NIPSA News May

NIPSA NEWS

EONI STAFF AGREE TO STRIKE ACTION The newspaper of the leading public sector trade union

May 2016

Tel: 02890661831

www.nipsa.org.uk

‘Resounding’ vote against Electoral Office closures plan NIPSA members working for the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland (EONI) have given a “resounding” vote in favour of taking industrial action in response to management proposals to close all six regional electoral offices.

The EONI is seeking to close offices in Ballymena, Banbridge, Derry/Londonderry, Newtownabbey, Newtownards and Omagh, centralising its services to Belfast.

NIPSA has been campaigning against the EONI plan and has received backing from all political parties. According to the union, many newly-elected MLAs offered their support to staff in regional electoral offices during acceptance speeches in the recent Assembly election.

Referring to the ballot result, NIPSA HQ offi-

cial Dooley Harte said: “Members in regional electoral offices have given their resounding support for industrial action including strike action through our recent ballot.

“Almost 92% of those balloted supported strike action with 100% supporting action short of strike action.”

Mr Harte confirmed that NIPSA representatives had met with officials from both the EONI and the Northern Ireland Office in a bid to resolve the issue but that the meeting had ended without a resolution.

He commented: “While the meeting, which was convened by the Labour Relations Agency, had made some progress, there was still a gulf between us on our demands.”

NIPSA has asked that additional funding be provided and building leases extended to Sep-

tember 30, 2017 to allow for a joint working group to introduce and assess the impact of new admin systems and online registration technology.

This would also allow time to carry out a full review of regional services with a focus on accommodation, structures and roles and responsibilities.

Pointing out that these proposals had not been accepted by management, Mr Harte continued: “Members have given a clear and unambiguous statement to management that they are prepared to take strike action to protect jobs and services in rural areas.

He added: “NIPSA will now be engaging members in the range of options available to them, up to and including strike action.”

NIPSA lodges 6 per cent pay claim for Assembly

NIPSA has lodged a 2016/17 pay claim of 6% for members of the union working in the Northern Ireland Assembly and has described it as “reasonable in all of the circumstances”.

Members employed at the Assembly are not covered by Northern Ireland Civil Service pay claims and individual negotiations take place each year on pay and allowances as well as terms and conditions.

The main element is for a consolidated 6% increase on all points on all pay scales, including maximum points.

According to the union, this reflects 1% for each year that there has been no increase to the pay scales.

In addition to the percentage increase that is being sought, the claim is also seeking pay progression for all relevant staff who meet the eligibility criteria of satisfactory or better.

It is understood NIPSA has claimed improvements to the minimum increase on pay on promotion by means of raising the value of the minimum point on the relevant pay scale as well as a reduction in the spinal column points on all grades.

The union has also sought an increase in annual leave entitlement to 30 days on entry, rising to 32 days after three years’ service and 35 days annual leave after five years’ service and finally an

BSO Warehouse ballot result - see Page 2

increase in paid paternity leave from five days to 10 days.

Tony McMullan, the NIPSA official with responsibility for the Northern Ireland Assembly, told NIPSA News: “We believe that the pay claim is reasonable in all of the circumstances. It reflects the fact that our members have been under increasing pressure over recent years to be able to pay their bills while there have been little – if any – pay increases.”

He added: “We will enter into the pay talks in a positive and constructive manner and we look forward to the early conclusion to the negotiations.”

Sun shines on NIPSA May Day marchers in Belfast

General Secretary Alison Millar takes some muchneeded refreshments during Belfast May Day Rally.

More pictures by Kevin Cooper on pages 6/7

Download your membership application here: http://www.nipsa.org.uk/About-NIPSA/Join-US/Application-Form

NEWS

Page 2

Defending public servants and decent public services EDITORIAL

NIPSA Conference will be held from June 1 to 3 in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. This follows on the heels of the NI Assembly election. As NIPSA News goes to press we are awaiting to see what the outcome of the two-week deliberations by the political leaders on the Draft Programme for Government.

Whatever the outcome, it is clear we will have an opposition government and we will have to see how the dynamics of this new reality shapes the Assembly. While the political makeup of the Assembly is much as before, the work of NIPSA will continue as in the past – seeking to lobby, influence and hold to account all those politicians who have been returned by the electorate.

What appears to have been forgotten is that 42% of the electorate did not vote – this shows that the Assembly is not working for many in Northern Ireland who feel let down by politicians. Many young people as well as the not-so-young are looking for an alternative which does not look

back but looks forward.

What is clear for NIPSA members and their families is that the next four years will see further attacks on public services and public servants. If we are to challenge government both here and at Westminster we must equip ourselves to fight the many attacks that will be forthcoming in the weeks and months ahead.

In this edition of NIPSA News, you will read about disputes continuing in a number of areas, including the fight for decency in work at the Business Services Organisation where unacceptable working practices are being resisted by members.

It is clear that when members stand together, draconian work practices can be defeated. NIPSA is supporting these warehouse operatives in their just fight.

Elsewhere, we have the Mental Health Day Centre dispute and – working together with service users and others – this campaign continues to gather momentum.

Also, members working in the Electoral Office have just voted for industrial action

Getting organised for Health and Safety

THE Northern Ireland public sector is entering a new era of the unknown. This sector has always taken great pride in providing a high quality service across all sectors – social housing, welfare and health – but the NI Assembly have taken an unprecedented step in reducing staffing levels in the public service by up to 20,000 jobs.

They are quite willing to finance this reduction through the Voluntary Exit Scheme as well as the DFP’s reduction in its rented building portfolio. This will change the demographics of the public service by having fewer staff working out of fewer locations.

For our members this will have continuous repercussions. In reducing staffing levels there has been no indication how the remaining staff will be able to manage the workloads, which will not be reducing.

This pressure on those staff who remain is exacerbated by the knowledge that the leases of their current work locations are being lapsed or that their work area is being relocated or centralised. They now have to wait on decisions being made on their future work locations.

The complexion of the public service does not in any way dilute the employers’ responsibility to staff and it is important that our members organise at this time to ensure that Health and Safety regulations are adhered to.

Health and Safety does not only deal with the state of your work location or the ergonomics of your seating arrangements, Health and Safety also refers to the welfare of workers and the impact of change on the workforce.

Change and uncertainty in the workplace can cause stress – more so in the current circumstances and it is important that we organise to ensure that management fulfil their duty of care in mitigating all of the factors set out above. l Do you have a Health and Safety Rep in your area? l Do you know NIPSA provides training if you want to become a Health and Safety Rep? l Do you need advice on how to set up a Health and Safety committee?

