties on how these arrangements would apply or not to ‘displaced’ employees; These arrangements will apply for 18 months; and There will be periodic reviews of the implementation of these arrangements.

Telecoms Update

Regulator Issues Fine of €525K to eircom

more than €30m in 2010/2011 and 2011/2012.

In a document issued on 8th November, ComReg acknowledged that eircom had met some of its targets in relation to fault occurrence, connections and certain fault repair targets. The company failed to meet its targets for repairs with two working days, four working days and five working days and it was on this basis that the Regulator felt it was appropriate to issue the fine.

In light of the fact that eircom has just announced its intention to cut a further 2,000 staff one must wonder how these targets will be met in future.

ComReg has issued a fine against eircom for €525,000 for failing to meet customer service targets in its Universal Service Obligation (USO).

In 2008, eircom agreed to comply with USO targets set down by ComReg in relation to timescales for connection, fault rate occurrence and fault rate repair times.

As part of an improvement programme governing 2010 to 2012, eircom put in place performance bonds totalling €10m to guarantee its performance. In addition, eircom estimated it would make an annual investment of

nationally) will be paid and this measure will inevitably lead to rural areas making up the shortfall. They predict that line rental in rural and suburban Areas could reach €40 a month by 2014 if this proposed measure is enacted.

Eamonn Wallace, chairman of IrelandOffline, commented: “Tinkering around with regulatory details in urban areas will not alter anything. Compared to cable, eircom no longer have a competitive copper-based product no matter what the price. UPC will continue to eat eircom’s lunch until eircom introduce a fully fibre to-thepremises product that is capable of delivering true triple play and at least 100Mb/s speeds and at a competitive price.

Wallace added: “In the meantime it is not the job of hard pressed rural customers to pay for the consequences of over a decade of bad regulation. ComReg should not force rural customers to pick up the tab for eircom’s bondholders where eircom’s urban customers are no longer prepared to pay exorbitant prices and have access to superior alternatives. It is now too late, the market analysis is utterly farcical and the micro market definition

by ComReg won’t improve anything. In fact it will dramatically reduce investment overall given that ComReg are now reserving the right to define a micro market in favour of eircom anywhere they choose and at any time. That is a measure of how utterly disreputable this piece of regulation is.”

Lobby group predicts Line rental in rural areas could rise to €40 under new proposal IrelandOffline, a voluntary lobby group that campaigns for affordable, high quality broadband services for everyone in Ireland has criticised the latest output from ComReg on the issue of bundled offers.

They believe that line rental for consumers in rural and suburban areas of Ireland could rise from €26 to €40 a month by 2014 if a proposal from ComReg to allow eircom to compete in selected urban areas is given the green light.

IrelandOffline have analysed the ComReg document “Price regulation of bundled offers” and have note that it states; “ComReg has gathered further data to help it understand better whether different structural conditions of competition are in fact evolving in different locations across Ireland”.

The Group’s view is that ComReg’s proposal will allow eircom to “compete” in selected urban areas and at the direct expense of rural consumers. In these selected urban areas no line rental (currently over €26 a month

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Telecoms Update

4G Rollout to Begin after €855m Payment for new Licences because it is very different from previous licence auctions which obliged winning bids to provide geographic coverage. In this case the 70% population coverage could in fact represent a very small geographic area. Voluntary lobby group Ireland Offline estimates that 70% population coverage could lead to less than 13% of the national area being provided with 4G coverage.

Needless to say this will be concentrated in the main urban area where economies of scale are much more attractive and the potential return on investment is much higher. What we are likely to see is a rapid deployment in major urban areas, perhaps limited to Dublin, Cork and Galway and a very limited reach into rural Ireland.

This will simply serve to consolidate a digital divide that has already been well established in the Digital Strategy that was announced by government earlier this year where it observed that up to 30% of the population will see no improvement in their broadband provision without state intervention. In the current climate the kind of intervention that will be required can and should be funded out of this windfall from the licence auction.

ComReg has finally concluded the auction process for the 4G spectrum in Ireland with lots being awarded to Hutchison 3G, Meteor, Telefónica (O2) and Vodafone, at a cost to the telecoms companies of €854.6m, of which €450m will go into the exchequer this year. The winning bidders will pay €854.6m for the spectrum rights, including €481.7m in up-front fees along with annual spectrum usage fees totalling €372.9m paid in instalments until July 2030.

It is expected that the issuing of these licences will lead to the construction of Long Term Evolution (LTE) infrastructure starting in early 2013.

The auction awarded spectrum rights in the GSM bands and the spectrum freed up by the analogue switchoff last month on the 800 MHz band. Lots were also awarded in both the 900MHz and 1800MHz frequency bands.

Limited Population Coverage The licences have been criticised in some quarters because they only oblige the winning bids to provide coverage for 70% of the population. This is significant

It was considered a cornerstone of negotiations that the company provide audited accounts to your representatives for review. We’re happy to report that these accounts have since been provided and reviewed by the Union’s auditors. A further meeting took place on the 1st of October at which both management and Union representatives discussed the company’s proposal to cut pay by 5% across the board.

These discussions are ongoing and it is important that your colleagues are invited to join your Union.

Strong membership numbers mean more influence and strength at the negotiating table and for this reason it is vitally important that as many of your colleagues as possible are members of the Union.

We will keep you updated of any developments as they happen.

When going to press, there is a ballot in progress on a 2% pay reduction and associated terms. We would once again like to thank all of our members for their support in this matter.

KN Networks Negotiations Continue As you will know from the last issue of Connect, the CWU secured the reversal of a 5% pay cut that was imposed unilaterally on staff at the company. This cut had been imposed without the consent of CWU members and without agreement from the Union. It was a testament to the spirit and tenacity of our members that the Union was in a position to secure this turn around.

Because staff recognised that by being in a Union they were giving themselves a seat at the table and a say in the decision making process, the Union were able to bring the company back to the table to discuss this contentious issue.

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Call Centre Forum 2012 a Great Success On Saturday 3rd November, the CWU and IBOA jointly held a Call Centre Forum organised to mark UNI Global Union’s annual Call Centre Action Month. The theme of this year’s event was ‘Performance Management - from the bottom up’.

This topic was chosen to reflect the fact that this aspect of phone-based working has long been recognised as a challenge for workers in the contact centre industry.

management tools. In some cases, these tools can cause difficulties for workers, including unreachable targets, poorly understood processes and the stress and health issues that result.

The conversation then moved on to best practice in performance management. Participants were asked to look at the way in which performance management is used in their workplace and identify areas where it could be developed. The key conclusions of this topic were that fairness was central to a positive performance management structure. Agreed and achievable targets, clear procedures and adequate time to perform required duties were all identified as crucial features.

The aim of the Call Centre Forum is to develop strategies that encourage call centres to operate according to the principles of quality employment.

The information gathered on the day will be used to direct the Unions’ campaigning into the future. For a union to truly represent the interests of its members, it is vital that those members are given the opportunity to tell the union what is important to them and what issues are affecting them in their workplace. It is hoped that members will continue to engage with their union to work toward a better future for all call centre workers.

The Call Centre Forum was a great success.

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

The goal of the forum was to engage with Call Centre workers to discuss the effects of Performance Management on their daily work. It was also hoped that the event would identify issues and goals and bring members from diverse workplaces together. Both unions believe that everyone should enjoy a work environment where employees are treated as professionals, with dignity and respect. Numerous studies have shown that workers that are given more control over their work enjoy greater job satisfaction as a result.

The event was held on a Saturday, specifically to accommodate as many members as possible. Workers from call centres as diverse as eircom, First Source, ATOS, AIB, Ulster Bank and the Bank of Ireland participated in the day.

The day started with a general discussion on what the participants understood performance management to be.

This led to some fascinating discussions on the similarities and differences between the various employments. It became clear that while workers may experience variations of management styles, there was a clear theme across all centres of the use of performance 10

Participants at Call Centre Forum 2012.

DPD Organising meeting held advising the members on the work that was being carried out by the Branch and head office official Joe Guinan on behalf of the members.

The Branch also advised the organising team of some of the issues that they were taking up senior management of the company on behalf of the members, as well as possible barriers to organising within the workplace. The Branch have managed to make great progress over the last few months bringing in a number of new members and through working with the organising department they will continue to go from strength to strength.

The organising department recently sent one of its organising team down to meet with the Chairperson and Secretary of the DPD branch in Athlone. There, a number of organising measures were agreed upon going forward in light of the recent Workplace Leader training.

One of the key issues, from an organising perspective was the Communications Workersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union branch not having enough visibility in the workplace.

They had been doing great work on behalf of their members, but a lot of it had gone unnoticed.

To address this issue a Newsletter was circulated

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Call Centre Action Month Stand members were once again very happy to take the time to meet with the committee members and voice issues and concerns. The Branch were more then happy to answer and take ownership of the queries when needed.

The month of October was UNI Global Union’s Call Centre Action Month and as the Communications Workers’ Union is the call centre union representing thousands of staff in call centres throughout the country, a number of stands were run. The stand visited a number of sites including FirstSource staff in Telephone House and Churchfield in Cork. There were also stands run on eircom and An Post sites like City West, HSQ and One Direct in Athlone.

Susan Casey from the Dublin C&A branch with one of our members in Telephone house

Adam meets staff in Telephone House.

Later that week, the stand was run in eircom’s HSQ outside the main canteen. As most of the staff avail of the canteen facilities, it was an ideal location to meet with both members and non-members and speak with them about Call Centre Action Month, as well as discuss the work that the Union does in general. A number of issues were once again raised and were resolved for them, there and then. Like before, the freebies were a big hit, with hundreds of stress balls, pens and mouse pads increasing Union visibility throughout the building.

The first stop on the tour was eircom’s Telephone House.

The organisers, as well as the local branch, Dublin C&A, met with staff as they were coming in for the day and spoke with them on their various issues as well as passing out stress balls and mouse pads. A number of nonmembers signed up with the local branch on the back of these engagements.

Staff speaking with the organiser in Telephone House John Egan, Ivor Reynolds and Rory Duggan of the Dublin No 1 Branch manning the stand as part of UNI’s Call Centre Action Month

The stand then made the trip to the eircom site in Churchfield, County Cork. The purpose of the visit was continue to increase visibility in the FirstSource call centre environment. The members of the local eircom C&A branch met with the organiser and helped to man the stand throughout the day. Once again, we spoke with members and non-members throughout the day.

Next it was off to City West where once more the organising department were joined by the local Branch, Dublin No 1, in manning the stand and meeting staff. City West has traditionally had a strong Branch but the 12

kitchen. Due to a colleague’s wedding, many of the staff were off, however the Branch and the organiser still managed to speak with a number of staff on issues they were having in the call centre.

Members of the Branch advised that they would continue the organising effort throughout the call centre but they advised that they felt all the Communications Workers’ Union paraphernalia circulating around the building would help to get organising conversations going.

Overall the stand was a great success and we are looking forward to running more in the near future.

Most were more then happy to take away some of the Communications Workers’ Union-branded goodies, including some of the C&A branch. Better ways of promoting and raising the visibility of the union locally were also discussed on this visit.

Through their positive engagement with the Branch and with the stand. a number of staff joined up with the Communications Workers’ Union.

The stand’s final visit was to One Direct in Athlone, to meet all the call centre staff. We arrived down and met with Mary Collin from the local Branch, who helped with setting up and manning the stand in the second floor

Workplace Leader Training in Action! developing appropriate training which matches identified needs in key.

At this session, the Organisers covered a number of topics including Workplace Mapping, the Anger-HopeAction framework and objection handling. These are some of the issues that are targeted at workplaces where weak union infrastructures have been identified. The feedback received from this demonstration enables Organisers to improve concepts and at the same time ensure that our Union offers activists high quality training, encouraging the development of an organising union which supports your representatives.

Rory Duggan (Dublin No.1 Branch Treasurer) and Bríd Reardon (Dublin No.1 Branch) recently joined a number of members of the Organising and Education Committees to participate in Workplace Leader Training (WLT).

WLT is a critical component of our new organising union model and it is vital that those involved in trade union education, training and organising understand the reasoning behind WLT. The WLT programme is divided into a number of modules which can be interchanged in order to suit the specific needs of each training group, thus recognising that different groups of workers have different needs and

Pictured back row l to r: Ger O’Brien, Adrian Scanlon, Gerry Bourke and Willie Mooney.

Front row l to r: Ger Nolan, Rory Duggan, Ivor Reynolds and Bríd Reardon.

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GROUPS UNITE IN CALL FOR CREATION OF DECENT JOBS

Among the migrant workers attending the meeting was contract cleaner Ineta Kondrota, who is originally from Latvia.

She said: “It is important all workers are employed in jobs with decent wages and terms and conditions. If some workers are treated unfairly it means it is easier to treat all workers that way.”

SIPTU Campaigns and Equality Organiser, Ethel Buckley, said the emphasis must be on creating decent jobs which will allow workers to play their full part in revitalising the wider economy.

