News Archive

The Government’s initiative of 19th November 2014, while offering clarity and certainty on water charges, will not provide a comprehensive long-term solution for the challenges confronting the development of the public water system. Its most...

SIPTU members in the Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, commenced industrial action on Tuesday, 18th November, in a dispute concerning a unilateral change to workers' shift patterns. The...

SIPTU members in Bausch & Lomb have welcomed the announcement by its owners, Valeant, to invest €41 million in its Waterford facility over the next 18 months. According to SIPTU Assistant Organiser, Allen Dillon, the investment will...

SIPTU Sector Organiser, Adrian Kane, has said that SIPTU members in Irish Water will not accept any unilateral changes to their terms and conditions of employment. SIPTU, which represents about 100 of the 400 directly employed workers in Irish...

SIPTU has said the outcome of a study announced today (Monday, 17th November) by Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash, into the prevalence of zero-hour and low-hour contracts must be used by the Government to end these exploitative...

SIPTU has called for the Government to implement a policy of replacing agency workers with directly recruited staff following the release of figures indicating that the Department of Health and HSE paid out €238 million to private recruitment companies during...

SIPTU has called on the management of the Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, to refrain from using strikebreakers to undermine industrial action at the facility which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday,...

Following talks at the Labour Relation Commission (LRC) today (Friday 14th November) on proposals to privatise bus services, SIPTU has sought an urgent meeting with the Minister for Transport, Paschal Donohoe. SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Owen Reidy...

SIPTU has called for workers in the beef industry to be compensated for the loss of earnings they have suffered as a result of the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) blockade on beef processing plants. SIPTU Sector Organiser, John Dunne, said: “Many...

The biennial delegate conference of the SIPTU Manufacturing Division will take place on Friday, 7th November, in Liberty Hall, Dublin. The Manufacturing Division represents over 40,000 workers in the private sector across all industry sectors...

More than 350 human rights groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe - including 16 from Ireland - have called for the EU to hold Israel accountable for its massacre of Gaza earlier this year by suspending the EU-Israel Association...

SIPTU members in the Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, will begin industrial action on Tuesday, 18th November, in a dispute concerning a unilateral change to workers' shift patterns. The...

SIPTU has called on the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government to abandon a proposal to cut Dublin’s main anti-poverty programme by more than €740,000 in 2015. The cut is proposed for the Social Inclusion and Community...

SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, has called on the Government to promote a referendum to amend the constitution to prohibit the privatisation of public water supply. Jack O’Connor said: “SIPTU supports the call for a constitutional...

SIPTU and other health sector unions have asked Department of Health officials to examine whether an attempt by the Nurses and Midwives Board of Ireland (NMBI) to increase members’ retention fees from €100 to €150 next year breaches the Haddington Road...

SIPTU has repeated its call on the Government to defer the water charge payment due in Spring of 2015. SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, said that each family must be guaranteed a free and adequate supply of treated water to meet its normal domestic...

SIPTU members in the pubic service have welcomed the Government’s decision to delete a section of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009 which gave public service employers the ability to cut workers’ core pay and adjust...

SIPTU has welcomed the Government’s decision to delete a section of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009 which gave public service employers the ability to cut workers’ core pay and adjust working hours without...

A benefit concert by Christy Moore for the children of Gaza has raised €27,871.41 ($34,338.60). The concert held at Vicar Street in Dublin on Sunday 12th October featured musicians Declan Sinnott, Vickie Keating, Jimmy Higgins, Mick...

SIPTU has called on the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, to commit to full pay restoration for lower and middle income health workers who have borne the brunt of cuts in order to maintain services to the public. SIPTU Health Division Organiser,...

SIPTU has called an emergency meeting of the staff of language schools in response to growing uncertainty in the sector. The meeting, which is open to SIPTU members and non-members, will be held in Liberty Hall, Dublin, on Saturday, 1st...

SIPTU members at the All-Tex Recyclers plant in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, have welcomed the announcement by management that the plant will reopen on Monday (27th October) following its closure on Thursday (23rd October). The plant closed suddenly on Thursday...

