Struggle and resistance in the work-place is more common than readers might think. If we think of resistance or conflict between capital and labour in work-places as only industrial disputes, well then, yes, it is a pretty dismal picture. Of course we see the headline disputes of workers collectively organised […]
Trade Unionism
Repeal the 8th! The role of trade unions
Jointly hosted by the Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th Amendment (TUCR8A) and the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth, this public meeting dealt with article 40.3.3 as a work-place, class, equality and human rights issue. Like most trade union meetings, Repeal the 8th: The Role of Trade Unions started […]
New public-sector union to come into being this year
The merger of Impact, the Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU) and the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) will create a new 80,000-member, largely public-sector union, to be called Fórsa, in 2018. Towards the end of 2017, 86 per cent of Impact members who voted supported the merger; 76 per […]
New problems for organised labour
In the unlikely event that any of our readers have invested in a significant number of shares in the British company Curry’s PC World, they would be well advised to sell before too long On a pre-Christmas visit to one of their larger stores I was surprised to find some […]
A future worth fighting for
In 2016 James Wickham and Alicja Bobek produced a report for TASC into working conditions in Ireland in which they identified “enforced flexibility” as the major development in employment conditions for workers in all industries following the crisis. This enforced flexibility comes in a number of forms. For some it […]
Plagiarism in the schools — but it’s not the pupils!
The Department of Education and the media have for years hyped up the idea of schools “ditching the textbooks and going digital.” In particular, Microsoft Showcase Schools are “innovative,” where “digital books” and “tablets” replace “old-fashioned” books This apparently is the great leap forward—but is it? For Microsoft it will […]
A future worth fighting for
Earlier this month the Trade Union Left Forum issued its “Workers’ Charter: A Future Worth Fighting for.” The charter calls for a range of legislative reforms to improve both workers’ and union rights in the south and north of Ireland. Each progressive change itself is important for workers, but, if […]
Sign the Workers’ Charter
I pledge to support, promote and encourage the following principles within my work-place, my union, the trade union movement, and society more generally. I am a trade union activist in favour of— (1) A Trade Union Bill, in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, to provide for union […]
Dublin Bus up for grabs
In August, at the end of the tendering process for 10 per cent of Dublin bus routes, two bidders remained: Dublin Bus itself and the British transport corporation Go-Ahead. It’s no surprise that, despite Dublin Bus putting in a very good tender and meeting all the criteria, the private British […]