SIPTU members across the private sector will seek pay increases to match the rising costs of living and will re-negotiate existing pay deals which fall short of inflation. Following a meeting of the union’s sector organisers, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack, said that its members in more than 2,500 companies across Ireland will urgently seek minimum rises in line with the rate of inflation which is expected to reach 8 per cent over the coming weeks and months. “In negotiations with employers across the economy, our members will seek increases that will offset the sharp rise in the costs […]

The class unions are in the workplaces and the streets transferring till the last moment the call for the success of the General Strike of April 6. The class unions demand No involvement-no participation of our country in the imperialist war! All in the fight against inflation and taxation For the defense of the working-class income For collective agreements with substantial increases in salaries The resumption of the collective bargaining of the National collective Contract as a starting point for the increase of the minimum wage, claiming 825 € minimum gross salary The restoration of conquests and rights such as […]

Amazon workers in New York have voted to form a union in what labor leaders are calling a “historic victory” against the US’s second largest employer. In Staten Island, New York, 2,654 warehouse workers voted yes to forming a union, while 2,131 voted no, according to a tally by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).   Meanwhile, in another union vote, Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, appear to have rejected a union bid – but outstanding challenged ballots could change the outcome. The votes were 993 to 875 against the union. A hearing to review 416 challenged ballots is expected to begin in the […]

“On the Post-Covid World of Work: The Centrality of the Trade Union Response” SIPTU Conference, Sligo, 29th March 2022 A chairde, May I say how delighted I was to receive an invitation to be here with you in Sligo as you gather for the SIPTU Biennial National Delegate Conference. May I begin by thanking Secretary-General Joe Cunningham for the invitation to address you all at what is an important event that is discussing the future form of economy and, within it, work. The world of work is on the cusp of great changes. Work represents the expression of our human […]

SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, has warned the Fine Geal party that it will be signing its “political death warrant” if it attempts to press ahead with raising the age of entitlement to the state pension to 67 years. In her address on the opening day of the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference in the Clayton Hotel in Sligo, Buckley said: “Let us be crystal clear at this conference here today and say to Minister Heather Humphreys: ‘Minister, our Union is putting you and your party on notice. If you cast aside all the evidence, if you ignore all the […]

School secretaries have today (Wednesday) voted overwhelmingly to accept an historic new package of pay and working conditions, which places them all on public service salary rates after a decades-long campaign for pay equity. The deal, negotiated by Fórsa, significantly improves incomes and paid leave arrangements for low-paid secretaries, who the union says have been overlooked and undervalued for years. The new agreement will see all school secretaries transfer to a new pay-scale aligned with the public service clerical officer scale. Prior to today, most of them were employed directly by schools, with most earning no more than the minimum […]

Belfast phone app delivery drivers are staging a walkout on Wednesday over pay and conditions. Staff working for high profile firms Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats will down tools for six hours amid claims they are seeing their income fall thanks to changes in pay structures and rising fuel costs. The industrial action is being organised by the App Drivers and Couriers Union, or ADCU, and comes amid a cost of living crisis affecting workers across countless sectors. Delivery workers will stage a six-hour work stoppage on Wednesday between 11am and 5pm with a public protest to be held […]

A very informative statement from the Worlwide Federation of Trade Unions In 1999, at the heart of Europe, NATO, the USA, the EU, and their allies bombed Yugoslavia. Today, in 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine in an unfair and destructive war.  Nevertheless, where are hidden all those who in 1991 were trying to persuade all the peoples that the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the overthrows in the countries of Eastern Europe were taking place in favor of international security and global peace? The truth was different when there was the Soviet Union, there was a “counterbalance”, there was a […]

A welcome article from the President of Cuba. My thanks to Monthly Review.   It is my responsibility to close the Ninth Legislature’s Seventh Ordinary Period of Sessions and, at the same time, I come before you, the highest representation of our people, to comply with a legal mandate: to render accounts and report on my administration as president of the republic. I will do so by sharing some assessments of the situation we have faced in this period, the issues on which we have focused our work, and the issues toward which we must direct our principal efforts. I […]

Speaking after the meeting of the Covid-19 Stakeholder Forum, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary Patricia King said: “Following the lifting of the majority of public health restrictions on Friday, the Forum met today to discuss a number of issues to ensure people can be confident that workplaces are safe for staff and the public.  The Forum noted that notwithstanding the changes to public health advice the pandemic is not over.  It was agreed that the Work Safely Protocol will now be updated to provide ‘good guidance’ to employers and workers to maintain safe workplaces. The Health and […]