If you require further information contact your branch secretary, section office or NIPSA headquarters.

NIPSA NEWS

NIPSA Harkin House, 54 Wellington Park, Belfast BT9 6DP, Tel: 028 90661831 Fax 028 90665847 or email: alison.millar@nipsa.org.uk Editorial contact details: Bob Miller email: bob.miller@nipsa.org.uk Correspondence should be sent to the above address.

Unless otherwise stated, the views contained in NIPSA NEWS do not necessarily reflect the policy of the trade union NIPSA.

to their fight to retain the six regional offices across Northern Ireland. NIPSA is pressing for proper engagement on this issue. However, if the NIO and the Chief Electoral Officer do not come to their senses and rescind the proposal to close these six offices, then this will be a highprofile dispute which could interrupt the EU referendum.

This is not a fight that NIPSA and its members working in the Electoral Office were looking for – but we have been left with no alternative but to seek to defend our members’ jobs and the vital public services they deliver.

These are just some of the struggles that NIPSA members are engaged in but all members can be assured that we will continue these struggles to defend public servants and decent public services for all citizens.

Alison Millar, General Secretary

BSO warehouse workers’ 100% vote for industrial action WAREHOUSE staff at the BSO Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS) facility on Belfast’s Boucher Road have voted unanimously to take industrial action.

The 100% vote in favour, which was announced on May 17, follows claims that workers had suffered degrading treatment at the hands of management as well as employees’ anger over the hated ‘pick rate’.

The ‘pick rate’ sets out that every member of staff is expected to visit 35 locations an hour, every hour of the working week.

One PaLS worker explained: “If you miss the target on a Monday, the rate rises each day. It is soul destroying.”

NIPSA official Tommy Brownlee told

NIPSA News: “The men in the warehouse have done this with a heavy heart. They are the life-blood of the Health Service but could take no more of the treatment they were receiving.”

According to the union, there is a small glimmer of hope that industrial action can be averted. Currently an appeal of a grievance is being heard and if it is upheld it may yet form the basis for a solution.

However, if the issue is not resolved, the first day of action will be in the week starting June 6.

Mr Brownlee added: “NIPSA is urging all our members to support the staff in the warehouse to ensure they are not treated as second-class citizens.”

Some progress after big ‘yes’ vote for strike action

LAST ditch talks over Fujitsu’s decision to shut its Antrim plant following a 94% vote in favour of strike action by Communicaiton Workers Union members have resulted in the company pulling back from announcing definite compulsory redundancies.

While the dispute is far from settled, management’s agreement (Thursday, May 19)) to lift the immediate threat of compulsory redundancies has opened the way for further talks about a potential solution tabled by the CWU that could result in 20 jobs being relocated to Belfast.

2.5m working homes worse off with new Tory payment

UNIVERSAL CREDIT will leave 2.5 million working families more than £2,100 a year worse off, a think tank has warned.

The scheme, which rolls seven different benefits into a single payment, was designed by former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith supposedly to “personalise benefits” and “make

work pay.”

But the Resolution Foundation said the scheme, due to be introduced across Britain later this month, was simply being used by the Treasury as a complicated vehicle to make welfare cuts via the back door.

Stalwart health reps retire NEWS

Contract awarded for new DAERA HQ

TWO stalwart NIPSA health reps Barbara Wilson (left) and Clare McGowan receive retirement bouquets when they attended the Health and Social Care Central Panel conference. Also in the picture are HSCCP chair Tanya Killen and NIPSA official Kevin McCabe.

NIPSA has vowed to protect and defend the interests of members over the relocation of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) HQ to Ballykelly.

First Minister Arlene Foster, Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and then Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill, announced in March that the £12 million contract to build the HQ would go ahead.

The go-ahead for the new project came after the project was green-lighted at the Planning Committee of the Causeway Coast and Glens District Council in February.

The project, which will see around 600 Civil Service jobs move to the North West, was awarded to Portadown-based builders J.H. Turkington and Sons.

The new HQ will be sited in the former Shackleton Barracks in Ballykelly.

According to NIPSA, while the union has a policy of

backing the relocation of Civil Service jobs across Northern Ireland, it also needs to protect and defend the interests of members in existing jobs to ensure they do not suffer any disadvantage in the relocation.

A source told NIPSA News: “We have been involved in serious discussions with the former Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and now the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to ensure that the rights and protections of existing staff are maintained.”

Work is to start straight away on the design phase for the new HQ and it is anticipated that building will commence in July with the project expected to finish in December 2017.

It is hoped the first group of civil servants will move to the new workplace by the end of this year but ultimately 600 staff will be relocated to the area.

Unions round on payment cuts

GOVERNMENT plans to cut civil service redundancy payments have been described as “sickening” by unions.

A consultation launched earlier this year is looking at overwriting major changes to the civil service compensation scheme, imposed by the previous coalition government and presented to unions and MPs as “long term”.

The proposals in the consultation, which ended on May 3, include offering no more than 15 months’ pay for anyone made redundant, no matter how long they’ve worked; redefining a month

as three weeks for the purposes of calculating a redundancy payment; and setting a maximum wage for redundancy payment, no matter what people actually earn.

The government is also considering reducing lump sum payments the closer people are to retirement.

One public service union leader said: “It is utterly sickening to see the Tories treat civil servants with such contempt, rowing back on promises made just a few years ago.

“In the same way that public sector pensions were slashed on the basis of a lie, there is no justifica-

tion or need for this and we will be opposing it.”

Another public services union has said that the proposals move the goalposts, with changes happening at break-neck speed.

“The government seems determined to come up with new, draconian measures every few months,” it said.

It also warned of the government’s indication “to look at sickness absence levels in the public sector”. The union said that “it isn’t likely their solution will involve investment in staff and their health”.

Page 3

Workers’ dark day as Trade Union Act is made law

THE Trade Union Act became law for the rest of the UK on Wednesday, May 5.

The introduction of the Bill was branded a “dark day” for working people.

The Bill, which will not be brought into force in NI, was given royal assent after clearing its final hurdle in the Lords on May 4 following an eight-month battle to block it in and outside Parliament.

“The Bill’s progress is simply a dark day for workers and for those who speak up in their defence when power is misused,” said a leading union official.

But he praised the “dogged” scrutiny by MPs and Lords who helped unions to win “significant concessions” from the government on some of the worst aspects.

The government has been forced into a review of electronic strike ballots that could help unions overcome the 50 per cent turnout threshold imposed on strike ballots, while the opt-in system for unions’ political funds will only be imposed on new members.

