SPRING 2010 VOL: 12
NO. 1
CWU Conference: White’s Hotel, Wexford 5th to 7th May 2010.
SUPPORTING A BETTER, FAIRER WAY
Editorial
Dear Colleague,
Contents Editorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Organising Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regulatory Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Green Isle Dispute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Postal Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Education Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . National College of Ireland Reunion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Travel Insurance for CWU Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Telecoms Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A strange definition of “systemic importance” Fintan O’Toole comments on Postbank . . . . . . . . . . . Health Insurance for CWU Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CWU Development Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-Z Children’s Charity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Haiti Earthquake Donation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intellectual Disability Housing Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Equality Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Congress Centres Network help with redundancy situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sign up to CWY Website/ Get into print . . . . . . . . . . . . An Post Employees’ Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . An alternative to Anti-Union media bias . . . . . . . . . . . . UNI P&L Bulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UNI ICTS Bulletin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reform of the Unfair Dismissals Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ESCCU Credit Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CWU Insurance Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CWU People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Book Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CWU Membership Application Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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This is my final editorial before our Biennial Conference which will take place in White’s Hotel in Wexford this year. There is no doubt that the mood and atmosphere at the upcoming conference will be markedly different to our Kilkenny Conference when we seemed to be still in the middle of the so-called Celtic Tiger. It is still incredible to me that the fortunes of our country have changed so much in such a short period of time and I have made it clear from the start that I am disgusted and appalled at the manner in which our Government has led this country into such an awful mess. There is no doubt that many of the issues which will be discussed at the conference will be as a direct result of the impact of the economy on the businesses within which our members work. In the case of eircom, the dire financial circumstances of the company have been brought into even sharper focus by the economic downturn. As I write this editorial we are also attempting to deal with the thorny issue of the eircom pension deficit with a view to ensuring that our eircom members and existing pensioners can look with some confidence to the future with regard to those pensions. We also wait with bated breath the plans for the future which STT, the new owners, will unveil. We are acutely aware that any plans and particularly plans for investment will only make sense if some accord can be reached with Government and the Regulator. I think it is fair to say that for the first time in a number of years there is some hope that the company will be on a better footing but at this stage that is all there is, some hope! It is interesting to contrast the fortunes of Vodafone with eircom, as Vodafone according to the media repatriated some €400 million in profits out of Ireland last year. Indeed over the last number of years some €2 billion in profits have been moved out of the country by Vodafone and yet our members there find themselves in a ludicrous position where Vodafone refuses to pay any phase of the national agreement. It seems that this multinational sees the Island of Ireland as a cash cow and has no intention of sharing the fruits of our members labour with them. Therefore we see the real agenda of many employers where, when they make money they want to keep it for themselves and when they lose money they want you to pay for it. Our members in An Post, UPS and DPD have all been hit by the downturn in the economy with volumes falling due to the decrease in economic activity, leading to a surplus in the delivery market which is being used to further decrease prices. Obviously such a reduction in prices puts further pressure on pay and conditions. In the case of An Post mail volumes have dropped in the region of 10% and further drops are expected with the introduction of full Postal Liberalisation due on 1st January 2011. We also have the additional problem of
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Editor: Steve Fitzpatrick Sub-Editor: Imelda Wall Issued by: Communications Workers’ Union, 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1. Telephone: 8663000 and Fax: 8663099 E-mail: info@cwu.ie Incorporating the PTWU Journal, THE RELAY and THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKER The opinions expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the CWU.
Photographs: John Chaney Printed by Mahons Printing Works, Dublin.
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the proposal by Minister Eamon Ryan to introduce postcodes. As has already been highlighted by this Union the proposal is based on a litany of false claims which have not been challenged by the media or indeed to any great extent by other commentators. It is disappointing but perhaps understandable that An Post has been extremely quiet during this debate and it would not come as a shock to find that there political pressure being brought to bear, as otherwise it would be difficult to understand why the obviously false claims made by the Minister have not been challenged. All of our other members who work in smaller companies throughout the communications industry face similar if not more difficult problems with, in many cases, compulsory redundancies being the order of the day. The positive note for those members is that in almost every case we have been able to negotiate exit packages which generally exceed the packages given by employers in non-Union employment. So once again even in workers’ darkest hours they are far better off being members of a Trade Union. Unfortunately we will once again debate the refusal of major telecommunications company such as British Telecom and O2 to recognise the rights of our members to be professionally represented. These companies who do recognise those rights for their staff in Northern Ireland justify their position on the basis that they are not breaking the law in the Republic of Ireland. So our members are deprived of those fundamental rights because our government refuses to legislate for those rights. Steve Fitzpatrick, While the atmosphere and the debates at Conference will be difficult General Secretary, CWU because of all the problems outlined above, it is important that we never forget that our Union gives us the opportunity to have those debates and to try and make a positive difference to the outcome. Everyday we open the newspapers and listen to the news about further redundancies, further cuts in pay and conditions, and the complete lack of respect given to ordinary working people. It is not surprising to see many employers behave in this manner as they are simply following the lead of what can only be described as a jack-boot Government. They see a Government that has torn up every agreement it ever reached with the Trade Union movement as it continues to protect it flunkies in the banking and property development markets. Those employers also know that they have a good friend in the present government who is likely to do very little to curb their excesses. There is no clearer example of increased management hostility than the current dispute in Green Isle foods where at the time of writing there are two Trade Union activists on hunger strike following the ongoing refusal of that company to abide by two decisions of the Labour Court. It is galling that a company which has received millions in aid from the Irish Government can so callously ignore the industrial relations machinery of the State. I hope all our members and their families remember Green Isle’s contempt for human life when they go to the shops and see their products such as Goodfellas and San Marco pizzas, Donegal Catch, Foxes biscuits and other labelled frozen goods. Despite those challenges we must be upbeat as part of the Trade Union movement in the knowledge that together we have the opportunity to challenge the powers that be and to defend those hard won conditions that have come directly through Trade Union membership over many years. It is a time for workers to come to terms with the simple fact that the Trade Union movement needs to become more politically active. The woes of the members in the privatised industries in eircom and Vodafone and the impacts on us all of the economic recession can all be traced directly back to political decisions made by successive Governments which in almost every case have had Fianna Fail as the main partner. From an industrial prospective we can always be confident of our strength and determination but without a political perspective Unions are fighting with one hand firmly tied behind their back. I hope at this conference there will be recognition of the need for us to become more politically active because without such an approach we will severely diminish our ability to defend what is rightfully ours.
Letter to the Editor Dear Steve, Thank you very much for your letter and your praise for our efforts during the big freeze. It was great to know we post persons were acknowledged by someone. Contrast your letter with the attitude with of our superiors, the local leader insisted we go out on delivery each day despite the fact the roads were treacherous and dangerous. The area manager was not heard or seen for four weeks. The divisional manager sent out emails stating that anyone refusing to go out, were to be informed by the local managers that grave consequences would follow any refusal of duty performance and also to monitor overtime incurred because of adverse weather conditions. The overtime issue was also a subject area manager concern. As for the Gods, HR and H&S at the GPO, well we didn’t exist. Again thank you Steve, we are in good hands with people like you. P.S.. On Christmas Eve my office was checked by the area manager, it was not a social call as used to happen years ago by begging postmasters. Sorry I’m afraid to sign my name.
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Public sector pay cuts unfair and counterproductive on the tax front By Fergus Finlay Tuesday, November 17, 2009 I THINK if I were a public servant today, I’d be mad as hell. With a few well-documented political exceptions, I’ve never known anyone who went into the public service to make money. In fact if you wanted to make money, the last place you’d go for a career is into the public service. Some people choose a public service career for security and many choose it because it offers the chance to do something or to be something they’ve always wanted to be: A nurse, a doctor, a teacher, a fireman. To work at healing the sick, catching the baddies, teaching the kids — I’ve known people who grew up from childhood wanting to do just that, and who have found tremendous fulfillment from following a chosen career as a public servant. And I’ve known public servants who maybe ended up in places they never expected to find themselves, and nevertheless did the state more than a little service. It is public servants who run our libraries (and if you haven’t visited a library lately, go and take a look — it will knock your socks off). It is public servants who help Irish manufacturers to market their goods and to export them. It is public servants who, behind the scenes, probably did as much and more to bring peace to this island than any of the higher profile politicians who routinely claim their place in history. I could go on. But you’re going to have to take my word for this, if you haven’t had direct experience of
the public service. As I said, I’ve never met a public servant who was in it for the money. And I’ve never met a public servant who wanted to let his or her country down. Sure, they’re not all equally able. They’re not even all equally pleasant. We’ve all, I’m guessing, had both good and bad experiences at the hands of public servants. But I’m guessing we’ve all had mixed experiences at the hands of business people, bankers, priests, shopkeepers, mechanics, car salesmen, dentists, doctors, and the thousands and thousands of other people who make their living in the private sector in Ireland. So why, I wonder, are public servants being told, day after day, that they have to bear the brunt of the public expenditure cuts? In addition to that, why are public servants being constantly attacked and derided as if they had suddenly become the fat cats in our society? Why is there such division, and it seems such jealousy, between the public and the private sector? When public servants, quite rightly, point out that their pay has been hit by the pension levy, the commentators immediately snap that it’s only a modest contribution to the real cost of their pensions. But for years and years, public service pay in Ireland was calculated on the basis that the value of the pension had to be taken into account when making comparisons. In other words, public service salaries tended to be lower than those in the private sector because there was more security in the public service and the pensions were related to income rather than to the contribution made. I’ve always argued (and I see the OECD is doing it too) that some government has to bite the bullet on the pension issue by closing down the "defined benefit" scheme (which relates pension to salary) for new entrants to the public service, and by placing all new entrants on a defined contribution scheme (which relates pension to the amount you pay into the scheme). Such a 4
change would bring the cost of funding public service pensions down dramatically over time. It would also mean that everyone in the economy, who was working towards a pension, whether in the private or the public sector, would be on the same footing. But you know what? The pensions entitlements of public servants haven’t actually changed at all. What has changed is that many pension schemes in the private sector have lost huge value partly because of mismanagement and also because the equities and stocks and shares they have been invested in have been damaged by greed and incompetence. More than a few pension funds, for instance, invested heavily in Irish bank shares. Need I say more? And we’re being told every day that public service pay is at the heart of the whole public expenditure problem because it accounts for a massive proportion of public spending. When they’re talking about public spending, commentators seem to use whatever figure comes into their heads. I’ve heard it solemnly reported on the radio that public service pay accounts for proportions of spending ranging from 50% to 75%. There’s a mantra about it — "it’s simply impossible to cut public spending (and thereby save the economy is the inference) without cutting pay because pay simply accounts for too much". The actual figure is about one-third. Public service pay is about one-third of public spending. So every €3 you take off a public servant should give you about €1 in public spending cuts. There’s a couple of problems with this. First, every time you take €3 off a public servant, you lose anything up to €1 in tax revenue because (unlike a lot of people in the private sector) public servants are all PAYE workers — cut their pay and you immediately lose the income tax they give you. So actually, if you want to get a cut of €1 in overall public spending from public service pay, you have to take around €4. The
Government has said it wants to take €1.3 billion from public servants as their contribution to resolving our financial crisis. If it means that as a net figure (taking account of the loss in tax revenue), it’s going to have to cut pay by around €1.7bn in fact. That’s 10% of the public pay bill from January 1 next. BUT IF it wants to apply that kind of a cut so that lower paid public servants have to take a hit of, say, 5%, it’s going to have to cut middle income public servants by around 15%. It was not the public service, nor anyone in the public service, who precipitated this crisis in the first place. And when we’re not busy sneering at public servants, we totally depend on them. Take away our public service in Ireland and you drive a huge hole into our quality of life. Against that background, the kind of cuts that are now having to be considered, to yield a net €1.3bn in public spending reductions, are savage. They will have a huge impact on thousands of families (some commentators don’t like us noticing that public servants have families, too) and they will seriously damage morale in vital services. Despite what the commentators might like us to think, cuts of that magnitude are fundamentally unfair. I mightn’t agree — in fact I don’t agree — with the proposition that our economy and our school system can be shut down for a day, or maybe more, by public sector protest. But because the whole approach is so unfair, I can fully understand the anger behind that protest. This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Telefonica O2 and IBM Members Face Prospect of Redundancy Major Change Agenda in Telefonica O2 Telefonica O2 Ireland has announced its plans to cut 50 jobs in Dublin and Limerick as part of a cost-cutting programme. The company has agreed that it will honour the same terms as were offered to staff in a previous redundancy which amounts to six weeks’ pay for every year of service and two weeks’ statutory pay. The announcement of redundancies signals the culmination of a comprehensive change agenda that is being pursued across the business and which follows on from the outsourcing of almost 300 jobs from Technology in the last 2 years. The Retail arm of the business is also subject to significant change with 20 retail outlets due to be converted to franchises. The company had acknowledged in May 2009 that it had been affected by the economic downturn but stated then that it had no plans to reduce headcount at the company. The company has begun ‘consultations’ with its employee forum but still refuses to grant its staff the right to independent Union representation. The General Secretary, Steve Fitzpatrick and Head of Organising, Ian McArdle met with senior management from Telefonica in Madrid towards the end of last year with a view to re-establishing a positive working relationship and it was agreed that a meeting would take place in Dublin to move things forward. As yet that meeting has not taken place.
