News Archive

A Government plan to draft in multinationals to deliver services to job seekers – work which can be better provided by the public and community sector – is to be steadfastly opposed by SIPTU. The Department of Social Protection (DSP) proposals will mean...

SIPTU is engaged in a major push to win pay increases across the private sector in order to improve living standards and to stimulate domestic demand in the economy. Addressing the annual commemoration to mark the death of workers leader, Jim Larkin, on...

SIPTU representatives are involved in ongoing discussions with the management of St James’s Hospital concerning major changes at the institution. These include the opening of a new unit in Inchicore and the building of the new National Children’s Hospital...

New Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show a marked rise in the number of industrial disputes during 2013. Last year there were 12 industrial disputes involving a stoppage of work lasting for at least 10 working days or involving 10 or more workers. The twelve...

Youth workers are a constant presence on the frontline in communities that have had to bear the devastating impact of cuts to services. In response, SIPTU members working in youth groups across Dublin came together a year ago to form the Dublin Youth...

Irish academic researchers have collaborated in EU-funded projects with Israeli counterparts who make drones, develop high-tech weapons and engage in “counter-terror” activities with the Israeli Defence Forces and the country’s intelligence...

Compaines featured in the SIPTU Supporting Quality campaign have made a massive contribution to the success of Irish food and drink exports which last year approached a record €10 billion for the first time. According to figures released by An Bord Bia,...

SIPTU members at the Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork (UCC) will undertake a one day work stoppage on Wednesday 26th February during which pickets will be placed on all entrances to the university from 7.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. The move is part...

The group of unions representing workers in Aer Lingus and Dublin and Shannon Airports agreed on Friday, 21st February, to engage in a process of consultation with members with a view to coordinating a campaign of industrial action, in pursuit of a...

Greater income inequality, higher levels of insecure work and the emergence of a ‘two-tier’ workforce pose a serious problem for female workers, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions 2014 Women’s Conference has been told. Addressing some 200...

Greater income inequality, higher levels of insecure work and the emergence of a ‘two-tier’ workforce pose a serious problem for female workers, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions 2014 Women’s Conference has been told. Addressing some 200...

Taoiseach and Ministers speak out for Irish undocumented in the US, but are silent on the parallel issue of the undocumented in Ireland As part of a decades-old St Patrick’s Day tradition, Government ministers will spend this weekend lobbying US...

Congress General Secretary David Begg has paid warm tribute to the late Tony Benn, whose death was announced earlier today, describing him as a ‘giant of his generation.’ “Tony Benn was the outstanding political figure of his age...

A major push has been launched to ensure hundreds of workers employed on the Irish Water Meter Installation programme receive the pay and conditions to which they are entitled. SIPTU organisers have identified numerous cases of non-compliance by main contractors and...

The Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) published its latest Quarterly Economic Observer on Tuesday, 25th March. In it, the economic think-tank examines the extent of low pay across Northern Ireland finding that 25% of workers earn less than the...

SIPTU activists in the local authorities were told on Thursday (20th March) that the “battle to save water services from privatisation was only beginning” by ICTU Industrial Officer, Liam Berney. In his presentation to a SIPTU Local Authority Sector...

Congress General Secretary David Begg has been confirmed as the final speaker for the current series of trade union lectures run by the People’s College. Begg will deliver the closing lecture in the series, on Thursday, 27th March on the theme of:...

Thousands of trade unionists, political activists and members of the public lined the streets of East London along the funeral procession route of RMT General Secretary Bob Crow on Monday, 24th March. As the black horse drawn carriage bearing the coffin of...

Survey of 39 leading clothing brands on Irish high-street show they must do much more to ensure garment workers receive a wage they can live on. Today (Wednesday, 2nd April), Clean Clothes Campaign Ireland launched ‘Tailored Wages’ an in depth...

On Sunday, 6th April, the Limerick Council of Trade Unions is running a bus tour of the locations associated with the events which became known as “The Limerick Soviet, 1919”. This date coincides with the day 95 years ago when comrades of...

Members of the SIPTU Retired Members’ Section have began work on their new Secure Retirement Campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the issues retired people have to face on a day to day basis as well as highlighting the vital role they play in both...

The Irish Congresss of Trade Unions is to host a major economic conference on the way forward for Ireland, on Friday April 11. The conference will take place in The Round Room, The Mansion House, Dublin.  'A New Course for Better...

The Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) will hold a research seminar entitled ‘We Need to Talk About Higher Education’ in the INTO Learning Centre, 38 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 on Wednesday 16th April at 4.00 p.m. The NERI seminar series...

The Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI) will hold a research seminar entitled ‘We Need to Talk About Higher Education’ in the INTO Learning Centre, 38 Parnell Square, Dublin 1 on Wednesday 16th April at 4.00 p.m. The NERI seminar series...