SIPTU members at the All-Tex Recyclers plant in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, have expressed shock at a management decision to sent its 140 staff home on Thursday (23rd October) with no notice. SIPTU Organiser, Niall McNally, said: “Our members...

At its monthly meeting today (Friday 24th October), the National Executive Council of SIPTU agreed the following statement on the issue of water charges. 1.      The Government must take a step back and rethink its approach on the way it...

SIPTU has called on the Government to ensure that new high quality jobs are created in Lisheen, Co. Tipperary, following the agreed wind down of operations at the local mine. SIPTU Organiser, John Regan, said: “Our union has been fully...

The Government needs to take a step back on the water controversy and find a way of providing the new investment required to deliver a proper supply of treated water in a way that meets with widespread acceptance, if not approval, while retaining it in...

I want to compliment the Peace and Neutrality Alliance for its initiative in launching two publications and arranging this meeting to mark the centenary of the founding of the Irish Neutrality League in October 1914 by James Connolly, Tom Clarke, Eamon...

Soon after hostilities broke out in Europe in August 1914, the Irish Neutrality League brought together a broad alliance of those opposed to the First World War including: James Connolly of the IT&GWU, Arthur Griffith of Sinn Féin,...

The Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) brought its global ‘No World Cup in Qatar without Migrant Workers Rights’ campaign to Ireland during the union federation’s European Regional Conference held in Dublin this week. Delegates at the...

SIPTU has called for the Government to begin a process of pay recovery for its members in the Health Sector and the ending of the restrictive FEMPI legislation. Responding to an address by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, to the...

The Young Workers Network has today (Wednesday, 15th October) criticised Budget 2015 for failing to reverse cuts to Jobseekers Allowance for young people which had been imposed in the previous budget. Young Workers’ Network activist, Dan...

SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor has said that Budget 2015 contains a number of positive measures but represents a missed opportunity to tackle the water charges controversy comprehensively. Jack O’Connor said: “There are a number of positive...

SIPTU has called on the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) to attend a conciliation conference hosted by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to discuss a dispute at the animal welfare charity resulting from a unilateral change to workers...

Support Staff in six of Dublin’s major teaching Hospitals have voted by a substantial majority in favour of protective strike action in a dispute over rosters and pay. “Following the unilateral decision by the hospital managements to change working...

SIPTU Vice President, Patricia King, will outline the reasons why a new Joint Labour Committee (JLC) for the hospitality industry is urgently required when she gives a press briefing in Liberty Hall 1.00 p.m. on Thursday, 9th October. She will also...

SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, has endorsed the ‘Education IS’ initiative by the Union of Students in Ireland. The ‘Education IS’ campaign, which held a march and rally at Leinster House at 12.45 p.m. today is calling...

SIPTU members in the Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, based in Tralee, Co. Kerry, have voted in favour of industrial action in a dispute concerning a unilateral change to workers' shift patterns. The decision to ballot support...

SIPTU members in Irish Rail have voted by 71% to 29% to accept Labour Relations Commission (LRC) proposals in relation to cost containment at the transport company in a ballot counted today (Friday, 3rd October) in Liberty Hall, Dublin. The proposals...

The announcement today that the Beckman Coulter plant in Mervue in Galway is to close with the loss of 140 jobs has come as a shock to many of the company’s employees, according to SIPTU Organiser, Frank Jones. “Our members are shocked at this...

SIPTU welcomes the launch of the Trade Unions Support Poles Abroad initiative in Ireland which will take place in the Conference Centre of the Communications Workers’ Union, Dublin 1, tomorrow (Friday, 26th September) between 10.00 a.m. and...

The SIPTU Dublin District Council has launched ‘A Vision for Dublin 2020 – Improving Our City’, a document which sets out five priority areas on which union members will campaign over the coming years to improve the city. Launching the document...

SIPTU members employed by Greyhound Recycling and Recovery voted by a substantial majority in favour of an agreement to end a 14-week long lockout at the company, at a meeting in Liberty Hall, Dublin, this afternoon (Monday, 22nd September)....

