Latest news with #tradeunion
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Government should consider allowing unions to collect subs from non-members who benefit from pay deals, consultation told
The country's largest public service trade union has urged the Government to consider a Canadian system which would require workers who benefit from salary deals or other collective agreements to pay dues or subscriptions even if they are not members. Fórsa has told a Government-established consultation process that 'free-riding' is a growing problem for trade unions. At present just over a quarter of all workers in Ireland are members of trade unions, a substantial portion of them in the public sector, who benefit from union-negotiated deals. But in a significant number of cases employees who are not union members benefit equally from pay increases or other negotiations carried out by unions on behalf of their members in the same company or organisation. READ MORE Research by John Geary and Maria Belizon at UCD has suggested more than a third of workers in unionised workplaces could be categorised as 'free-riders', with the figure running to more than half in unionised private sector places of employment. In a submission to a public consultation process on the formulation of an action plan due to be drawn up later this year by Government to promote greater collective bargaining coverage, Fórsa said there was a strong relationship between trade union membership and union-negotiated collective agreements. It argued 'free-riding' was a growing problem for trade unions. This, it said, was primarily because of the associated costs of union organising and the financial loss incurred from non-members benefiting from improved pay and conditions without contributing to the collective effort through membership subscription fees or participating in collective industrial action. 'To help address the issue of 'free-riders' and declining density, and to build and strengthen the capacity of trade unions through incentivising membership, Fórsa recommends the Government consider proposals to allow unions to collect subscription fees or union dues from all employees, including members and non-members, similar to the Rand Formula which exists in Canada.' As part of its submission on the action plan, which is required of the Government under the terms of Adequate Minimum Wages Directive , the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) made 35 recommendations. Congress, which represents more than 40 affiliated trade unions, has been involved in a sustained campaign to influence the way Government implements the directive and has been critical of what it sees as a lack of action taken so far. In its submission, it calls for a range of measures including access to private sector workplaces for unions, protections where industrial action is taken and making a willingness to engage with unions a requirement for access to State supports. Ictu also argues that the Government should consider allowing State-subsidised but voluntary unemployment insurance which the unions would administer. They point to similar schemes already operating in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, where they have helped to sustain significantly higher level of union membership. Under the system, the schemes provide for additional payments which complement existing social protection measures for union members who lose their jobs. Ictu says introducing such a system in Ireland would be 'a major undertaking' but wants to see its viability examined. It also suggests a trial of default union membership at a semistate enterprise or other organisation receiving substantial public funding. Among the proposals from trade union Unite, meanwhile, is for the universal right to union recognition to be enshrined in a workers' rights act, with employers that contravened its terms prohibited from tendering for any public contracts.
The Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Have you heard the best doctor joke yet? They want huge pay rise just after 22% deal. Here's where they can shove it
'DOCTOR, Doctor . . . since the operation I can't feel my legs.' 'That's because we've amputated your hands.' 5 Until this week, that was my favourite doctor joke. I mean, there was another one in really bad taste about dementia. But we won't go there. And even that wasn't as funny as the one I'm about to tell you. The doctors, they call themselves resident doctors now, by the way, have demanded more money from the government. Want to know how much? A pay rise of at least 29 per cent. Or more. I heard one trade union rep on Times Radio saying they should be asking for a rise of 50 per cent. That's not the punchline, though. The punchline is that they've just been given a pay rise already this week. Of 5.4 per cent, so way more than the rate of inflation. The British Medical Association has said this is nowhere near enough money and is urging the quacks to vote for strike action. So we are looking at another summer of misery and chaos in our hospitals with yet more strikes. The doctors say the reason they deserve more money is that their settlements have been below inflation every time. They say they have taken a massive real-terms pay cut since 2006. Listen, you mouth-breathing spazzocks. Everyone has taken real-term pay cuts since 2006. Nobody is quite as well off as they were then, that was before the economic crash. So, anyway, they're likely to be going on strike. Oh, there's another punchline. Do you know how much they received in their pay settlement two years ago, after they had been on strike? It was a gobsmacking 22 per cent. Wes Streeting brutally slams Kemi AND Farage and demands Tories say sorry for how they ran the NHS in blistering attack It is the absolute duty of our Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Labour government to tell these docs to shove their pay rise right up their sphincters and into the duodenum canal. Or the Grand Union Canal, whichever is nearer. This country is broke. Largely a consequence of the economic mismanagement of Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor. We cannot afford to be splashing out enormous sums on ludicrous pay rises. The problem for Wes and co is that the doctors are loyal Labour voters. And Labour likes to reward its client base — and sod the economy. 