“Decent jobs mean that workers earn enough to play a full role in society. Their spending will help growth in other sectors of the economy resulting in general economic improvement. The creation of such a virtuous circle is only possible if Government places the creation of decent jobs for all workers at the centre of its policies. SIPTU has recently launched its own 12 point plant which outlines how such a worker led economic recovery can be brought about.”

The Coalition to Protect the Lowest Paid is made up of workers, trade unions and community organisations including SIPTU, Mandate, Communications Workers’ Union, UNITE, Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, Poor Can’t Pay Campaign, Community Platform, the European Anti-Poverty Network Ireland and the National Women’s Council.

Participants in The Coalition to Protect the Lowest Paid were pictured in front of the statue of renowned trade union organiser, James Connolly, in Dublin today (10th October), before meeting in Liberty Hall to discuss the central importance of decent jobs to economic recovery.

The campaigners, trade unionists and migrant worker activists are part of a broad-based coalition which has come together to defend the pay and conditions of thousands of the lowest paid workers in Ireland, such as cleaners, hotel and restaurant workers, security guards, farm labourers and shop workers.

Mandate General Secretary, John Douglas, said: “Ireland’s unemployment crisis will not be solved with a more jobs at any cost strategy. We need to look at the quality of jobs that are being created otherwise we will just increase the number of underemployed and working poor people. The clear message is that decent work with good wages and working hours is vital for a better future for all Irish people.”

The Director Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, Siobhan O’Donoghue, said: “The work that many migrant workers do, such as care work and service provision, plays an essential part in the economic and social development of this country. These workers need to be valued and have access to decent standards, protections and opportunities to progress.”

14

15

New Work Place Leaders ready for organising challenges senior management in both the Meteor/Emobile and Vodafone Retail regarding a number of ongoing issues, while the new workplace leaders spoke on the difficulties activists and workers encounter on a daily basis.

NEC member Ray Lawlor discusses the importance of organising

Chirag Gambhir, Jeff Rocket, Emma Lusk, Andrew Manning with Adam The organising department conducted another Work Place Leader training session in October. This time they were training activists who work in the retail sector with Chirag Gambhir and Andrew Manning from Vodafone Retail and Jeff Rocket from Emobile. They were joined by an activist from the ESCCU, Emma Lusk, who also took part in the training.

Chirag, Jeff and Mick Farrell at the WPL training The training seems to have proven successful, as a number of the activists have already started putting what they had learned to good use in their workplaces. We look forward to seeing more from them in the near future.

Emma Lusk and Andrew Manning taking part in the organisers Work place Leader training The training covered a number of topics, including power dynamics, workplace mapping as well as objection handling from potential members. The participants found the training quite insightful and brought up issues and situations that they had encountered in their work place where the skills they were learning could be used.

During the course of the training, the group were visited by the General Secretary NEC member, Ray Lawlor, and Vodafone Branch Secretary, Mick Farrell.

This created a dual-learning process, mixing experience with youth. Long-standing union activists were able to share key knowledge about the work they did with

General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick meets the new activists.

16

eircom Retail News

Vodafone Retail Update

Our membership continues to grow at eircom retail stores. Nearly seventy new members have joined in 2012. This is most welcome news but as the old song goes “we’ve only just begun”. Continuous recruitment of members is just one element of the organising model.

We must also identify, train and support Workplace Leaders and encourage them to take a more active role in their union. Therefore, we are delighted to welcome our most recent Workplace Leader, Jeff Rockett, who works in the e-Mobile store in Henry Street. Jeff joins Céilí Flood and Jenn Fahy as eircom retail Workplace Leaders in Dublin.

Additionally, Danielle Condon and Kate Finnerty are Workplace Leaders in Cork, along with Darras Jones in Galway. However we are always seeking members to become more involved.

Are you employed at an eircom retail store?

Would you like to know more about your Union?

If so, contact Gerard O’Rourke: gerard@cwu.ie

Organisers and the Branch Secretary, Mick Farrell, have continued to make inroads at Vodafone retail stores. We recently visited each of the Dublin stores and recruited several new members.

More importantly, the visits resulted in another two Workplace Leaders volunteering to represent their colleagues in the workplace. Chirag Gambhir and Andrew Manning bring the total to ten Vodafone retail members who have availed of the Workplace Leader Training; seven in Dublin and three in Cork.

This has been facilitated by Organisers working closely with the Branch Secretary and the cooperation of Vodafone management.

Organisers recently commenced visiting stores outside of Dublin and plan to visit every store in the country in spring 2013. As always, we are seeking other members to become more involved in their Union.

Are you employed at a Vodafone retail store?

Would you like to know more about your Union?

If so contact Gerard O’Rourke: gerard@cwu.ie

Customer Abuse is not part of your Contract!

In November, members from Vodafone and Meteor attended a Retail Forum at Union Headquarters. The meeting was very well attended and many topics were covered. One issue that resulted in much debate was the issue of abusive and aggressive customers.

The debate commenced when one of the participants asked the question “How much abuse is acceptable from a customer?” The simple answer is none. Abuse is not part of your employment contract. As the meeting continued we heard accounts of verbal abuse, racial abuse, gender abuse and shockingly accounts of a number of physical assaults on our members by customers. Furthermore, most incidents of abuse are based around issues that are out of the control of the staff member.

Frequently the issues arise from company policies or as a result of customers misunderstanding product capabilities.

However it is the staff member who often faces unprovoked abuse from irate customers. A recent survey by our sister union Mandate revealed: • • •

A good employer will have a “Dignity at Work” policy. Your Union has already agreed policies with An Post and eircom.

Vodafone also has a number of policies in place. Although each policy is different, each is in line with health & safety legislation and other appropriate laws. Your company’s policy should be available to you in hard copy or on the internal intranet service. Your Union recommends that you familiarise yourself with policies and procedures regarding abusive and violent customers.

What should I do if I am abused by a customer?

Your employer has a duty of care to provide a safe place of work. However even a good employer can only act when they are aware that there is an issue. Therefore it is essential that you report any incident of abuse to your line manager and record it in your own diary. Provide as much information as possible regarding the incident - for example the time, date and nature of the incident. You should also record any details you may have regarding the perpetrator’s name and/ or contact details. If there is CCTV available request that your employer examine the footage. Remember to inform your Union if you suffer any form of abuse from customers, colleagues or management.

74% of shop workers suffered verbal abuse from a customer in the past year a further 30% received threats from a customer in the past year and almost 10% were assaulted by a customer during the course of their employment

Remember it is your RIGHT to be treated with 17

Win One4All vouchers to the value of €500

Added Members Benefit Update

Apple iPad and €500 One4All gift vouchers up for grabs!

The CWU has a long-standing relationship with Halligan Insurances and many CWU Members save money on their insurance costs throughout the year with the new ‘Reduced CWU Home Insurance Scheme’. Halligan Insurances are holding a Draw for a €500 One4All Voucher in this edition of Connect.

There is great news as part of our on-going commitment to seek benefits for our members.

We are delighted to offer our members the opportunity to win TWO great prizes.

Win an Apple iPad! Membership of the CWU brings many advantages.

For example, members can avail of hundreds of discounts on day-to-day items as well as occasional special offers. To celebrate the festive season we have teamed up with our partners at groupschemes.com to offer members an opportunity to win an Apple iPad 3 valued at €500!

To enter, simply go to www.cwu.ie and click on the link for your CWU House Insurance Quick Quote and then answer the following question:

Q: Is this CWU Home Insurance Quote less than your current Renewal?

A: Yes / No / Not Sure All entrants received before Friday, January 11th 2013 will be included in the Halligan Insurances draw (regardless of when your renewal date falls) All you need to do to enter this competition is register on your dedicated members’ website at www.cwu.ie When you have done this click the link that brings you to the CWU online discount website where you can enter the competition and view a variety of discounts available to CWU members. If you have already registered with us you are automatically entered into the competition.

10% Discount available to CWU members at Cempo Interiors, Athlone Cempo Interiors is a family owned and run business established in 2004, located in Athlone, Co. Westmeath at Blyry Business Park.

To be in a chance of winning you must register before Friday, 11th January 2013 Cempo Interiors carry an extensive range of furniRemember, there are several ture, bed linen and accessories. Cempo Interiors discounts and special offers are delighted to offer CWU members a 10% disavailable to CWU members count on furniture orders. Cempo have a dedicatand their families. Details are ed delivery team who deliver, assemble and install available in your Value Added nationwide. Call to their showrooms at Blyry Benefits booklet and on your Business Park, Athlone. Opening Hours Mon-Sat website www.cwu.ie. If you 9.30am- 6pm www.cempointeriors.ie would like a copy of the Value Tel: 0906 486868.

Added Benefits booklet you can download it from the Publications section of our website. Alternatively you can contact your local Branch, email gerard@cwu.ie or write to Union Headquarters requesting a copy and we will dispatch a copy to your home address.

18

INSURANCE & FINANCIAL BROKERS

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19 FM Downes & Co Brokers is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland

Equality Update UNI Holds its Fourth Women’s Conference in Luxembourg 27 & 28 September 2012

europa women

Carol Scheffer, National Officer makes a presentation at the Conference.

The CWU was very pleased to attend the UNI Europa Women’s Conference in Luxembourg this year.

The conference theme was Women Power = UNI Power and there was a large attendance at the conference with approximately 140 women trade unionists from 54 unions and 20 countries.

The Conference opened with a scene setting address by Oliver Roething, UNI Europa Regional Secretary. “He referred to the clear change in the unions’ coordination, many of them led by women such as in the ITUC, the ETUC and TUC. In accordance with the theme of the Conference, Oliver stated that the power of women today is the power of UNI Europa and Union power.

National Officer, Carol Scheffer represented the CWU at the Conference, the business of which kicked off with various presentations from Greece, Ireland, Spain and Italy on “The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Female Employment in the Private Sector in Europe”. Carol Scheffer did a presentation on the situation for Irish women and concentrated on women in the workplace, in education and in decision making roles.

Conference also heard a very moving presentation on the Arab Spring, focussing on the Women’s Network of Tunisia, from the UGTT. Conference congratulated the UNI Tunisia Women’s Network and resolved to support them in any way possible.

We also heard reports on Women and Pensions and the strategic priorities for UNI’s Equal Opportunities Department that were adopted at the UNI Europa Congress in Toulouse and congratulated Veronica Fernandez Mendez on the work done by the Equal Opportunities Department.

Conference also adopted the new mentoring programme that will be developed over the coming years with the aim of encouraging young female trade unionists to get involved in international and European trade union work.

Finally, conference elected its President and Vice Presidents among its members, who shall hold office until the next Conference in 2016.

20

Equality Update

Equality Representatives Training â&#x20AC;&#x201C; September 24th & 25th 2012 This year we had a very high participation of Equality Representatives with 15 attendees across the postal and telecommunications sectors. The two-day course focused on the main pieces of equality legislation, how representatives can identify and address issues and how we as a union can create more awareness of equality related matters. The Union was also pleased to be in a

position to distribute our new Equality Policy as well as the Equality Representatives Handbook, which were produced on foot of the Equality Mainstreaming project as referenced in previous editions of Connect.

Copies of the handbook and policy have been distributed to Branches and further copies will be made available as required by our activists.

In attendance were: Therese Dunne, DPAB, Rory Duggan, Eircom Dublin No 1, Eline Walshe, Portlaoise Mails Centre, Olive Hall, DPAB, Phil Keegan, DPAB, Margaret Jenkins, NEC, Danny Roche, North Kerry Postal, SeĂĄn Barry, Cork Mails Centre, Anthony Horan, Waterford Postal, Ken Good, Letterkenny Postal, Declan Jones, First Source, John Quinn Eircom Sligo District, Paul Scanlan, Eircom Central Regional Managers, Paula Dunning, Athlone Mails Centre and Margaret Mooney, Cork Mails Centre.

Pictured above: Declan Jones, Paula Dunning and John Quinn participating in the discussions 21

Youth Committee Update

Review of 2012 Youth Committee’s Activities

by Caroline Corcoran, Vice-Chairperson, CWU Youth Committee the rights of trade unionists and human rights activists in Colombia, who are routinely targeted by the state and rightwing paramilitaries for their work. The Youth Committee took part in several email campaigns seeking justice and protection for various activists. The Committee also undertook a letter campaign to President Santos regarding death threats against 13 human rights defenders. Most recently, the Youth Committee undertook to write to all Irish MEPs in the lead up to a vote in Europe on the EU/Colombia Free Trade Agreement. To date, four MEPs have responded advising the Committee that the issues outlined in our letters will be raised on our behalf.

In relation to the “Youth Unemployment/Anti-Austerity” campaign, there have been a number of articles written by Derek Keenan and published in Connect. The Youth Committee is currently supporting a campaign against “JobBridge” (known as ScamBridge) and a report has been produced for the General Secretary, who will be seeking further support from the wider trade union movement regarding the Youth Committee’s position on “JobBridge”.