IBM Redundancies Former Telefonica O2 staff who were transferred to IBM are also facing the prospect of redundancy as the company is seeking to reduce its head count by 40 in a section that is largely populated by former O2 staff. Staff are examining their options at this time and will have to consider the fact that the CWU and the local O2 committee, at the time of the transfer, successfully secured an extension of the O2 redundancy terms for a period of two years for all staff moving to IBM. Whilst these staff may benefit from a package of 6 weeks ex-gratia with 2 weeks statutory per year, their IBM colleagues are being offered an ex-gratia payment of 3 weeks plus 2 weeks statutory per year. A salutary reminder of the benefits of being in a Union.
Barclaycard Committee Training The ongoing campaign for staff in the Barclaycard call centre in Sandyford continues to gather pace. After a very positive meeting for members and nonmembers in Sandyford, a number of workers were encouraged to become more involved with the Union and subsequently put themselves forward to form a committee. Training for this newly formed committee took place in Union head office on Saturday 16th January. The training covered diverse subjects including Grievance and Disciplinary procedures and the main principles of employment law and time was set aside for questions and discussion. Further training will be organised for these new activists to ensure that they have the full support of the Union as the membership grows in Barclaycard. The Union would like to congratulate these new committee members and wish them well as we work together to improve the working lives of our growing membership in 5
Union representation at meetings. MLB initially refused to enter in to correspondence with the CWU. We subsequently referred the issue to the Labour Relation Commission (LRC). The company refused to attend the LRC and the Union referred the matter to the Labour Court for adjudication. Shortly before the hearing was due to take place MLB reconsidered its position and agreed to change its procedures. This incident shows that even organisations that are negative towards Trade Unions cannot circumvent the workers’ entitlements and it was thanks to the organising activities of the CWU that staff will, in future, enjoy their right to Union representation – a right that is even more important in a non-Union workplace.
Barclaycard. In other news, Barclaycard Ireland continue to deny CWU members their entitlement to Trade Union representation at Grievance and Disciplinary hearings, in contravention of the Labour Relations Commission Code of Practice. Despite repeated attempts to engage with the company on behalf of our members, the company has not responded positively. This led to the Union referring the matter to the Labour Relations Commission. Unfortunately, the company also declined to engage with that body. For that reason, the Union has been obliged to refer the matter to the Labour Court and a date has been set for that hearing toward the end of March. It is hoped that a success on this outstanding issue will lead to a stronger membership who are increasingly aware of, and actively seeking, their rights.
CWU Targets Vodafone retail outlets The Organisers have commenced a campaign to recruit new members in Vodafone retail stores in conjunction with the local representatives. Since December the Union has visited all of the stores in Dublin city centre and are currently in the process of visiting the stores in the Dublin suburbs. The response from the workers at the stores has been very positive and we have recruited over twenty new members. It is the intention of the Organisers to recruit new members at every Vodafone store throughout the country. This can only be achieved with the assistance of our existing members. The Organisers wish to express their thanks to Mick Farrell, Vodafone Branch secretary, for his cooperation and assistance in their Vodafone retail recruitment drive.
Pictured at the Barclaycard Committee Training from l to r: are Marta Meloni, Fionnuala Ní Bhrógáin, Antonella Pallozzi and Sarah Soumbo.
Global Telesales In the previous issue of Connect we outlined that the Union and Global Telesales would be attending the Labour Relations Commission to discuss a number of long standing issues. As a result of representations made by the CWU the following has been achieved: • The company has agreed to amend its disciplinary and grievance procedures to allow for Trade Union representation at meetings, bringing it in line with legislation. • The company agreed that it would provide seminars for workers to explain the company pension scheme in detail. • The company outlined to the Union its method of calculating its Sunday premium allowance. • The one outstanding issue remaining relates to the reduction of salary scales at Global Telesales. The Commissioner has referred this matter to the Labour Court. We are now awaiting a date for a Labour Court hearing.
Dell workers refused representation A number of employees in Dell have been advised by the company that their hours of work and pay are to be changed. These employees do not believe that the company has engaged them in any meaningful discussion on this issue and they have not agreed to any changes to their terms and conditions. These workers are currently working the new imposed hours under protest. Having contacted the CWU for advice, affected workers have joined the Union to get the best possible advice and support. They have raised grievances with the company to try to resolve the issue, but they have since been refused their entitlement to Trade Union representation. The Union have written to the company, hoping to resolve this issue without recourse to a third party. However, the company have flatly refused to engage with the Union on this issue. Due to the company’s continued rejection of any attempts at a solution through negotiation, the Union has been forced to refer the matter to the Labour Relations Commission. Any developments will be communicated in future issues of Connect.
On foot of this activity by the CWU a number of staff have opted to join the Union as they see the positive outcomes from the LRC as a clear and meaningful benefit of Union membership.
Youth Action Group In order to encourage as many young members as possible to become active in the Union, it has been agreed to hold a training event for young members. This event is planned for Saturday March 27th. It is planned to take a full day as there a number of important topics to be covered including:
MLB (Sporting Bet Ireland) Following representations by the Union, MLB was forced to amend its disciplinary and grievance procedures to provide for 6
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Youth Action Plan Union Structure Grievance and Disciplinary Handling Organising in the Union
needed. If we plan to grow our ranks with new members we need to be in a position to service these members and ensure that they do not feel isolated or neglected. To do this across a number of companies the General Secretary has asked for volunteers from established branches who could occasionally make themselves available to act as a Union Adviser and assist these members as the need arises. This is a very straightforward role and does not require knowledge of specific company processes or employment legislation – it is simply a case of acting as an independent witness for members who request it. A comprehensive training course has been developed to ensure that anyone volunteering for this role is fully informed as volunteers will be expected to complete this training module. And the first group of Union Advisers recently completed this course at Union headquarters; the training consisted of a one day seminar that was provided by the Education Committee. The aim of the course is to provide our Union Advisers with the tools to represent our members at disciplinary and grievance meetings in companies where we have not yet secured a collective agreement. The relevant legislation was outlined to attendees, and various situations in which the adviser’s assistance may be required was described and discussed. The training was well attended and the feedback was positive. It is hoped that we can arrange for a second group to be trained shortly. If you feel that you or someone you know would like to become a Union Adviser and play a vital role in the future of the CWU please contact head office or email: ian@cwu.ie and we will provide further details on when the next training is taking place and answer any questions you might have. This is an opportunity for activists to gain valuable experience and training whilst helping the Union’s most vulnerable members.
The Youth Action Group is an important forum for our younger members to express their opinions and views on issues as they relate young workers. The CWU has long recognised the unique challenges facing our younger members and hopes that these members will be motivated by the training and, with new skills and increased confidence, become more active in the day to day activities of the Union. Invitations to the event will be sent to all branches and the training promises to be a very interesting and interactive session with the emphasis on participation and involvement.
Website Development It is widely acknowledged that one of the most powerful tools for organising and recruitment is a vibrant and informative website and online presence. The importance of the internet cannot be underestimated as a means of reaching workers in their various industries. It is particularly significant for employees in call centres and other office based work. More and more often, when a worker finds themselves in difficulty at work, their first action is to look for a solution online. We need to ensure that when this happens, that these workers are provided with the most up to date and relevant information on our own websites; www.cwu.ie and www.callcentreunion.ie. The Union’s websites should also be a versatile resource for existing members and activists. With this in mind the NEC has tasked the Organising Committee to conduct a redesign of the Union’s websites. This work has followed considerable research and preparation. Head Office are currently examining the options available for the best possible result and it is hoped that a brand new, exciting and invaluable tool will be completed in the coming months.
CWU Trains the first group of ‘Union Adviser’ Volunteers The CWU held its inaugural Union Adviser training day in Head Office on 17th February which was well attended by a selection of volunteers from the NEC and Dublin based branches and further training days are planned to accommodate the other volunteers around the country who want to get involved in this exciting project. A central part of the CWU’s organising strategy is to recruit and organise staff working in non-Union/anti-Union workplaces. Following the success of these organising campaigns new members that join will require assistance and seek representation from the Union on individual matters. As the right to Union representation in disciplinary and grievance procedures is one of the few things that we can provide to new members in non-Union workplaces it is critical to the success of the Union’s organising strategy that we can provide this service where and when it is
Pictured l to r: Martin Duffy, Willie Mooney and John Tansey
Pictured l to r: Susan Casey, Mick Smith and Martin Quinn 7
Shock as Postbank Announces Closure contains several improvements including new grievance and disciplinary procedures, agreed time off for Trade Unions duties as well as training and conference and comprehensive dispute resolution procedures. Though it may be a moot point now given recent events, all CWU members should note that it was of vital importance to the Union that any organisation working in conjunction with An Post would recognise the CWU as the representative body for their staff. And on completion of the agreement Postbank and the CWU issued a joint statement to staff highlighting this fact.
CWU members in Postbank were left reeling on Friday afternoon, February 26th, as the news that Postbank would wind down its operations over the course of 2010 was announced to all staff. The CWU was very disappointed to hear this news on Friday and it is the view of the Union that this closure represents a missed opportunity for the financial services sector in Ireland, as Postbank represented a clean, community-based bank with an extensive retail footprint that offered customers a banking outlet where many of the main banks refuse to operate. The CWU is keenly aware of the devastating effect this news has had on our members throughout the business and wishes to assure everyone that we are fully committed to engaging with management to ensure two things: firstly, the CWU is determined to ensure that viable and profitable parts of the business are retained by An Post, to ensure those jobs are safe, secure and productive into the future; and secondly, the Union will engage with management on the redundancy terms for the remaining staff to seek to maximise the payments being made to staff being let go. The news is particularly bitter for all concerned given that the CWU and Postbank management had just recently concluded a period of intense negotiations with the successful production of a comprehensive recognition agreement. This agreement granted the CWU sole negotiating rights for all Postbank staff, whilst the Union committed to supporting the business in its tentative early years. Long-standing members will be aware that the Union has, for many years, pushed for a Postbank-type operation to become part of the An Post business. Demonstrating considerable foresight the Union realised many years ago that a community-type banking operation, which could take advantage of An Post’s extensive retail network, would have benefits. Not just to the citizens and customers who would have an easily accessible financial outlet in their areas, particularly those isolated rural areas where An Post has a presence, but it would also be mutually beneficial for An Post as it would increase business throughout the retail network, with the obvious benefits for our members. The Postbank recognition agreement replaces the document that covered the One Direct employees and
Below is an email sent to our media advisors in relation to a survey by Independent Newspapers carried out prior to the National Demonstrations regarding the Campaign for a Better, Fairer, Way. This is a prime example how newspapers especially Independent Newspapers report on Trade Union issues. It is obvious to me that they will print lies when you wont play ball with them.
To Whom It May Concern: I am a reporter for the Irish Independent newspaper and we are carrying out a survey of various unions involved in the day of action this corning Friday. We would like to ask yon one question, which is as follows: Would your union support further strikes in addition to the one day action planned for November 24, and would it specifically support an all-out strike? Please provide a simple yes or no answer, as I have been informed by my editors that anything else will be interpreted as a 'no comment'. I greatly appreciate your co-operation and I would need a reply by 4.30 this evening. If a response is not provided, it will be taken to be a 'no comment'. Many thanks, Irish Independent Dublin 1
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Regulatory Update conditions, cherry picking in the market and a race to the bottom. There is clear evidence of this with recent court cases in the Netherlands (making “piece” rates legal and rejecting a negotiated collective contract for postal workers) and Germany (where the Court has overturned a Government mandated minimum wage for postal workers). We need strong social regulation, protection for the workers and consumers and more time to prepare the legislation so that the companies are not competing in a liberalised market that is just a race to the bottom with poverty wages and working conditions.’
