Article from the Sept. 2006 issue of the Socialist
newspaper of the Socialist Party, Irish section of the CWI

Industrial Reports

Draconian assault on An Post workers' rights

By Eamonn McNally, Chairperson Dublin Postal Delivery Branch, CWU, (personal capacity)

IN THE last three weeks draconian cutbacks have taken place at An Post on the back of a contrived financial crisis manufactured by management.

The cuts have begun at the Ballyfermot district office in Dublin. Massive cuts of over 470 hours has meant that 31 duties have been cut to 16 full time and five part time duties with one part time duty replacing three full time sorting duties! If these cuts are replicated across all districts, it will be a major move to replace full time staff with part timers. Postpersons of long-standing service will be deemed to be "surplus" under these changes and could be shifted from office to office.

At a time of major population growth throughout Dublin, services to the general public are being cut back and the quality of service will diminish. Areas like Blanchardstown, Balbriggan and Swords/Lissenhall have seen population growths of 32%, 114%, and 49% respectively in the last four years. Yet in the face of these statistics, An Post management are talking about cutting deliveries to residential areas, i.e., no post will be delivered on certain days of the week. The opening hours of public offices will also be cut back.

These cuts will make huge savings for the company but at the expense of the living standards of postpersons. This development underlines the urgent need for the CWU to have a real campaign for a state subsidy for An Post so that it can maintain its social obligations. In 2005 Dublin Bus received a subvention from the state of €65 million and Iarnrod Eireann received €180 million, (although these are the lowest state subsidies for public transport in Europe). An Post didn't receive a single cent!

The vast majority of overtime in Dublin for the midnight shifts has been cut and daytime overtime will eventually go. In a move that will further cut the wages and conditions of postpersons, with an increase in the average net working week, it will be at the discretion of local management as to whether the workers will be paid for the extra hours. With a postperson's basic pay of only €498 a week and with major increase in the cost of living postal workers depend on overtime just to make ends meet.

Anger at these cuts is widespread. Many believe that these changes are outside the realms of the imposed collection and delivery deal. It was pointed out to senior union officials at the time of the so-called debate, that this deal would have a fundamentally negative impact on CWU members. These warnings were ignored.

The growing anger at these changes can be utilised by union activists to organise postal workers in a campaign to force the leadership of the CWU to take action to halt the company's agenda. There is a need for unity amongst all of the CWU branches affected by the cuts and solidarity from all An Post workers in order to resist what is the most serious assault on our pay and working conditions that we have ever faced.

Brickies take on rogue building contractor

ON 30 August 40 bricklayers mounted an angry picket on Fingal County Council in protest that yet another local authority had handed over a lucrative building contract to a rogue contractor.

E.H. Allingham are contracted to build 131 local authority housing units in Balbriggan. The company and its sub-contractors have refused to implement the legally binding Registered Employment Agreements, which cover pay and pension compliance. They have also refused to recognise or meet with the men's trade union, the Building and Allied Trades Union (BATU).

The Socialist spoke to Andy Smith, Regional Organiser for BATU, who said: "some of our members worked on site but when their union membership became known they were sacked and to date have not been paid for work done.

"The picket on the Council was organised because we believe Fingal County Council is answerable. It is entirely unacceptable that on a project funded with tax-payers' money, trade union members can be thrown off site and discriminated against.

"We have had similar issues with other local authorities in the past, but this time as a result of the action taken by our members, we have forced Fingal to concede that this situation would not arise again.

"Having said that, Allingham still have the contract, still have not paid our members and still refuse work to trade union members, so the issue is far from over".

Fingal Socialist Party Councillor Clare Daly, welcomed the holding of the picket and said, "It's about time the Council has acknowledged its responsibility in this regard, but words are not enough. If a contractor is in breach of the Registered Employment Agreement then the contract should be revoked. That's the only way they will listen."

Government cuts Medical card entitlements for home helps

By Councillor Mick Barry

A VICIOUS cutback on the medical card entitlements of the state's 12,000-plus HSE home helps was secretly implemented over the summer.

Up until the start of the summer, HSE home helps had their wages excluded when being assessed for medical card eligibility. However, that has now been changed and home helps who are first-time applicants for medical cards, are now having their HSE wages included in the assessment. Home helps who are renewing their medical cards are exempted from this, but only for twelve months.

This means that thousands of home helps will be faced with the awful choice of giving up the job, cutting back their hours or losing the medical card.

The cutback has been implemented in the run-up to US-franchised private home help operator Comfort Keepers setting up shop in Ireland.

Home help union activists reckon that the medical card cut will create gaps in the HSE service that will be covered by contracting work out to the private sector and that the timing of the cutback is no coincidence. The government must not be allowed to blame all this on the HSE. The HSE is their baby and they must be held accountable for this mean and nasty cut.

All unions in the state representing HSE home helps - Siptu, Impact, ATGWU and IWU - must work together to fight this cut, making it a political issue and making the government hurt hard until it is reversed.

Bus Eireann drivers take on private operator

By Ron Byrne

BUS DRIVERS in Limerick took action against the creeping privatisation of public transport by blockading a bus owned by JJ Kavannagh & Sons and engaging in a wildcat strike for three hours on 8 August.

Kavannagh's has been illegally operating a bus service between Limerick City and Shannon Airport since April. Paul Kavannagh told a local newspaper that they had applied for a licence from the Department of Transport for eight services, but were only offered three.

They haven't accepted these, but continue to operate anyway without a licence. Limerick City-Shannon Airport is a very busy route and potentially very profitable for a private company to operate. The government's policy of opening up profitable routes to competition is lining the pockets of the private bus companies at the expense of those people who live in more isolated or marginalised communities. Despite the Celtic Tiger, Ireland still lags way behind other EU15 countries in state investment in public transport.