I have to say how proud I am of the Youth Committee and how it has grown in 2012 and I look forward to bigger and greater things in 2013. I would like to extend a huge thanks to all the Youth Committee members for their participation to date and look forward to working with you all again in the coming months and hopefully we will see some new faces too!

The Youth Committee works hand-in-hand with Head Office, which has always had our backs and strive to help us whenever possible and we greatly appreciate it.

Finally, I would like to wish all members of the CWU our Season’s Greetings and a prosperous New Year.

Well, I have to say, what a difference a year can make! At the beginning of 2011 the Youth Action Group (as it was formerly known) consisted of only 2 members. 2012 has brought much improvement to the Youth Committee and the membership has greatly increased. The Youth Committee made a considerable improvement in communication levels with the young members of the CWU by having articles in each issue of Connect, developing and distributing the Youth Newsletter and increasing activity on social network sites such as Facebook.

The Youth Committee also made a big impact at Biennial Conference in Galway, where we had our stall, as usual, at which we recruited a number of Branches to support the work of “Justice for Colombia” (one of the Committee’s active campaigns). There was also a presentation at the General Session on Friday by Eric Partridge (Chair) and Barry Gorman (Head of Campaigns). Furthermore, James Moore from the DPAB spoke on the Youth Committee’s first Motion to Conference (re: Youth Officer on every Branch Committee, where applicable) and the Motion was passed.

There were several meetings during the year at which the Youth Committee discussed many issues and worked on many campaigns such as “Mental Health”, “Justice for Colombia” and “Youth Unemployment/Anti-Austerity”.

Working Groups were established to progress activity on each campaign and private groups were established on Facebook to facilitate ease of communication between the members of each Working Group between Committee meetings.

Barry and I worked on the “Mental Health” campaign; Barry developed a partnership between CWU Youth and Reachout, an association which provides information on stress, anxiety, bullying, suicide, depression, bipolar and other issues that can affect your mental health and well being. Together we designed a poster that was published in Connect and Barry wrote an article regarding the stigma often attached to mental health. This campaign is on-going and we hope to have a handbook designed to help promote positive mental health in the workplace in the near future.

“Justice for Colombia” is a campaign network to promote 22

Youth Committee Update

National Youth Education Event

by Barry Gorman I had the privilege of being invited by our sister union, the CWU UK, to attend their annual National Youth Education Event (NYEE). Held this year in Belfast on the 9th – 11th November, this brought young trade unionists from the UK and Ireland to come along and share ideas, questions and ultimately encourage involvement by youth members in their local branches and at a national level.

As I entered the event on Friday evening, the first thing that struck me was the number of young members. The CWU UK is home to 22,000 young activists under 30, more than our entire union membership! What also surprised me was the average age of the people present. Almost all of the 60-plus guests were in their early to mid 20s.

Soon it was time to meet and greet, and after a welcome

by Ryan Case the CWU Youth Chair, and Beryl Shepherd the CWU UK President, an icebreaker event was held where we all got to learn a bit more about each other.

On Saturday morning, we got down to the purpose of the NYEE: to invigorate young members and create future union leaders. After an extremely interesting talk from Trademark about the history of trade unions in Northern Ireland, we all split into groups and were given different topics to discuss.

Our group was discussing civil liberties and the right to protest. A lot of the group, including myself, have been to protests and we spent some time sharing experiences, talking about the impact of protesting on society and how media coverage shapes the social perception of protesters.

We also used this time to create and craft some motions to

put forward to the Mock Conference scheduled for the Sunday morning.

After lunch we split into two groups, Postal and Communications, and participated in round table discussions between youth members and NEC and senior CWU officials. What struck me as I listened to the postal discussion is that, even though we work for different companies in different nations, the problems both unions and their youth members face are strikingly similar.

We then all rejoined in the afternoon, for a bus tour designed to give us an insight and understanding of the history of sectarian Belfast. Even though the times of the Troubles are behind us, the tension in the air and history evident through every part we visited once again provoked more great discussion among the young activists on the bus.

Sunday morning brought the Mock Conference. We had to present the motions we had created on Saturday to the Youth Committee, as well as seconding, opposing and ultimately voting on motions created by the other groups.

As I watched and listened to the many youth members stand up and propose, support or oppose the various motions, it struck me that these are young people who are passionate about their rights and are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in, even if it is not always a favourable position.

All in all, it was a fantastic event and the tips and tricks I’ve learned, people I’ve met, and ideas I’ve shared and gathered have made this an event I would love to, and mean to attend again. Thanks NYEE for showing me the passion, power and determination of young people in the Union.

Take care of yourself this Christmas

more and more people, especially 18-26 year olds, abroad to look for work.

But it is not just the young unemployed at home or alone abroad who feel the strain of Christmas. Our CWU members, both young and old, are also feeling under pressure as we enter the busiest period of our year. Long hours, late nights and an increase in work levels can leave employees feeling tired and drained and allow their mental and physical health to suffer.

It is not all doom and gloom though. It is important to remember that everyone will feel some amount of pressure at Christmas. You are not alone. Talk to family, friends and work colleagues and you will realise how similar your problems are to theirs. As the saying goes, “a problem shared is a problem halved”. Also, don’t forget the most important part of the festive season: it’s celebrating with friends and family, giving and receiving gifts and, of course, the all important Christmas dinner!

On behalf of the Youth Committee, we would like to wish all our colleagues a Healthy and Happy Christmas and New Year. Enjoy!

While the Christmas period is regularly a time for joy and celebration, it can also be a time of great stress. People can feel under pressure due to the financial and emotional strain of the festive season.

With youth unemployment at a high in Ireland (almost 40% in the last year), young people are particularly susceptible to the excess costs Christmas always brings. This in turn can lead to huge emotional pressure, and mental health can sometimes deteriorate.

There is also the problem youth emigration brings.

Families can suffer both mentally and financially as they miss loved ones abroad, try to send presents both home and away, or even pay for flights to bring family and friends home. This is a situation which is becoming a grim reality in modern Ireland as the lack of job opportunities in our country drive

23

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Pensions - a level playing field? the treatment between executive directors and ordinary employees at 48 listed Irish companies in relation to pensions.

The evidence demonstrates that the replacement of Defined Benefit (DB) schemes with Defined Contribution (DC) schemes affects ordinary workers to a greater degree than executive directors. The report notes that executive directors disproportionately continue to enjoy access to a DB scheme which is generously funded by their employer. Furthermore, the research observes that executive directors enjoy more favourable pension terms than other employees in terms of the percentage of salary their employer contributes to their pension fund.

The average employer contribution rate for an executive director amounted to around 26 per cent compared with 6.9 to 8.5 per cent for private sector employees. Executive directors benefit from much larger employer pension contributions (€100,000 on average) than other employees (€2,700 on average).

The size of the employer contribution to executive pensions is related to the size of their salary (€396,100 on average) which is more than ten times greater than the average earnings of other employees (€36,490). The report also indicates that executive directors benefit through a lower retirement age than the schemes to which other employees belong.

The report further illustrates the inequalities inherent in our society noting that:

In the last year, sections of the media have devoted a lot of attention to what they describe as “the problem of massive pensions paid to former public servants”. Some people in management positions in the private sector have demanded that government must take measures to reduce pensions paid to public servants. A recent survey (details of which are published below) does not support the claim that all former public servants are in receipt of massive pensions.

“On average, therefore, if the executive directors in our sample had retired in 2009 they would have been entitled to a pension 17 times more than the State pension which the majority of single pensioners were living on in 2009 or 11 times more than the average income of single adults aged 65 and over from State pensions and other sources”

Civil Service Pension Profile: Pension per annum

No. of People

Percentage

<€30k

14,843

78%

€30k - €50k

2,979

16%

€50k - €70k

873

€70k - €90k

223

€90k+

111

The full report is available to download at www.ersi.ie

Most don’t receive OAP in addition (Pre 1995 staff) Another survey undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) highlights the cosy pension arrangements that operate for directors in a number of Irish companies.

A recent research paper written by Gerard Hughes published by the ESRI reports that there is a disparity in

Type of Pension Scheme

Ordinary Workers

Executive Directors

On Defined Benefit only

8%

45%

On Defined Contribution only

23%

28%

Companies operating both DB & DC schemes

69%

28%

7% - 8.5%

26%

€36,490

€396,100

% Employer contribution Total average employer contribution €

25

Postal Update Change to Annual Leave Year

This practice is not acceptable and the Company has advised the Union they will consider such actions as a deliberate attempt on behalf of individuals to circumvent the safety features of the vehicle. This will not only void the company insurance on the vehicle but employees who fail to wear seat belts will be subject to disciplinary action by the Company.

The Company has advised that it will shortly undertake an awareness campaign with a view to ensuring full compliance with the law. The Union is supportive of this initiative, as it places Health and Safety over and above the inconvenience of having to wear the seatbelt.

Last year, following a request from the Company, the Union agreed to change the annual leave arrangements from 1st October, 30th September to the 1st May, 30th April for staff encompassed by the Collection and Delivery Agreement.

Following a debate at this year’s Biennial Conference the following motion, sponsored by the Portlaoise Postal Branch, was passed: “Conference instructs the incoming National Executive Council to seek to align the leave years of all CWU grades in An Post to that of the Collection & Delivery grade.”

Retail

As a result, the Union entered into discussions with the Company with a view to enacting the terms of the motion. I am pleased to inform you that the Company has agreed to the Unions request and as a result it has been agreed that the Annual Leave Year for all other CWU staff will be changed to the 1st May – 30th April each year. The main summer leave period will be May – September with staff entitled to take up to three weeks, in accordance with existing arrangements. The deferred leave period will cover October – April, with staff due to take all remaining leave during this period, in accordance with existing arrangements.

One Direct As a result of an agreement between An Post and Aviva, One Direct will take over Aviva’s branch business.

Consequently, a number of former Aviva staff who have transferred to One Direct and will be located in An Post Retail Offices. They will deal with customer queries in relation to the insurance business.

The offices in which they will be based are Blanchardstown, Castlebar, Cavan, Cork, Drogheda, Dundalk, Dun Laoghaire, Ennis, Letterkenny, Limerick, Mallow, Monaghan, Mullingar, Naas, Navan, Portlaoise, Sligo, Swords, St. Andrew Street, Tallaght, Tralee, Waterford and Wexford.

In order to give effect to the change the following has been agreed: •

•

•

Postfone Training

The period from the 1st October 2012 to 30th April 2013 will be treated as a Transitional Assimilation Period. Pro rata leave allowances will apply for this transitional period.

The full pro rata leave allowance for the Transitional Assimilation Period are set out in the GS Circular No. 36 - 12.

Where the calculation leaves odd amounts of less than a full day’s leave, these amounts will be paid at the appropriate flat hourly rate.

The Company has informed the Union that a number of regional evening Postfone training seminars will be held in early November.

Retail Work Measurement The Union and the Company are in the process of agreeing a Retail Operations Work Measurement Project. A Joint Working Group is being established to deal with this project. The Union is prepared to participate with this project, subject to the Company at least maintaining agreed staffing levels at Retail Offices, pending agreed outcomes of the project

Buckle Up The Union places a huge emphasis on Health and Safety and, in conjunction with the Company at the JCC, the Health and Safety Sub-Committee has agreed new policies and procedures, particularly for An Post drivers.

The Company recently identified a difficulty relating to poor compliance with the legal requirement to wear seat belts. The Company has advised that, as a result of audits, they have discovered incidents whereby seatbelts are not worn or are locked in place before the driver sits in the vehicle.

Retail Management’s apparent conversion to Transparency a step too far Union Headquarters was inundated with complaints from female clerical members concerning the poor quality of the blouses issued by the Retail Management.

The material used was threadbare and see-through. This is the second occasion in which such a faux pas has occurred. The Union has advised members to return the blouses immediately to the Company.

26

Postal Update Worker Director Elections

Having conducted a professional and extensive campaign, the Union wishes to express its gratitude to the candidates, their agents, Branch Committees, Partnership Coordinators, Head Office Staff and all of the members for their trojan work on behalf of the Union.

It is a testament to all that 75% of staff eligible to vote took part in the ballot. The Union would also like to express commiserations to the unsuccessful candidates: Joe Gleeson (AHCPS) and Sinéad McKenna (CPSU). We would also like to express our appreciation to the Company Secretary and his staff for the manner in which they conducted the ballot result.

The Union was delighted with the outcome of the recent Worker Director Elections which saw the five CWU candidates elected. The successful candidates are Noel Adamson, Pat Compton, Tommy Devlin, Willie Mooney and Martina O’Connell. The Union is confident that with the expertise and knowledge they will bring to the Board, they will assist the Company to be strong and viable, while ensuring that the Union’s interests and concerns are well represented.

Table 1

Count Centre G.P.O.

Paddy, Cormac, Noel and Frank celebrate Noel’s election.