The group of unions representing residential care staff have described a Labour Court recommendation, dealing with sleepover duty as a major breakthrough. The recommendation, issued today (18th Thursday), calls for the recognition of sleepover duty...

The Young Workers' Network (YWN) greeted TDs and Senators returning to Leinster House after their summer break with a protest to highlight the impact on young people of the housing crisis and rising costs, on Wednesday, 17th September, at 1.00...

SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, has called for the introduction of a “Water Tax Credit” in the October budget and has said that under no circumstance should tax reductions be funded by cuts to public expenditure. Writing in the...

SIPTU nurses will protest outside University Hospital Galway to highlight their concerns over the number of patients on trolleys in the Accident and Emergency Department, tomorrow (Wednesday, 17th September) from 1.00 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. SIPTU...

Domestic workers employed by foreign diplomatic staff will enjoy increased protection following the publication of new guidelines by the Department of Foreign Affairs on Friday, 12th September. As a guiding principle, diplomatic staff of embassies or...

Oration by SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, to the memory of Limerick’s International Brigade Volunteers Merchant’s Quay, Limerick City and County Hall, Sunday 14th September We are here today to commemorate Frank...

SIPTU members at Greyhound Recovery and Recycling have rejected proposals in the long running dispute at the company which emerged from the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) last week. By a significant majority the workers who have been locked out of the company...

SIPTU members at Irish Rail are to ballot on proposals which emerged from discussions with company management which concluded early today at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). SIPTU Organiser, Paul Cullen, said that a meeting of the Rail Committee of...

SIPTU members locked out of their jobs at Greyhound Recycling and Recovery have voted today (Tuesday, 2nd September) to accept a Labour Relations Commission (LRC) offer to engage in talks with representatives of the waste disposal company. A substantial majority...

SIPTU members in the Arts and Culture Sector have expressed their sympathy to the family and friends of RTE musician, John Lynch, who tragically died while on holiday in Crete on Friday (29th August). SIPTU Organiser, Graham Macken, said:...

Locked out Greyhound workers and their families will march to City Hall, Dublin 1, on Monday, 1st September, to demand that the City Council use all its powers to bring to an end the 11-week-old dispute at the waste disposal company. The march...

SIPTU has confirmed that it has been invited by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) to a meeting tomorrow to update it on the continuing lockout of workers at the Greyhound Recycling and Recovery depots in west Dublin. “We have been contacted by the LRC and...

SIPTU members in Irish Rail are today (Monday, 25th August) manning pickets at stations across the rail network as part of a 24-hour work stoppage called in response to a unilateral cut to their wages. SIPTU Organiser, Paul Cullen, said: “It is...

Locked out Greyhound workers and their partners addressed over 50 local residents at a SIPTU organised meeting in the Sean O’Casey Community Centre, East Wall, Dublin 3, on Wednesday (20th August). The meeting was held for locked out workers to...

SIPTU members in Irish Rail will engage in a 24-hour work stoppage on Monday, 25th August, if the management of the transport company carries out its threat to introduce pay cuts without agreement. SIPTU Organiser, Paul Cullen, said: “Our...

SIPTU representatives will today (Wednesday, 20th August) attend preliminary talks at the Labour Relations Commission concerning a National Transport Authority (NTA) plan to privatise some bus routes. The NTA and the management of Bus Éireann and Dublin...

SIPTU members in Greyhound Recycling and Recovery, who have been locked out of their jobs for more than two months, have received gift vouchers for stores with unionsied workforces and a €10,000 donation for their support fund. SIPTU...

SIPTU has written on (Tuesday, 19th August) to the management of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co. Louth, to express the concern of its members at the number of patients on trolleys in the facility’s Accident and Emergency...

SIPTU members in Irish Rail will conduct a 48 hour work stoppage from 12.01 a.m. on Sunday, 7th September, and a further 24 hour work stoppage from 12.01 on Sunday, 21st September, if the transport company carries out a threat to cut workers...

SIPTU members in Greyhound Recycling and Recovery will continue their peaceful picket of the company’s depots in Crag Avenue, Dublin 22, and Knockmitten Lane, Dublin 12, tomorrow (Friday, 15th August). SIPTU Greyhound Shop...