Postal Regulation Report Unions to Take Liberalisation Fight to Brussels The UNI europa Post & Logistics Steering Group has decided to continue the UNI campaign to call for a moratorium on the implementation of the 3rd Postal Directive and to postpone the deadline for the full liberalisation of the postal market in Europe. In support of this UNI will develop a revised lobby pack which will contain sample letters, a background paper on the legal position of the moratorium and a list of interested groups who might support our position. The objective behind this work is to have a delegation in Brussels from the 12th to the 15th April to spend the week intensively lobbying MEPs and other EU bodies. In support of this the CWU Postal Executive members are writing to their local MEPs seeking a meeting with them in Brussels that week in order that they can represent our members concerns directly to them as postal workers and as constituency members. In addition the UNI delegation will be seeking a meeting with the European Commission (DG Market and DG Employment) specifically with Kamil Kiljianski, the director for postal services in DG Market and Jean-Paul Tricart, responsible for the Social Dialogue in DG Employment. The group also plans to hold a hearing in the Parliament and to invite as many MEPs as possible to deliver our message to that hearing. In conjunction with this an evening event will be held in the European Parliament together with Trade Unions, MEPs and NGOs. This would take the form of a panel discussion about the consequences of liberalisation and invites will be extended to representatives of the Commission, journalists and national politicians. The main public event will be a public demonstration in Brussels near the European Parliament – to get public attention and to give a strong signal against liberalisation and to support our call for a moratorium on the liberalisation of the postal market. UNI has described this week as ‘our last chance to get attention for our demands and to influence the liberalisation process. We should stand in solidarity, regardless of the state of liberalisation in each of our countries, and use this opportunity to send a strong signal to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the national governments. We have to raise awareness that liberalisation in the current form means social dumping, worse working
Dutch Court Ruling Strikes at Heart of Postal Service A Dutch Court ruling indicated that postal delivery companies, Sandd and Selekt Mail (DHL) can continue to avoid collective contracts and can keep paying “piece” rates. The companies won their case where they argued that they should not be forced to employ permanent staff. Judges in the Hague ruled that the Economics Ministry cannot force them to employ delivery workers instead of paying them for every item of post they deliver. The deal to make Sandd and Selekt compete on more equal terms with TNT (the main Netherlands postal company) was one of the main conditions that the Dutch Government attached to the complete liberalisation of the postal market. Under the deal, Sandd and Selekt Mail are supposed to employ under a collective contract, at least 10% of their delivery workers by April 2010 and 80% by 2012. The Dutch Unions along with TNT have argued that by paying workers piece rates, and not paying pensions, sick pay or holiday pay, that Sandd and Selekt are able to undercut TNT’s charges and that they are social dumping. But Dutch ministers set to appeal a ruling on DHL contract workers are to challenge a decision taken in the Dutch courts allowing two postal firms to pay workers a “piece work” rate. Social affairs minister Piet Hein Donner and junior economic affairs minister Frank Heemskerk are to appeal a decision by judges in December, allowing Sandd and Selekt Mail (DHL) to continue to pay postal workers for every item of post they deliver. The judges ruled that the postal companies could not be forced to employ delivery workers instead. It has been reported that Donner and Heemskerk will force the issue through by way of a royal decree if they lose their appeal. Neil Anderson, head of UNI Post and Logistics said: “The ministers are correct, the courts cannot be allowed to stop the desire of the workers, their Unions and the government to ensure there are proper collective contracts for postal workers.” 9
24 February 2010
Re: Green Isle Dispute – Demonstration in Naas – Saturday 27th February 2010 Dear Colleague As you will no doubt be aware from media coverage, an extremely serious dispute has been ongoing at Green Isle Foods, Naas since last August. The dispute came about as a result of the wrongful dismissal of three employees by the Company. The Labour Court has found that “the dismissals were unjustified and called for the reinstatement of the dismissed workers.” Unfortunately the Company has refused to accept the Labour Court Recommendation. It has also refused to engage with their Trade Union - TEEU, the LRC or the National Implementation Body. This, despite the Company having accepted Irish State Aid to the tune of €43 million of tax payers’ money. Through insufferable frustration, the striking workers decided to embark on a Hunger Strike outside the Naas plant. Jim Wyse, a 58 year old grandfather is the workers Union Representative and began his hunger strike on Wednesday, 17th February. He is joined in his Hunger Strike today by another of his colleagues John Guinan, a former All Ireland Footballer. Like Jim Wyse, who is now entering his second week on hunger strike, John is not one of the men dismissed by the Company. To raise awareness of the management’s injustice and to show support for the workers involved, a Protest March has been organised in Naas for Saturday 27th February 2010. The march will commence at 12 noon at the Storm Cinema Car Park in Naas, travelling to the Green Isle Factory. I am calling on all available CWU members, their friends and families to take part in the protest as a show of solidarity and support for the Hunger Strikers campaign on behalf of their sacked colleagues. Furthermore, I would ask all members to remember the unacceptable behaviour of Green Isle Foods when shopping for family groceries. The Green Isle Range covers Goodfellas, Sanmarino, Donegal Catch as well as a whole range of fresh and frozen foods. Companies who behave like this do not deserve to profit. Please bring this circular to the attention of all members. Yours fraternally
On going to press we have just heard that the dispute has been resolved but isn’t it a shame that in this day and age people had to resort to hunger strike.
Steve Fitzpatrick General Secretary
10
History of Green Isle Foods Dispute Workers in Green Isle Foods have embarked on a course of action not seen in Ireland for many years. Members of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) have been left on the picket line for six months by their employer and the parent company, Northern Foods in Britain.
redundancy settlements. The crucial difference was that they were employees of ESS, a subcontractor on the Green Isle Foods site which recognises Unions. Green Isle Foods has sought to portray the dispute as one involving the downloading of pornographic from the internet, but in fact the Green Isle Foods system does not allow employees access to the internet, let alone the ability to download material. In the case of two TEEU members who were dismissed, they opened unsolicited emails which had nothing to suggest the material was inappropriate. In one case the man was dismissed for failing to delete the email subsequently from his in-box although he did not show it to anyone else. The source of the unsolicited emails has never been identified by the company. The third employee was dismissed because he brought a memory stick to work with film and video game material on it which was not pornographic images, but which the company claimed could breach copyright law if used on its equipment. After being on the picket line for over four months the TEEU referred the dispute to the Labour Court. The Court heard the case on December 4th, 2009. The company refused to attend, saying it did not recognise Unions and therefore the Labour Court was an appropriate forum to resolve the dispute. Nevertheless it was represented at the hearing by IBEC.
The basic facts In December 2008, a TEEU member opened a new icon on his computer entitled Boardroom. He assumed it was an information bulletin. In fact it had been sent to him by mistake instead of a senior member of management with a similar name. He did not pay much attention to the contents until a file appeared on the site in March 2009 containing restructuring proposals that involved making six TEEU members redundant. The engineer showed his manager the file and shared the information with a number of fellow employees. When the company realised its error it insisted that all employees who may have accessed the Boardroom folder sign a document confirming that they had done so and accepting it was a serious disciplinary offence for which they faced dismissal. The members asked their Union for advice. When the TEEU sought to represent them the company refused to entertain the Union. The men were suspended on full pay, while Green Isle Foods applied to the High Court for an order seeking full disclosure from the employees along with exemplary damages for breach of contract, confidentiality, interfering with the company's business and all legal costs - including interest.
The Court issued a recommendation on December 8th, 2009, stating it was satisfied the dismissals were unjustified, that there should be an immediate return to work, full reinstatement of the men and compensation for loss of earnings. In the event that this was not acceptable to the two sides the Court recommended that they should agree, through a third party if necessary, on a compensation package for the men. When the company rejected this proposal the Court recommended, on January 5th, 2010, that the sacked men receive â‚Ź40,000, â‚Ź60,000 and â‚Ź80,000 respectively, reflecting their lengths of service (seven, 10 and 16 years), if they were not reinstated as previously recommended. When the company continued to ignore the Labour Court recommendations, the shop stewards, Jim Wyse and Declan Shannon, requested meetings with the company locally to resolve the dispute through direct talks. They even offered to negotiate on the Labour Court terms. Management met them briefly for a few minutes on three occasions over four weeks but did not even bother to make a note of the men's proposals before rejecting them. It was after this final rebuff that the workers decided to adopt a hunger strike strategy. They had spent six months on the picket line during the worst winter weather for 40 years and their families were experiencing extreme economic hardship. They felt it was the last means available to bring pressure to bear on a company that was impervious to all the normal rules of industrial relations or common decency.
The TEEU represented the men in court and after hearing the evidence Judge Mary Laffoy recommended that the parties agree a mutually acceptable process for resolving the problem. An agreement was reached by which all suspensions were lifted, the men returned to work and they agreed to co-operate with the company investigation. The investigation dragged on from early April until mid June 2009. Eamon Devoy, General Secretary Designate of the TEEU, eventually wrote to the company on June 17th, asking that the inquiry into Boardroom be wound up because of the stress it was causing employees. Instead, the company said it had begun what it claimed was a second investigation, wholly unrelated to the first, on the previous day, June 16th, into the storage of inappropriate emails on PCs. On June 18th it also issued the findings of its first investigation. This found the company IT systems were not secure or properly monitored. There was no evidence to suggest information from the Boardroom folder had been given to anyone outside the company. Meanwhile, the company pursued its second investigation without any involvement from the TEEU, whose members refused to engage in the new process without Union representation. The same individuals were investigated as in the Boardroom inquiry and, while it remains unclear if this investigation was ever concluded, the men were dismissed at the end of what had proven a very secretive process on July 10th, 2009. Their appeals were rejected on July 31st. The company rejected an offer by the Labour Relations Commission to intervene. Having failed to find some means of resolving the dispute through negotiation, mediation and dialogue, the TEEU served strike notice on Green Isle Foods. The response of the company was to bring in strike breakers, who were in place even before pickets were mounted at the end of August 2009.
Jim Wyse became the first hunger striker on February 17th. He volunteered to go first because it was his suggestion. John Guinan joined him on February 24th. John Recto, joined the Green Isle Foods hunger strike today (Wednesday March 3rd). Some hours before he joined Jim Wyse and John Guinan on hunger strike John Recto was asked call into Naas Garda Station, where he was informed that his work visa has been revoked. He was told he has until March 8th to leave the country. He is from the Philippines and has been working at Green Isle Foods for the past three years. His wife and three children, aged six, seven and one year old, are living with him in Naas. His youngest child was born in Ireland.
Meanwhile the other TEEU members, whose positions had been identified as redundant in the Boardroom file, received satisfactory
11
Postal Update
DIGGER STALLED AT CASTLEREA DSU
WAITING FOR THE GREEN LIGHT! The Annual General meeting of the Castlerea & District Postal Branch outlined their total dissatisfaction at An Posts continued failure to provide suitable accommodation for staff working out of Castlerea Head Office. Their utter frustration was heightened by recent correspondence from the GPO the content of which was almost identical to the position presented by the Company in advance of their previous AGM. In response the Branch expressed its utter frustration at the ongoing delays on the Company’s part to bring finality to this matter. Reminiscing that representations were made to the GPO over fifteen years the fact remains that little has changed and that the Dickensian conditions had not improved with age. Castlerea’s centenary occurs next year and staff are not at all enamoured with facing the prospect of having to don the new uniforms to enhance the brand of An Post, face full liberalisation and be expected to gloss over that they are working in a kip. As one An Post lifer put it “convicted criminals enjoy better conditions up the road while we have been sentenced by An Post to 40 years hard labour in a dog house, with little prospect of early release”. Ultimately, such a prospect they are not prepared to contemplate or tolerate any further. They regard the Company’s most recent commitments to be wishy washy as it is only short of the Head of Property confirming that he is actively pursuing this matter, a mantra previously propagated by the Company which was code for nothing was being done. The Union has again set out very forcibly that it requires the Company to confirm without delay that it has appointed a contractor and that construction will begin and be completed this year to allow occupation well in advance of the Christmas pressure period. The Union does not regard this to be an unreasonable prospect in so far as this Country is awash with surplus Contractors, Engineers, Architects and Builders with the Company being able to name its price.Its time for An Post management to deliver.