27

Postal Update

CWU criticises ComReg’s arrogance at Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communication and Transport On the matter of the threatened fine, the Regulator simply refused to engage with the question in a display of arrogance that served only to antagonise the public representatives present. The meeting quickly descended into very heated exchanges on the performance of the Regulator and its treatment of An Post. TDs were exasperated with the Chairperson of ComReg, Mr. Alex Chisholm, as he refused to answer questions put to him in relation to the recent High Court ruling won by An Post and the upcoming threat of legal action against An Post over quality of service issues being alleged by ComReg. In a press statement following the meeting, the CWU’s Head of Regulation, Ian McArdle, said, “ComReg have again displayed its high-handed arrogance and a lack of respect for accountability or the democratic structures of the State that is becoming too familiar to those of us committed to the development of world class communications services in Ireland.

“Today’s performance typifies the way ComReg approaches the regulation of vital public services in the postal sector. Their contempt for elected public representatives asking direct and reasonable questions was breath-taking. The claim by ComReg Chairperson, Mr Alex Chisholm, to the Joint Committee that ComReg strongly believes in transparency is not credible. He consistently refused to answer straightforward questions put to him around the methodology being used by ComReg to assess the quality of service issue.

“Postal workers can understand and completely sympathise with the exasperation and frustration of TDs at their attempts to get answers from the Regulator.

However, the lack of frankness on the part of ComReg has serious consequences for Postmen and Postwomen up and down the country, whose jobs have been placed at risk as its actions in pursuing an unjustified €12 million fine against An Post and its refusal to grant a long overdue increase on the price of a stamp. An Post is facing very serious financial losses this year. 1,500 jobs at risk could quickly increase.”

He said: “Far from supporting investment and innovation in the communications industry – post and telecoms – ComReg is presiding over a sector that is consistently bottom of the high-speed broadband tables.

Their engagement and approach was clear to all in their refusal to communicate to the elected representatives of the people at Dáil Éireann today.”

The CWU has criticised ComReg, the communications industry regulator, over its refusal to provide information on the basis and detail of its legal pursuit of An Post.

On the 7th November, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications and Transport invited ComReg to attend its meeting in order to answer questions on its approach to regulation of the postal market place. In advance of this meeting, members of the NEC who form the Regulation sub-committee contacted TDs who sit on this group, to ensure they were aware of the challenges facing An Post. In particular, the issue of the impending fine of €12m and the dual quality of service monitors were raised, along with general concerns regarding the high-handed approach being taken by the Regulator, especially in its intention to pursue An Post to the Supreme Court having lost a case in the High Court.

What followed in the Committee meeting itself was an interesting insight into the cavalier attitude that ComReg feels justified in taking on very important matters. The Regulator tried to hide behind the fact that legal issues were still before the courts, but across the political spectrum this was not accepted by the TDs present, who pursued ComReg for answers with vigorous determination. With some degree of success, it has to be said, any answers that were offered to the difficult questions were very much offered under duress.

28

Postal Update

CWU makes Submission to Joint Oireachtas Committee on Future of Post Office Network It is difficult to overstate the gravity of this risk.

The loss of these contracts would, in simple terms, wipe out the very network that rural Ireland depends on to function – any perceived cost saving for the Government would come at a very high price to the citizens and the state.

The vital role that the Post Office network plays in the business community is often overlooked given its critical social role. An Post’s extensive delivery and collection network is an intrinsic part of the economic and business infrastructure of the country. By reaching every corner of the country and by delivering to every front door, An Post is an essential partner in business from a marketing, payment collection and business generation point of view.

If the post office represents the heart of a community, then local businesses that depend on the post office are its lifeblood. The existence of a post office in a rural location improves the chances of business development in that area. Proximity to a post office provides a business with a link to the rest of the world. Also, the Universal Service Obligation helps level the playing pitch for SMEs, who can rely on a cost effective, highly efficient delivery network to send and receive letters, parcels and packets for business that allows them to compete with urban businesses.

As well as providing a far reaching network, An Post and its Post Office network are viewed very positively by the public and the brand is one that is trusted. Other areas of government that could be processed through the network include Motor Tax and Driving License renewals, Household charges, septic tank registration and payments, water charges and all payments to Revenue, including income tax, PRSI, excise duty and VAT. Other creative ideas that maximise the utility of such a network include: the Register of Electors, public and school transport ticketing and the National Census.

In effect, the post office could and should become a ‘one-stop-shop’ for government services and, given the investments already made to ensure that the IT systems are robust and flexible, there is no reason why this cannot happen.

In early October the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Communications called for submissions from interested parties in relation to the future of the Post Office network.

In its response, the Union highlighted the cost saving role that the network could play as an effective channel for the delivery of government services. The CWU stated that as well as being an essential element of the ‘final mile’ of the postal delivery network, a core competency for the postal network is the delivery of government services. This responsibility puts the post office at the heart of most communities the length and breadth of Ireland. Ireland is a largely rural country and a high proportion of our elderly population is concentrated in rural Ireland. The delivery of services to this part of our community is vital and the level of service and access provided by the Post Office network could be described as a lifeline service. Its true value goes well beyond the cost of delivery itself.

The CWU is of the view that the post office network is the best platform for the delivery of services which are of social and economic interest.

Putting a value on these services is not easy but in the UK the then regulator, Postcomm, did examine this aspect of the market and found that ‘customers place a high value on the existing network of post offices, and the total social value of the network as a whole was calculated at between £2.3 billion and £10.2 billion per year’.

The same study also estimated that the savings to the taxpayer as a result of providing services through post offices were significant, at around £18 million per year.

However the network does face challenges and the key risk is the network’s dependence on the Department of Social Protection and NTMA contracts. These contracts are fulfilled in a very costeffective manner but they do represent 56% of the total revenues. These are also contracts that private retailers would be keen to have responsibility for despite the marginal profitability they offer.

29

Postal Update

Update on JCC Issues Over the past number of months the Union has been in discussion with the Company on the introduction of a range of different policies and procedures and these are summarised below:

• • • • •

Bereavement Leave and Policy Apart from the definition of family, the Company policy on bereavement was last reviewed in the early 1980s. The Group of Unions and An Post commenced a review of the Company Bereavement Policy with a view to issuing a comprehensive policy which not only includes the various leave arrangements, but also highlights the other services that An Post makes available to those suffering bereavement or coping with grief.

The Union recognises the short-term support given to staff by the Company in providing bereavement leave.

However, it must be acknowledged that employees will grieve beyond that and will need support in the long-term.

For that matter, it can be 6-24 months before the full impact of the grief may settle in. Death of a work colleague can have a particular effect on fellow employees which needs to be managed properly.

The policy acknowledges the personalised nature of bereavement and grief and is committed to supporting employees in practical and appropriate ways to deal with bereavement and grief. The aim is to provide an overview of best practise, to ensure a consistent approach to managing employees’ grief in An Post by ensuring that relevant information and appropriate support is available to those who need it.

sister or half-sister of the employee; a parent, step-parent or grandparent of the employee; mother-in-law and father-in-law; Son-in-law or daughter-in-law Grandchild also, in exceptional cases, on the death of a more distant relation, where the employee lived with the deceased or has to take charge of funeral arrangements.

1 Working Days • uncle, aunt, brother-in-law, sister-in-law Leave in excess of that described above may be granted at the discretion of Company, where an employee has to travel abroad to make funeral arrangements on the death of an immediate relative. An employee who suffers a family bereavement whilst on annual leave may avail of bereavement leave and take their displaced annual leave at a future date.

In the event of the death of an immediate relative, an employee may be facilitated in taking annual leave at short notice to supplement their bereavement leave.

In addition to the bereavement leave available to staff, the Company acknowledges International Workers’ Memorial Day, which falls on the 28th April each year, to commemorate employees who died in service. The Company acknowledges that different cultures respond to bereavement in different ways and will allow for flexibilities, as deemed necessary.

The Union is seeking to expand the range of options that An Post make available to staff as part of its commitment to work life balance arrangements and in that regard, the Union is pleased to announce that agreement has been concluded to introduce work sharing to replace the existing job sharing agreement. Job sharing arrangements, where one job is shared between two employees on a 50:50 basis, will continue to be available under the scheme.

Work Sharing is an arrangement that provides for employees, by agreement with the Company, to work a reduced attendance, subject to the arrangement meeting the attendance and work requirements of a particular work area. Unlike job sharing, work sharing is not confined to an equal division of a defined job between two employees but allows for employees to work across one or more jobs in a work area. Work sharing employees may be facilitated on more flexible attendance patterns and are paid on a pro-rata basis.

The main points of the new policy are as follows:

Bereavement Leave/Special Leave with pay The following leave with pay will be available to employees on the death of an employee’s immediate family member: 5 Working Days • a spouse or a person in a relationship of domestic dependency with the employee, including same sex partners; • a child, adoptive child of the employee or a child being cared for on the basis of loco parentis 3 Working Days • a brother, step-brother, half-brother, sister, step30

Postal Update Some examples of work sharing arrangements include: • • • • • • •

•

Mornings only Afternoons only Three days per week Four days per week 10am to 3pm each day Week on / week off 3 weeks out of 4

•

•

•

It is not a specific requirement under the Work Sharing Scheme to have a partner, whether with complementing attendance or otherwise. However, it is acknowledged that the operating needs of a Section may in many cases make the availability of a suitable partner, or other person(s) with a complementing attendance, a prerequisite to granting a work sharing request.

All employees can avail of work sharing, provided they are not on probation or in a trial period upon assignment or promotion.

•

duration of the work share arrangement.

Work Sharers will retain their full seniority, including seniority on Acting lists, and will remain eligible for acting up and promotion in the normal way.

Work sharing employees will not be debarred from performing additional hours during the at-work phase of the work share pattern.

Work Sharers on duty in a shift cycle must follow the normal duty rotation pattern. Normal exchange of duty procedures will, however, continue to apply.

Pay will be pro rata to the pay of a corresponding full time employee. Annual incremental progression will apply, subject to the usual conditions.

Pro rata pay will apply in respect of the full duration of a period of paid absence (e.g. Annual Leave, Sick Leave, Maternity Leave or other leave with pay).

Return to Full-time Working • The Company reserves the right in certain circumstances to terminate or suspend a Work Sharing agreement and revert Work Sharers back to normal working • The requirement for a Work Sharer to temporarily revert to full-time will only apply where all other reasonable, cost effective, alternative arrangements have been explored.

• Except where circumstances do not permit, the Company will give as much advance notice as is practicable but at least 2 month’s notice to a Work Sharer of the requirement to revert to normal working.

• Should any or all employees in an approved work share arrangement wish to revert back to normal working, a minimum of two months notice in writing, prior to the expiry of the work sharing agreement, will be required, except in very exceptional circumstances.

• Approval to revert to normal working will be subject to the availability of suitable fillable vacancies to which the employee(s) may be assigned and • Only in very exceptional circumstances will an application to resume normal working before the expiry of the term of a work share agreement (or the term of any agreed extension) be considered.

• A fillable vacancy is defined as either an existing post on an establishment which is not identified for suppression, or a new post.

Some of the key points of the new policy include: Application, Approval and Review Process • Communication of a decision on a work share request will be delivered within 4 weeks of the receipt of the request • When approved, work sharing arrangements will be incorporated into an agreement which will be signed by the work sharer(s) and the Manager concerned • Where the request is not approved, the employee will be advised of the grounds for that decision and will be given the opportunity to appeal that decision through the Grievance Procedures • Work sharing arrangements will normally be approved for a one year period at which time they will be reviewed • Work sharing arrangements will be kept under review to ensure that work throughputs are maintained, work priorities are attended to, there is an equitable share out of work between the work sharers and attendance requirements are being adhered to.

Terms and Conditions • In general, the terms and conditions of employment applicable to a full-time employee will be reduced on a pro-rata basis, i.e. as a proportion of the hours worked by a comparable full-time employee • Where an employee’s application to work share is approved, the employee will be required to sign a written agreement acknowledging the terms and conditions, including the attendance requirements, that will apply to his /her employment for the

Overpayments Policy and Procedure The Company advised the Union in November 2011 of its intention to issue a policy and procedure in relation to how they recoup overpayments from staff when they occur. The Group of Unions had concerns about the manner in which this issue was dealt with in the past and 31

Postal Update referred to the Head of Employee Relations and the relevant Union National Officer, who will jointly make a binding decision on the repayment arrangements.

is seeking in any policy, that overpayments are dealt with in a fair and sensitive manner.

Following discussions at the JCC, we have reached agreement on a “Recovery of Overpayments to Employees – Policy and Procedure”

Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures The An Post Grievance and Disciplinary Procedures (McNeill Procedures) were introduced in 1990. In 2001 the Labour Relations Commission issued a Code of Practice (SI 146) which contained general guidelines on the application of grievance and disciplinary procedures and the promotion of best practice in giving effect to such procedures. The principles contained within the Code of Practice should apply unless alternative agreed procedures exist in the workplace which conforms to its general provisions. This Code of Practice effectively provided for the review of the An Post procedures.

Section 5(5)(a)(i)(I) of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 provides for the recovery of monies from the wages of an employee where an over-payment of wages or expenses has occurred.

