Trade unions urge ‘No’ vote

IRISH trade unions held a joint press conference in Dublin this week to urge all trade unionists to vote against the Lisbon Treaty.
Representatives from Unite, TEEU, TUI, ASTI and CPSU expressed their concerns at the failure of the Lisbon Treaty to protect workers’ rights and the threat that it poses to public services. Members of SIPTU also attended in their personal capacities.
“We have already advised our own membership to vote a resounding ‘No’ on 12 June,” said Jimmy Kelly, Irish Regional Secretary of Unite.
“We now want to appeal to all workers to follow suit and stand up for their rights by rejecting Lisbon and sending a clear message that Europe should be as much about social as economic well-being.
“The Irish people have an opportunity and an obligation to ensure that the next phase of European integration offers genuine protection for workers in Ireland and across Europe.”

Irish law would end agency worker exploitation faster — Morgan

IRISH laws could still end the exploitation of agency workers faster than this week’s EU employment ministers’ agreement on introducing equal terms for agency workers within the next two years, Sinn Féin said.
The agreement still has to be ratified by the European Parliament.
There are an estimated 125,000 agency workers in Ireland.
Sinn Féin Workers’ Rights spokesperson Arthur Morgan TD also expressed concern regarding the changes to the Organisation of Working Time Directive. He said:
“I welcome the fact that the Irish Government has dropped its opposition to a directive to protect the rights of agency workers and the fact that agreement has now been reached at the Council of Ministers.  
“However, the reality is that the exploitation of agency workers could have been dealt with in a much quicker and more effective manner by way of domestic legislation. There is nothing stopping the Government introducing, before the Dáil’s summer recess, domestic legislation to ensure equal rights for agency workers.”
“I am also concerned by the fact that changes are proposed in relation to the Organisation of Working Time Directive.  There has, for some time, been pressure from employers across Europe to row back and dilute the restrictions on working hours. This is an important measure to prevent the exploitation of workers.  We will need to see the full detail of the proposed changes.
“There is a trend in the EU, epitomised by recent European Court of Justice judgments, that has seen the undermining of workers’ rights and there is real concern that the changes in relation to the Organisation of Working Time Directive may also be regressive.”

Bantry oil workers begin work stoppage

WORKERS at the Conoco Phillips storage facility in Bantry Bay, Cork, began a 48-hour work stoppage on Wednesday in pursuit of equal pay and conditions.
They are seeking pay parity with workers at the National Oil Refinery Authority in Whitegate (who earn 12 per cent to 15 per cent more) and changes in working hours.
Eddie Mullins, SIPTU branch organiser, said that they had an agreement with management in 2004 on working hours but this has been reinterpreted by the new management since 2006 in a way that adversely affects the workers.
He added that the company has failed to engage with the union at the Labour Relations Commission and only agreed to attend the Labour Court as a result of a 24-hour work stoppage staged by the workers.

Arthur Scargill to address Ógra event

LEGENDARY miners’ leader Arthur Scargill will headline this year’s Ógra Shinn Féin Campa Náisiúnta Óige.
The event which is being held in Tí Chulainn, South Armagh from the 20-22 June will see the former head of the British National Union of Mineworkers speaking on ‘Reclaiming our Economic and Political Rights’ at 4pm on Saturday, 21 June.
Scargill rose to prominence after playing a crucial role in bringing down Edward Heath’s Tory government in 1974 and in the battle with Margaret Thatcher’s government in the 1984-85 coal miners’ strike. He has been noted for his fiery oratory skills and innovative protest tactics like the ‘flying pickets’.
A lifelong political activist, he is leader of the Socialist Labour Party, which he founded in 1996.