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Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Unions call on workers to pause for ‘reflection' on child deaths in Gaza
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) has called on workers to participate in a 'moment of respectful reflection' at 1.05pm on Wednesday in solidarity with the victims of the conflict in Gaza and has expressed the hope that employers will respect their staff's desire to participate. The event has been timed to coincide with the International UN Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, the organisation says. The Taoiseach has said that UN agencies should be "enabled and allowed" to distribute food aid in Gaza amid ongoing deaths at aid centres. Video: Bryan O'Brien 'Since the beginning of the conflict, Israel's assault on Gaza has resulted in the deaths of more than 15,000 children and injuries to 34,000 others,' said Ictu in a statement. The event, it said, would serve 'as a simple act of solidarity and remembrance for the loss of life over the past 18 months'. READ MORE Ictu general secretary Owen Reidy said the event is in response to calls from union members to mark the 'devastating impact on the people of Gaza, particularly the children who have suffered so greatly'. Announcing the initiative last week, he said, 'union members, like much of the Irish public, have been appalled by Israel's wanton violations of international law'. Congress said the event is not intended to be regarded as a work stoppage and has asked members and other workers to co-ordinate with their employers wherever possible. Mr Reidy said there had been a positive response to the move since it was announced last week and the organisation is expecting tens of thousands of members to participate. [ UN demands investigation as at least 27 Palestinians are killed near Gaza aid site Opens in new window ] More than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military action in response to the cross-border attack by Hamas; an assault that resulted in the deaths of about 1,200 people, according to Israel. More 4,000 Palestinians have died since Israel resumed its offensive on March 18th, according to the territory's health ministry.
Irish Independent
02-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Government urged to address social welfare payments for workers facing temporary lay-offs due to US tariffs
A joint letter from the leaders of Ibec and Ictu to Social Protection Minister Dara Calleary asks that he urgently enhance financial supports for employees facing temporary lay-offs or short-time working 'during this period of heightened economic uncertainty'. Ibec CEO Danny McCoy and general secretary of Ictu, Owen Reidy said the current system of support is not fit for purpose and needs to be reformed. They said the new Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit scheme should be amended. The letter, which was copied to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Enterprise Minister Peter Burke and Higher Education Minister James Lawless last week, said the new benefit that links jobseeker payments to former wages excludes workers whose hours may be cut. It said their organisations strongly supported the new Jobseeker's Pay-Related Benefit (JPRB) and believed that it is an important enhancement to the social welfare system. 'The new scheme, however, specifically excludes training activity during the first 26 weeks of receipt and also stipulates that recipients must be fully unemployed, i.e. those put on short-time working cannot avail of the scheme,' it said. 'While such workers can avail of the existing short-time working scheme, the daily rate payment is almost half of that available under the new JPRB.' They said many workers would be better off financially if made fully unemployed so that they can receive the higher weekly JPRB payment rather than continuing to work reduced days with their employer. 'This anomaly needs to be urgently addressed,' they said. 'We are concerned that many of our members are experiencing demand shocks as a result of the US tariffs and the wider economic uncertainty and supply-chain disruption that they are causing.' ADVERTISEMENT Learn more They said Ibec strongly believes that the State should seek to keep workers who face reduced working days or temporary lay-offs connected to their employers during this period of economic disruption. Workers should be encouraged to take up training and reskilling opportunities from the first day of unemployment, the business and worker representatives said. They recommended that the new JPRB scheme be amended to support those experiencing short-time working at a higher new scheme rate and that training be facilitated from day one of unemployment. 'Depending on demand, additional funding may also need to be allocated to support suitable training and upskilling initiatives for these workers,' the letter said. More than 2,500 people who lost their jobs have received up to €450 a week since the new pay-related jobseeker's benefit was rolled out from March 31. Those who have paid at least five years of PRSI are entitled to a weekly payment worth 60pc of their earnings, capped at €450. It is paid at this rate for the first 13 weeks out of work. A spokesperson for the Department of Social Protection said it provides support for workers on Short-Time Work under the Jobseeker's Benefit scheme. "This is an income support payment for those who have been temporarily placed on a shorter working week by their employer and which has worked effectively in response to challenges facing businesses," they said. "Pay-related Jobseeker's Benefit was introduced at the end of March. It applies to employees who become fully unemployed only."