Set out below are the main points contained within the procedure: •

•

• •

•

• • • • • •

•

•

Any deduction made in respect of recovering an overpayment will be fair and reasonable. The deduction made will not exceed the total amount of the overpayment.

Once an overpayment has been discovered it will be investigated to determine the cause of such an overpayment so that the necessary steps can be taken to prevent a repetition of the error.

Management will meet with the employee to inform them of the overpayment.

The employee will also be advised as to how the Company proposes to recover the overpayment, e.g. in one lump sum, through a number of payroll deductions over a defined period, etc.

The recovery arrangement will be set out in an agreement which will be signed by the manager and the employee. Agreement to recovery arrangements will not be unreasonably withheld.

When recovering overpayments the Company will take into consideration: The total amount overpaid; The time period from when the overpayment started until the time it was discovered; Whether the employee could reasonably have been expected to notice the overpayment; The employee’s personal circumstances.

In cases where an employee returns to work following a prolonged period of sick absence, and has been overpaid because of a delay in applying the appropriate rate of reduced sick pay (e.g. half pay or pension rate), he or she will resume duty on normal pay and the overpayment will be recovered over a reasonable period in accordance with the procedure above.

Where the overpayments have been made to a group of employees, the HR Manager will also advise the appropriate union representative.

If the manager and employee fail to reach agreement on a schedule for recovering overpayments, the matter will be automatically

The Group of Unions and An Post recently concluded agreement.

Set out below are the main points of the revised Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure: General Points • Although the aim of the disciplinary policy/ procedure is remedial there will be instances where an employee’s action(s) will merit the application of a higher level disciplinary sanction in the first instance, reflecting the seriousness of the matter.

• In some instances it may not be appropriate to invoke the disciplinary procedure e.g. where it is clear that the employee is experiencing issues (e.g. medical or personal difficulties, including substance abuse) which adversely impact upon their ability to fulfil their employment obligations.

• The Disciplinary Policy and Procedure applies to all employees other than those who have been recently recruited and are serving in a probationary capacity within the Company.

• Any correspondence or information resulting from disciplinary proceedings initiated against an employee will be treated as confidential and will only be disclosed, as necessary, to parties legitimately involved in the proceedings.

• Where matters are addressed with an employee at a meeting held at any stage under the Procedure a record of the meeting will be generated by the manager and will be signed by both the Manager and the employee.

Employee Entitlements • The right to be notified of the specific matters in respect of which disciplinary action is being considered at the time any proceedings are initiated 32

Postal Update

• •

• • •

and receive any relevant material, records or sources of data at that time, to the extent that they have been relied upon by management in initiating the proceedings The right to respond to the allegation(s) prior to any disciplinary decision being made The right to representation by a trade union representative at all stages of the procedure, including the appeal stage.

The right to be advised of the outcome of the Company’s disciplinary investigation The right of appeal against any disciplinary sanction issued by the Company The employee and their Trade Union Representative attending a disciplinary meeting with management will be allowed a reasonable period of time off at the Company’s expense immediately prior to the meeting to prepare.

be followed when an employee is suspended. When an employee is suspended he /she will continue to be paid provided they fully co-operate with any investigation that may be undertaken into the matters concerned. The need to continue the suspension will be reviewed every four weeks.

A decision to suspend an employee without pay may be made by management where an employee is culpably unable (e.g. due to intoxication) or unwilling to perform work as required or as expected. Suspension without pay in such instances will be continued as long as the employee remains culpably unable or unwilling to work as required or as expected.

Grievance Policy and Procedure

The new procedures sets out that grievance will be processed at four distinct levels namely: •

Range of Penalties • Verbal Warning • First Level Written Warning • Second Level Written Warning • Final Written Warning • Dismissal

• • •

Local Level (i.e. within the immediate work area in which the grievance arises) Intermediate Level (i.e. at the next organisational level outside of the immediate work area) Central Level (i.e. at Headquarter level) Externally through the Labour Relations Commission and Labour Court

Duration of Disciplinary Sanction Union Representation Anyone raising a grievance is entitled to advance their grievance to resolution with union representation.

The sanctions specified in this procedure will remain current on an employee’s personnel record for the period specified below:

Sanction

Procedure • Local Level • Intermediate Level • Central Level

Current until a period of satisfactory service as specified below elapses from the date the sanction is notified to the employee.

Verbal warning

12 months

1st Level Written Warning

24 months

2nd Level Written Warning

24 months

Final Written Warning

24 months

Processing of Grievance Issues It is the responsibility of the Manager dealing with the grievance to process the grievance with the employee or group of employees and / or the appropriate union representative.

Working under Protest The parties to this procedure are agreed that in the case of a grievance arising from a management instruction, the employee(s) shall carry out the instruction, under protest if necessary, while the grievance is being processed through the procedure. The undertaking of work under protest will be without prejudice to either parties position on the matter in dispute.

This obligation applies on the understanding that a supervisor / manager will not require an employee to do anything which is unlawful or would compromise the individual’s health and safety or that of any other party.

This is still under discussions with the Company at the time of going to press.

Where a sanction expires the employee’s record will be updated to reflect this and they will be written advising them accordingly.

Suspensions The Policy and Procedures clearly sets out the process to 33

Postal Update

C&D Revised 2013 Detailed Schedule 1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11

12

13

14 15 16

17

Office

Count

LIT Start

Go-Live

Tralee DSU Little Island DSU Drogheda DSU *Bellewstown *Collon *Dunleer Caherciveen DSU *Castlecove Swords DSU Malahide DSU Newbridge DSU Listowel DSU *Asdee *Ballybunion *Ballylongford *Lisselton *Lyreacrompane *Moyvane *Tarbert Phibsboro DSU Edmondstown DSU Thurles DSU *Ballingarry *Johnstown Thurles *Killenaule *Mullinahone *Upperchurch Kilkenny DSU *Borris *Callan *Gowran *Graiguenamanagh *Kilmanagh *Thomastown Westport DSU *Louisburgh *Newport Westport Churchtown DSU Rathmines DSU Loughrea DSU *Craughwell *Kylebrack *Tynagh *Woodford Bray DSU *Glendalough *Roundwood

Complete Complete Complete

14 Jan 2013 14 Jan 2013 28 Jan 2013

25 Mar 2013 25 Mar 2013 08 Apr 2013

Complete

28 Jan 2013

08 Apr 2013

Complete Complete Complete Complete

11 Feb 2013 11 Feb 2013 11 Feb 2013 04 Mar 2013

22 Apr 2013 22 Apr 2013 22 Apr 2013 13 May 2013

Complete 05/11 to 23/11/12 Complete

04 Mar 2013 18 Mar 2013 18 Mar 2013

13 May 2013 27 May 2013 27 May 2013

05/11 to 23/11/12

01 Apr 2013

10 Jun 2013

Complete

15 Apr 2013

24 Jun 2013

21/01 to 08/02/13 11/02 to 01/03/13 05/11 to 23/11/12

29 Apr 2013 20 May 2013 03 Jun 2013

08 Jul 2013 29 Jul 2013 12 Aug 2013

21/01 to 01/03/13

01 Jul 2013

09 Sep 2013

34

Postal Update Continued ...

18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25

26

11 10 5 26

Office

Count

LIT Start

Go-Live

Greystones DSU Enfield DSU *Ballivor *Carbury *Edenderry *Kinnegad *Trim Cork South City DSU Cardiff Lane DSU Limerick DSU Crumlin DSU Galway DSU Roscommon DSU *Athleague *Ballygar *Strokestown Roscrea DSU *Borrisokane *Cloughjordan

21/01 to 01/03/13 08/04 to 26/04/13

01 Jul 2013 15 Jul 2013

09 Sep 2013 23 Sep 2013

04/03 to 22/03/13 08/04 to 26/04/13 11/02 to 01/03/13 04/03 to 22/03/13 04/03 to 22/03/13 21/01 to 01/03/13

15 Jul 2013 29 Jul 2013 29 Jul 2013 12 Aug 2013 12 Aug 2013 02 Sep 2013

23 Sep 2013 07 Oct 2013 07 Oct 2013 21 Oct 2013 21 Oct 2013 11 Nov 2013

13/05 to 24/05/13

02 Sep 2013

11 Nov 2013

*Potential DSOs for consolidation 1st Design 2nd Design (15% Removal) 3rd Design

35

36

The CWU have huge turnout at the Anti-Austerity March on Saturday 24 November.

37

Why is a Credit Union Loan Better?

Providing loans for Members is one of the main features of a Credit union. Because credit unions represent the members who save and borrow with them, you’ll find your credit union is very flexible. We can help you choose a repayment plan which suits you. If your circumstances change and you want to alter your repayment plan, your credit union is here to help.

It’s also worth remembering you can repay your loan in full, at any time, without penalty or additional charges.

Loan Interest Rates Comparison `3,500 over 1 year (12 monthly repayments) Lender *Bank of Ireland *National Irish Bank *Ulster Bank Compares with

e.s.c.c.u. ltd

Rate type FIXED FIXED FIXED

APR% 15.9% 12.9% 14.3% 5.90%

FIXED

Monthly Repayments `315.65 `311.29 `313.33

Total Cost of Credit `287.81 `235.48 `260.01 `113.20

`301.10

1 Year Term Loan – minimum `1,000.00 maximum `5,000.00

`13,000 over 5 years (36 monthly repayments) Lender *Bank of Ireland *National Irish Bank *Ulster Bank Compares with

e.s.c.c.u. ltd

Rate type FIXED FIXED FIXED

APR% 13.6% 10.8% 11.9% 6.50%

FIXED

Monthly Repayments `436.89 `421.30 `427.43 `397.50

Total Cost of Credit `2,728.07 `2,166.96 `2,387.49 `1,310.15

3 Year Term Loan – minimum `5,000.00

`22,000 over 5 years (60 monthly repayments) Lender *Bank of Ireland *A.I.B Bank *Permanent TSB Compares with

Rate type VARIABLE VARIABLE VARIABLE

e.s.c.c.u. ltd

VARIABLE

APR% 12.5% 10.7% 12% 6.90%

Monthly Repayments `487.56 `469.70 `482.59 `432.40

Total Cost of Credit `7,253.59 `6,181.74 `6,955.12 `3,942.53

5 Year Term Loan minimum `10,000.00 Rates as at 11th October 2012 *source: National Consumer Agency: www.nca.ie www.itsyourmoney.ie • All loans are subject to application and approval • Lending Terms and Conditions apply • Monthly repayment frequency shown for comparison purpose esccu ltd offers borrowers choice of weekly, fortnightly or monthly repayments e-services and communications credit union limited is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland

38

Managers’ Branch Committee Representatives Seminar

Along with Seán McDonagh, National Officer, and John Clarke, NEC, Leslie and Brian gave presentations on Pay, Remuneration & Performance Management, dealing with the historical developments in relation to managers’ remuneration and the likely challenges facing the Union in dealing with this issue in the future.

Carol Scheffer dealt with Bullying and Harassment, focusing on the issues faced by Managers’ Branch representatives.

Pat Kenny outlined the position on both Health & Safety and on Grievance & Disciplinary Procedures, again with the focus on issues for Managers’ Branch representatives.

It is the Union’s intention to build on the seminar by taking the presentations and the discussions surrounding them into account in determining policy on these issues and to improve the managers’ page on the Union website.

The presentations are available to members on the website.

A Seminar for Managers’ Branch Committee Representatives took place on Monday 22nd and Tuesday 23rd October 2012 in Union headquarters.

The agenda for that seminar covered the issues of:– • • • •

Pay, Remuneration & Performance Management; Bullying & Harassment Health & Safety; Grievance & Disciplinary Procedures.

The seminar was attended by Pav Akhtar, UNI Global, Professionals & Managers Director, who gave a report on the work of the Professionals & Managers group in UNI. The Seminar was also attended by Leslie Manasseh, Deputy General Secretary Prospect, who deals with telecoms managers in the UK and Brian Scott and Jimmy Grimes of Unite, who deal with postal managers in the UK.

39

Lithuanian Convoy set off on a Humanitarian Aid mission This year’s Convoy left for Lithuania in early September and was destined for a village called Skuodas to visit two orphanages.

wintertime. It was four to a room which was a very tight squeeze and very noisy … I’ll say no more! The next day’s drive took us into Lithuania, to the capital Vilnius, where the convoy would be based for the next few days.

While there, the convoy would split aid from 5 trucks to orphanages in the surrounding towns and villages.

Delivery Day for eircom and An Post The eircom, An Post, Royal Mail and a BT trucks drove 400k north to deliver to 3 centres. The first care centre we stopped at was on the edge of a sleepy village in Akmene. The children there ranged in age from 6 to years. As the BT truck unloaded, the children emerged with great big beaming smiles for us. They were eager to help unload and the squeals of delight went up when they saw the sports equipment for them.

After the truck had been emptied, we were invited in for tea and biscuits. Each child had a small handcrafted gift for the drivers of each truck, of a friendship tree made from some beads and wire. A short distance away the Royal Mail truck delivered to a larger institution.

