26 July 2007 Edition

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Nuacht na nOibrithe

Premier Foods job cuts

Over 100 jobs are to go at Premier Foods Ireland.
In October, Chivers, the jam and jellies maker, based in Coolock in North Dublin, will shut with the loss of 59 jobs. Another 47 jobs will be lost in the Premier Foods distribution operations in Blanchardstown, Coolock and Thurles. These jobs will be outsourced to a logistics company based in Ashbourne, Co Meath.
Speaking on behalf of SIPTU, Assistant Branch Organiser, Brendan Carr, said the redundancies are completely unnecessary. “We will be fighting to save the jobs,” he vowed.
SIPTU is also demanding that talks take place at group and not local level “as this is the level at which decisions over the redundancies are being taken”.

Eircom strike averted

A strike resulting from Eircom’s refusal to pay a 2 per cent pay increase in May, under the terms of the Towards 2016 national agreement, has been averted.
The company had sought to make the increase dependent on work practice changes under ‘documented understandings’ on productivity. However, after three days of negotiations at the Labour Relations Commission, Eircom management and unions accepted proposals put forward by the LRC.
The agreement means that workers will receive the 2 per cent increase “as soon as practicable”. It is believed it will be paid from the middle of next month and be backdated to 1 May

Need for All Ireland Economy

In a recent statement, Anne Speed, SIPTU’s National Campaigns Officer, has called for the creation of an all-Ireland economy.
Speed points out that, in the 32 counties, out of a population of over 5.7 million, 324,000 people are entrepreneurs, over 2.8 million are workers, 1.1 million are experiencing poverty and 1.1 million lack any formal education. She concludes that dealing with these and other issues “collectively and democratically across the island is the best way to build a sustainable future”.

Union co-operation arrangement

SIPTU and IMPACT have reached a co-operation arrangement. They will work together “to advance our shared objectives of strengthening Irish trade unionism and enhancing its influence, working to create a fairer society, and protecting workers and their families more effectively”.
The areas of co-operation will include: research and information; educational resources; the enhancement of the effectiveness of collective bargaining and workers’ representation in workplaces where both unions have members; maximising the role and standing of trades councils; organisation, recruitment and representation.
Both unions say they recognise that “co-operation, rather than competition, between unions is the best way to ensure membership growth”.


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