5 As soon as Starmer got in the winter fuel payments for pensioners were scrapped and instead the train drivers got a massive pay rise. So Labour has partly created this mess itself, by giving the trade unions exactly what they want. And I can see Starmer saying: 'Well, it is a very generous pay deal. But we had to do it because we didn't want a summer of chaos in our hospitals.' Don't do it, Wes. Don't do it, Keir. While a year or so ago the public was fully behind the health workers in their battles for more dosh, it's nowhere near the truth now. A recent poll has suggested that support for the resident doctors has slipped from 52 per cent in the polls to 39 per cent today. So have some spine, Starmer. Call their bluff. Tell them they're getting 5.4 per cent and should be grateful. Because how many workers in the private sector have been getting pay awards like that? Have you? HOME WORK DODGE WELL, at least there's one poll the poor old UK comes top in. Yes, we have more people working from home than in any other European country. The average number of days spent sitting in front of Bangers & Cash, sorry, studiously working for your company, is 1.8 in the UK. In Europe it's 1.3. The only country worldwide that beats us is the basket case which is Canada. I have nothing against working from home – hell, I do it – so long as it means working from home. But too often it doesn't. And too often it's our public sector – who are generally already paid more on average, have more sick days and longer holidays than those in the private sector. You can't beat Black Lace's Agadoo, Zak 5 POOR old Zak Starkey. Will nobody give him a job as a drummer? He was 'retired' from The Who's tour because Roger Daltrey thought he played too loud. And now he's not available for his old band Oasis either. If he doesn't watch it, he'll end up on the Northern cabaret circuit keeping time for Black Lace on Agadoo. Zak was taught drums by the madman Keith Moon. I think that explains a lot. BLURT IT, BEEB 5 BYE bye, Gary. The BBC got itself in a terrible pickle over Mr Lineker. I think the bloke had every right to express his opinions. Even if they were always fairly stupid. And like as not, we will miss Gary from our screens. He was a much better broadcaster than his opponents gave him credit for. My answer to the BBC's conundrum is this. Let every employee speak his or her mind. Wherever they want. And then maybe we would see in glorious Technicolor the political bias of the corporation. And they would have to fess up and start to change it.
Globe and Mail
7 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
'Buy America', Keep Gold as Insurance, and…
The 'sell America' trade is getting a lot of attention these days, but it seems that enough is enough. The about-to-be-hiked tariffs for the EU were delayed by a month (precisely: to at least July 9), and it looks like we're getting the same kind of story as we've seen recently. First, a threat, then, escalation, which is followed by delay, putting pressure on the other side. Where does it all lead to? Likely to trade agreements that have ultimately increase the level of tariffs. I already wrote about the implications for the world trade (it's going to decline), for the stock markets (as above, they are likely to decline based on the trade obstacles), and I wrote about the fundamental implications for the U.S. dollar (they are bullish – with lower demand for foreign currencies given increase in their purchase prices due to tariffs). Today, I'd like to discuss one other aspect that remains unclear. It's about the coordinated response by the world economies to U.S. tariff hikes vs. independent reactions. In 1-on-1 talks, the U.S. has the advantage – it's the world's biggest economy, after all. But, if the rest of the world was to team up (or at least several major economies) and negotiate on the same front (like a trade union), the power would no longer be on the U.S. side. After all, despite the U.S. is the biggest economy, it's not as big as several of the other big economies taken together. The most detrimental situation to the U.S. would be having to negotiate with multiple economies at the same time that are already making deals among themselves. Trump knows this, which is why he's isolating the discussion. China was isolated first, and the entire focus / tariff burden was on it. With arrangements in place, time has come for the EU. Maybe Japan comes next (with implications for the Japanese yen)? So far, it seems that this policy is working – at least as far as we know based on the official communication. It's also possible that there are discussions being held to which the U.S. is not invited, but right now the former, straightforward interpretation seems more likely. If this continues, the terms for the U.S. will be more favorable, BUT the entire world trade, world economies and world stock markets are still likely to take a hit due to 'operation tariffs'. Is this how the markets perceive the situation? Absolutely not. It's 'sell America' all over the board. The world stocks are performing better than the U.S. stocks and the USD Index was slammed since the tariffs were announced. Does it make sense? Did the U.S. stop being the world's most powerful economy after April? With the most powerful army? With the biggest tech hub in the world, ready to capitalize from the AI growth (yes, the pricing of AI equities is likely too much, but the AI revolution has only begun)? No – what happened was that the non-U.S. produced goods will be more expensive for U.S. consumers. This will make them more expensive to U.S. companies and U.S. buyers, pushing inflation higher (which is likely to prevent the Fed from cutting rates). At the same