12
Postal Update Construction Time Line FEBRUARY 1997 Head Postmaster Castlerea Eamon Carroll, writes to John Martin Regional Office West, This is a very urgent matter, I have corresponded at length to the building section and to date no action has been taken. Toilets! Open and not in use, no heat working, décor terrible, sewers blocked and the Annual Rat arrived at the same time over the Christmas Break. As for the action taken by the CWU I can only say that I have reported since 1996 that I was having serious difficulty trying to placate staff, the rights of the matter is that this area is not suitable to work in. SEPTEMBER 1997 An Post state they recognise the short comings of the accommodation at Castlerea. JUNE 1999 Jim Treacy, General Manager Letterpost. I would need to assure you that we are conscious of the need to progress these works as soon as possible. AUGUST 2000 Tom Kane Head of Group Property, the contract for sale is ready for execution by An Post and an initial design scheme is expected within a week to 10 days. SEPTEMBER 2000 Our legal office is working very hard to conclude the acquisition. An Architect has been appointed and the initial design plan has been produced. APRIL 2003 Tom Kane, General Manager Group Property, purchase of the site was completed and the property is held by An Post under a very long leasehold interest. APRIL 2007 John Keegan, HR Manager, the Company recognise and accepts that the existing DSU in Castlerea is inadequate from both an operational point of view and from a staff perspective. The Company has included a Capital Investment Provision and this years budget for the development of a new DSU at the site it aquired for this purpose. DECEMBER 2007 Elaine Bermingham, HR Manager, A proposal to provide a new Delivery Service Unit in Castlerea is currently being considered by the company and a decision in this regard is expected shortly. FEBRUARY 2008 Elaine Bermingham, HR Manager, Design Team has been appointed to develop a proposal to build a new DSU at Castlerea on the Company site. The expected timeframe for completion is 18 months. JANUARY 2009 ELAINE BIRMINGHAM, HR MANAGER, I can confirm that the Board has approved the proposal to build a new DSU in Castlerea at its December meeting and that Architects are currently preparing the planning application. FEBRUARY 2010 ELAINE BIRMINGHAM, HR MANAGER Finance has been made available in the 2010 / 2011 Capital budget for the Castlerea Project……..Tenders have been received in respect of the build and it is the intention of the Company to appoint a contractor in the coming months and it is expected that construction will begin during 2010. DECEMBER 2010 CWU Christmas is coming!
Appointment of Retail Staff Following ongoing representations the Company has confirmed to the Union the following process of appointing longterm temporary staff working in Retail: • •
Temporary employees recruited prior to 1 January 2008 will, subject to the normal criteria, be appointed. When this process has been completed temporary staff recruited since 1 January 2008 will have their status reviewed following which further discussions will take place with the Union.
The above exercise will mean permanent appointments for a considerable number of members, which I have no doubt will be a very welcome development for the individuals concerned. The Union will continue its efforts towards securing further permanent appointments across all sections of An Post. I would appreciate that you would bring this circular to the attention of all members.
13
Postal Update (i) Role of DSM3
REVIEW OF THE ROLES OF DELIVERY SERVICES MANAGERS AND WORKING LEADERS
The decision of the Monitoring Group is that it would not be inappropriate for the Company to expect that a DSM 3 would have elements of indoor Postal Operative work included in the role and that in normal circumstances, the DSM3 would not be expected to perform outdoor Postal Operative work. However, that does not preclude the DSM 3 from having to exceptionally perform outdoor Postal Operative work from time to time.
The new DSM 3 pay scale is as follows: €35,921 €37,343 - €38,758 - €40,179 - €40,919 - €42,216 €43,579. As in the case of the DSM 1 and DSM 2, the DSM 3 will also have provision for a performance related incentive payment of up to 15%, and is also a non-overtime grade. The revised pay scale for Working Leader is as follows:
(ii) Implementation date of the Working Leader review
NEW WORKING LEADER SCALE
€ p.a 32800 33800 34800 35800 36800
Extensive discussions on the Working Leader review have been ongoing since early 2009, which as well as examining salary levels also considered related issues such the payment of the Eating on Route allowance, Acting allowances and the Company Medical and Drugs Refund Schemes. The Union’s view is that the Company should implement the proposals with effect from early 2009 and the Company’s view is that they should be implemented from a current date. It is the decision of the Monitoring Group that the pay review should be implemented from 1st June 2009.
Two further aspects were dealt with by the Monitoring Group. The first one relates to the actual role of DSM 3 and the second relates to the date of implementation of the Working Leader review.
~ RETIREMENT POLICY ~ For some time the Union has expressed its misgivings at the manner in which employees who achieve retirement are dealt with by An Post Management. The Union has outlined numerous cases whereby members, many of whom had given long and loyal service to the Company, were allowed depart from service without as much as a thank you. This showed little respect for those individuals that have served customers and Company, to the best of their ability. The Union proposed the Company should set out a Retirement Policy which, at a minimum, recognises the contribution of the employee to the Company, provides for a presentation as a matter of course and that no employee should leave the Company without having the option of availing of a pre retirement course. Agreement was concluded at the Joint Conciliation Council on such a policy and the main points are as follows:
3. There will be an appropriate level of management involvement in the presentation. 4. Details of retirements will be publicised within the Company through Postnews and the Intranet. 5. The Company will offer Retirement Planning Courses to all employees who are approaching retirement. The local HR Manager should contact the Training Unit at least six months in advance of the employee’s last day of service to request a place on a forthcoming programme. 6. The Local Manager should advise the local Union Representative of any upcoming retirements. The Company issued a Company Circular 03 / 2010 as well as a Recognition of Retirement Procedure for all Managers. The above policy is designed to ensure the Company, as a minimum does its bit and does not change or impact on the efforts the Union will continue to make. Branch Secretary’s should also recognise that they have a responsibility when members retire to notify Union Head Office and ensure that they receive the Union scroll and badge. In addition Union Headquarters should be advised when long serving activists retire as Union Head Office may wish a National Officer or NEC member attend any presentation.
1. Qualifying Retirees will be presented with a framed Valedictory Letter and the Cu Cuchalain statuette. 2. The Valedictory Letter will be available for presentation to the Retiree no later than the date of his/her last day of service, or earlier if a presentation is planned for a date prior to the Retiree’s last day of service.
14
Education Update Now that the AGMs have come to an end, it is imperative that all those newly elected into Branch positions send in the nomination forms for the upcoming education courses. As always the Union will be running a full set of training courses for our activists throughout 2010. The following are the details of the upcoming courses.
Branch Secretary Stage 1 Course Monday April 19 – Friday April 23rd 2010 (5 days) All newly elected Branch Secretaries are invited to attend as well as Branch Secretaries who may have missed the opportunity to attend in the past.
Chairperson’s Course Tuesday March 23rd – Thursday March 25th 2010 (3 days) Again all newly elected Chairpersons should attend as well as Chairpersons who may have missed the opportunity to attend in the past.
Branch Officers Course Training Course Tuesday April 27th & Wednesday April 28th 2010 (2 days) The course is open to Assistant Secretaries and Vice Chairpersons.
Treasurers Training Course Tuesday April 27th & Wednesday April 28th 2010 (2 days) Newly elected treasurers should attend this course and it will run in conjunction with the Branch Officer training programme.
Branch Secretary Stage 2 Monday September 13th – Friday September 17th 2010 (5 days) This course should be attended by Branch Secretaries who have completed Stage 1 and who are in their second or consecutive term as Branch Secretary.
Equality Representatives Wednesday September 22nd & Thursday September 23rd 2010 (2 days) This is a new module that was successfully piloted in 2009. The Equality Representative is a support role to the Branch Secretary who can assist with equality related matters such as work life balance, statutory and non-statutory leave, disability in the workplace etc. This course is open to all Branches.
Committee Courses Training is normally two half days or one full day. These are held in Union Head Office and subject to numbers are also held on a regional basis. As always we like to accommodate Branches with new committees in place and who require training specifically for their Branch. Please note that training is obligatory for all those who are newly elected and applications can only be accepted on completion of the relevant nomination forms. The nomination forms also allow participants to outline their requirements for training which will assist the education committee to deliver the training accordingly. Nomination forms can be downloaded from the Union website. Those who apply for courses will be sent joining details closer to the date of training. If members have any issues or queries in relation to accessing the training, then please contact Union Head Office directly.
Other courses The Union continues to promote life long learning for our members. This is evident through our work with Congress, Skillnets, the VECs and through our Union Learning Representative (ULR) structure. We currently have over 30 ULRs in various Branches across the country and we encourage members to make contact with their ULR to find out what courses are available in local colleges and other institutions. The Union’s Education committee is also available to members to discuss further education and Branch Secretaries can also assist in this area.
For further details please see the Union education webpage or send an e-mail to info@cwu.ie.
15
Reconnecting
National College of Ireland is calling all former students
The NCI estimates that som e 50,000 people studied with them over the years and thi s year, two years ahead of its 60th anniversary, it is putting a major effort into recon necting with that army of alumni. “From its establishment in 1951 our college has pro vided an invaluable opportunity for people with no chance to gain a third level qualification and to access education”, says Pa ul Mooney, the College President who received his early professional education in the NCI. “T oday, the National Colle ge of Ireland has a renewed and stren gthened commitment to widening participation in higher edu cation and to supporting activities that contribute to a know ledge-based economy and an active social citizenship”. The effort to reach forme r students is spearheaded by an Alumni Advisory Coun cil under the chairmansh ip of former Justice Minister Nora Ow en. “Those of us who have studied in the NCI know what a special place it is”, say s Mrs Owen. “We are hoping to reconnect with as many of our former students as po ssible. The new Alumni Association aims to provide graduate s with ways to reconnect and to ne twork while using the ir time and knowledge to support the ir alma mater in the adv ancement of its mission. Membership of the Alumni Association is free, all you have to do is sign-u p on the website at www.n ci”.
New Website
It is quite likely that many members of the CWU both past and present are very familiar with the National College of Ireland. If you studied there you’ll be interested in this article. Did you study with the National College of Ireland? Perhaps you knew it as the College of Industrial Relations or the National College of Industrial Relations or even the Catholic Workers College? If so, you’re in demand. The College is trying to reconnect with its thousands of former students and has developed an impressive new website to help its alumni to reconnect with their college and with their old friends and colleagues. The National College of Ireland, or NCI, is now located in a beautiful, purpose-built, campus in the IFSC in the heart of Dublin’s Docklands. Today it has almost one thousand full-time day students. It also caters for about four times that number studying part-time in the college or in one of its 28 centres around the country. Key subjects which it provides include Human Resources, Accounting, Finance, Computing, First Line Management and Community Studies. It was established as long ago as 1951 by the Jesuit Community as the Catholic Workers College and was based in Ranelagh where it remained until 2000. Over the years it underwent several name changes becoming, in turn, the College of Industrial Relations and the National College of Industrial Relations before its final name change in 1998. For nearly six decades it has provided education at diploma and degree level to generations of mostly part-time students. Its early focus on industrial relations meant that countless leading trade Union and HR professionals owe much of their academic learning to the college. 16
Contacting former students is a big task as Nora Owen explains: “We have very good contact details for graduates from recent years and we plan to contact most of them directly. Naturally the records from years past aren’t so good so we’re using every opportunity to invite those people to visit the website and sign-up. We’re particularly anxious to get in touch with any of the people who studied in the early days of the Catholic Workers College. Their insights into the history of the college would be invaluable”. Beatrice Cantalajo, the NCI Alumni Manager explains the aims of the NCI Alumni Association: “We want it to promote lifelong affiliation between our alumni and the College; to promote an effective network of graduates throughout the world; to represent and promote the strengths of the National College of Ireland both nationally and internationally and to deliver tangible benefits to alumni, other members of the National College of Ireland community, and the College”. So, if you studied with the NCI in any of its guises and in any location you’re welcome to sign up for the alumni association. All graduates of National College of Ireland are entitled to free membership of the Association. This includes postgraduates, honorary graduates, as well as recipients of Diplomas and other Certificates issued by the National College of Ireland. It’s also probably important to point out that anyone interested in upskilling, retraining or undertaking academic study that it’s worth checking out the NCI website for
news of courses and educational opportunities.