Sinn Féin MEP for Dublin, Lynn Boylan, visited locked out Greyhound workers at their picket line outside the Greyhound Recycling and Recovery headquarters in Crag Avenue, Clondalkin, west Dublin, today (Thursday, 7th August)....

SIPTU has requested an urgent meeting with the senior management of The Society of St Vincent de Paul to discuss threatened job losses resulting from its decision to close the organisation's Area Office in Drogheda, Co. Louth. SIPTU Organiser, Karen...

The co-founder of Women Against Pit Closures, Anne Scargill, visited Greyhound workers at their picket line in Clondalkin, west Dublin, today (Wednesday, 6th August) in a show of solidarity with the SIPTU members who have been locked out...

SIPTU has called on the Government to commission and fund research on the health risks associated with shift work. SIPTU Health and Safety Advisor, Sylvester Cronin, said: “There is growing evidence from international research that erratic work...

SIPTU has today (Friday, 1st August) launched a ‘Discussion paper on Ireland’s housing crisis’ (attached) which sets out a four year plan to deal with the shortage of adequate social housing in the State. SIPTU General President, Jack...

Greyhound Recycling and Recovery workers who were hailed as heroes for saving a homeless man from being crushed in a refuse collection truck have written to the company requesting that their names and pictures be removed from its website. In February this year,...

SIPTU members at Shannon Aerospace Ltd voted this week by 75% to 25% to accept pension proposals issued by the Labour Relations Commission (LRC). SIPTU Organiser, Tony Carroll, said: “The proposals include the closure of the existing defined benefit...

Christy Moore and Don Baker will perform a concert in support of the locked out Greyhound Recycling and Recovery workers in Liberty Hall, Dublin 1, on Saturday, 16th August at 8.00p.m. SIPTU Greyhound Shop Steward, Jesse Hughes, said:...

SIPTU members in Irish Rail will launch a campaign of industrial action and participate in a one day work stoppage if the transport company carries out a threat to cut workers wages on Sunday, 24th August. The industrial action is scheduled to begin on...

The National Executive Council of SIPTU unreservedly condemns the latest Israeli aggression in Gaza which has resulted in the deaths of more than 800 people, the overwhelmingly majority of which are civilian non combatants many of them children, as well as...

A locked out Greyhound worker was hospitalised with a severe spinal injury after being hit by a van as it exited the company’s depot in Knockmitten, west Dublin, on Tuesday, 22nd July. SIPTU member, James Burke, was participating in...

SIPTU has requested an urgent meeting with the liquidator of Berehaven Credit Union to discuss the redundancy terms of staff members who have lost their jobs after the High Court granted an application by the Central Bank to wind up the financial institution yesterday...

The Cork Young Workers’ Network is holding a protest in solidarity with the locked out Greyhound workers outside The Peace Park, Grand Parade, Cork, at 3.00 p.m. on Saturday, 26th July. Cork Young Workers Network spokesperson,...

SIPTU has accused the management of the HSE of being soft on salary compliance for the highest earners following the announcement that many senior managers in Section 38 Health Service Providers are being allowed to maintain salary 'top up' payments. SIPTU...

Unite Regional Secretary, Jimmy Kelly, presented a cheque for €10,000 to the SIPTU Greyhound Workers’ Support Fund during a visit to the picket line outside the Greyhound Recycling and Recovery headquarters in Crag Avenue,...

The Construction Group of Unions has announced that it is to stage a number of protests at school buildings and other projects throughout the country as part of its Campaign for Decent Work in the Construction Industry. The campaign will commence on Friday, 18th...

SIPTU has placed Irish Rail on notice of the intention of its members to engage in industrial action if the company implements pay cuts to workers on 24th August. SIPTU Organiser, Paul Cullen, said: “SIPTU today (Friday, 18th July) informed the...

SIPTU has confirmed it will attend talks next week at the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) concerning plans to privatise some routes currently operated by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. Other parties to be represented at the talks include the National Transport...