Congress General Secretary David Begg has warned that the “spectre of deflation now threatening Europe could spell disaster for Ireland, causing serious job losses, increasing the debt burden and creating a vicious circle of decline.” Begg was...

Over 500 firefighters marched through the streets of Dublin on Monday (7th April) to highlight the threat to the DFB Ambulance service and demand that it is retained. The DFB Pipe Band led the march from Tara Street Fire Station to the City Hall in Dame Street....

Involved in a community enterprise, coop, CE scheme or other form of social enterprise in what’s called the “social economy”? If so this will interest you. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) is involved in an initiative with other...

Damien Dempsey to star in aid of 'Buena Vista Pipers Club' Damien Dempsey, and a number of Ireland’s leading traditional musicians, will stage a one-off concert to help fund the visit of an uilleann piper from Cuban to Ireland. Alexander...

Pay increases rather than tax cuts are the best way to drive recovery and protect public services according to Tom Healy, the director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute (NERI). Addressing a conference organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and...

SIPTU General President, Jack O’Connor, has called on the Government to implement a major economic stimulus package in order to increase job creation and develop the domestic economy. Speaking on RTE Radio One on Saturday (19th April),...

Workers at Errigal Seafood in Carrick, Co Donegal, have won a further victory at the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) in relation to attempts by the seafood supplier to implement wage cuts. The EAT has rejected an appeal by the company against Rights...

Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) has welcomed the publication of the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2014 by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton. The Bill addresses problems MRCI has been highlighting since 2006. In a...

A decision is expected on Wednesday (23rd April) in a case taken against the State by a Chinese man imprisoned since November 2012, when he was arrested for the alleged possession of cannabis plants. The State is accused of ignoring signs of human trafficking...

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said today (April 28) that workers’ health and safety was not a ‘luxury’ to be dispensed with when budgetary constraints dictated and called for full resourcing and strict enforcement of safety regulations, to...

Congress General Secretary David Begg said today (May 1) that reflating the economy through pay rises and increased demand was the best guarantee of a faster, more sustainable recovery. Speaking ahead of scheduled May Day demonstrations in Dublin, Belfast...

Congress General Secretary David Begg has condemned Ireland’s refusal to sign up to the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) announced today (May 6) by 10 EU member states, describing the decision as “yet another surrender to the same forces that...

SIPTU Vice-President, Patricia King, has described the approval by the Government, on Tuesday (13th May), of a new law to support the right of workers to participate in collective bargaining with their employers as a “very positive...

A ceremony marking the official naming of the Rosie Hackett Bridge, which spans the Liffey between Marlborough Street and Hawkins Street, took place on Tuesday, 20th May. Those addressing the event included Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn, SIPTU...

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has described the slowdown in employment growth as “extremely worrying and further proof that Government must now intervene directly to stimulate job creation and boost growth.” Congress Assistant General Secretary Sally...

Ratification of the EU/Colombian Free Trade Agreement will be before the Dáil in the coming weeks. Please add your name to this petition to tell our TD’s & Senators that it is the wrong time to approve this agreement. Murders, disappearances;...

ICTU President, John Douglas, has called on trade unionists to promote a rally in support of the Paris Bakery workers outside the Dail on Wednesday (4th June) at 1.00 p.m. In a letter to trade unionists, John Douglas, said: “As you are...

The tenth anniversary of the citizenship referendum will be marked and mourned by migrants and others outside Dail Eireann next Wednesday. Over the last ten years, the Constitutional amendment approved by the referendum has split families, divided the...

Today Paris Bakery workers will hold a rally with supporters outside the Dáil calling on the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to urgently intervene in their worsening situation. The workers are entering their 13th day of their Moore Street sit-in and are owed over...

SIPTU is supporting a march and vigil in Dublin on Wednesday, 11th June, to commemorate the 796 children who perished in the St Mary’s Mother and Child Home in Tuam, Co. Galway. The march will begin at the Department of Children and Youth...

Today (Tuesday 10th June) the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will meet a group of migrant workers and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) to discuss measures in the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill 2014. The Bill aims to address gaps...

Statement from the Paris Bakery Workers: It’s the 19th day of our sit-in and we are finally leaving the bakery! We have just received official confirmation that Revenue are going to step in and wind up Paris Bakery. As our employers Yannick Forel and Ruth Savill...

The Irish Congress Trade Unions on Wednesday (11th June) welcomed what it described as “an historic vote” at the International Labour Conference in favour of a binding protocol that will ensure greater protection globally against forced labour. The binding...

Paper by Jack O’Connor, SIPTU General President to the Labour Party Trade Union Section Seminar in William Norton House on Saturday, 14th June 2014 In the context of the outcome of the recent elections, this paper attempts to address two key...

Labour in Government must insist that there will be no further cuts affecting working families or those who depend on public services in the October budget, SIPTU President Jack O’Connor has said. He said the plan for a further €2 billion in cuts or...