The volunteer drivers for eircom were Donal Gormley, on his first convoy, myself, Rory Duggan, on my 3rd convoy, An Post’s Michael Strick on his first convoy and Paul O’Neill on his second. We set off from CWU head office to assemble in Hull, along with the rest of the convoy of CWU UK postal and telecoms companies.

There we were introduced to the other drivers and given an outline of the route and the itinerary (for when we got to our destination).

After long months of fundraising, fulfilling our wish list and loading the trucks, everyone was keen to get underway. The overnight crossing was very calm and was much appreciated as we had an early start the following morning.

We had a target of 500 kilometres from Zeebrugge, Belgium, to Hannover. The journey was mostly motorway, and it was only when we moved onto the secondary routes that keeping the convoy of ten trucks together ran into some difficulty. When a couple of the trucks got lost, Donal and I volunteered to locate them.

Our attempt proved fruitless and as a result we arrived 2 hours late to our accommodation. We joined the Birmingham crew for a moonlight supper of Irish stew.

The following morning, we were on the road at 8am and heading towards the Polish border and hoping to overnight in either Poznan or Gniezno.

It turned out to be Gniezno. There we found the accommodation was basic enough but at least somewhere to get our head down after a long drive. Another day’s drive took us further into Poland to Olsztyn.

We stayed in what was probably used as a ski lodge in

The next delivery was to our Orphanage in Skuodas which had children in a similar age range. Most of these children attend the local school. When we arrived, there were only a dozen or so children around to start with.

These were some of the lucky ones who had first choice of all the sweets we brought! Here we unloaded our two trucks and the staff at the centre assisted us with this. We had toys, clothing, cleaning products, furniture, swings, slides, kitchen utensils, a mincing machine, a cooker, a fridge and stainless steel kitchen tables. The centre had an inspection earlier in the year and had been told they needed to upgrade their kitchen or be closed down, so they were delighted with what we brought.

40

Children” are a very young and dedicated staff. They are poorly paid by western standards, but they never falter when called upon to help. Some have been through the system themselves and are an inspiration when you see how much they care. They were overwhelmed by the generosity of the CWUHA and hope that we will continue to support them in the future.

The rest of the children started to filter back from school just in time for the unloading of the toys. They were very excited as we unloaded them and were more than willing to help.

When we had finished unloading, we were invited on a tour of the orphanage. The building is old and could do with an overhaul, but they have very limited resources and rely totally on charitable donations. Despite this, the children are very well looked after and the staff are very committed to providing them with the best possible future.

Our hosts invited us in to try some of the local food which was an experience not many were willing to try!

Donal and myself gave it a go and the food turned out to be a dumpling made of spiced minced meat wrapped in potato and boiled for few hours.

Our overall impression of this year’s convoy was that it was another success and very rewarding. It could not have been achieved without the support of our families, work colleagues, CWU, eircom and An Post, just to mention a few.

It was great to see that these orphanages are continually improving and that our aid goes a long way towards helping them and letting them know they are not on their own.

The local organisers with the charity “Save the

On Tuesday, 18th December at 8.00 p.m. on TV3, a documentary will air on this year’s convoy.

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Thank You for Believing in People!

Finance Committee present cheque to Simon Community

ensuring people do not become homeless at all.

Accommodation needs must be met for people to live independently and integrate into their communities in a supported environment with trained, experienced staff thereby decreasing the incidences of homelessness.

We embrace people who need our help and do everything in our power to provide them with permanent accommodation options as quickly as possible. In these tough and uncertain times everybody is under severe financial pressure and we are finding that the typical perception of homelessness is changing. People realise that homelessness is something that could now happen to any one of us. We are extremely grateful for the support of the Communications Workers’ Union which has made a generous contribution towards refurbishing a new service, making it fit for purpose for the people who need it most. Without this valuable support we simply wouldn’t be able to survive and provide crucial services for very vulnerable people.

At Simon, we continue to work to empower people to access, secure and retain their own home. We continue to do this with the support and belief of organisations like the Communications Workers’ Union. On behalf of the people we serve, thank you to everyone at the Communications Workers’ Union for believing in people.

In 2011 we have experienced increasing demands of nearly 2,700 people accessing our services, which is a significant increase again over the past two years. There are now over 1,500 people in temporary emergency accommodation nightly and between 8-10 new presentations daily across the greater Dublin area. This is of serious concern, with in excess of 40% of people in our services experiencing homeless for more than 5 years.

The critical demand for Simon services is increasing and it’s vital that we are focused on, and able to provide, suitable ‘move on’ housing options to prevent people from being stacked up in emergency accommodation simply because there is nowhere else for them to go. As part of this Housing-led approach we are committed to the sourcing and acquiring of fit-for-purpose properties across Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare. This effort will be enhanced by offering support to those who move on from homelessness and by providing preventative measures

Sam McGuinness

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Donation of €8,000 was made to Ability West, Galway from the CWU Intellectual Disability Housing Fund high quality services and supports to almost 500 children and adults with intellectual disability.

Ability West is a voluntary organisation dedicated to enabling people with intellectual disability to realise their dreams and ambitions and to take their rightful place in society. Ray Kelly is a parent of a service user, a board member of Ability West and a member of the CWU for the past 30 years.

Grateful appreciation was expressed to all the CWU members contributing to this very worthwhile fund.

Ability West - Éirim An Iathair was set up by parents and friends in 1962. Over the past 49 years, Ability West has grown from strength to strength and it now provides

CWU makes donation to Console - Living with Suicide

Pictured from l to r: John Upton (Galway Postal Branch - CWU), Anthony Kelly (Galway Postal Branch - CWU), Damien Tuohy (NEC - CWU), Margaret Tierney (CONSOLE), Martin Greaney (Galway Postal Branch - CWU), Mary Conroy (Galway Postal Branch – CWU).

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CWU Charitable Fund and the Medisan Fund make a €6,650 Donation!

Santa’s Helper, CWU President, Cormac!

The CWU Charitable Fund and the Medisan Fund made a donation of €6,650 in toys to Temple Street Hospital, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin and the Leukemia Ward, Cork Hospital this year.

A donation of hats, scarves, gloves and socks was made on behalf of the CWU members to the following centres: Merchants Quay Ireland, Capuchin Day Centre for the Homeless, Bow Street, and the Peter McVerry Trust.

This year, through a fundraising event, the CWU Band sponsored the socks for the homeless.

Monica Hempenstall and Cormac O’Dalaigh

A Donation of Beanbags and Craft Sets were presented to the Family Resource Centre in Inchicore

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CWU Supports Mandate’s Campaign

Hotels that recognise Trade Unions.

There are numerous employers operating in the retail sector who refuse to recognise Trade Unions and who intimidate employees who join Trade Unions and this type of behaviour is allowed under current legislation, which is the most anti-worker legalisation in Europe. The behaviour of these employers should be seen for what it is – a denial of a basic civil right of employees to join and be represented by a Trade Union.

When African-American people in America were being denied their civil rights, Dr Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement adopted a policy of encouraging people not to spend their money in establishments that denied people their civil rights. This tactic had a huge impact in the retail sector in America and resulted in numerous stores changing their policies towards AfricanAmerican people.

The number of people who are members of Trade Unions and their families amounts to several hundred thousand people, who have between them significant purchasing power. Trade Unionists and their families should follow the example of Dr Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement and use their purchasing power in favour of retail outlets that recognise Trade Unions.

Mandate, the Trade Union responsible for organising workers in the retail sector, have launched a Fair Shop Campaign, the objective of which is: “To support and promote quality employment in the retail sector by encouraging trade union members, their families and supporting organisations to make an informed choice to use Fair Shop designated retail outlets.”

What is a Fair Shop?

“A Shop that recognises a union for collective bargaining; The following Shops are deemed Fair Shop: Tesco, Superquinn, Marks and Spencer, Penneys, Arnotts, Brown Thomas, Heatons, Boots, Shaws, Argos, Debenhams, Clerys, Shoezone, Supervalu (some groups).”

Mandate’s campaign follows on from the success of the Fair Hotel Campaign launched by SIPTU last year, the purpose of which was to encourage Trade Unionists to use

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Unions Say: 18 Oct 2012 On EU Anti-Trafficking Day, Irish trade unions have lent their support to the “Turn Off the Red Light” campaign, to jointly call on Irish politicians to take swift action to end sex trafficking and exploitation.

We support the “Turn Off the Red Light” campaign and believe the best way to end the human rights abuses, which are taking place in every county in Ireland, is to target demand by making it illegal to pay for sex.

We reject the notion that the traffickers, pimps and other criminals operating a sex ‘trade’ here will ever respect the rights of workers.

Any suggestion that pimps will overnight become model employers flies in the face of reality and the experience in other countries. We fully support the efforts of the “Turn Off the Red

Light” campaign and on EU AntiTrafficking Day are proud to stand side-by-side with the survivors of sex trafficking, their support groups and all others fighting to bring about change.

Today we are encouraging our individual members to contact their local politicians and encourage them to take swift action to shut down a trade which has become the scourge of Europe.

Among those supporting the event were: Ethel Buckley, SIPTU; Pat King, ASTI GS; Gerry Breslin, President ASTI; Sally Maguire, V Pres ASTI; Treasa Ni Mhurchu, President ESBOA; Jessie Doherty (IBOA President), Ian McArdle (CWU) and Tom Geraghty (PSEU GS).

Statement from Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary and Ignacio Fernández Toxo, President.

Who Gains?

The debt crisis is being discussed everywhere, as it should be. But we also focus attention on Europe’s Social Debt, if we are to see any resolution of this crisis. Adjustment programmes concentrate on cuts affecting the most vulnerable, on diminishing social protection and on weakening industrial relations systems.

It is a systematic attempt to dismantle the social model which made Europe a place of advanced democracies and reduced social inequalities.

There is a social emergency in countries of the south and increased levels of inequality everywhere.

Economic programmes are creating unacceptable “free trade zones” in Europe, putting downward pressure on standards and conditions everywhere. What is being done to workers in Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Spain will come back as a boomerang to hit workers in better off countries.

The situation of young people is intolerable. In many countries youth unemployment is close to, or has reached, 50%, while precarious working conditions are on the rise throughout Europe. Austerity is not only leading to a social emergency. Austerity is also failing spectacularly: it does not tackle excessive debt burdens, nor does it restore market confidence. Instead, it further weakens public finances. Even if Greece or Spain were to run a zero deficit, the debt ratio would still explode because of the collapse of economic activity exacerbated by unsustainable interest rates imposed to meet the expectations of the financial markets.

Casino capitalism is at the root of the problems we face today. This system has failed. But capital does not feel challenged and its operation is still protected. Banks manipulate interest rates through cosy deals, but governments continue to focus on making people pay for banking failure. The institutions of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary fund must prioritise tax justice, end tax competition and tax evasion and implement a financial transaction tax. Instead they call for structural reforms, cuts in minimum wages, cuts in pensions, cuts in unemployment benefit. This is unfair and doesn’t work. What we need are investments and decent wages leading to sustainable growth. The ETUC will use its strength and influence to change course. A sustainable route beyond the crisis presupposes the reconstruction and strengthening of mechanisms and policies that contribute to reducing various forms of social inequality, and reverse the tendency towards the excessive concentration of wealth. The ETUC supports a European Union which promotes good jobs, decent wages, social progress and social justice. We oppose the dismantlement of our social model which serves as a reference and inspiration to workers in the rest of the world. The ETUC has a different vision for Europe.

Those in charge should be aware that we are serious about the demand that social rights should have priority over economic freedoms.

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David Begg, General Secretary, ICTU

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Education Update Committee Training, Dublin No. 1 Branch, September 12th

Pictured back row L-R: Will Meegan, Roger Cronin, John Egan, Pat Broderick, Clive Cremen and Tony Higgins.

Front row L-R: Margaret Jenkins, Tom Murphy and BrĂ­d Riordan.

Committee Training, Union Head Office, September 21st

Pictured back row L-R: Lorcan Wynn, Dublin No. 2, Gerard Copeland, Central Regional Managers, Tony Greenan, Dublin Postal Drivers, Alan Brooks, Central Regional Managers & Joe Geraghty, Central Regional Managers Front row L-R: Shay Russell, Central Regional Managers, Martin Finn, Gorey Postal, Michael Kavannagh, Dublin Postal Drivers, Mary Trainer, Dublin Postal Clerks & Paul Sheehan, Waterford Postal.