time, the declining demand for non-U.S. products, would also diminish the demand for foreign currencies. Lower demand for them, means their lower values (compared to the value of the U.S. dollar). So, the U.S. dollar should move higher given the overall tariff increases. But no – the emotional reaction took precedent. Can the emotional reaction to events last? For some time, yes, but the time is against this kind of reaction, as the market is likely to come its senses. When? Perhaps when the statistics for May will start to arrive and we'll see the first signs of slowdown. This might affect stocks and commodity prices, and by 'affect', I mean that they could start to decline and then plunge. Won't the troubling statistics impact the USD? Back in 2008 and 2020, the troubling statistics benefitted the USD – it was only after massive money printing was announced that the USD declined in 2020. Won't the USD Index just keep on declining based on whatever is going on with the markets emotionally? No – at some point, enough is enough, and we have the technical analysis to tell us how far is too far and where are the levels that are likely to hold. (chart courtesy of The USD Index moved close to its recent low, but it doesn't seem to matter, as this year's bottom formed at a super-strong support area. Only one of the following support levels would be enough to trigger a major reversal and shift the sentiment, and we've got not one but three of them. Here they are: The rising support line based on the 2011 and mid-2021 bottoms The 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level based on the 2008 – 2022 rally The 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level based on the 2018 – 2022 rally All this, while we're relatively close to the middle of the year – which is when the USD Index tends to form major bottoms. I marked it on the above chart. The USD Index did not rally for the second month in a row, which might seem bearish, but it's not. If you look at how the USD Index performed before launching its biggest rallies in the previous years, you'll see that what we see now is in perfect tune with those patterns. In each case – when we saw those major bottoms in the USDX – the precious metals sector and copper declined profoundly. There's one case that's a bit different than the other ones – the 2021 bottom was a double-bottom pattern, so which bottom should we take into account? In my view, the second one as it's aligned seasonally – that second bottom formed in May, 2021. We've Been Net Long Gold, Remember? Before summarizing, I would like to emphasize something that many people seem to get wrong about my analyses. Namely, people sometimes say that I've been shorting gold, which is completely not true. There were a few local short trades in gold and there were a few local long trades in gold, but almost all of the time in the past months and years, I haven't been trading gold at all. In fact, we've been long gold for years through the insurance part of the portfolios. At the end of each Gold Trading Alert, there's a summary section, and one of its components is: 'Insurance capital (core part of the portfolio; our opinion): Full position. If you'd like to buy gold or silver (for example through your IRA – you get a guidebook on that over here), I suggest that you do so through one of the top gold dealers. ' This has been kept at 'full position' since its inception many years ago. Furthermore, if you click the 'portfolio' link above, you can read inside of the report that the insurance part of the portfolio (being long gold) should be kept intact 'even when you think that gold and silver may decline.' While I'm not telling anyone how much they should invest, the above report provides three sample portfolios (beginner, trader, and long-term investor), and they have the following sample weights: Beginner: 44.1% as insurance (being long gold), max. loss per trade 0.1% of capital (so, even if the size of the trade was put at 300% of the above, it would still be max loss of 0.3% of the capital) Trader: 17.6% as insurance (being long gold), max. loss per trade 2% Long-term investor: 33.6% (being long gold), max. loss per trade 1% Yes, I am writing in my analyses about gold, silver, and mining stocks, and I'm usually writing about gold as that's the simplest way to discuss the short- or medium-term outlook. However, it doesn't mean that I think that being out of the gold market completely is a good idea! Or that if I'm being bearish on gold, that I'm shorting gold, and not something else from the precious metals market (like miners or silver, which is the case right now). The bottom line is, if someone followed by Gold Trading Alerts indications, they were pretty much always net long gold with periodic hedges through mining stocks, and sometimes other assets. If this is surprising, please feel free to review ANY of the Gold Trading Alerts that I have posted in the recent years. The portfolio report is not linked once, but three times in each summary. === Thank you for reading the above free analysis. And for staying up-to-date with my thoughts on the market – I appreciate you taking them into account while making your own investment decisions. If you'd like to access my complete premium analysis, including specific technical targets for FCX (even options) and silver, detailed analysis of mining stocks, and comprehensive portfolio insights, consider subscribing to my Gold Trading Alerts or – if you want the best – our Diamond Package. If you're not ready to subscribe yet, I invite you to stay updated with our free analyses - sign up for our free gold newsletter now. Thank you. Przemyslaw K. Radomski, CFA Founder, Editor-in-chief
CNA
22-05-2025
- Politics
- CNA
South Africans exasperated by Trump false claims during Ramaphosa meeting