For the first time progressive parties and Independents have come together to agree a programme for the running of Dublin City Council over the next five years. Following last month’s election, which returned a clear majority of left-wing councillors to...

The tenth Quarterly Economic Observer from the Nevin Economic Research Institute is launched today. A €800 million net fiscal adjustment taking account of carry over under HRA and lower public spending arising from water charges. €400 million in additional...

A strike by SIPTU members at Roadstone Woods Ltd facilities across the country has entered its second week with management continuing to refuse to engage in meaningful negotiations. The dispute, which began on Monday, 16th June, concerns an attempt...

In scenes slightly reminiscent of the papal visit to Ireland in 1979 the departure of what the media has styled ‘rockstar’ Thomas Piketty has left a curious void. Was it a temporary mid-summer event to fete the fascinating and seductive ideas of a...

Paris Bakery workers can now access insolvency fund Today the High Court formally wound up Paris Bakery and Pastry Ltd and appointed a liquidator in response to a petition by the Revenue Commissioner. The Revenue Commissioner had intervened after a 19-day sit-in by...

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions today (July 2) welcomed the latest drop in the jobless rate, but warned that unemployment in Ireland remains unacceptably high when judged against average rates across the European Union. Congress General Secretary David Begg...

The government must use Budget 2014 to stimulate demand and inject life into the economy, as new data from the Central Statistics Office confirms continued stagnation and a lack of growth, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said on Thursday, 19th...

At a ceremony in Dublin on Wednesday (2nd October) officiated by the Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn, campaigners will celebrate the introduction of a new law criminalising forced labour (also known as modern-day slavery) in Ireland. At the event, activists...

The 100th anniversary of the first food shipment from the British TUC to support striking workers and their families during the 1913 Lockout will be re-enacted on Saturday, 5th October at 11.30 am at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2. The Lockout...

The Group of Experts on Action against Human Trafficking (GRETA) on Thursday, 26th September, urged the Irish government to act against trafficking for forced labour and take a victim-centred approach to the growing problem of human trafficking. Despite...

Trade union leaders united today (Tuesday, 1st October) to call on all trade unionists to participate in the Dublin Council of Trade Unions Pre-Budget Demonstration on Saturday, 12th October. The demonstration, whose slogan of “Solidarity: an...

The arrival of the SS Hare into Dublin was reenacted on Saturday, 5th October, on City Quay. Following its one-day voyage from Liverpool, the ship was met on the Quays by volunteers reenacting the role of the workers and their families to whom the...

In a rousing speech to delegates at the second day of the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference, RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow, said his union was committed to “militant trade unionism.” “I won’t stab you in the back I’ll...

Address by Jack O’Connor, General President SIPTU To The SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference Monday 7th October 2013  Vice President, Distinguished Guests, Delegates, Comrades and Friends, Welcome to this historic room for...

The Cork Council of Trade Unions in conjunction with SIPTU, Cork City Council and St. Vincent’s Hurling & Football Club are hosting an Official Road naming ceremony for former ITGWU Cork Branch Secretary Tadhg Barry on Saturday, 5th October at...

Address by Jack O’Connor, General President SIPTU To The SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference Monday 7th October 2013 Vice President, Distinguished Guests, Delegates, Comrades and Friends, Welcome to this historic room for Biennial...

The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has strongly condemned the two murders by so-called ‘dissident republicans’ in Northern Ireland and has demanded that the perpetrators immediately cease their criminal violent acts and...

The 1913 Lockout Tapestry and historical trade union banners are being exhibited in the National Museum, Collins Barracks, Dublin, from Thursday, 10th October, until Sunday, 17th November. The exhibition entitled ‘Banners...

The "establishment" will meet moves to legislate for workers' right to collective bargaining with "massive resistance", SIPTU Vice President, Patricia King told the union's Biennial Delegate Conference on Wednesday, 9th...

The Director of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, Dr Tom Healy, today warned that what he termed ‘legacy cuts’ may increase the real adjustment in Tuesday’s Budget. Dr Healy was commenting on reports that the likely fiscal adjustment...

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions on Friday, 18th October, granted an All-Out Picket to Mandate trade union in respect of the ongoing dispute at Wallis Stores in Dublin and Limerick. Congress General Secretary David Begg said that all affiliated unions...

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said today (October 16) that the Government had made the wrong choices in Budget 2014 and insisted that any investment programme should prioritise the creation of decent jobs to ensure sustainable recovery. At a Post-Budget...

Over 150 young people protested outside the Dáil on Wednesday, 16th October, demanding the Government does not implement a Budget proposal to cut social welfare payments for under 26 year olds. The protest was organised by the Young Worker’s...

