Dear Member,
With workplaces continuing to re-open, Unite’s focus remains on ensuring members’ safety while protecting terms and conditions that have been hard-won over decades.
Unite members in the Premier Periclase magnesia plant in Louth will be taking strike action from July 20th following the company’s failure to engage meaningfully on issues surrounding a ‘temporary shutdown’. Click here to read our statement, and here to listen to Regional Officer Willie Quigley’s interview on LMFM outlining the background to the dispute.
Over recent weeks, the construction sector’s focus has been on the implications of the High Court decision to strike down the electrical Sectoral Employment Order. As I mentioned in last week’s Update, Unite, along with other unions in the ICTU Construction Industry Committee, will shortly be balloting construction members for industrial action if any employer attempts to unilaterally attack terms and conditions. Meanwhile, following representations by unions, the Government has this week committed to appealing the High Court decision and confirmed that there can be no unilateral diminution in workers’ terms and conditions in the meantime.
Unite’s Executive Council met remotely earlier this week. It was the first meeting for the Ireland Region’s newly-elected representative Marie Casey, who not only highlighted the specific issues facing our Region but also pointed to the similarities of the challenges facing working people from Land’s End to Dingwall, and from Galway to Grimsby. As Marie wrote following the meeting, “Nowhere has any Government or administration seized the opportunity presented by the emergency to begin to redefine society in a fairer, more equal way. On the contrary, the calls from employers for free money, for public bailouts, without committing to any more support to their workers or representative organisations is common across the board. We must fight for better and we fight better together. So it’s important for Unite members to encourage friends and family to help themselves by joining Unite or, where that isn’t possible, some other appropriate union”. You can follow Marie on Facebook here.
On a broader note, Unite is concerned at the growth of misinformation which can quickly spread through social media, especially at a time of heightened public concern. While we are resolutely opposed to the policies likely to the pursued by the new coalition Government, we are equally opposed to the homophobic campaign of vilification being pursued against Green TD Roderic O’Gorman. You may have seen this on your social media feeds, and I would urge you to read the statement issued by Unite Community.
As always, please make sure to follow Unite’s online platforms to stay updated on what your unions is doing and saying.
In solidarity
Brendan Ogle
Senior Officer – Republic of Ireland
Unite the union
Website: www.unitetheunionireland.org
Blog: www.uniteforarealalternative.
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