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Education Update

Committee Training, Galway A Committee training course was held in Galway for various Branches. In attendance were: Paula Dunning, Athlone Postal, Thomas Finlass, Athlone Postal Eileen Flaherty, Galway C&A Kathleen McNamara, Galway Postal

Linda Casserly, Galway Postal Noel Cooke, Galway Postal Joe Corcoran, Galway Postal Nora Anne Cosgrove, Galway C&A Marie Dever, eircom Galway District

Branch Secretary Stage 2, October 23rd-25th

Pictured back row l-r: Thomas Deegan, Kilkenny Postal, Tim Clifford, Bantry Postal, Angela Neary, Castlebar Tels and James Quail, Kells Postal Pictured front row l-r: Breege Mulroe, Eircom Letterkenny, Moira Coleman, Galway C&A, PĂĄdraig Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor, Enniscorthy Postal and Geraldine Counihan, Tralee Tels

Thomas Deegan, Kilkenny Postal

Geraldine Counihan, Trade Tels 51

Tim Clifford, Bantry Postal

Education Update Committee Training, DPAB, November 8th

Pictured back row L-R: Tony Keogh, Denise Kearney, Michael Mahon, Adrian Scanlon, Eric Partridge, Stephen Boyne and Susan Murtagh.

Front row L-R: Phil Keegan, Leslie Sheridan, Olive Hall, James Moore, Paula Allen and Dave Hand.

Committee Training, Limerick Postal Branch, November 9th -10th

Picture shows some of the Limerick Postal Branch who attended a training course on the 9th and 10th of November in The Raddison Blu Hotel on the Ennis Road.

The following attended the course: Ray Neville, Ger Hanrahan, Liam Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor, Helen Fleming, Virginia Kennedy, Mike Cantillon, John Hannon, Marita Davis and Paul Moran.

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Education Update Branch Secretary Training Course - November 2012

Pictured back row L-R: Gerry O’Regan, Athlone Mails Centre, Tony Hardiman, Dublin Postal Drivers, Leonard Coote, Ennis Postal, Gavin Mulcahy, Cork Postal Drivers and Jason Caulfield, Waterford Postal Front row L-R: Ray Neville, Limerick Postal, Brian O’Connor, Galway Postal, Catherine Slattery, Eircom Dublin No 3 and John O’Shea, Killarney Postal.

The Branch Secretary – Trade Union Representative Skills course took place in union head office for five days during the month of November. The course was well attended with high participation from the Representatives on the course.

Tony Hardiman and Jason Caulfield prepare to report back to the training group.

Attendees participating in a group activity

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CWU People

Dublin Postal Sports and Social Club

APPLICATION FORM

(for employees of An Post & An Post Subsidiary Companies)

Subscription is €2.54 per week

Please tick box which is appropriate to you regarding Payroll Deduction:

ᆕ

ᆕ

Weekly

Fortnightly

Monthly

ᆕ

Name

DOB

Grade

Staff No.

Work Address

Mobile

Home Address

Email

Telephone

ͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲͲ DEDUCTION AT SOURCE MANDATE I wish to have my Dublin Sports and Social Club subscription deducted from my salary.

Name

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Please return completed form to: Communications Workers’ Union, William Norton House, 575Ͳ577 North Circular Road, Dublin 1

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CWU People

An Post Sports & Social Club Event The annual blitz took place on Saturday 21st October in the postal club.

Six teams comprised of ten members, who played football, darts and pool.

In a very exciting and close competition Lucan narrowly won, beating the very competitive team from Rathmines.

It was great to see the club full of post office workers and we intend to organise more functions in the future to replicate the success of the blitz.

The winning team Coach was Stephen McDonald (Trap watch out!)

Football:

Ritchie Smith, Shane Davoren, Neil Davoren, Darren Sargeant, Jonathan Kelly, David McGill and Robbie Connolly

Darts:

Anto Maher

Pool:

Jim Brennan and Paul Murray

The An Post Sports and Social Club would also like to thank the Monday Club for their support in hosting a terrific evening in the club last Monday organised as usual by the dynamic duo Paddy Redmond and Mickey Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor.

Photograph of Charlie O Neill Club Chairman presenting the trophy to the winning team.

Catherine Mullen Retires

Carmel Egan Retires

Catherine Mullen who retired in September 2012 after 14 years service receiving her statue and scroll from Manager, Brendan Collins.

Catherine was the retail cleaner in the GPO in Bray and will be missed by all of the staff. Catherine is pictured with some of her colleagues Jennifer Tobin and Louise O Reilly.

The Bray Postal Branch wish Catherine a long and happy retirement.

Carmel Egan Shannon DSU being presented with her Union Scroll by Miriam Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien, Chairperson Ennis Postal Branch on the occasion of her retirement.

We wish her every success in the future.

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CWU People

Ennis Postal Branch celebrates retirement of four colleagues A presentation night was held in the Ennis Golf club on 11th August 2012 by the Ennis Postal Branch to celebrate the retirement of four of their colleagues.

All four were active members of the Branch and between them gave a total of 130 years loyal service to the Union, Paul Kerin (43 Years) Johnny McNamara (36 Years) Michael Woods (31 years) and Pat McMahon (20 Years).

Johnny served on the Branch Committee for a number of years and was Branch Secretary for the past 16 years. He was also involved in the Conference arrangements committees and was on the regional partnership committee for a period.

Indeed the members are deeply indebted to him for the representations he made on their behalf over the years.

Michael was involved in the Conference Arrangements Committees of 1994 and 2000 when Conference was held in

Ennis.

Many of our retired members attended and the Branch was honoured to have Steve Fitzpatrick Gen Sec , Pat Kenny CWU HQ, Damien Tuohy NEC, Bill Colfer and Jarlath Heneghan Partnership Co-Ordinators present on the night.

Leonard Coote and Miriam O’Brien made presentations on behalf of the Branch. Dave Maher made a presentation on behalf of the Social committee.

Steve Fitzpatrick presented Union Scrolls to Paul, Johnny, Michael and Pat and thanked them for their loyalty to the Union. He also made a special presentation to Johnny for his work on the Union’s behalf over the years. An enjoyable night was had by all.

The Ennis Postal Branch and Union Headquarters would like to wish them a long, healthy and happy retirement.

Pictured Back Row l to r: Tommy Soft, Joe Coote, Leonard Coote, Damien Tuohy, Miriam O’Brian, Bill Colfer, Pat Kenny, Jarlath Heneghan, Gerry Ryan Front Row l to r: Paul Kerin, Johnny Mc Namara, Michael Woods, Steve Fitzpatrick and Pat Mc Mahon.

Presentation made to Ann Marie Fadden, Galway District Branch Michael O Toole NEC member presenting Ann Marie Fadden with an engraved vase for her work with the Galway District Branch of the C.W.U.

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CWU People

Gerry Cuirc Retires

Cork District Branch bids sad farewell to Gerry Cuirc.

Branch Committee. In 1999 he was first elected as Branch Chairperson, a position he held until his retirement. One year later he was elected to the National Executive and in 2008 in Kilkenny he was elected as CWU Vice President. Two years later he became President of the Union, a role he played with distinction.

He represented the Union on a number of national groups, including serving as secretary of the National Health and Safety Committee for a number of years.

Gerry’s personality won him many friends throughout the wider trade union movement, both nationally and internationally. This was helped no doubt by his musical ability, for as anybody who heard him play will testify he was a maestro on the bosca ceoil.

I would like, on behalf on the Branch, to wish Gerry a long and happy retirement. One of his many legacies is the fact that he retires, leaving a strong, cohesive, united Branch. A fitting tribute to a great trade unionist.

Friday 28th September 2012 marked an end of an era in the history of the Cork District Branch. That day saw the retirement of Branch Chairperson, Gerry Cuirc. But Gerry was much more than the branch chairperson; he was a member of the NEC since 2000 and was the first member of the branch to serve as President of the CWU. Gerry also served on the ESOP Trustee as a representative of the union coalition.

Gerry’s trade union activities began on the day that he first began his working life in the Post Office Engineering Branch as a Technician trainee. But that was not surprising as his father before him was also an active trade unionist. As a postman based in Bandon, he served on the national executive of the Post Office Workers’ Union during the famous ‘79 strike.

Gerry became active in what was then the Bandon branch of the Irish Post Office Engineering Union, in the ‘70s. He was secretary of the Branch during the ‘78 strike. During this dispute, senior district managers attempted to undermine the strike by scabbing. On one such occasion in Bandon, when they attempted to leave the exchange yard, they found the gates were locked and they did not have the correct key to let themselves out.

The story of how they freed themselves is part of the folklore of the Union.

When Gerry’s work meant he had to transfer from Bandon to Churchfield, he became a member of the Cork No.2 Section of the newly constituted Cork District Branch. He served as both chairperson and secretary of the Section and before long he was elected onto the

Joe Moore, Branch Secretary, presents Gerry with Union Scroll.

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CWU People

Drama in the DMC

We all love performing and throughout the year we work hard rehearsing our plays, which are normally performed in the Tallaght Theatre. Our numerous charity productions take place in the Cherry Tree pub in Walkinstown.

Our next work in progress is the infamous “The Field”

by John B. Keane. Further details of the date of the production will soon be advertised throughout An Post.

As many of you are aware you have some ‘famous’ people working alongside you in the shape of the Dublin Mail Centre Drama Group!

Together now for 12 years, we have performed many shows to the enjoyment of friends, work colleagues and family. And now we’re on the road again with our production of John B. Keane’s “Moll”. We will be performing this in the Mickey Finn pub in Redcross, Co. Wicklow. This is to support a local charity to build a running track and GAA pitch for the youth of the area.

We hope to see some new ‘bums on seats’!

Pictured from l to r: Sandra Kinsella and Marion Concannon.

Pictured from l to r: Bill Hogan, John Carabini and Seán Redmond.

Pat O’Riordan Retires Pat O’Riordan retired on 9th April 2012 as postperson in Killorglin, Co Kerry after 40 years service.

He started his career in the Post Office in November 1971 in Sheriff Street, Dublin. He subsequently transferred to Killarney in 1976.

His colleagues wish him and his family many happy years in retirement.

Pictured above from l to r: Seán Clarke Chairman Killarney Branch, John O’Shea, Branch Secretary. Killarney, Pat O’Riordan and Liam Harnett Cluster DSM

Pictured on the right: Pat and his family.

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CWU People

eircom Retirement Function in Ramble Inn On a pleasant evening recently, retired and serving staff members of eircom gathered to pay tribute to four stalwart eircom staffers who retired in 2012. Over 150 years of telecoms service through so many phases of progress, change and history was remembered and celebrated.

From the days of all-manual operation and sepia-tinted postcard-type scenes to today’s fibre-powered internet era, the change of technology was a very real backdrop to a celebration of four working lives spent in Public Service.

They have served with the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, Telecom Éireann to today’s eircom in its fourth reincarnation.

Tributes and jokes abounded as careers and events were remembered and celebrated in the Ramble Inn. MC Jim Sheehan co-ordinated the presentations with typical aplomb and each of the retirees were presented with a Union Scroll and Badge for their years of service, along with a

presentation from the eircom Fermoy Social Club.

Each retiree had their own stories of a working life full of incident and change. That eircom is now well up and beyond many of its peers internationally in terms of service and reliability is a tribute to them all.

Michael Colbert served in Fermoy, Clonmel and Dungarvan districts; David O’Farrell served in Fermoy, Cork City, and Munster; Gerry Condon served in Cork City, Fermoy and Tipperary districts; Batty Duggan served in Fermoy, Clonmel and Dungarvan districts.

The spread of service reflects the changing nature of the service provided by eircom, which is still the carrier and backbone of most of the telecoms services offered by all the other telecoms service providers in the state. eircom Fermoy Social Club would like to wish all four retirees a long and happy retirement - well deserved!!

Pictured Back Row l to r: Jim Sheehan, Tom Mannix [Ret], John Kent [Ret], Ollie Flaherty [Ret] and George Fenton, Mick Slattery, Noel Aherne [Ret], Davy O’Keeffe, Danno Moloney [Ret], Front Row l to r: Nick Sheedy, Mike Colbert [Ret], Davy O’Farrell [Ret], Liam Butler [Ret], Gerry Condon [Ret], Batt Duggan [Ret], Pat O’Mahony and Jimmy Fanning [Ret].

Pictured l to r: Michael & Cathy Colbert, David & Anne O’Farrell, Gerry & Jackie Condon and Batty & Pauline Duggan

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CWU People

Pat has the music in him!

Pat Freeman has worked in Mullingar Delivery Services Unit for over 13 years, and delivers to around 430 houses in Westmeath. Although he loves his day job, Pat’s love of music fills his spare time and has led him to launch a new website:

www.festivalandgigguide.ie.

The idea for the website came about last year when Pat was looking for somewhere to take his four children at the weekends: “I couldn’t find a website that advertised what was happening in our local or surrounding area so I thought it would be a good idea if someone set one up.

So why not me!”

By a happy co-incidence, Amanda, Pat’s partner, is a web designer so, together with her skill and his knowledge of music, Pat’s bright idea soon became a reality. Since its launch, www.festivalandgigguide.ie has attracted over 160,000 visitors and receives up to 1,000 hits a day.

The website covers festivals of every genre, as well as live music gigs. There is also information on artists, promoters and venues, and holds competitions for free tickets. Pat hopes that the site will continue to grow, linking visitors to gigs and festivals all over Ireland.