Despite the victories, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the Act posed “a serious threat to good industrial relations and is completely unnecessary.

“The history books will show that the government’s first major Act of this Parliament has been to attack the right to strike — a fundamental British liberty.”

Shadow minister for trade unions Ian Lavery said the Tories’ priorities showed their true colours.

“Trade unions have won so many vital rights for working people in this country,” he told the Star.

“But the Tories in government have nothing but contempt for those who most need effective trade unions — the vulnerable and the low paid.”

Vigorous debate as NIPSA motions carried at NIC-ICTU conference Page 4

NIC.ICTU CONFERENCE 2016

A TOTAL of 30 delegates from NIPSA attended this year’s Northern Ireland Committee of Irish Congress of Trade Unions biennial conference at the City Hotel in Londonderry on April 12 and 13.

The NIC-ICTU conference, held every two years, is the main decision-making body for ICTU-affiliated trade unions in Northern Ireland.

NIPSA submitted three motions to the conference on the Fresh Start Agreement, the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the rise of racism, as well as NI employment law agenda.

A number of speakers from the union proposed the motions and all were carried.

There was vigorous debate on the Fresh Start Agreement with a number of speakers arguing for and against the motion.

NIPSA put forward its position – that the main political parties had sold Northern Ireland short by brokering a deal on implementing a raft of austerity measures that will be bad for workers, bad for their families and bad for the wider general public.

It was acknowledged that devolution had, in some instances, staved off the worst excesses of the current Tory government’s and previous Tory-Lib Dem government’s agenda by not implementing the anti-trade union legislation contained in the Trade Union Bill.

NIPSA pressed the incoming Northern Ireland Committee to reinvigorate its campaign to defend public services, defend both public and private sector jobs and oppose the introduction of a reduced rate of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland.

Speakers on the Fresh Start motions reminded delegates that the deal had seen thousands of public sector jobs lost out of the economy.

Conference was told that despite the constant rhetoric of ‘growing the private sector’, this had not been borne out in fact. It was pointed out that instead thousands of medium and high-value jobs had also been lost from the private sector.

It was also underlined that the NI Assembly had abdicated its responsibility for the most vulnerable in society by handing back the power to Westminster to introduce the NI Welfare Reform Bill.

While NIPSA accepted there was some

amelioration for Northern Ireland citizens in its implementation, the reality was that it is an enabling piece of legislation with any slight improvements over the situation in GB being eroded over time.

The movers of the NIPSA motion on the current humanitarian crisis – which has seen the displacement of more than a million citizens from Syria and other Middle Eastern countries – reminded delegates of pictures flashed around the world showing the desperate plight of people fleeing their homes and risking their lives to seek a better, safer future.

Congress discussed the further concern that with the number of people being displaced across Europe, racist attitudes were being formented with people being misadvised of the impact the resettlement of displaced families will have on local communities and local economies.

Conference slammed the disgraceful scaremongering of some politicians and community leaders raising fears that migrants would take the jobs of local people, access social security benefits and queue-jump on social housing waiting lists.

The NIPSA motion called on the Northern Ireland Committee to ensure that any continued rise in racism is tackled head on and political representatives and community leaders are engaged with to ensure that it is stamped out at grassroots level. The motion also called for an education programme to be developed to ensure the scourge of racism is not allowed to grow and develop.

Both Alison Millar and Maria Morgan were elected to serve on the incoming Northern Ireland Committee with Maria Morgan being elected as Chairperson. Congratulations to Maria for securing this role.

A NUMBER of branch representatives from across the Department of Justice (DOJ) attended a half-day training session that looked at the issue of ‘personal case handling’.

The training had been requested by a group of representatives, each with varying levels of experience in managing individual cases on behalf of NIPSA members.

The training examined the role of the representative and the need for branch reps to become involved in personal cases.

Following various Voluntary Exit Schemes (VES) across the public sector, the course outlined how reduced staffing levels not only impacted on trade union membership, but also the depth of experience in this type of case handling, since some long-standing reps had also left under VES. The course provided participants with the opportunity to explore issues when undertak-

ing cases and looked at ways to the overcome barriers that reps face throughout the process.

It also provided practical support and assistance for representatives on the day-to-day management of personal case handling.

Lisa Hoy, Departmental Secretary for the DOJ, who attended the course, told NIPSA News: “The course was really excellent and it is encouraging to see NIPSA supporting branch representatives in such a practical way It provides branches with the opportunity to improve their skills when it comes to representing NIPSA members and also gives us the opportunity to get together and discuss barriers and issues affecting both representatives and members alike when they are faced with individual cases.”

She added: “The feedback from the training was very positive and we intend to work with the NIPSA Training Officer to organise more of this type of training in the near future.”

NIPSA Training Officer Naomi Connor, who led the course, said: “This type of training is critical if we are to support NIPSA representatives on the day-to-day issues affecting members in their place of work.

“Changes in employment law, coupled with the increasingly difficult environment that many of our members find themselves in, can mean an increase in the number of personal cases.

“By ensuring our representatives are kept abreast of these changes and feel supported in undertaking this work, we can represent NIPSA members even more effectively. This type of training complements the accredited NIPSA & ICTU training very well.” lShould branches have any queries regarding training, they can talk to NIPSA Training Officer Naomi Connor at 028 9066 1831 or 07435786055; or by email at naomi.connor@nipsa.org.uk

The NIPSA delegation attending the NIC.ICTU conference

Picture: Kevin Cooper

Personal case handling course for DOJ reps

NEWS

Page 5

Strong measures needed to protect workers’ lives Trade unionists and colleagues gathered at the tree on April 28 to remember David and the many others who have lost their lives as well as pledging to continue the fight to protect the health, safety and welfare of workers throughout the world.

Speaking at the gathering, Geraldine Alexander, Vice-Chairperson of the NIC/ICTU Health and Safety Committee, pointed out that HSENI had reported 23 fatalities in 2014/15 compared to eight the previous year.

She said: “For these 23 fatalities there are mums, dads, hus-

Delight as TUS Secretary post reinstated in NI Assembly

NIPSA has welcomed the reinstatement of the Trade Union Side Secretary position covering the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The move follows “patient and persistent pressure” from the union.

The post of TUS Secretary had previously been withdrawn by Management Side owing to what was termed financial difficulties.