Irish Times
01-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Delay in minimum wage could lead to industrial action, unions warn
The Government is 'misreading the room' if it thinks slowing the pace of minimum wage increases will not prompt a backlash, Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary Owen Reidy has said. Reacting to news that it would not reach Living Wage levels until 2029 – instead of 2026 as originally planned – Mr Reidy said there was already widespread scepticism the new commitment would be honoured given the decision to abandon the old one despite the ongoing strength of the economy. 'The Minister [for Enterprise], Mr [Peter] Burke needs to realise, and the Government needs to realise, if they are sending some kind of subliminal message to employers they can delay all this stuff, and employers who can afford to pay decent wages go along with that, then that's going to lead to industrial action.' Mr Reidy was speaking at an Ictu event on Thursday to mark the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the National Minimum Wage, which was originally set at £4.40. READ MORE He said he would be outlining the scale of union concerns and anger over recent 'U-turns' on wage hikes and other scheduled measures on issues such as sick pay when the two men held a scheduled meeting on Thursday. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland Mr Burke said 'we are not pausing the minimum wage, there will be a significant increase in the minimum wage this year in line with the Low Pay Commission recommendation. What we are doing is lengthening the period of time we are taking to get to the Living Wage, which is 60 per cent of the median wage across the economy. 'We're within striking distance of that [but] I know from the joint report we had with the Department of Social Protection that 75 per cent of minimum wage workers reside in hospitality and retail. These are very exposed sectors. So my core objective is to retain jobs.' Ictu has argued that the scale of the threat posed to businesses is exaggerated. Addressing the Ictu event, Paul MacFlynn, codirector of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, said all of the concerns raised at the time about the potential for negative impacts on unemployment levels, particularly among women and younger workers had proved to be unfounded. 'There have been none to be found in an Irish context,' he said. 'The national minimum wage has been a success in terms of what it was supposed to do: eradicate very low pay but that's it. More skilled workers have continued to be able to maintain and improve wage levels, meanwhile, but there is a problem in the middle, among workers who relied on trade unions to negotiate on their behalf. That's what we need to get back to.' The National Youth Council of Ireland, meanwhile, reiterated its call for the Minister to abolish the sub minimum rates paid to workers under 20, which currently start at €9.45 compared the full National Minimum Wage rate of €13.50. Speaking at the Ictu event, Mandate's Caroline Clifford said the union could see no basis for the sub-minimum rates in retail. 'There are no apprenticeships in the sector,' she said, 'so we don't believe there is any justification for paying young workers any less than their older colleagues.'
Irish Times
28-04-2025
- Irish Times
‘No one should have to risk their life to earn a living': Remembering those killed or injured at work
'He was a hard worker, the sort who'd do everything twice to make sure it was done right,' Deirdre Byrne said of her late son James, 'but the accident came out of the blue.' She and her daughter Deborah, from Ringsend, Dublin, came to the Garden of Remembrance in the city centre on Monday to mark Workers' Memorial Day. They placed flowers during the ceremony in memory of James Byrne, a welder and father of two who worked for Doyle Shipping Group Unlimited in Dublin. Mr Byrne, who was 39, died at the firm's Ocean Pier facility on June 6th, 2018, when a 10-metre steel column fell on him. READ MORE Deborah Byrne said her brother had been left alone on a job that three men were required to finish after the fatal incident. He had been dismantling a hopper, a huge machine used to unload grain from ships, and was well into the process when the column he was working on detached and struck him. He is survived by his partner Paula Murray and sons Nathan and Callum, then aged 18 and 10, as well as his wider family. Deirdre Byrne holds a picture of her son James, who died in a work-related accident in June 2018, at the Workers' Memorial Day ceremony on Monday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Reflecting on her son's death, Deirdre Byrne said: 'There should be more checks by companies, making sure they're not overworking the workers, making sure they're not left on their own to do heavy work. 'Companies can never do enough because they can't see everything that's happening with their employees, so they need to do everything they can to make sure things like this don't happen.' Mr Byrne's employer was fined €850,000 in 2020 for safety breaches that contributed to the incident , with the judge saying the figure would have been higher had it not provided evidence of having invested substantially to ensure nothing like the accident would happen again. Monday's event was organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). It was attended by Minister of State Neale Richmond and by Sean Downey of the Construction Industry Federation as well as workers and members of the emergency services. Ictu general secretary Owen Reidy said progress had been made in terms of workplace safety, with last year's total of 34 fatalities the lowest since the HSA's establishment. But he said: 'No one should have to put their life at risk earning a living.' Commemorations for the Workers' Memorial Day at the Garden Of Remembrance, Dublin, on Monday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Mr Reidy welcomed the reduction in the number of deaths in agriculture and construction, but said much more needed to be done. 'I think it's important that we also dedicate this occasion to the thousands of workers who contract industrial diseases each year. Far from this being a thing of the past, occupational diseases are on the increase,' he said. 'Some 100,000 workers in Europe die every year from occupational cancer due to exposure to hazardous substances, and we know that longer working hours bring psychological pressures and can cause heart disease, stroke, depression and, in some cases, suicide.' Mr Downey said the downward trend of serious incidents in the construction sector was welcome, but 'we're not there yet, we need to do more to identify and eliminate risks and drive policy to help us get the figure to zero. 'We also need to drive out the culture of under-reporting among the FDI, the foreign companies that want to say 'We don't have any incident on our projects', because that's just not realistic.' HSA chief inspector Mark Cullen said the organisation would continue to work with industry bodies and unions to reduce numbers and said there would be more workplace inspections over the coming years.