Irish bands and festivals can advertise for free on the website. If you have an event coming up, you should contact Pat through his Facebook page. Music promoters such as MCD also advertise bands on Pat’s website.

When Pat comes home from work, he and Amanda start updating the website. They spend between three and four hours each evening adding the information supplied to them from artists and festival organisers.

However, Pat also tries to make it to as many gigs as possible: “I love all music but particularly Irish rock. A good thing about working with this website is that we get to know some great bands and have the opportunity to see them on the path to achieving success and public recognition.

“There are some great up and coming bands to check out. For example, SircleS are a band from Mullingar comprising Brendan McEvoy (ex Ever 27) and Justin Ryan, Declan Murphy and Anthony Doran (ex Blizzards). Or the amazingly talented Crow Black Chicken, a three-piece rock and blues band.”

Pat is certainly making sure that the music never dies!

Looking for a festival near you?

Check out www.festivalandgigguide.ie Get out there and have some fun!

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CWU People

Michael Purcell Retires Michael Purcell has retired after 27 years’ service from Kilkenny DSU. His friends and colleagues wish him a happy, healthy and long retirement.

Michael is pictured (centre) receiving his scroll from the Kilkenny branch chairman Paddy Barry (right) and P J Farrell Vice-Chairman (left).

Dublin Postal Drivers Branch Retirements The photos below show our recent Retirement Party held in Clerys of Amiens Street on October 13th for four of our Dublin Postal Drivers who have retired. They were: Jimmy Lyons, Tony Bartley, Frank Connellan and John Higgins.

Pictured from l to r: Terry Delany, John Higgins, Tony Hardiman and Paul O’Neill

Pictured from l to r: Terry Delany, Tony Bartley, Tony Hardiman, Mrs Bartley and Paul O’Neill.

Pictured from l to r: Terry Delany, Mrs Lyons, Jimmy Lyons, Tony Hardiman and Paul O’Neill.

Pictured from l to r: Frank Connellan, Terry Delany, Mrs Connellan, Tony Hardiman and Paul O’Neill.

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CWU People

eircom Citywest Members Retire A retirement function was held a number of months ago in the Teachers Club, Parnell Square, by seven CWU retiring members.

Pictured l to r: Donal Keating, Pat O’Connor, Colm Mooney, Will Meegan (Chairman, Dublin No. 1), Denis Flynn, Tadgh O’Conchobair, Tommy Keenan and Paul Murphy.

Peter Mulchrone Retires

Pictured l to r: Padraic Carney, Chairman Castlebar Social Club, Peter Mulchrone, Stephen Joyce and Liam Burke.

Vincent Leyden R.I.P. It was with deep regret that we learned of the death of Vincent Leyden following a farmyard accident on 26th September 2012.

Vincent worked in the Plan Design area in eircom covering most of the Cavan County and as the work dictated he was also very happy to work outside his core area. “Have wheels, will travel” was always his positive outlook in life.

Two days before his death, he had just started design work in providing Fibre to the Cabinet in Monaghan Town.

Vincent joined the P & T in 1979 and was based at the Carrick-on-Shannon area headquarters. Starting out his career as a Trainee Installer he gained great experience in various work categories within eircom. Vincent worked on overhead Construction, Jointing and as Clerk of Works and it was this wide and varied experience that took him into the

Plan Design area of the company in 2006.

Vincent started in the Sligo Region Plan Design Team but following a restructuring of the teams and the areas, he then became a member of the Drogheda Plan Design team.

A gentleman by nature, Vincent’s personality was truly explained by his brother during the reflection at his funeral. He said that Vincent’s second name should have been “helpful” and how true that was and this can be verified by anybody who ever had any dealings with him.

Vincent was laid to rest in Fenagh, Co Leitrim just a short distance from his home. There was a large gathering including eircom staff from all over the country as we bade farewell to a colleague and a friend.

Vincent is survived by his wife Joan, daughters Davina, Jeanette and son, Seán. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.

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CWU People

Séamus De Paor R.I.P.

Pictured left: Séamus De Paor with David Begg, General Secretary of the CWU at the time. retired on 20 September, 1990. Even after retirement, he continued to negotiate on the CWU behalf on the Technical Grade Re-Structuring Claim and the company wide bonus scheme, both issues where his technical expertise, dogged negotiating ability and general command were valued.

A tribute in the Communications Worker, September 1990, was straightforward in its assessment of a man ‘more noted for his economy with words than flowery oratory’ and who was ‘not bothered too much by what people thought of him’. His ‘style was combative and he made few concessions’ to foe or friend. He ‘played his cards close to his chest’ and ‘few people could claim to know his mind on any issue over the years’. He never courted involvement at ICTU level, and, having been elected to the Executive, could ‘be scathing’ of the ‘posturing by some of the major figures’.

He shunned publicity and was a journalist’s nightmare when it came to trying to get a quotation. During this time, Telecom Éireann ‘was changed from a low technology, low wage backwater to a high-tech, high-wage industry’. Pay rates were ‘among the best in the country’. He used his positions as principal Staff Representative, Board membership and PTTI European Executive to good effect and became a respected advocate to the extent that ‘his influence on the modernisation of telecommunications’ was ‘not surpassed by any other major figure’. Séamus was recognised by all and ‘his mark will remain on this Union for a long time to come’.

Séamus De Paor died suddenly in Beaumont Hospital on 29 August, 2012. The CWU Executive and members express their condolences to his wife, Maura, his children and their families.

Séamus De Paor, born in Ballyneety, County Limerick joined the Post Office Engineering Department as a Youthin-Training. Rising to become a Technician I, he worked for many years in Shannon Airport. Active in the Limerick Branch, Irish Post Office Engineering Union (IPOEI), he was often known locally as ‘Jimmy Power’ but always within the job as De Paor, Séamus became active at a time when the IPOEU was riven by internal dissension. Séamus was elected to the IPOEU Executive and replaced Malachy Dooney as General Secretary in 1967 and under Séamus’ leadership the IPOEU – which became the Communications Union of Ireland (CUI) in 1984 – expanded from 3,000 to over 9,000 members.

Despite union successes in improving wages – a Technician I’s rate rose from £18 18s 6d in 1967 to £278.86 in 1988 – many looked to the higher rates of comparable technical and engineering workers in the ESB and private sectors. There was increasing frustration with the slowness of the Conciliation & Arbitration Scheme. Tensions came to a head in 1978 with a national dispute. The success of the dispute generated a membership self-confidence that enabled the union to face the challenges of the 1980s, of the creation of Telecom Éireann and the inevitable drive towards privatisation. Séamus De Paor oversaw Head Office – Arus Ghabréi – move from North Great George’s Street to North Circular Road and was central to the once unimaginable merger of the CUI with the Postal & Telecommunications Workers’ Union to form the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) in 1989. Séamus was first the CWU General Secretary with David Begg General Secretary Designate, taking over when Séamus 67

Books reviewed by Adrienne Power A WANTED MAN

by Lee Child (17th Book in series of the Jack Reacher Novels) o Publisher: BANTAM PRESS o Published: 18 September 2012 o Format: Paperback 440 pages o Categories: Contemporary Fiction Crime o ISBN 13: 9780593065723 ISBN 10: 0593065727 The story opens with a man hitch-hiking to Virginia. He is a giant of a man and does not look the best for wear. His nose particularly is in a bad way. It’s a cold winter’s night in Nebraska and he has been standing for 93 minutes. A car pulls over. There are two men up front and a rather nervous looking woman in the back. So begins our hero Jack Reacher’s latest adventure.

Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher book “Killing Floor” was published in March 1997. Jack Reacher is a fictional character who has become as well known as others like Sherlock Holmes or James Bond. Reacher is an ex-military police Major who, since leaving the army, drifts across America in just the clothes on his back. His only baggage is an expired passport, an ATM card and foldable toothbrush.

He lives off savings and odd jobs. Whatever town he lands in he buys a set of clothes in the local cheap clothing outlet.

He is a loner with a strong unwavering sense of justice.

For the first half of the story it is life in the car with Reacher and the three others sizing things up and playing mind games as the Sheriff and FBI Agent, Julia Sorenson, investigate the crime scene after a man is viciously murdered in a disused bunker in the middle of nowhere. I loved the idea of the road trip: The tension in the car; The darkness outside; The endless road at night; The usual signs for lodging, gas and refreshments along the way and all the while Reacher’s brain working like a computer, registering everything on the journey, weighing up the facts to conclusion.

There was a wonderful order and pace to the book. I definitely think it is different to the other Reacher novels.

Maybe Reacher is getting older. He is a wonderful creation: big, unstoppable, brutish, simple, clever, operating on a primitive instinct, doesn’t let things upset him or slow him down, just keeps moving forward. A maverick vigilante! I love the mathematical symmetry in which his character views the world. He is so knowledgeable and a bit of a show-off knowing about population counts, area codes, soil content, all off the top of his head.

There is also plenty of humour in the book e.g. “I’m

living the dream, she said. I just shot a couple of crooked bankers”. In a later scene when Reacher and Agent Sorenson are dealing with a particularly dense Deputy Puller and Reacher, needing a diversion to help them escape pursuers, sets him up to possibly get injured in a road block, and when Agent Sorenson points this out, he tells her they’d be doing the gene pool a favour!

The ending made me think of a western. Reacher is up against impossible odds, as usual, but he does not turn back because he cannot let evil win the day.

The first Jack Reacher film is due out on St Stephens Day. It is based on the book “One Shot”. The actor picked to play Jack Reacher is none other than Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise is a good and well known action film actor. But a problem fans have is the physical dissimilarity.

In “A Wanted Man” the description of Jack Reacher is as follows (when Sorenson the FBI Agent meets him): He was huge, for a start. He was one of the largest men she had ever seen outside the NFL. He was extremely tall, and extremely broad, and long-armed, and long-legged. The lawn chair was regular size, but it looked tiny under him. It was bent and crushed out of shape. His knuckles were nearly touching the ground. His neck was thick and his hands were the size of dinner plates.

Tom Cruise isn’t the actor that springs to mind after reading this description! So it is understandable that fans feel it is a travesty that Tom Cruise plays the part of Jack Reacher (Physical description of Tom Cruise 5.9, 147 pounds V physical description of Jack Reacher 6.5 210 to 250 pounds).

I will be curious to see Tom Cruise playing the part. I remember there was a furore when Tom Cruise was picked to play the vampire Lestat in “Interview with a Vampire” (1994) but that worked out okay. However, there definitely wasn’t the proportional problem to get over.

Lee Child is one of those writers where people literally devour his books when they come out. Life goes on hold as you pour through his words and the latest escapade of Jack Reacher completely held me spellbound. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Heroes v Villains - A spellbinding read!

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Books reviewed by Adrienne Power DEATH ON A GALICIAN SHORE

by Domingo Villar, (translated by Sonia Soto) o o o o o

Publisher: Abacus Published: 01 September 2012 Format: Paperback 384 pages Categories: Crime ISBN 13: 9780349123424 ISBN 10: 034912342X

The setting is the beautiful rugged coast of Galicia in Northwest Spain.

Detective Leo Caldas and his Deputy Rafa (Rafael) Estevez look into the suicide of a local fisherman in an insular fishing village called Panxón. After further investigation by the coroner the suicide is classified as murder.

I liked the dissimilarity between the two lead characters Leo is slow and reserved but steadfast in his pursuit of injustice, e.g.

He remained crouching, admiring the waves. He could watch the sea, hypnotised, for hours, just like a fire. He loved watching the waves rise as they approached the shore and then collapse.”

Juan Castelo, the victim, also known as El Rubio, led a quiet life as quoted: The inhabitants of Panxón maintained the same cautious distance from the dead fisherman that he had kept from them in life. Inspector Caldas has to deal with interviewing and re-interviewing people to try and get to the bottom of things.

The locals are both superstitious, afraid of bringing the past back to haunt them and wary of outsiders.

“I don’t think there’s anyone here”, he said. “Do you want me to go in?”

Caldas looked at him aghast. “We’re not here to burgle the place” he said. He sighed; convinced he’d never understand how Estevez’s mind worked, and returned to the car.

Caldas also has his own problems, between the strained relationship with his father, his uncle’s terminal illness and his partner Alba recently leaving him. Caldas is also roped in to doing a call in radio show called “Patrolling the Waves” where people phone in to talk to the Inspector about breathalyzer tests and noisy neighbours etc., when he would rather deal with his actual job of solving crimes. The other range of problems he has to deal with is his car sickness and sea sickness and an undiplomatic second in command, who is not from the region and cannot take to the local customs.

The story is written in a rather slow pace which mirrored the sedate pace of life in the village. There were mouthwatering descriptions of local cuisine. The mist and rain make it very atmospheric. We see the way the old fishing life is almost gone and tourism is taking over. It’s a small place caught in chain of violence, and the two detectives must uncover secrets buried in the past stretching back over a decade to a mysterious disappearance and shipwreck.

The story draws to a satisfactory conclusion and I was sorry to finish it.

His colleague Rafa is more up front and rather thuggish

Atmospheric!

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