Tony McMullan, the NIPSA Official tasked with responsibility for NIPSA members working in the Assembly, told NIPSA News: “We are delighted that patient and persistent pressure on the management of the Northern Ireland Assembly has persuaded them of the very valuable role which the Trade Union Side Secretary plays in maintaining and developing good industrial relations in the Northern Ireland Assembly.”

Mr McMullan welcomed the fact that Management Side had recognised it had to fund the seconded position. He said that a trawl notice would be issued shortly to members in the Assembly who would then have the chance to compete for the post.

He added that the Branch Committee of the Assembly Branch 22 had expressed its collective delight at NIPSA’s achievement in getting the post re-established.

The members of the committee also said that they looked forward to working very closely with both the Seconded Officer and HQ Official Tony McMullan to push for the highest level of good working arrangements for members in the Assembly.

Tories failing to provide jobs for people with a disability

TORIES will be a decade behind schedule in meeting employment targets set for people with a disability an analysis published by the TUC has warned.

The government made a manifesto promise to halve the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people by 2020, but the TUC researchers say that it will take until 2030 at current rates of progress.

Ministers have pledged to see 63 per cent of people with a disability in work in four years’ time but TUC findings show that only 52 per cent are likely to be employed by then.

Full-time workers with a disability still face a significant wage gap, earning 13 per cent less than full-time workers with no disability. The report said that parttimers earn 14 per cent less than their non-disabled counterparts.

“Strong Enforcement – to help ensure that those who are flouting health and safety law are caught before anyone else has to lose their life; and “Strong Unions – as the evidence shows irrefutably that union workplaces are safer workplaces.”

The Chairperson of the Northern Ireland Committee, Maria Morgan, laid a wreath at the tree and called for a minute silence to remember all those who had lost their lives while at, or because of, work.

bands and wives, partners, sons and daughters, who are trying to cope with the sudden, unexpected and untimely loss of a loved one who left for work one day, never to return.

“This is why today’s theme of ‘Strong Laws – Strong Enforcement – Strong Unions’ is very important. We must continue to fight for: “Strong Laws – which ensure that those responsible have been held properly accountable, lessons have been learned and others are deterred from their unsafe actions or inactions;

Union rejects proposals to replace public sector redundancy schemes

NIPSA has responded to the Conservative Government’s proposals to scrap all public sector redundancy/compensation schemes with a single much lower value scheme by slamming the plan as “yet another scurrilous attack on public servants”.

Deputy General Secretary Bumper Graham told NIPSA News: “In launching this consultation, the Minister, Greg Hands, who is Chief Secretary to the Treasury, claimed the changes would ‘modernise public sector redundancy, be fairer and save the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds’.

“What he failed to identify was that it is his Government (including membership of the previous coalition) that is responsible for the hundreds of thousands of public sector job losses, that has necessitated the greater use of compensation/redundancy schemes.”

He continued: “These proposals constitute yet another scurrilous attack on public servants. It is clear that the Government wants to have it each and every way with massive job cuts enacted through reduced value compensation/redundancy schemes hence penalising those who feel forced to volunteer or are made compulsory redundant.”

The proposals also seek to either remove completely the link between early payment of public service pensions in redundancy situations or to have the costs of early payment offset by either a massive reduction in the value of the compensation payment or, in many cases, total eradication of the payment.

In its response NIPSA rejected the assertion that the proposals are part of a process to modernise terms and conditions for public service workers. The union described I as yet another retrograde step in diminishing the employ-

‘

ment rights of public servants.

Mr Graham claimed a commitment was given by Danny Alexander, thenChief Secretary to the Treasury, that the 2013 Pensions Act changes would see no further changes for 25 years.

According to the union, it is clear that the Government is both hypocritical and duplicitous in its treatment of public servants.

The NIPSA response not only detailed the reasons for opposing the specific recommendations in the consultation proposals but pointed out that the issue was a matter devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive/Assembly.

In its submission, NIPSA stated: “NIPSA is wholly opposed to the use of the Legislative Consent Motion (LCM) approach to matters that have been devolved to the NI Executive/NI Assembly.”

Describing LCM as both “anti-democratic” and “contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement (NI Act 1998)”, it continued: “Matters of control in respect of NI public bodies and employment law are devolved and, as such, issues like that subject to the current consultation should be for the bodies established under the NI Act of 1998 to determine.

“This is all the more so given the development in respect of public sector job losses on foot of the Stormont House Agreement/Fresh Start. In addition, under the Review of Public Administration, the NI Assembly has passed legislation in respect of public sector severance, for example, Local Government Regulations.”

Mr Graham said that NIPSA would be very carefully monitoring the actions of the Executive and Assembly and warned of serious opposition should attempts be made to apply the change to Northern Ireland.

The full union submission is available on the NIPSA website.

It is clear that the Government is both hypocritical and duplicitous in its treatment of public servants.

‘

WORKERS’ Memorial Day, held on April 28 each year, is a day when trade unionists and civil society across the world remember those who have died, been injured or contracted an industrial disease while at, or because of, work.

To mark Workers’ Memorial Day this year, NIC/ICTU Health and Safety Committee held a commemorative event beside the tree planted in 2012 in the Stormont Estate. The tree was planted in memory of David Layland who tragically lost his life at his place of work in 2008.

School assistants struggle to cope Page 6

A CRISIS in health and wellbeing is engulfing schools, which could lead to a mass exodus of hardworking, dedicated staff unless urgent action is taken by the government, says one public sector union.

More than half (52%) of school support staff across the UK have experienced stress, anxiety or depression as they struggle to cope with their workloads, according to a new survey.

At least two-fifths (42%) of those who took part in the survey said they had difficulty in completing their work, and around one in eight (13%) said they found it impossible to manage all that was being asked of them.

Almost half of support staff (47%) said they are considering leaving their jobs, citing issues like low pay, stress and huge workloads.

Many said it was difficult to talk about the pressures of their jobs, with two-fifths (40%) saying they felt unable to report concerns about the size of their workload to managers.

Pension age hike slammed

UNIONS have condemned the prospect of a rise in the state pension age which will see workers not retiring from work until their mid-70s.

The government has asked John Cridland, a former head of the CBI employers’ organisation, to lead a review of the state pension age (SPA). The review will make its recommendations by May 2017, but it will not affect planned rises in the SPA to 67 for both men and women by 2028.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has already forecast that on current trajectories of life expectancy, the state pensionable age could reach 70 by the mid2060s. But the Labour Party and financial experts have warned that it could happen much more quickly than this.

One public sector union said the move will be of great concern to many of its members whose public sector pension age the government plans to link to the SPA. The union has been actively involved in all stages of state pension reform and has strongly resisted SPA changes. It continues to campaign to have the review body include trade union representation.