More information can be had at http://alumni.ncirl.ie/
17
Telecoms Update
Telecoms Regulation Compulsory High-speed Internet under EU Plans
ComReg Set Prices for LLU and LLU Line Share
In a continued effort to bring broadband to every citizen in the EU, the Spanish EU Presidency wants to extend universal service requirements to include broadband. This will, in effect, make it compulsory for member states to make the service available in every corner of their territory. The move is aimed at improving Web access in rural areas but has raised a number of concerns for the telecoms industry. The European Commission estimates that only 70% of the population of the EU’s countryside areas can rely on existing infrastructure to access the Internet via a high-speed connection. Here in Ireland the National Broadband Scheme is aiming to provide internet access for those parts of the country where no other provider will go for commercial reasons but the speeds available will often lag well behind those available in urban areas. More so recently with the advent of high speed offerings such the 24 Mps service from eircom and others. To address this ‘digital divide’, Spain, which has the EU’s rotating presidency in the first half of 2010, is considering obliging member states to provide nationwide broadband coverage. Its plans are shared by Belgium and Hungary, which take on the EU presidency after Spain. All three countries are pursuing a common ‘trio’ programme. According to a draft programme that was agreed by the EU Council, "the presidencies will launch work on the new scope of the universal service in electronic communications and on the incorporation of broadband in the scope of universal service.” There is some skepticism on how achievable this is and ETNO, the association representing incumbent telecoms operators in the EU, estimates that the cost of current universal service obligations could hit €800 million in some Eastern European countries if applied completely.
Two significant decisions have been made by ComReg in recent months that will potentially have a profound effect on the development of the Irish Telecoms market and the level of competition within it. The first decision was taken in August 2009 whereby ComReg issued a direction to eircom to cut the price of its monthly Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) Line Share charge from €8.41 to €0.77. LLU Line Share occurs when an eircom competitor provides the broadband service over the same line that eircom continues to provide the phone service on. Eircom initially challenged this direction in the High Court but in January of this year it agreed to comply. ComReg and the alternative telecoms operators see this as a critical step to opening the market further as it was previously claimed that this product was not commercially viable at the price that was being charged before the direction was made. It paves the way for BT and Vodafone’s plans to proceed with the unbundling of 60 exchanges. The second significant decision was taken in relation to the Local Loop Unbundling (whereby another operator takes full control of the line) in February and sets a LLU rental charge of €12.41 and a maximum Sub-Loop Unbundling (SLU) rental charge of €10.53 for access to the eircom local loop network. Previously the charge was €16.43. This move by ComReg is designed to open up the market further in this area and it was welcomed by the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan as ‘crucial to the move to next generation networks’. As it stands around three per cent of Irish lines are unbundled as against 40% in other European countries however critics of the move describe it as too little too late and that Ireland Inc should be focused on taking measures to secure a high-speed broadband infrastructure built on fibre and--- not addressing issues that should have been dealt with many years ago.
Jim Mc Cann and Nicky Ryan at the Dublin No 2 Branch AGM in the Gresham Hotel.
Pictured l to r: Claire Kelly, Tom Murphy and Liam Caldwell at the Dublin No 1 Branch AGM. 18
Telecoms Update
METEOR CUSTOMER CARE SCOOPS BEST RETENTION PROGRAMME AND THE TOP PRIZE – CONTACT CENTRE OF THE YEAR 2009 AT THIS YEAR’S IRISH CONTACT CENTRE AWARDS Obiozor, Sarah Salinger, Gillian Gormley, Alina Gawlik, Lyndsey Farrell, Caithriona Greene, Richard Quigley
Meteor Customer Care has won not one….but two awards at this year’s Irish Contact Centre Awards. These awards are the highlight for any Contact Centre and Meteor were shortlisted for 5 awards this year which was an amazing achievement in itself. The awards were held Saturday 14th November in the Burlington hotel and were attended by Customer Care Management Team, Team Leaders and Agents. The first award we won for was the Best Retention Programme.
But we didn’t stop there! The most sought after prize for any contact centre is to be crowned Irelands Best Contact Centre. And when Meteor was called out as the winner of this prestigious award, there were screams of joy so loud it would have put the Irish fans in Croke Park to shame! A thrilled Customer Care management Team went up to receive this award.
Ronan O’Neill and Celine Maher collecting the award which was presented by a representative from Woodford
Michael Byrne, Leah Ivers, Mark Simmonds, Carlos Hernandez, Ciara Coghlan, David Keogh, Ronan O Neill, collecting the award from a Representative from Cisco.
In this category the judges applauded Meteor for presenting such a comprehensive submission to win this award. “ Meteor provided real evidence of how they are focused on maintaining market share in this highly competitive sector. With an average save rate of 91% in the last twelve months and a contribution of several million euro in revenue Meteor is a worthy winner of this award.” Well Done to the retention team Ronan O Neill, Celine Maher, Maria Renwick, Caroline Kenny, Elizabeth Onwuarolu, Julie Gallagher, Nicola Garvey, Samuel
In naming Meteor as the winner of the Contact Centre of the Year 2009 the judges wished to commend them on the implementation of a programme focused on driving more efficiency through the contact centre. “All this was achieved whilst increasing customer retention rate and growing the customer base. The glowing testimonials show that Meteor’s dedication to providing an excellent customer experiences is reaping many awards.”
We would like to thank every single person in the Dublin and Waterford Contact Centre’s in helping us achieve these exceptional results. Every manager, team leader, support team member and agent has made all of this possible through the hard work and dedication over the last 12 months. Everyone should feel very proud of this achievement and to be named………
Best Contact Centre in Ireland 2009!! Thanks to everyone ... Customer Care Managers 19
Telecoms Update
Dublin No 3 Members receive FETAC Awards The Union was very pleased to be apart of an awards ceremony to recognise the achievements of our members in the eircom Dublin No 3 Branch who received FETAC certificates for computer training. The awards ceremony was held after the AGM on February 18th in the Academy Hotel and was coordinated by the Branch. FETAC is the Further Education and Training Awards Council in Ireland. They are the national awarding body for further education and training. The computer training courses that were held were delivered through the Positive 2 Work Skillnet and through the Women at Work Skillnet. The Positive 2 Work courses were conducted through the KNOW IT programme of the National College of Ireland. Two programmes were held, with 22 participants from the Dublin No 3 Branch receiving certificates. The CWU is represented on the steering committee of Positive 2 Work and the aim of the project is to create a positive working environment for all employees within the member companies of the Skillnet. Mark Brennan who is the Positive 2 Work Project Manager attended the awards ceremony. Commenting afterwards, he stated that the awards ceremony was revitilsing as it was evident how energised the group were having completed the training and being acknowledged for their success. The Women at Work Skillnet courses were conducted by High Tech Associates. Again two training programmes were held with 26 members receiving certificates. Speaking on the night, Carol Scheffer, National Officer stated that those who completed the training and got their certificates through the Skillnets projects were to be commended highly as it takes commitment and dedication to attend courses after working hours. She also stated that the Union wanted to acknowledge the achievements of the participants and Deputy General Secretary, Terry Delany also praised the participants on the courses. These programmes were conducted as part of the 2008 & 2009 Skillnets projects. Our thanks goes to Ray Lawlor, NEC, Catherine Slattery, Chairperson and Denis Douglas, Branch Secretary for the active part they played in signing members of the Branch up for the courses.
Ray Lawlor, NEC, Catherine Slattery, Chairperson Dublin No 3 & Denis Douglas, Branch Secretary Dublin No 3 after the awards ceremony.
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Telecoms Update
Women at Work Skillnet Group Back Row l-r: Mary Charleton, Ina McDonnell, Carol Scheffer, Imelda Devanney, Josephine Shanley, Marie Pembrook, Monica Stapleton, Barbara Shevlin, Catherine Slattery, Breige Greevy , Terry Delany, Bríd O’Reilly, Teresa Blake, Margaret Walshe & Mary Creagh Clarke Front row l-r: Mary Lacey, Carmel Ahern, Ann Gaughan, Bridget O’Mahoney, Eileen O’Connor, Patricia Moran, & Connie Killilea.
Eileen Fitzgerald & Patricia Moran who both received certificates on the night.
Positive 2 Work Group receiving Certificates Pictured l-r Carol Scheffer, National Officer, Mark Brennan, Positive 2 Work Project Manger, Sean Byrne, Charlie O’Keeffe, Terry Delany, Deputy General Secretary, John Carroll & Mary Creagh Clarke.
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A strange definition of ‘systemic importance’ Instead of being allowed to fail, Postbank should have been part of a sensible strategy of community-based banks, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE REMIND ME again: why, exactly, are we shovelling far more money into Anglo Irish Bank than will be saved by all the cutbacks put together? Oh, I remember: we cannot let banks go under. Brian Lenihan explained to the Dáil in January 2009 that “as a country, we cannot afford to have the message going out that we will let a bank fail.” In June 2009, when he was extending the bank guarantee, he repeated the message: “the fundamental question that arises in connection with the guarantee concerns the fact that the Government decided it could not let a bank fail”. This is apparently an article of faith. Fianna Fáil and the Greens decided that no Irish bank, including zombie institutions like Anglo and Nationwide, would be allowed to go to the wall. Having made that decision, everything else became inevitable. We will do literally anything that is necessary to maintain the fiction that the zombies are productive members of the community. But hang on a minute. Yesterday, Postbank, jointly owned by An Post and BNP Paribas, stopped taking new business. It will close by the end of the year. Its name would suggest that Postbank is actually a bank, but this must be an illusion.
If it were a bank, Postbank would not be allowed to fail. And Brian Lenihan’s reaction to its closure was merely to say that he is “disappointed [his favourite word] but not surprised”. Why does the closure of Postbank get a c’est la vie shrug of the shoulders while the closure of Anglo is so unthinkable that at least €30 billion of public money is being used to keep it, if not actually alive, then apparently undead? The answer Brian Lenihan would give is that Anglo is of “systemic importance” to the Irish economy, while Postbank is not. Let’s consider this proposition. Postbank has deposits of €450 million and 170,000 customers. It has 70,000 savings and 35,000 current accounts, 90,000 insurance policy holders and 10,000 credit-card customers. It does what banks used to do – provide financial services for ordinary people in their own communities. Because it operates through a thousand post offices, it is particularly important in towns, villages and working-class urban areas that have long since been abandoned by the main banks. More importantly, in any sane approach to the banking collapse, Postbank would have been an important part of a new strategy of creating sensible, community-based banks for individuals and small businesses. But none of this is of systemic importance to the economy. To achieve that enviable status and become immortal, Postbank would have had to do certain things. It would have needed a chief executive who was on first-name terms with the taoiseach and who delivered regular lectures to the nation on the evils of social welfare and regulation. It would have had to plead with every gambler and hustler to please, please take a few hundred million more in loans for another fantasy project. It would have had to bamboozle its investors by cooking the books and lending chosen customers the money to buy its own 22
shares. If it had concentrated on these goals instead of getting stuck in the pathetically old-fashioned rut of helping ordinary people manage money, it would have been systemically important. Meanwhile, the policy of piping public money into the septic tank that is Anglo becomes steadily more demented. It is worth recalling what the Dáil and the Irish people were told by Brian Lenihan in January 2009 when he set this policy in motion. “The position,” he said, “is that the current loan book of Anglo Irish Bank remunerates the deposits. In other words, there is sufficient income derived from the loan book to pay for the operation of the bank and to pay for the deposits at the bank. This is a fundamental and important point. Much of the public debate has suggested that the bank is not in a solvent position. The bank is solvent and it is now coming into State ownership.” The claim that Anglo was solvent in January 2009 was ludicrous. Anglo is about to post losses of up to €12 billion – the largest in Irish corporate history. Brian Lenihan also assured the Dáil that the total recapitalisation requirement of Anglo was €4 billion and that the State would provide just €1.5 billion in the short term. That €1.5 billion became €3.9 billion and is now heading for €10 billion. And the €28 billion in loans that Anglo was to dump on Nama is now being upped to around €35 billion. The hole keeps getting bigger and the Government keeps trying to fill it with gold bars. We were told that the Government couldn’t let a bank fail. We now know that this was untrue. We were told that the taxpayers’ liability to Anglo was limited. This was untrue. And we were told that this whole policy would create credit for Irish businesses and save jobs. The opposite has happened. Yet rather than admit failure, the Government, like an increasingly desperate gambler, throws good money after bad.