SIPTU has written today (Tuesday, 15th July) to the new Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, seeking an early meeting to discuss plans to tender out up to 10% of routes operated by Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. SIPTU...

The lockout of workers by Greyhound Recycling and Recovery is entering its fifth week with the solidarity of the men unbroken and the employers’ disinformation campaign being increasingly exposed in the media. Strike committee member, Thomas Cummins,...

SIPTU members in Irish Rail have voted by 53% to 47% to reject an amended Labour Court Recommendation on a cost cutting plan for the transport company. SIPTU Organiser, Paul Cullen, said: “Our members have been given the opportunity to democratically...

SIPTU members in Roadstone Woods Ltd have accepted a Labour Court Recommendation and concluded a three week strike at the building materials company. SIPTU Organiser, Davy Lane, said: “SIPTU members in Roadstone Woods Ltd voted on Tuesday (8th July)...

SIPTU Organiser Alan O'Leary has said that the announcement by Pfizer that it will not proceed with the planned cut of 60 operator jobs at its Ringaskiddy plant in Cork is very welcome. The planned cuts were announced in 2012 but following intensive discussions...

SIPTU members along with sister unions in local authorities across the North took part in a one day over pay today (10th July) over pay. The public service worker’s strike was a great show of solidarity and strength with SIPTU members engaging in vibrant pickets...

SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Owen Reidy, has described as ‘completely misleading and false’ claims by the owner and management of Greyhound Recycling and Recovery that its enforcement of a 35% wage cut on workers is in line with a Labour Court...

SIPTU President, Jack O’Connor, has called on the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, to urgently establish a Government task force to review the current conditions of employment and other matters in the...

SIPTU has today (Friday, 4th July) suspended strike action at Roadstone Woods Ltd., pending a ballot of members, in accordance with a Labour Court Recommendation. SIPTU Organiser, Davy Lane, said: “The decision to suspend the strike...

SIPTU has endorsed the setting of a Living Wage for workers in Ireland of €11.45 per hour, as calculated by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice (VPSJ). At a press conference in Dublin today (Thursday, 3rd July) it was announced that the...

SIPTU members who are locked out of their work at Greyhound Household Ltd will march to Dublin City Hall on Monday, 7th July. The event will begin with a rally at Liberty Hall at 3.30 p.m., followed by the workers and their supporters marching to City Hall...

SIPTU members employed across the manufacturing sector continue to receive pay increases with over 210 wage agreements finalised so far. The increases are part of a strategy by SIPTU’s Manufacturing Division which has secured pay increases across the sector by...

SIPTU has welcomed today’s decision by the High Court which lifted the three interim injunction orders granted to Greyhound Household Ltd on 17th June last. The decision means that management cannot interfere with official union pickets or prevent workers from...

SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Owen Reidy, has said the free transport scheme for senior citizens is under threat given the fact that the National Transportation Authority (NTA) has decided to privatise up to 10% of Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann services by...

SIPTU has called for advantage to be taken of the opportunities for expansion that are presented by the partial merger of Bord na Móna and Coillte following a meeting of the union’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Portlaoise, yesterday...

SIPTU has condemned the use of strikebreakers by Greyhound Household stating that it is unclear whether the individuals now carrying out domestic waste collection in Dublin can provide a professional service. Pickets were placed on the Greyhound Household plant in...

A number of major trade unions representing workers in all sectors of the economy participated in the 2014 Dublin Pride Parade, which took place on Saturday, 28th June. Among the unions taking part were: SIPTU, the PSEU, the TUI, the...

Construction workers from SIPTU and BATU trade unions are holding a protest this lunchtime (Thursday, 26th June) outside the Department of Education and Skills, Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, to highlight its failure to uphold agreed terms and...

SIPTU members in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin 2, have given notice to management that they intend to undertake two days of strike action on Monday, 7th July, and Monday, 14th July, in a dispute related to changes to their...

Construction Workers from the SIPTU and BATU trade unions will hold a protest outside the Department of Education and Skills on Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, tomorrow, Thursday, 25th June. The protest is to highlight the failure of the...