SUN SHINES ON MAY DAY

NIPSA took stree for th May D the b the m Lead rade Easin Brass Pictu Kevin

MAY DAY RALLY

A members to the ets of Belfast he traditional Day rally at beginning of month. ing the pawas the ngton Colliery s Band ures: n Cooper

MAY DAY

Page 7

Workers should keep gratuities, says UK govt

THE UK government has announced plans to overturn unfair tipping practices by ensuring workers receive their tips in full rather than having them counted as part of their basic pay. Customers will also be reminded they do not have to leave a gratuity.

Announcing a two-month consultation, Business Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Too many people were finding that when they were leaving tips for hardworking people, they weren't actually going to those people.

"That's unacceptable. It's got to go to the people you intended it to go to. It's got to be a transparent process. It's also got to be voluntary for good service."

The plans include updating the current voluntary code of practice, making it clearer that tips are discretionary and limiting any employer deductions except those required under tax law.

Several high street chains have come in for criticism after it was revealed gratuities were not being distributed to employees.

The British Hospitality Association has previously called for new laws to force employers to tell customers what happens to their tips.

A survey by OpenTable found that 87 per cent of UK customers always leave a tip, at an average of nine per cent of the total bill.

Job satisfaction lowest for 2 years

JOB satisfaction has fallen to its lowest level in more than two years, according to a new study out earlier in May. A survey of 2,000 workers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that more than a quarter were unhappy with opportunities to develop skills or further their career.

Firms were told to rethink their approach to career management.

Care home giant ‘nearly broke’

THE UK’s biggest care home group Four Seasons is running out of cash and risks falling into the hands of its creditors this year, credit ratings agency Moody’s has warned.

Four Seasons reported a 39 per cent fall in annual earnings last week to £38.7 million and the company’s private equity owner admitted that it did not have enough money to meet its longterm needs.

Page 8

Lifespan gap widens for first time in over 150 years

THE lifespan gap between rich and poor has widened for the first time since the Victorian period, research revealed yesterday.

Researchers from Cass Business School and the International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK) blame the differences in lifestyle between socio-economic groups.

Based on data from the Human Mortality Database, professor of statistics Les Mayhew measured the differences in age between the earliest 10 per cent of adult deaths and the top 5 per cent of survivors.

Mr Mayhew said that life expectancy grew and the gap between the richest and poorest narrowed in the first half of the 20th century as everyone benefited from improvements in clean drinking water, better housing, higher incomes and better health.

But after 1950, inequalities in lifespan persisted rather than narrowing further.

He said: “We found that since the 1990s lifespan inequalities in men have actually worsened in England and Wales.”

Sell-off threat C4 blasts ministers

CHANNEL 4 bosses blasted the government over rumours that the broadcaster could be privatised after making a record £26m surplus last year.

Tory Culture Secretary John Whittingdale is said to be considering all options, from full or partial privatisation to the sale of a minority stake.

Channel 4 chairman Charles Gurassa said: “It’s not good for our staff, it’s not good for our business partners, it’s not good for our advertisers, because they are all asking … what is going to happen and what will the implications be?”

Public given say on MPs’ expenses

THE public will be given a chance to have their say on MPs’ expenses when the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority launches a new consultation.

The consultation will look at how much MPs should receive to cover accommodation and staffing costs and the boundary between their parliamentary and party-political work.

Campaign has kept un open, but we must kee NEWS

STATUTORY day centres provide vital support for people with mental health and learning difficulties and since November 2015, a highly successful campaign has kept three of them – at Whiterock, Everton and Ravenhill – from closure.

These centres have been threatened with closure by the Belfast Trust as a way of cuttings costs and to outsource services currently provided by NHS staff to the community and voluntary sector.

But the Belfast Health Trust plans have been thwarted by a very vocal and energetic group opposed to the move. The Trust hoped they could have rubberstamped the decision at their board meeting on January 14, 2016, but was forced to defer its plan because of the tireless work of service-users, carers, trade unions and supporters.

Thousands of signatures on petitions have been collected, thousands of leaflets handed out and numerous public protests held to counter the closures move.

Senior management have recently engaged with service users and carers on the consultation process.

NIPSA Branch 730 activists, who are members of the Steering Group, joined service-users in expressing their extreme disappointment and anger that it has taken more than three months to update service-users and carers.

Service-users and carers underlined their concerns about the lack of information coming from the Trust over the future of the service as well as the impact the uncertainty was having on their mental health.

The meetings in Whiterock, Ravenhill and Everton were conducted by Senior Primary Mental Health Service Manager Peter Bohill.

Before the meeting, there had been a high expectation that more clarity would be provided, but it turned out that Mr Bohill claimed he had “no new information” and “no different news” to give to service-users on the current process.

These comments rightly dismayed many of the service-users and carers present. This was reflected by one service-user’s comment, “What’s the point of coming?”

Mr Bohill claimed the purpose of the meeting was to provide “feedback on the process” and then issued a letter to service-users. He stated the final decision on the future of the day centres and recommendations by the BHSCT ultimately lay with the Minister of Health and the Assembly Executive.

As the Assembly election campaign was under way, it is very unlikely that any ministerial decision will be made before late August/September.

Mr Bohill conceded that the proposals had seen the biggest response to any consultation carried out by the BHSCT with 798 responses for mental health services alone.

He also admitted that the campaign of public protests, petitions and leafleting against the closures – in which NIPSA has played a leading role – has had a major im-

pact on the consultation and heavily influenced the recommendations going to the BHSCT Board.

At the meeting in Everton, NIPSA Branch 730 member Pat Lawlor addressed a number of questions to Mr Bohill.

Mr Bohill was asked, “Given the overwhelming opposition to the Trust proposals and closure of the day centres, has this influenced the recommendations going forward to the BHSCT Board?”

Mr Bohill responded by reiterating that the high number of responses as well as the anti-closures campaign had heavily influenced the recommendations, but refused to say if the initial proposals had changed.

Mr Lawlor asked Mr Bohill if it was right for serviceusers and carers to be fully included in the process and given information over what will be have a major impact on their lives?

In his reply, Mr Bohill again stated that he was tied to the process.

Mr Bohill was then asked about what recommendations were now going before the BHSCT Board.

In reply he said that he could not give any information on the recommendations. When challenged why, Mr Bohill again stated he was “tied to process” and had “no authority to give that information.” On being asked who did have the authority, he replied that the authority lay with the Trust Executive Group led by Chief Executive Dr Michael McBride.