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CWU DEVELOPMENT FUND
Presentation of ₏15,000.00 was made to The Street Children of Bucharest, Romania It was a great experience and a wonderful opportunity for me to visit this project last November which was sponsored by Brian Geary one of the Directors of the Project in Bucharest. The CWU members through their generosity will help to sponsor the Day Care Centre for a Nutrition and Education programme for the under privileged children of Bucharest. The most important element of the centre will be the future generation of Romanian children who will benefit from the excellent teaching skills of the staff who work there. The children using the centre would not normally be able to attend pre school education. They would be very much behind when starting school at seven years of age. Now they will be up to speed as any other child would be when starting out in education. The day care programme starts at 7.00am and runs through the day until 6.00p.m. The early start allows for the children’s parents to work during the day if they can. Because of their poverty the children attending generally have to be washed and their cloths changed before having breakfast. Then they go on for their studies. They have their lunch at 12.00 p.m. after which they take a 3 hour nap. This is followed by some play time and a little film before getting their meal and going home to their parents. The effect this program has on their physical and intellectual ability is amazing. All of the children continuously grow in confidence and are beaming with health. Residential children in St Josephs House have suffered the most piercing pain of all being rejected by their very own mother and father, abandoned and deserted. The centre tries to undo these feelings, making them feel wanted and valued, for some it takes a long time but the hope that one of their parents will come back is never far from their thoughts. This year more than ever they are dependant on your generosity even through the CWU Humanitarian Aid as their charity runs their own convoys with the help of the Irish volunteers twice a year in March and September. Sincere gratitude was expressed overwhelmingly to the CWU members for their on going support towards these very worthwhile projects. Go raibh maith agaibh go leir. 24
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Construction of a ‘best practise’ Paediatric Primary Health and specialist HIV clinic 2010
A-Z Children’s Charity would like to thank all the members of The Communications Workers Union for its continuous support. In 2007 The Communications Workers Union contributed towards the purchase of an ambulance to transport HIV infected children to hospital. In 2009 you contributed €30,000 towards the construction of the ‘best practise’ paediatric clinic to be built in 2010. On behalf of all the vulnerable children we support in Uganda I would like to thank you for your continuous support.
The 5 biggest causes of death to under- fives in developing countries are HIV, malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and measles. Presently there are an alarming 2 million AIDS orphans and 110,000 HIV infected children living in Uganda. 80% of HIV infected children will die before their 5th birthday due to lack of medicine. This clinic, when built, will provide lifesaving treatment to up to 20,000 of the most vulnerable children living in Ugandan Society; children infected and affected by HIV/ AIDS. The cost of building phase 1 of this clinic is €304,000. The running of the clinic will cost €60,000 per year. It will therefore cost €3 to provide lifesaving treatment to a vulnerable child in Uganda.
Brian Iredale Founder A-Z Children’s Charity – www.azkids.ie
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€100,000.00 DONATED TO THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE APPEAL
Pictured l to r: Terry Delany, Jimmy O’Connor, Kevin McCafferty and Charlie Kelly with the cheque for the CWU UK Haiti Appeal.
Steve Fitzpatrick presenting Dave Begg with a cheque for the Haiti Appeal.
The National Executive Council have taken the unusual step of allocating €100,000.00 from the Union’s central fund in order to assist Union Organisations who are providing aid at present to Haiti. The money to be allocated as follows:– €90,000.00 to the ICTU which will be channelled through the International Trade Union Movement. UNI Global Union donation will also be channelled through ICTU, Ireland – €10,000.00 which will be channelled through the United States Nursing Union that will facilitate sending four nurses over to work in Haiti.
Intellectual Disability Housing Fund Official Opening of House supported by the CWU Members
AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF SISTERS OF LA SAGESSE SERVICES, CREGG HOUSE, SLIGO Pictured L to R: Charlie Kelly, President CWU, Brian Conlon, Working Leader, Sligo, Val O’Sullivan, Postperson, Sligo, Ms Mary McCarthy, Cregg House, Ms Patricia Lee, Cregg House, Monica Hempenstall, Financial Officer, John Quinn eircom Letterkenny, Damian Touhy, CWU Finance Committee.
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Equality Update
Work Life Balance Awareness in An Post The JCC Diversity Sub-committee of An Post recently negotiated and agreed initiatives to promote Work Life Balance in the organisation. Members may be familiar with the previous Work Life Balance Wall Chart that was produced to highlight the statutory and non-statutory leave arrangements in An Post. This wall chart has now been updated to reflect changes in legislation and additional information for employees wishing to avail of a leave arrangement. A booklet has also been produced to highlight work life balance in An Post. The booklet not only contains the details provided in the chart but also details on additional initiatives in An Post such as occupational health and support. Finally, posters will be on display so as to increase the levels of awareness of work life balance in the company. The Union believes that the office wall charts, the associated booklet and the poster display will be a vital source of information for employees and that they will go a long way in creating awareness among employees of work life balance going forward. On a separate note Ms Breda Trimble has been appointed as the Company Equality Officer. The Union would like to wish Breda well in her new role and we look forward to working with her into the future.
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Equality Update
Education of women in the workplace is key to economic recovery – Says Women at Work Skillnets The Women at Work Skillnet believes that, with women playing a much larger role in the workforce in Ireland, the key to economic recovery will be dependent on the up-skilling and education of women. On International Women’s day, the Women at Work Skillnet highlighted that all experts agree that the sectors of the economy which are most likely to contribute to bringing Ireland out of recession are those which will be dominated by female workers in the future. As such, more focus and resources should be given to developing the skills of female workers in order to make the overall economy more competitive. This unique Skillnet was formed in 2008 and is spearheaded by five Trade Unions, the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), IBOA – The Finance Union, IMPACT, MANDATE and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) whose combined membership of women working in the private sector in Ireland is in the region of 60,000. The network is supported by a cross section of employers and policy advisors who are active participants on the steering group. The Skillnet identified an increasing demand for the training and development needs of women at work, primarily in the retail, financial services, communications and healthcare sectors. Aileen Morrissey, Mandate Trade Union’s National Coordinator of Training said that the purpose of the Skillnet is “To up-skill women to enable them to optimise their full potential in their working lives. This aim is met by giving participants an ideal opportunity to enhance their skills through professional training and development courses. During the past 24 months we have seen genuine progress in the workplace for women. However, we need to build on the successful training framework of the past and continue to make relevant, quality and diverse training available for free to our members, so they can achieve full potential in their working lives.” “During the two year period of Women at Work Skillnet, demand for training has been at an all time high - despite the economic turmoil and recession - with many programmes having waiting lists, and members progressing to higher level programmes. The primary training programmes delivered were in the area of Interpersonal Communication Skills, Executive Development IT Skills, Social and Language Skills. “In the context of the current economic environment, these training programmes have increased the adaptability of women workers in the knowledge economy, especially in terms of supporting women members to adapt to technological change and to develop basic ICT literacy skills. In Ireland, competitive advantage is increasingly dominated by knowledge, both in the form of intellectual property and also in terms of what individuals and groups of employees know and how they carry out their jobs,” said Ms Morrissey. The Women at Work Skillnet undertook rigorous evaluation of each of its training programmes, and feedback on the quality of the training has been ranked very highly by the companies and training participants. 29
Equality Update “The feedback has been excellent and very rewarding”, says Alacoque McMenamin, manager of the network. “We have also had a demand for more and more training. We hope that in the future we can continue to help develop the vast array of knowledge, skills and competencies that will be required of women workers as we move into a brighter and ever more demanding future.” The network also points to the fact that economists indicate that women are strongly increasing their share in professional, associate professional and management occupations. By 2012, women are forecast to form the majority of business, financial and legal professionals, and the proportion of managers who are women will almost reach the proportion of women in the workforce as a whole. The ESRI says, “The highest employment growth is occurring in service industries, which have a greater proportion of skilled workers. Meanwhile, within the fastest growing sectors we’re seeing increased professionalisation, with more jobs requiring high-level qualifications." These trends, though predicted before the recession, are still taking place just not at the same growth rate as expected and the Women at Work Skillnet is uniquely placed within industry to meet needs and assist continuation of these trends for Women workers. The key to the Women at Work Skillnets’ success is that the network has been used as a source of intelligence – helping members to respond to constant change and development requirements; being aware of the business environment and assisting enterprise members to respond positively by enabling women workers to attain the knowledge, skills and competencies to survive in very challenging times. The Women at Work Skillnet is match funded by the five Trade Unions, who provide the training for free to their members, and the Training Networks Programme, an initiative of Skillnets Ltd. funded from the National Training Fund through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Skillnets is an enterprise-led support body whose mission is to enhance the skills of people in employment in Irish industry to support competitiveness and employability
CWU ANTI-RACISM SURVEY UPDATE We reported in Connect that we intended to conduct an Anti-Racism Survey within the membership. That survey is now complete and we had an excellent response rate. A total of 584 responses were recorded by members both Irish Nationals and members from different ethnic backgrounds and all of the main organisations where we have members were represented in the responses. The survey was made available online and this seemed to be very popular with the membership. The survey has now been analysed by LIR training who have produced a final report into the survey findings. The aim of this report is to enquire into the CWU members’ experience of racism in the workplace. The final report completes the research process and we are going to use the upcoming Biennial Conference as an opportunity to launch the report. Following on from conference, the report will be made available to Branches.
Irish Cancer Society On a final note those who completed the survey had the option to nominate a registered charity, for entry into a draw for a prize of €300. The Union is pleased to announce that The Irish Cancer society won the draw. 30
Congress Centres Network help with redundancy situations
T
Did you know that employees receiving redundancy can claim back part of the tax they pay on Did you know that their redundancy 60% of the statutory sum? redundancy payment Did you know that can be claimed back employers issuing redundancies in tax by employers? in the workplace are obliged to give employees time off to search for employment and training opportunties?
The Congress Centres Network has recently developed a service for union officials, union members and employers faced with a redundancy situation and unemployment due to the recent economic downturn. These seminars are very successful with both the employer and the employee finding the information very helpful as redundancy is a complex issue. We offer seminars for the employees in their workplace, and provide an information pack covering the following areas: Social Welfare rights Law and Redundancy Employers’ obligations Redundancy payments Maximising your options Curriculum Vitae sample Job seekers benefit/allowance Back to education allowance Questions and Answers Our centres are situated throughout the country and can service both rural and urban areas. We are available to provide this service to any of your members if they wish to avail of it at a small charge to the employer to cover the cost of materials. Seminars for Union Officials will run monthly in Congress Head Office. If you or your members require this service please contact me at 01-8897745/087 0557025 or sylvia.ryan@ictu.ie to make further arrangements. Kind regards, Sylvia Ryan Training and Development Coordinator
SIGN UP TO CWU WEBSITE Union Website — www.cwu.ie Have You Signed-up Yet? The World Wide Web is now the main source for up-to-date information in our society. With the ever increasing availability of broadband in Ireland, access to the web, and the ability to interact electronically with friends, family and business is now part of our daily lives and the demand for online information has never been greater. The CWU, as “The Communications Union” in Ireland is committed to ensuring that its members can have safe and trouble free access to all of its services and information whenever and wherever they choose. We have a number of websites dedicated to serving the needs of our members in all sectors of the communications industry. On our main web site www.cwu.ie members can access: • Latest News and Information • GS Circulars • Services • Forms and Brochures • Workers Rights Legislation • Agreements • Back issues of Connect Magazine
From the CWU website you can also access our Equality and Diversity website, which has a whole host of information with regard to: • • • •
Employment Equality Maternity, Adoptive, Parental Leave Bullying and Harassment Discrimination
You will also find a wide range of Explanatory Booklets and Frequently Asked Questions which can be downloaded in PDF format. Much of the information is now available in the public section of the site. However, due to the sensitivity of some of the information as it relates to specific companies in which we are organised, it is necessary to restrict access exclusively to members. Therefore all members are encouraged to register with the site to ensure they have full access to all of the information available. To do this just go to www.cwu.ie and click on the “register” button at the bottom of the main menu on the left hand side of the page. You will be asked to provide the following information: Your name, Union Branch, staff/personnel number and a valid email address. You will also be asked to provide a username and password of your choice, which you can then use to access the members’ area.
Get into print! Anyone wishing to submit articles or photos to appear in the Connect journal, please, either email to:
imelda@cwu.ie or post to Imelda Wall
Communications Workers’ Union 575 North Circular Road, Dublin 1.
