A New Departure for Social Partnership

by Shipsea Wed Sep 07, 2005 18:04

While the ideal of an effective and fair union is surely dear to the heart of any reasonable person, you have to consider what you actually get in reality. All too often, sadly ,union officers and reps grow very cosy with the management groups they are supposed to be monitoring. Take NATFHE, for example. They have a policy that says you cannot join the union if you have a current dispute with your managers. This, like joining the AA when you break down on the side of the road, is exactly the moment when a lot of life-long members could be recruited -especially if they have good quality support from their reps. In this writers experience of three disputes over appalling instances of bullying, the union reps were terrible. At a certain point in a dispute the rep has to be prepared for the possibility of resentment from managers and others about what they are doing and they are often unequal to that, dumping instead on the poor employee/manager who needs help, for fear of making themselves unpopular with the boss. Being a union rep comes with a certain amount of power and hob nobbing with managers and the fact is that a lot of reps forget what they are supposed to be there for. Unions have become comparatively spineless in dealing with bullying and other employee abuses.

by Reader Wed Sep 07, 2005 18:04

Increasing competition is Govt priority

07 September 2005 16:32
The Minister for Trade and Enterprise Micheál Martin has said increasing competition in the economy was a government priority.

He was responding to a report that warned that strong consumer spending and increased construction work are masking the level of competitiveness of the economy.

Mr Martin also said a priority in third level education will be building on what he said was the significant progress made on investment in Research and Development.

The National Competitiveness Council, which seeks to strengthen the economy's performance, said that both spending and building activity are being fuelled by increasing levels of personal borrowings.

It argues that, in the long term, prosperity in Ireland will be dependent on export levels which have been slipping recently. The council also noted that price levels in Ireland are the second highest in Europe.

The report examines 170 indicators of economic performance and competitiveness and highlights many things which are good about the economy.

The Irish economy has grown more than twice as fast as the economy of the United States over the past ten years, and three times faster than the average for the Euro zone.

Ireland has the lowest corporate and personal taxes of 15 countries surveyed. It comes second in the European Union for entrepreneurial activity, with 193,000 adults in Ireland actively planning or in the process of establishing an enterprise.

Ireland also has the highest stock of foreign direct investment per capita among all the industrialised countries surveyed.

However, the report says there are still many issues that need to be addressed if current levels of prosperity are to be maintained.

Consumer prices in Ireland are among the highest in Europe, and pay costs are the fourth highest out of 14 countries surveyed.

The report also notes concern about the high level of borrowing in the Irish economy. Consumer borrowing was the equivalent of 78% of GNP in 1995; by 2004 it had risen to 163% and has risen sharply again over the past year.

While this is helping to drive economic growth through consumer spending and house building, the National Competitiveness Council warns that prosperity will ultimately be undermined if the competitiveness of Ireland's export sector is not maintained.

by Disillusioned Wed Sep 07, 2005 17:46

Few workers joining trade unions

16:02 Wednesday September 7th 2005

Just over a third of employees in Ireland are members of a trade union, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office published today.

The percentage of workers who are members of a union has fallen significantly.

Ten years ago, 45 per cent of workers were part of a trade union compared with just 34.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2005.

Union membership has declined most dramatically amongst 15 to 35-year-olds, while employees who work less than 20 hours a week are least likely to form part of a trade union.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) said there are a number of reasons for the figures, including the refusal of some multinationals to recognise trade unions and the growth of the services sector, where union membership is traditionally low.

David Begg of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said unions need to put more effort into convincing workers of the need to get organised.

“Trade unions up to now have put no effort whatsoever into recruiting people, and just like anybody who sells a product or who wants to advertise their services, they'll just have to start doing that a little bit more effectively,” he said.

by person Wed Sep 07, 2005 03:12

1. No mention of "workers". We are now "consumers" - neo-liberal FG speak. [No mention of people from either of yas]

2. "The economy" is all that's mentioned and all important. "Society" doesn't even get a mention.
[I'll give you that.]

3. If you can't see the problem in a bunch of self-described socialists coming out with policy statements which could have been written by any number of neo-liberal bodies and are couched entirely in the language of neo-liberalism (there is no society, just economy, there are no workers, just consumers), it just goes to show how deeply you have been co-opted by the logic of neo-liberalism.

[ Nope still no people or human beings ] :)

by Chekov Wed Sep 07, 2005 01:07

The document has this to say about problems with social partnership.

"There are significant outstanding challenges that must be addressed. There are significant fragilities in the Irish economy which cannot be ignored."

Now, unless you've redefined the meaning of even the politico-newspeak that these documents are written in, there is no possible way that you could see anything in that which could refer to the problem of addressing "the increase in the disparity of wealth between the rich and the PAYE sectore since it was introduced."

As anybody who speaks politico-newspeak properly will tell you "fragilities in the Irish economy" is IBEC language for "wage inflation is the real problem" and "competitivity" is the solution. Translating it into real terms gets "less pay, more work".

It's pretty clear that this document is aimed at IBEC and says "don't worry boys, we hear you, we won't rock the boat." If it wasn't aimed in such a direction we would expect at least some rhetorical mention of social problems and wealth divisions.

by Leeroy - UCD Labour Wed Sep 07, 2005 00:13

There are problems with the language in the document but it was written with the best of intentions, and i do think that we should let Fine Gael worry about their own policies, and start building up policies of our own. Social partnership has failed to address the increase in the disparity of wealth between the rich and the PAYE sectore since it was introduced.

by Chekov Tue Sep 06, 2005 22:02

1. No mention of "workers". We are now "consumers" - neo-liberal FG speak.

2. "The economy" is all that's mentioned and all important. "Society" doesn't even get a mention.

3. If you can't see the problem in a bunch of self-described socialists coming out with policy statements which could have been written by any number of neo-liberal bodies and are couched entirely in the language of neo-liberalism (there is no society, just economy, there are no workers, just consumers), it just goes to show how deeply you have been co-opted by the logic of neo-liberalism.

by Paul Tue Sep 06, 2005 20:56

seriously not trying to be clever, but have read through document, and find it hard to pick out where labour has betrayed its members/socialism etc. will read through it again. of course if there is a major problem with the document, the members I'm sure can make changes.

by Socialist Tue Sep 06, 2005 15:15

Shame on you Labour.
Short term gain wins over priciples yet again.
Disgraces to the ideal of socialism.

by Miriam Cotton Tue Sep 06, 2005 14:22

Not a signle word about one of the most seriously neglected and largest groups of people in the country.

Fine Gael and Labour are actually proposing to work with the seriously flawed legislation recently enacted by Fianna Fail and the PDs. This is a four-party stitch-up of the objective of rights based legislation - the only solution that will ever deliver consistent services for people with disability.