Mr Lawlor then asked Mr Bohill if the responses to the consultation were weighted more towards the Trust proposals or backed the opposition to the closures.

Mr Bohill replied that he did not review the information in the context of “for or against” but conceded the vast bulk of the responses were against the Trust proposals and in favour of no change to day centre provision.

In response to Mr Lawlor’s query about the reduction in referrals being part of a management decision of strategy to run down day centre provision, Mr Bohill admitted there was a perception held by community mental health teams that the centres were closing and, as such, was likely influencing referrals.

However, he categorically denied that there was any formal management decision not to refer to statutory services.

Mr Bohill stated that he would email all managers and community mental health teams to underline that the day centres were open and that referrals must be made to these services.

On this he was challenged that any communication to mental health teams “must go beyond management” and also should go to staff directly making the referrals.

The meetings flagged up service-users’ frustration, distress and anger and at times attempts were made by management to close down the meetings as serviceusers were getting distressed.

Pat Lawlor commented: “But service users were of

Civil servants win back right PUBLIC-SECTOR union PCS won its legal challenge this month against a government department which had banned it from collecting members’ dues through the check-off system.

Judge Elisabeth Laing ruled that it was unlawful for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to stop the PCS using the

system.

The judgement opens the way for the union, which has been forced to spend considerable time and resources re-recruiting tens of thousands of members to pay by direct debit, to claim damages for loss of income.

And PCS said it is now considering further legal challenges

against other government departments that have blocked check-off.

The case was sparked after former Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude called on Civil Service employers to end the check-off system in what unions said was a deliberate attempt to undermine their finances and

der-threat day centres ep up the pressure NEWS

course distressed and angry at the lack of support, information and transparency of the process that the BHSCT had implemented.

“The point must be made very strongly the serviceusers are distressed and angry, but have the right to have their voices heard and questions answered; no matter how uncomfortable that makes the BHSCT Board feel.

“NIPSA fully supports the overwhelming anger and frustration of service-users and carers have expressed over how they have been treated and this anger must be directed into action.”

Mr Lawlor told NIPSA News that it was clear the BHSCT Board hoped that the Assembly elections and the summer would dissipate the anti-closures campaign but emphasised the need to continue to apply pressure on the issue.

He said: “We are winning this campaign so it is critical that we do the opposite and turn up the heat on the BHSCT Board.

We should remember that if it was not for the tireless work of service-users, carers, trade unions and supporters, Whiterock and Everton would be gone with Ravenhill isolated and closed within the year.

Mr Lawlor claimed the Trust Executive had been “rattled” by the public campaign against closures.

“We must keep the pressure on the Trust Board and take this campaign to the Chief Executive Michael McBride and demand why he will not allow service-users and carers to see the recommendations?”

He continued: “The Trust Board has made it very clear the decision lies with the Health Minister and the Assembly. It is likely that the Health Minister may change after

the elections, so it was essential that we made this an election issue.

“The Assembly parties must now state openly that they will halt this consultation if it comes to the Assembly after the election. If they do not; we must ensure their voters know that they are willing to see the closure of these vital day centre services.”

for check-off dues collection organisation. DWP, the largest Civil Service department, unilaterally ended the arrangement one year ago alongside other departments, including HM Revenue and Customs, the Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Defence.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “It has always

been clear that the political decision to remove check-off was unnecessary and vindictive, and we have comprehensively been proved right.

“This is not just a defeat for the DWP, it is a victory for all unions over a major injustice.

And it is scandalous that taxpayers again face huge legal

bills because Tory ministers have an obsession with trying to undermine trade unions in the workplace.”

It comes after the government dropped plans to include a ban on check-off in the rest of the public sector in the Trade Union Act.

Page 9

Maternity bias forces mothers out

ALTHOUGH pregnancy and maternity discrimination is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, a recent survey found that a shocking 11% of mothers said they had either been dismissed, made compulsorily redundant — where others in their workplace were not — or treated so poorly they felt they had to leave their job.

The study, jointly commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) equality watchdog and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, also found one in five mothers saying they had experienced harassment or negative comments related to pregnancy or flexible working from their employer and/or colleagues. And 10% of mothers said their employer discouraged them from attending antenatal appointments.

The research, Pregnancy and maternity-related discrimination and disadvantage first findings: surveys of employers and mothers, found that, overall, three in four mothers (77%) said they had a negative or possibly discriminatory experience during pregnancy, maternity leave, and/or on return from maternity leave. Half of those who requested, and were approved for, flexible working felt it resulted in “negative consequences”.

The EHRC says the government should show leadership for change; access to justice needs to be improved for women bringing claims; and progress towards a fairer workplace should be “tracked”.

And employers should offer more family friendly workplaces; there should be better access to information and advice; and health and safety risks should be better managed.

Failing bosses get huge rewards

BOSSES are being rewarded for failure as more than one in five receive a bonus even if they fall short of expectations, a report has revealed.

Researchers found that many managers and professional staff pocketed extra pay despite missing targets last year.

Of those deemed to be underperforming or developing, 23 per cent still received a bonus on top of their basic salary, the Chartered Management Institute and XpertHR study found.

The average bonus paid to this group was worth £4,270, or 12 per cent of basic pay, taking total packages to £40,067.

And the data also suggested that so-called “rewards for failure” could be more common for senior managers, with 43 per cent of those falling short of expectations still getting a bonus.

The survey analysed remuneration data for more than 105,000 managers and professionals from 425 organisations.

Colombian activists tell their stories

Page 10

TWO leading Colombian trade union and human rights activists spoke at a special public meeting in Belfast on April 22 where they gave firsthand accounts of ongoing human rights abuses as well as detailing the background to the current peace process.

Gustavo Rengifo, a member of the agriculture workers union FENSUAGRO and the Patriotic March coalition, told those gathered at the UNISON Belfast HQ in York Street, about his own experiences.

In May 2015, Gustavo was kidnapped and tortured by right-wing paramilitaries. They pressured him to work as an informer and threatened to murder his family if he refused. Since then he has been in hiding.

Delvin Hurtado, who heads the South-West Colombia Human Rights Network, also spoke about the personal costs involved in standing up for the rights and dignity of workers in Colombia.

Delvin was gravely wounded in a grenade attack during the violent military repression of the mass strike in 2013 – the largest industrial action in decades.

The meeting, organised by Justice For Colombia, was told that a total of 94 Patriotic March members have been killed and another four had been forcibly disappeared between 2012 and 2015. More than 1,500 members of FENSUAGRO have been killed in the union’s 40-year history.