JOHANNESBURG: South Africans expressed dismay on Thursday (May 22) at how US President Donald Trump's false claims of a white genocide dominated a conversation with President Cyril Ramaphosa, and many wondered if his trip to Washington was worth the trouble. Ramaphosa included popular white South African golfers in his delegation and he had hoped talks with Trump in the White House on Wednesday would reset relations with the United States, which have nosedived since the US leader took office in January. But Trump spent most of the conversation confronting his visitor with false claims that South Africa's white minority farmers are being systematically murdered and having their land seized. "He didn't get Zelenskyyed. That's what we have to hang onto (He) did not get personally insulted by the world's most horrible duo of playground bullies," Rebecca Davis of the national Daily Maverick wrote. At a February White House meeting, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calling him ungrateful for US military aid, and Zelenskyy heatedly tried to argue his case. For some, though, Ramaphosa's cool composure raised the question of what was achieved by his having subjected himself to the onslaught. "I don't think it was the right call. I don't think we need to explain ourselves to USA," 40-year-old Sobelo Motha, a member of a trade union, said on the streets of Johannesburg. "We ... we know there's no white genocide. So for me, it was pointless exercise." The South African president arrived prepared for an aggressive reception given actions in recent months by Trump, who has cancelled aid to South Africa, offered refuge to white minority Afrikaners, expelled the country's ambassador and criticised its genocide court case against Israel. But throughout, Trump wanted only to discuss the treatment of white South Africans, playing a video and leafing through articles that he said proved his allegations. Foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri defended Ramaphosa's handling of the encounter, saying it was important that the two leaders engaged. "It's not in the president's (Ramaphosa's) nature to be combative. (He) looks at issues calmly, matter-of-factly. I think that's what we expect of our presidents," he told Reuters. FRINGE GROUPS IN SOUTH AFRICA Three decades after the end of apartheid in South Africa, some fringe groups lament the loss of white power that democracy brought and point to persistent economic crisis and corruption. Wider disillusion - not just among white South Africans - over the state of the country cost Nelson Mandela's legacy party its majority in last year's election. White South Africans make up less than 8 per cent of the population and are still the most affluent group, controlling three-quarters of private land. While South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world - about 20,000 a year - most victims are black. Data collected by white farmers themselves does not support the notion of a genocide. Afrikaner farmers' union TLU-SA has counted 1,363 white farmers murdered since 1990, or an average of 40 a year - far less than 1 per cent of total murders. South Africa's richest man, Johann Rupert, owner of Richemont group that owns brands like Cartier, was at the White House meeting and told Trump crime was a problem "across the board". Still, for more than a decade, global far-right chatrooms have been circulating the notion that whites are persecuted, views that appear to have influenced Trump, a large number of Republican politicians and his ally, South African-born Elon Musk. "I think the misinformation campaign by various right-wing groups and various Afrikaner groups was extremely successful," white South African writer Pieter du Toit told Reuters. "They have been feeding the idea of white victimhood into the right-wing ecosystem in the United States for years." Back home, though, most white South Africans take a more nuanced view. "In its entirety, the violent crime in South Africa should be looked at," Owen van Roen, 47, a global commodity trader, said in the affluent streets of Johannesburg's Sandton financial district.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Unite members accept 8% NHS pay deal
Members of the Unite trade union working in the NHS have voted to accept an 8% pay increase over the next two years. The deal will see a 4.25% rise this year and a 3.75% uplift next year for staff, including those in the ambulance service, estates and porters, costing the Scottish Government an extra £191 million. It also features an 'inflation guarantee', which would ensure pay increases will always stay at least 1% above the Consumer Price Index rate. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Unite members across NHS Scotland have accepted the pay offer over two years on the basis it is the best negotiable deal. 'It's a pay deal which ultimately helps us build better jobs, pay and conditions for workers across the NHS.' James O'Connell, the union's lead negotiator for the health sector, warned that any attempts to row back on the commitment to keeping pay deals above inflation would see members balloted for strike action. 'Unite delivered a credible pay offer for our valued NHS workers which they have overwhelmingly supported,' he said. 'The offer includes a critical clause which ensures pay remains inflation proof. 'If there is any attempt to renege on this clause then Unite will automatically hold an industrial action ballot. 'The challenges facing NHS Scotland are not just about pay but the wider working conditions and extra investment. 'The Scottish Government and NHS executives must resolve the reduction in the working week as previously agreed to. Our members are exhausted and beyond breaking point.' The announcement comes as the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) also accepted the Scottish Government's offer this week. Responding to the decision by midwives, Health Secretary Neil Gray said: 'I am pleased that RCM members have voted overwhelmingly to accept this pay offer. 'If accepted by trade unions collectively, this means that midwives in NHS Scotland will continue to benefit from the best reward package in the UK. 'I hope all other healthcare staff who will benefit from this pay offer choose to accept.'