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An Alternative to Anti-Union Media Bias As Trade Unionists, we might wonder why it is that our views and concerns are not often reflected in the media. We have become conditioned to accept the bad press that is regularly given to our movement. All too often Trade Unionists are portrayed as trouble making, self-serving, unrepresentative and out of touch with the demands of a modern economy. One could easily forget that Trade Unions represent 800,000 people on the island and that we are, in fact, part of the largest civic movement in society. As Trade Union members, our sense that the media is very much against us was confirmed by a recent study by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions which analysed media stories that referred to Trade Unions. The study found that out of 328 reports that appeared across all the major papers, only 40 of them were positive and half of these appeared in The Irish Times. It is hardly surprising that the most anti-Union papers were the Irish and Sunday Independent – something our members might bear in mind when buying their paper. As a result of this media bias there has been very little room for informed discussion and debate on a left leaning view of the economy or society. We have heard the phrase ‘Boston or Berlin’ but judging by the mainstream media we consume, Boston is being portrayed as the only legitimate way to build our society and run our economy – despite the mess we are in and the obvious failings of the free market. If you want an alternative to the centre-right mainstream media that serves business interests more than it does the worker, or if you simply think that we can do things better but haven’t seen or heard anything in the media that gives you reason to believe, it is possible then the following media sources (Irish and international) offer a useful (not always left leaning) alternative:
Notes on the Front — economic analysis and commentary written in a very straight forward manner: http://www.notesonthefront.typepad.com/
Independent website that pools commentary and analysis of various progressive economists and others linked to TASC which is an Irish think tank for action on social change http://www.progressive-economy.ie/
The Village Magazine: a fresh perspective, good journalism. http://villagemagazine.wordpress.com/
Very popular discussion board that provides a platform for all political voices from every part of the spectrum: http://www.politics.ie/
Irish Left Review — an online magazine that brings together various left leaning views: www.irishleftreview.org A political blog that provides, in its own words ‘a left wing of the world’: http://cedarlounge.wordpress.com/
Irish Economy: mostly right wing but good place for facts/debate and they have made the running on bank nationalisation: www.irisheconomy.ie
Blog by the Nobel prize winning and often quoted economist: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/tsd
The Progressive Economics Forum — a Canadian blog but many relevant issues that we are facing: http://www.progressive-economics.ca/
Dublin Opinion: political/cultural review but has good stuff, recently a response to Krugman’ s article on Ireland: www.dublinopinion.com
Guardian’ s Comment is Free - particularly, anything by Larry Elliot and Will Hutton: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree 34
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Reform of the Unfair Dismissal Act Tom Murphy BBS (Honours) Dublin No.1 Branch.
Introduction
• •
This article looks at the background to the Unfair Dismissal Acts 1977-1993 and what was the primary purpose of the Acts which is now on the statute books for 33 years. Since 1977 the world of work or contract of employment has changed beyond recognition. The article looks at the background of the Acts, some of the benefits to worker in the Acts and is it now time for a review of this important piece legislation which affects the working life’s of many workers in Ireland.
In addition to the excluded categories, certain employees will be excluded because of their particular circumstances even though they belong to a category of workers that is covered. To make a claim a worker must satisfy the following criteria.
•
Background to the Unfair Dismissals Acts
•
The primary purpose of the Unfair Dismissals Act in 1977 was to limit arbitrary behaviour in industrial relations and to provide employees with forms of redress in the event of unwarranted termination of their employment. Prior to 1977 the only remedy offered to an employee faced with dismissal was that offered by common law for an action for wrongful dismissal which provided minimal safeguards to an employee in the event of an unjust dismissal. As long as an employee received his /her contractual notice entitlement, an employer was free to dismiss employees at will. This remedy available in common law provided for a claim for wrongful dismissal in the courts which was in essence no more than a claim for contractual or reasonable notice. Before the 1977 Act the balance of power was very much in the hands of the employer and many employers abused their position. This is evident in the amount of Industrial disputes recorded in Ireland in the period between 19721975 showed that over a quarter of a million days were lost in industry as a result of disputes relating to dismissals and in 1975 one-third of all days lost in industry were because of disputes relating to dismissals. Obviously, if an alternative framework could be provided where these disputes could be resolved, it would lead to a reduction in industrial conflict. Apart from the industrial conflict there were a number of reasons why the Unfair Dismissal Act was introduced in 1977. At an international level the International Labour Organisation issued a recommendation in 1963 which required that the termination of employment by an employer not take place unless there was a valid reason for such termination. The United Kingdom introduced legislation in accordance with this recommendation in 1971. It took the Irish Government a further 6 years before they introduced the Unfair Dismissals Act and the act was introduced after a European Community Survey of dismissal legislation exposed Ireland’s lack of provision in the area.
The employee must be employed under a contract of employment The employee must have a least one year’s continuous service with the employer against whom the employee is making the claim.
The Act provides, subject to certain limitations that all dismissals are, for the purpose of the Act, deemed to be unfair unless the employer can justify the dismissal on one or other of the grounds set out in Section 6 of the 1977 Act. Under the Act, an employee may bring a claim for redress for unfair dismissal before a Rights Commissioners or the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) within 6 months of the date of dismissal, there is also provision for extension of this time limit to 12 months in exceptional circumstances. I believe the statutory regime has a number of distinct advantages over common law remedies for wrongful dismissal. The procedure before the EAT is less formal, less costly and the entire action can be disposed of within a matter of months. The Unfair Dismissals legislation also requires an employer to have good reasons for a dismissal and the fairness or otherwise of a dismissal is assessed with regard to the reasonableness of the decision to dismiss. While I agree that the Unfair Dismissals is a very important piece of legislation which protects the rights of many Irish workers it is my opinion that the Government should reform the Act for a number of reasons. Ireland has a high proportion of workers employed in the public service. The employment of many of these workers (e.g. civil servants) is protected under other legislation. However, in an increasing litigious society, frequently the fact that these workers are excluded from the act of 1977 means that disputes about their employment are litigated at a greater expense before the High Court. Many workers may be forced in the future to work beyond the normal retirement age to pay for their pensions if they are lucky enough to have a pension. If the Government does not amend the Unfair Dismissals Acts I believe that many employers will move more to engaging workers on a contract for services basis or short term contracts in order to avoid the legislative provisions of the Unfair Dismissals Acts. The reform of the 1977 Act would allow a greater amount of fairness in the judicial determination of employment legislation. By ignoring to reform the Unfair Dismissal Acts, the Government will be failing to protect employees in the future. The full text of the Unfair Dismissal Act is available on the CWU website.
Application of the Act In general the Act applies to any person working as an employee. An employee for the purposes of the Act is defined as an individual who has entered into or works under a contact of employment. Even though the Act of 1977 applies generally, not all employees are covered by it. The Act of 1977 excludes from its protection certain categories of employees. These include:
• • •
Officers of Local Authorities, Health Boards, and VECs An employee who is dismissed after the employee has reached the normal retiring age for employees of that employer
Members of the Defence Forces and the Gardai FAS trainees and apprentices Civil servants 44
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CWU People
Postal Strike of 1979 Remembered Submitted by Bill Colfer, Waterford Postal Branch (In a personal capacity)
The National Executive ~ 1979 Seated Front l to r: JJ Gorman; M Lanigan; P Fitzgerald AGS; Terry Quinlan GS; E Walsh (Incoming President); T Harrington DGS; S Scanlon AGS; T Flannery; MD Gleeson; Standing Back l to r: T Maycock; S Ryan; JR Jackman; J Colfer (Outgoing President); DF Grimes; SJ Holt; T Delany; E Waters; D Aherne; BC Shanny Amidst the Economic Struggle in which Irish Workers are now engaged I believe it is worthwhile to reflect on the Social History of this country in the last century. When that history is written, to quote David Begg General Secretary of Congress “there is no doubt but that the Postal Strike of 1979 will be judged a seminal event in the struggle for workers’ rights in the 20th Century”. The CWU now has a significant number of members who joined later in both the semi-state and private sectors who did not suffer the hardship of that time. For those members who joined the Union later and for all members who now face the prospect of difficult times similarly brought on them by a Fianna Fáil Government it is important that we particularly consider the sacrifices made by our colleagues of 30 years ago to advance the cause of Postal and indeed all workers. There is no doubt that the advances made by the POWU; PTWU; & CWU since the strike are a tribute to the men and women who held out for Nineteen weeks plus One in 1979 against the strongest Government in the history of the state and ultimately won a significant victory following which the Government fell having lost European; Local; and then National Elections. Times may indeed have changed as we consider the profile of our colleagues in 1979 many of whom including my late father who left school as children in their early teens to start work; my peers and I who left school in our late teens to similarly seek lifelong work in the Post Office and now the emerging next Generation for whom third level education is virtually essential and I would argue is now a basic right for all. The Post Office Workers Union and it’s members did what was necessary in 1979 meeting the challenges present with the action appropriate to achieve justice. The current Economic Crisis Negotiations involving
primarily ICTU; Government and IBEC; are no less challenging than the events of 1979 and as a tribute to all those who walked the picket line in 1979 the Presidential Address delivered to Annual Conference in June 1979 by John Colfer who championed the cause of the ordinary worker at National Executive and An Post Board level until his death in 1997 is quoted below. The solidarity so bravely demonstrated 30 years ago is again necessary amongst all workers both Public and Private to effect a challenging economic turnaround through measured change and perhaps use of “the scalpel in preference to the blunderbuss” to again quote David Begg, but if Government fails to take cognisance of the imperative to protect the most vulnerable whilst cosseting the super rich the battle lines will, as night follows day, once again be drawn:
POWU Presidential Address June 1979 - Ballina “The past year has been a momentous one for all of us. But 1979 assumed historical significance for Telephonists when in February an Equality Officer of the Labour Court found in favour of the Union’s claim for Equal Pay (for Female Telephonists). The Post Office after a Lenten-like 40 days mourning belatedly accepted the recommendation. Congratulations to the Telephonists. Congratulations also to our General Secretary Terry Quinlan for his successful prosecution of the case and particularly for his tenacity and insistence on full equal pay when so many outside our ranks were tempted by the prospect of a substantial increase which was still less than Equal Pay. As far as the GS was concerned 47
CWU People and as far as this Union is concerned there is only one kind of equality and that is Full Equality………….” Turning to resolution of the Postal strike he continued “….. I want to say this to the Minister – there is no easy road to peace in the Post Office. But if you are prepared to tread on a few administrative corns and grasp the Staff Relations nettle firmly you will not find the staff unresponsive. You must however cut through the jungle of red tape and bureaucratic nonsense which is strangling the Post Office and is preventing the staff from carrying out our function – that of enabling people to communicate with one another. Unless and until this is done, the problems will not go away and neither will this Union. Many members of the Union have said to me that the single most frustrating aspect of working in the Post Office is the paralysing slowness with which any advance in wages or conditions is accomplished. A very old proverb has it that “he gives twice who gives soonest” not alone does the Post Office not give soon – it does not give at all……….. The Union should not have to be constantly pushing the Post Office to changes which most of the time result in a better service anyway. Post Office thinking in this field seems to be limited to introducing changes in our working conditions without consultation and at no cost to the Exchequer. Well colleagues, that day is gone forever along with many other sacred cows which have been slaughtered in the past four months (of the strike). When the Union was formed in 1923 it was on the basis that each grade had a contribution to make in furthering the welfare of the Post Office Workers. Amalgamation has proved it’s worth down through the years but never more so than at the present time when we are engaged in a common struggle to make the Post Office see reason and concede to the members a reasonable settlement to our claims. We seek no more or no less than a fair return for our labour in the interest of the community as a whole. Those of us who have been in close touch with the members and events of the past four months have first-hand knowledge of the spirit of amalgamation in it’s finest form. In particular may I mention the recent mass rally in the National Stadium. For me it was a most gratifying and moving experience to preside at a meeting attended by all grades and to listen to the very deep expressions of solidarity from the representatives speaking on behalf of all grades but, with one dominant message – “One for All and All for One”. So long as that spirit prevails there is no force in the country strong enough to break our resolve to continue our struggle to secure a reasonable and fair settlement. Amalgamation has indeed demonstrated it’s value as a binding force in our fight for justice and this conference provides an opportunity to pledge our resolve to remain as a united force in overcoming any difficulties we may encounter in future. Individually you and I are considered of little consequence but joined together in the ranks of the Union we will not be ignored. The National Strike began for us on the 19th February and
as we meet here in Ballina on the 6th June there is still no end in sight. On that fateful day, the men and women, the boys and girls of this Union when on the picket line together. Many of them because of the continuing implacable attitude of our employer went on the bread line together. But the spirit which was in evidence when you directed us (the National Executive) to take action in the Mansion House in January is stronger than ever, and you remain committed to a fair offer for all grades which will bring us back to work together. During the past 4 months some of you were punched and beaten. All of you and all of your families suffered deprivation and hardship in the most heroic manner. The pundits said we had not the stomach for industrial action and forecast a return to work within days. You certainly shattered that assumption. Members of the NE attended numerous regional meetings throughout the country. We hope the meetings were helpful to you, because we were certainly sustained by the wonderful spirit in evidence at those meetings. It has been alleged during recent weeks that the members of this Union are out of touch with reality. There is of course something very unreal about rising before 5am and making your way to work before public transport is available, and in other instances returning home from work when public transport has closed down. Our members do, no doubt tend to get out of touch with the reality of normal family and social life. The Post Office, however makes available a very effective antidote to any risk of complete disorientation and it is called a pay packet. When you extract the exorbitant cost of your living accommodation, be it mortgage or rent, and pay food prices which have risen 18% in 12 months and then look at how much if anything is left, too well are you then put in touch with the stark uncompromising reality of not having enough to exist on…… Our fellow Postal Workers in Northern Ireland risked suspension and probably put their career advancement prospects at risk by refusing to handle diverted traffic. Regretfully no such risks were even contemplated by too many alleged Trade Unionists in the Republic generally……. Many excuses were advanced in extenuation of course, the words duty and conscience figured prominently. The thirteen thousand members of this Union have however come to the inescapable conclusion that the price of betrayal 1979 style is no longer calculated in pieces of silver but in pence per mile for the motorised strike breakers. I am overcome by your courage, your resilience, your determination and above all by your amalgamated loyalty. You are bearing every burden, you are enduring every hardship, and in so doing you are displaying the great virtues of – Faith – in your Union; - Hope - for the future; and – Love – by the concern you show for one another. Delegates as representatives of Thirteen Thousand brave men and women – I salute You.” John Colfer President POWU June 1979. 48
CWU People
Paddy Davoren Retirement The Dublin Postal Clerks held a function to mark Paddy Davoren’s retirement from An Post . Paddy joined the Post Office in 1965 and immediately became active in the Union. He was a Branch Committee member of the Dublin Postal Clerks Branch for over 30 years and served as Treasurer of the Branch from 1977 to 2001. He was also Treasurer of Combined Dublin Branches Distress Fund during the 1979 strike. Many people will acknowledge and appreciate his sterling work on their behalf during that period. He was a constant source of information and knowledge to an ever changing environment at varying levels serving as a member of the National Executive and Workers Director from 1992 until his retirement at the end of January 2010. Speaking at his retirement function Willie Mooney of the Dublin Postal Clerks Branch said “I have known and worked with Paddy for the last seven or eight years. He was a self-effacing, loyal, hard-working Union man who regularly gave up his own time to serve the needs of the members. He was an immense source of information and a great man to go negotiating with.” Paddy’s retirement function took place in the Maldron Hotel and there was a huge attendance including many activists who served with Paddy either at Branch or National Level. To Paddy’s family Mary, Jason, John and Mary Clare we thank you for allowing us to make use of him during his career in the Union and we wish Paddy and his family many years of health, happiness and a very active retirement.
