Greg Ennis elected SIPTU Deputy General Secretary for the Private Sector
Greg Ennis has been elected as SIPTU's Deputy General Secretary for the Private Sector at the union's Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in Galway.
Athboy-native Ennis, who joined the union's Meath branch thirty-eight years ago, previously served as SIPTU's Manufacturing Division Organiser.
At a speech to the BDC, Ennis said that arresting the decline in private sector trade union membership would be his "number one priority" as Deputy General Secretary.
CEASEFIRE NOW
The Irish Government could be "complicit" in the genocide that the Israeli government is carrying out against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in Galway was told.
Omar Barghouti, the co-founder of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, warned that states had a legal obligation under the Genocide Convention to act with more than just words to stop the "unspeakable carnage" in Gaza.
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"We need a union revival," Mick Lynch tells Galway conference
SIPTU vows to fight for a workers' agenda in general election
SIPTU will head into the next general election aiming to fight for a workers' agenda, its Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, told the union's Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in Galway today.
The combative speech – which raised the prospect of "progressive, left-leaning parties leading a government" for the first time in the state's history – also warned that the union would not be "hand in glove" with any administration.
"We must learn from the lessons of history and not temper our collective strength should a progressive government be put in place," she said, "our members may have played a huge role in building our state, but we are not, and should never be an arm of the state."
The housing crisis, spiralling cost of living, insecurity at work, outsourcing and the underfunding of public services were all highlighted as challenges to which SIPTU would aim to promote pro-worker solutions during any forthcoming election.
The address placed particular emphasis on the forthcoming transposition of the European Union Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, which is likely to lead to legislative change over collective bargaining in the Republic of Ireland.
"We will fight for real collective bargaining," Buckley told the conference, "and to ensure that any new legislation that comes out of the European Directive on collective bargaining coverage does not bypass or diminish trade unions."
SIPTU also intends to launch a Right to Organise campaign, which will lobby for the new legislation to strengthen the rights of union members and representatives in the workplace, as well as reforming the Unfair Dismissals Act.
"We need legislation that takes on the union busters in this country," she said, "so that it will never again be cheap or easy to fire a union activist."
SIPTU leader says Ireland needs new economic model
Ireland needs a new economic model to meet the immense challenges of the twenty-first century, SIPTU General Secretary, Joe Cunningham, has told the union's Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in Galway.
The speech, delivered to almost 350 union delegates today, highlighted climate change, technological disruption, the rise of the far right and geopolitical instability as grave threats to a progressive society.
It also made reference to the conference's theme, Fighting for the Future of Work, arguing that workers had seen significant reductions in living standards under the current economic model.
"Over the last 20 years, wages have failed to keep up with productivity as employers grabbed more and more of the income that workers produced," Cunningham said, adding that this had led to "rising inequality, rising living costs, in-work poverty and low pay."
The only solution to growing inequality was a new economic model based on enhanced workers' rights and collective bargaining, he said.
At the conference, Cunningham also argued in defence of Ireland's neutrality, saying it was "grounded in the principles of peace and justice."
"Human rights, the international rule of law, solving conflicts by negotiation and ending economic oppression," he said, were "absolutely necessary" alternatives to a world of war and conflict.
Cunningham said that Ireland's principles of neutrality should be applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a call for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and the release of hostages. For a just resolution, he added, "the occupation of Palestine must end, the siege must be lifted."
The address concluded with "a message of hope" to the delegates for the rest of the four-day conference.
"Through our initiatives we can bring opportunity to those who only see gloom," Cunningham said, adding that SIPTU would "dare to plan for an economy and society where prosperity is for everyone and not just for a few at the top."
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Trade unions must be at the heart of Irish unity debate, SIPTU says
Trade unions must be at the heart of the debate over Irish reunification, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Gerry McCormack, told the union's Biennial Delegate Conference (BDC) in Galway today.
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SIPTU calls for RTÉ job cuts to be reversed
SIPTU has called for the 400 job cuts announced by RTÉ management as part of its 'New Direction for RTÉ' to be reversed.
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SIPTU acknowledges invitation to public sector pay talks
The union has said that the officers of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) would meet within the next 24 hours to discuss the terms of the invitation.