Thousands more strike against new labour law

STRIKES ignited across France in May as resistance to the government’s new labour law grew.

Lorry drivers set to up roadblocks around major cities and workers on the Paris metro also walked out.

Other rail workers and air traffic controllers also joined in the dispute.

Massive waves of strikes and demonstrations have rocked France after the government, unable to get the regressive El Khomri law (named after Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri) through parliament, used article 49.3 of the constitution to issue it as a decree.

The law lengthens the working week from 35 to 46 hours, cuts statutory redundancy payments while capping those made for unfair dismissal and places new restrictions on trade union activity.

NEWS

C

‘We aren’t workers

UNEMPLOYMENT in the West Bank currently stands at 27%. In the never-ending struggle to find a job, many Palestinians are driven to work for Israelis – either within Israel or in the illegal settlements spreading out across Palestinian land, writes Ryan McKinney.

Figures are difficult to come by but Israel issues 40,300 permits under a quota system and another 20,000-30,000 Palestinians are given work illegally by Israeli firms who want to make use of cheap labour. The permits must be bought by the workers and can amount to 25%50% of the monthly earnings.

The predicament many Palestinians find themselves in can be witnessed at Tulkarm, a town on the north-western border with Israel. We arrived at 3am to watch the gruelling daily routine which sees up to 12,000 workers forced to queue in cages for hours before they are permitted access to Israel and their workplace.

We were speechless at the sight of such humiliation. We had travelled to Tulkarm with local trade unionists to offer some solidarity and support on May 1 – International Workers Day, but this was not typical union organising.

The huge cages which channel the workers in tightly-confined spaces towards a series of turnstiles are a shock to the system. They are without comparison in our world. Once through the turnstile, maybe after a three-hour wait, there are other obstacles including searches, permit checks and fingerprinting stretching more than 300 meters across the illegal apartheid wall and into Israel. To have to do this daily must be unimaginable.

We did manage to speak to some of the workers through the bars of the cages as they moved towards the turnstiles. When we tried to explain that we wished to mark May Day with them, one worker said to us “Don’t celebrate us as workers – we aren’t workers, we are slaves”.

This is no exaggeration. Palestinians working in Israel are denied Israeli employment rights.

Those employed on illegal settlements are in the same shameful position. Since 2007 — when an Israeli High Court of Justice ruling confirmed that Israel’s labour laws apply fully to West Bank settlements — Palestinian workers should have had access to the same rights as Israeli workers. But the Israeli government does nothing to enforce it.

In the Jordan Valley, 90% of which lies in Area C — meaning Israel has full military and civil control – only 6% per cent of the land is allocated for Palestinian labour and development.

The rest is steadily being taken by settlers to produce dates and other crops. More than 5,000 illegal settlers live there and they set up their businesses on privately-owned Palestinian land — and then employ desperate Palestinians to

work for them.

These are dangerous jobs. Accidents are common, often because proper equipment is not provided. One effect of the legal no-man’s land which Palestinian workers find themselves in is when a workplace accident occurs.

Israel’s employment law sets out that after an accident at work, an employee must be sent to an Israeli hospital and be compensated by the Israel National Insurance Institute and the employer.

Instead trade unionists told us that Israeli ambulances take injured workers to military checkpoints. They are handed over to Palestine, so the employer can skirt their responsibility and avoid paying for treatment, or even issuing sick pay, also a legal right.

For workers crossing into Israel or working on the settlements this isn’t just about losing sick pay or paying for hospital treatment, of course – it is the lack of any of the basic legal rights of workers.

They don’t get pensions. They don’t get holidays. They don’t earn the minimum wage. The average earned among agricultural workers is 10 shekels an hour (£1.72) when it should be 23 shekels (£3.95).

Of course, like exploitative bosses anywhere there are ways and means of disguising these practices. Sub-contractors are used by companies to hire labourers, and thus avoids direct responsibility for their wages and conditions.

Since the sub-contractor will deduct the fee for their services from already meagre wages, the workers are in an even worse situation.

As in UK law the employer has to provide payslips, which record the hours worked, the wage and the benefits. In the settlements, some simply withhold these — so they can’t be used in court. Others will fake them.

Union reps report cases where the employer states that someone has worked 12 days in a month for them, not 24. This can be used to create the impression that they have been paid the minimum wage when even if it’s not much more than half that.

Trade unions have printed booklets which explain workers’ rights. If they are in an accident, Palestinian workers are encouraged to insist they are brought to an Israeli hospital and given the rights and treatment which they are entitled to. Some workers’ organisations have provided booklets for workers to record their hours and they can present this when they are being conned.

The occupation makes for an attractive business opportunity. Inside the West Bank settlers can take land cheaply or for free. The taxes are much lower than in Israel and the workers are much cheaper because their rights are ignored.

CAGED NEWS

, we are slaves’

Humiliated – Palestinian workers are forced to queue in cages.

NIPSA official Ryan McKinney (far right) pictured with a delegation of local trade unionists who met with their counterparts in the West Bank.

Page 11

Economists join forces to attack tax havens

THREE hundred economists have warned world leaders ahead of the anticorruption summit that there is no justification for tax havens,.

The group called for “significant moves towards ending the era of tax havens” and “lift the veil of secrecy” surrounding offshore funds.

Governments should ensure that information of the real owners of companies and trusts are made public, it continued, as poorer countries lose out on £117 billion a year as a result of tax-dodging.

Signatories include 2015 Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton, Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang, inequality expert Thomas Piketty and 47 professors from British universities including Oxford and the London School of Economics.

Politicians from 40 countries as well as International Monetary Fund and World Bank representatives are expected to attend the government’s summit on Thursday, May12, in London.

It will be hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron, who has been exposed in the Panama Papers leak as having benefitted from an offshore company.

The economists’ letter, co-ordinated by charity Oxfam, adds: “The existence of tax havens does not add to overall global wealth or well-being; they serve no useful economic purpose.”

More than half of the companies set up

by Mossack Fonseca, the law firm in the Panama Papers leak, were incorporated in British Overseas Territories such as the British Virgin Islands.

Tax havens “are the deliberate choice of major governments” and “do not just happen” on their own, said Jeffrey Sachs — director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and an adviser to UN secretarygeneral Ban Ki Moon.

Cyprus sides aim for year-end deal

CYPRIOT President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said that they are committed to reaching a reunification deal by the end the year.

They voiced satisfaction with progress made in a year of talks and pledged to show the “necessary will and courage” to resolve remaining differences.