Pictured with his family, from l to r: Jason, Mary Louise, Paddy, Mary and John.
Paddy pictured with his mother, Anna.
Tommy Greene ~ Another Great Servant to the Union Retires submitted by Frank Donohoe, Branch Secretary, Dublin Postal Delivery Branch
Joe Guinan, Dave Moran, Tommy Greene, Frank Donohoe, Cormac O’Dalaigh and Paddy Costello past and present members of the Dublin Postal Delivery Branch Committee together again to celebrate Tommy’s retirement 49
Joe Guinan National Officer presents Tommy with his Union scroll.
A great night was had by all in the Maldron Hotel, Cardiff Lane on the 22nd January, to mark the retirement of Tommy Greene, who gave 46 years loyal service to the Union. Tommy served as Branch Chairman of the Dublin Postal Delivery Branch for 13 years and was a familiar face at Conference for many years. Tommy was still representing members in Cardiff Lane DO, until the day he retired and his experience was vital during the negotiations on the redesign of the office. On behalf of all the members of the Dublin Postal Delivery Branch, the Branch Officers would like to wish Tommy and Dolores and family the very best of luck for the future.
CWU People
Frank Hastings Retires Photographs: Sean Hyland Branch Manager Eamon Gannon with Westport Head Office Postmen, congratulating Frank on his last working day.
Photograph No 2. Branch Manager Eamon Gannon. making a presentation to Frank on behalf of the Post Office.
Photograph No 3. Branch Secretary Ger Dawson making a presentation to Frank on behalf of the Union.
Global Solidarity Training Course The Global Solidarity Training Course, which is in its second year, was developed by ICTU and funded by Irish Aid. The aim of the course is to train 15 Trade Union members to become Global Solidarity Champions and for those members to become involved with the ICTU Global Solidarity Committee. The course covered a broad range of topics including Human and Trade Union Rights; Climate Change; Gender Inequalities; Forced Labour and Human Trafficking; and International Trade Union Development Cooperation. The Adrienne Power and learning outcomes from the course were to Mamadou Diallo understand the different situations of Trade Union activists in various countries and how international Trade Union solidarity contributes to justice and equality for workers throughout the world. 50
Ciara Melinn and Mamadou Diallo
CWU People
PJ Fogarty Retires from Thurles Postal Branch
Andrew Cummins presenting the CWU Certificate to PJ Fogarty at his Retirement Function in Thurles after 40 years’ service
Pat Quinn and John McGlynn Retirement The Communication Workers Union held a retirement function for Pat Quinn and John McGlynn in the Central Hotel on Friday 29th January, 2010. This function was attended by Mr Charlie Kelly, C.W.U. President, Mr John Tansey, C.W.U. National Executive, Mr John Lafferty, Delivery Service Manager Donegal Town, Mr William McGirr, Branch Secretary Donegal South West, Mr Martin Gillespie, Assistant Chairman C.W.U. Donegal Town, and Gerry Bennett, Branch Chairman.
Charlie Kelly presents the CWU Scrolls to Pat and John.
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Willian McGirr congratulates Pat and John on their retirement.
CWU People
Retirement of John O’Sullivan and Tom Dormer of the Ennis Section
Pictured Front Row l to r: Tom Dormer with his wife Susan, Agnes O’Sullivan, wife of John O’Sullivan who retired as Chairman of Limerick Branch. Back Row l to r: Ger Falvey, Branch Sec., Jim O’Flynn, N.E.C., Eddie Glenny, Sect. Sec., Pat Kennelly, Sect. Chairman, and Simon Talty, Section Treas.
Ennis Section held a retirement party in the Temple Gate Hotel in Ennis for John O’Sullivan who retired after 42 years’ service and Chairman of the Branch and Tom Dormer who also retired after 36 years from the Ennis Section.
Thomas Murphy graduates magna cum laude! Many congratulations are due to Thomas Murphy, who was conferred with an Honours Degree in Bachelor of Business Studies (Industrial Relations/Human Resources) at University College Dublin in December 2009.
Thomas pictured at his Graduation, which took place in the O’Reilly Hall on Tuesday 1st December 2009
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CWU People
James Coffey R.I.P. District Branch lost a true friend, who will forever stay in the heart of all those who knew him. James family wish to acknowledge the kindness shown to them on his untimely death and also appreciate the guard of honour afforded to him at his removal. Our thoughts and prayers are with James family especially his mother, brothers and sisters his extended family and wide circle of friends. May he rest in peace ar dheis de go raibh a anam dilis. Submitted by Pat Delaney, Nenagh Section Secretary.
It was with great sadness that we learned of James Coffey’s untimely death who died suddenly at home on 1st October 2009. James worked in the Internal Build, Network Engineering Section in eircom for 31 years and James had returned to his native Nenagh to work locally after working in Dublin for over ten years. James was a quite and very accommodating person, a real team member, always willing to help his colleagues when required. His Colleagues in the Nenagh Section and Limerick
Philomena O’Brien R.I.P. Philomena O’Brien was a prominent member of the Athlone Telephones Branch of the Communications Workers’ Union. Her contribution to the local Athlone Tels Branch was always both constructive and positive. Phil served at committee level and was an active member of the Union with over thirty years’ service in eircom. Phil worked in the Telephone Exchange in Castlerea before moving to Athlone until she retired in 2008. Phil was respected and loved by all that knew her and is sadly missed by her husband John and her wide circle of friends and colleagues. May she rest in peace.
Alex Carolan R.I.P. It is with deep regret and sadness that we have to report the death of our friend and colleague, Alex Carolan. Alex was tragically killed in a road traffic accident while working for An Post on the 14th September 2009, a few miles from his delivery office in Lifford. Alex was 36 years old and started with An Post 14 months earlier. He was a very likable young man. He was held in very high esteem by everyone and even though he was only with An Post for a short time, it felt as if he was there for years. The local community in Lifford was stunned by Alex’s sudden death and the town came to a mournful standstill on the morning of his funeral. Alex was a local man, he was born and bread in Lifford and was well known by everyone in the local community. He was a pleasant, affable young man who always had a smile on his face. He was modest with everyone and the local community was shocked at the suddenness with which he left us. Alex was also a member of the Reserve Defence Force
(RDF), formerly known as the FCA, and was well known for his shooting skills for which he won many awards. A keen sportsman, Alex also played soccer regularly with his colleagues in An Post. Alex’s death not only shocked his colleagues in the immediate local area, but also shocked An Post workers throughout the country. Alex’s Requiem Mass took place with military honours on Thursday 17th September 2009, in St. Patrick’s Church, Murlog, Lifford, followed by interment in the adjoining cemetery. A guard of honour from his colleagues in An Post accompanied Alex to his final resting place. Alex will be sorely missed by his father and mother, Thomas and Kathleen, his sisters Shirley and Maura, his partner Donna and his son Alex; to these we offer our sincere and heartfelt sympathy. May he rest in peace - Ar dheis de go raibh a anam dilis. Submitted by Lifford Inishowen Branch. 53
Books reviewed by Adrienne Power CARDS ON THE TABLE by Agatha Christie Price €4.82 The Book Depository.co.uk (Postage Free) Set in the 1930s between the two Great Wars. Mr Shaitana, a flamboyant party host and rich Syrian, invites four detectives and four possible criminals to a bridge party. During the party Mr Shaitana is quietly murdered. Earlier in the night the ostentatious host remarked that he was fascinated by people who committed murder and got away with it as the murder looked like an accident. The four detectives set out to find who of the four other guests at the party the murderer is. This novel features Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian Detective and Mrs Ariadne Oliver, the fictional Crime Writer (said to be based on Agatha herself).
Told with the usual Christie flair where twists and turns abound. It is also a fascinating look at the past. GLOBAL WARMING – A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION by Mark Maslin (Oxford University Press) Price €6.15 The Book Depository.co.uk (Postage Free) This book firstly explains what Global Warming is? Then it goes on to explain the evidence for Climate Change and gives us a model for the future with a variety of impacts and solutions. Most significantly we learn how politics affects it! It states Global Warming is the most important science issue of the 21st century. It is an introduction to the reader of the science and politics of Climate Change. It covers the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide during the industrial period, plus other important aspects like the increase in storms and floods and how deep ocean circulation is one of the major controls on our global climate.
A tiny volume with a lot of thought-provoking information. THE CASTLE by David Kavanagh Sold on LuLu.com Price €13.99 plus postage (Published 16/11/2009) The Castle is a work of fiction centring on the drug-criminal underworld of Dublin spanning 40 years. It concentrates on a group of friends who rise to the top in the drug world until deceit and jealousy tear them apart. It is written with great descriptive power which grips you and carries you along through the story. The dialogue is pacey. The characters are very credible. It can be hard-hitting in parts but definitely keeps you turning the pages.
From the opening scene to the closing scene it’s a thrill-ride of a story! LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding Price €5.46 The Book Depository.co.uk (Postage Free) First published in 1954. It is simply told but a haunting tale. One of those stories once read will stay with you for the rest of your life! It centres on a group of boys, only survivors after a plane crashes on a deserted island. During the day they are happy to explore the island, an adventure playground to them, but at night they fear the beast in the darkness. The beast of course is just their own fears. The story moves from lightness to darkness building to a horrifying end!
The novel is an interesting study of human nature. 54
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