Cyprus was divided in 1974 after Turkey invaded following a fascist coup aimed at imposing union with Greece.

For companies based within Israel they are able to exploit workers because the workers have no rights. The worker at Tulkarm who described himself as a slave is surely right. The permit system, the searches, the cages, the lack of basic rights and the occupation are all methods of control which ties the worker to an employer who can do whatever they want, with complete impunity.

If we really believe in our slogan ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’, then trade unionists must

wake up to this obscene abuse of workers and strengthen the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign and our links with trade unionists in Palestine.

(NIPSA Official Ryan McKinney was part of a delegation of local trade unionists who recently travelled to the West Bank. They met with trade unions and with health service workers, teachers, agricultural labourers, textile workers, water service workers and many others.)

Island arrivals drop by 90%

EU border agency Frontex said this month that the number of refugees arriving in the Greek islands dropped by 90 per cent last month compared to March.

“The drop in the number of arrivals on the Greek islands was dramatic,” said director Fabrice Leggeri.

He suggested that the decline to 2,700 people was because of the EU anti-migrant agreement with Turkey.

PM forced to climbdown over NHS NEWS

Page 12

Tory rebellion forces Cameron to accept amendment to TTIP TORY MPs defied orders from government whips to withdraw support for a motion that would exclude the NHS from the TTIP trade deal.

The Prime Minister was forced to accept the cross-party amendment to the Queen’s Speech as a rebellion by around 25 Tory backbenchers threatened to bring down the government’s entire programme.

“As we’ve said all along, there is no threat to the NHS from TTIP. So if this amendment is selected, we’ll accept it,” a Number 10 spokesman announced on Thursday, May 19.

It was the first time since 1924 that a government has accepted a motion of regret to a Queen’s

Speech and Labour MP Paula Sherriff, who tabled the motion, called it a “humiliating climbdown.”

The government attempted to save face yesterday by demanding that Tory MPs who signed the motion, such as Iain Duncan Smith, Liam Fox and Peter Lilley, remove their names.

But sources said that their arm twists had only increased support for the Labour amendment among Tory MPs. They included Graham Brady, who, as chair of the 1922 Committee, is the most senior backbench Tory MP. And (as NIPSA NEWS was going to press) Mr Lilley, a former trade secretary, said: “I am puzzled by the government’s request to remove signa-

tures from the motion given that it has government support.”

There will not be a vote on the amendment if the government has accepted it, but the issue could still be discussed during debate on the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday, May 25.

Ms Sherriff said she will call for the government to veto any trade deal that includes the “InvestorState Dispute System” and does not exempt all public services from forced privatisation.

“Having been an NHS worker and experienced my service being handed over to a private provider, I saw first hand the damage that was done when profits were put before patients by the likes of Virgin Care,” she said.

“We cannot let those same corporations get a permanent grip on our services, with a secret courts system designed to defend their interests rather than the public interest.”

It is understood MPs are prepared to continue working across parties to win further exemptions

from the EU-US trade deal.

War on Want director John Hilary warned: “The dangers of TTIP go far beyond the health service — only by stopping this grizzly deal altogether will we escape the threats it poses to democracy, society and the environment.”

Legal protection abroad – points to ponder…

Accidents abroad

Increasingly people are travelling abroad for holidays and for work.

If you are unfortunate enough to have an accident when you are abroad, the issue of who is at fault often has to be assessed in accordance with the law of the country where the accident happened. These laws can be complex and less favourable to injured people than the law in Northern Ireland.

Time limits for lodging claims may be shorter than in Northern Ireland and, crucially, some countries prevent injured people from bringing a claim for damages if they have not reported their injuries in detail or sought medical attention in that country.

If a case has to be pursued under the foreign law, you should still take advice from a solicitor here to determine prospects of success under the foreign law, or whether the case may be taken in this jurisdiction under the package holiday legislation or in the case of a road traffic accident, Rome II.

Package holidays

Claims arising from accidents that occurred in a foreign country can be pursued in Northern Ireland when the holiday was a package holiday booked through a tour operator in Northern Ireland. Case law has determined the definition of a package holiday. This is important because a claim can only be brought against

Chancery House, 88 Victoria Street, Belfast BT1 3GN Tel: 029 9032 9801 www.mtb-law.co.uk

a tour operator if the component part of the holiday during which someone was injured forms part of a pre-arranged package that was sold by the tour operator.

A package holiday is only a package where there is interrelation between the price and the component parts of the holiday, e.g. flights and accommodation and meals.

The package holiday regulations impose a requirement on the tour operator to investigate the safety of a hotel, but this is only against safety standards relevant to that country (Codd v Thomson Holidays). For example, if the accident was in France then French safety standards will apply.

Claims under this legislation generally fall into four headings, although you may not necessarily be able to claim for all of them: l Loss of value – this is the difference between the value of the holiday and what you, in fact, got; l Out-of-pocket expenses –

By Tanya Waterworth

these include any reasonable expenses you incurred as a result of the breach of contract or negligence; l Loss of enjoyment – compensation for disappointment and distress; and l Personal Injury – damages for pain and suffering.

Republic of Ireland cases

If you have an accident/injury in the Republic of Ireland, you will require the services of a solicitor who can practise in that jurisdiction. MTB are uniquely placed as we practise in both jurisdictions.

There are slight differences in procedure, the main one being the Injuries Board. The claim will therefore be dealt with in a slightly different fashion.

In the Republic, claimants are obliged to submit a claim to the Injuries Board before issuing proceedings. The Injuries Board will assess the claim in terms of value

and the claimant can then either accept or reject their assessment.

Damages in the Republic are significantly higher, however, one of the effects of the Injuries Board is that if you accept their assessment, you are responsible for your own fees.

If proceedings are issued, costs are recoverable in the normal fashion, i.e. if you win your case your opponent will also be responsible for your legal fees. Your solicitor will advise you if it is prudent to issue proceedings as if you reject the Injuries Board Assessment, there could be costs implications. This is something that needs to be examined in detail in every case.

Road traffic accidents in the EU

The 4th and 5th Motor Directives allow claims arising out of a road traffic accident to be brought against the insurer of the negligent third party (provided that they are from another EU state), in the country in which they live, rather than the country where the accident happened.

If you have had an accident abroad, then you should contact NIPSA to request a LS2 form to allow an assessment of your case, which is free under the Legal Assistance Scheme for personal injuries. Equally this scheme covers all types of personal injury cases and is also open to family members of individuals with NIPSA membership.