SIPTU President Jack O’Connor will lay a memorial wreath at the Workers' Memorial Fountain in Belfast on Friday, 25th October, at 11.15 a.m. in remembrance of two SIPTU members who were shot dead at work 20 years ago. Belfast City Council...

Youth campaign groups, representing young workers, the unemployed and students protested against proposals contained in Budget 2014 to cut Job Seekers Allowance for those under 26 by forming a 'Dáil queue' on Kildare Street,...

I was deeply saddened to hear today of the passing of my friend and former colleague Patsy Cronin. I had the great privilege of working with Patsy when I was a trade union official in Kerry and we have been friends ever since. He is someone whose opinion I have always...

Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a trade unionist. According to UN figures almost 3,000 trade unionists have been killed since 1986. In the first six months of 2013 at least 11 trade unionists were killed. State authorities are directly...

Following a meeting of SIPTU Dublin Bus Traffic Representatives to discuss the recent developments in the long running dispute about the Dublin Bus Cost Reduction proposals, a notice was sent to SIPTU members in the Traffic Section of Dublin Bus on 30th...

A SIPTU proposal to extend the number and scope of apprenticeships would make a major contribution to ending the youth unemployment crisis, according to SIPTU Vice President Patricia King. In an interview on RTÉ Radio’s News at One on Monday (4th...

The Bray and District Council of Trade Unions is hosting a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of James Byrne (Secretary of Kingstown/ Dun Laoghaire ITGWU Branch) who died as a result of a hunger and thirst strike during the 1913...

The youth committee’s of the Communications Workers’ Union and the TEEU are urging all unemployed people to publicly reject letters from the Department of Social Protection advertising overseas jobs and attend the Youth Assembly in Liberty Hall tomorrow....

Oscar López Triviño was murdered on 9th November in the Colombian city of Bugalagrande a day after he and other members of his union, SINALTRAINAL, received death threats from paramilitaries. The union had been on hunger strike at...

Leading figures from Ireland’s major religious dominations and the humanist community attended a service of remembrance for those who suffered during the 1913 Lockout at the University Church, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, on Tuesday 12th...

Leading figures from Ireland’s major religious dominations and the humanist community attended a service of remembrance for those who suffered during the 1913 Lockout at the University Church, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, on Tuesday 12th...

SIPTU is holding an information meeting for HSE Home Helps based in Co. Westmeath on Wednesday, 27th November, at 7.00 p.m. in the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar. The meeting will discuss the recent Labour Court recommendation concerning the...

The ESB Group of Unions will meet to consider its members recent vote for industrial action in Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street, Dublin, on Friday (22nd November). At the meeting a request from the senior management of the ESB to meet with the Group...

SIPTU has called on the Government to immediately commence major investment in new State backed apprenticeship schemes in order to prevent the loss of another generation to emigration. “Our young people are experiencing a crisis which will not only lead to many...

A campaign to highlight the increasing efforts to redefine our universities as ‘businesses’ rather than centres of research, study and learning has been launched, with the initial support of over 700 lecturers and academics across all seven...

Young people who have grown up in State care will have the statutory right to an aftercare plan under proposed legislation due to come before the Dáil in the coming months. The move follows a long-running campaign on the issue by Focus Ireland, supported...

In this Global Labour Column, the focus is on a farewell speech made by Vasco Pedrina at the Building & Wood Workers’ International (BWI) World Congress. He argues that, under the current economic and political environment dominated by neoliberal...

One of the country’s leading anti-drugs campaign groups has called for an “informed public and political debate” on alternatives to a criminal justice approach to drug addiction. This month the City Wide Drugs Crisis Campaign will launch a leaflet...

The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) will mark International Day for the Abolition of Slavery with a national conference on Identifying Victims of Trafficking for Forced Labour. Victims of slavery, international experts and national stakeholders, along...

SIPTU members in workplaces across the country are being asked to contribute to a Christmas collection for the Milne Food workers who have been conducting a campaign of strike action at the company’s plant in Birr, Co. Offaly, since 11th July. SIPTU...

Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, undocumented families, children, individuals and supporters will gather outside the Dáil for a 24-Hour Vigil to highlight the plight of undocumented migrants at Christmastime. A candlelit family gathering at 6pm...

The courageous Dunnes Stores workers whose strike in 1984 highlighted the inhumanity and injustice of apartheid will be present to witness the funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa later this week. Three of the former strikers, Mary Manning, Liz Deasy...

The General Secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, David Begg, has expressed 'deep sadness' at the death of Nelson Mandela and extended condolences to his family and friends and to the South African trade union movement. Begg said:...

SIPTU is encouraging music and theatre practitioners to attend a Public Forum on proposed reforms to copyright law taking place in the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson Street, Dublin on Monday, 9th December, at 5.00 p.m. SIPTU Organiser, Des...

Hundreds of home helps have attended SIPTU-organised meetings across the country to discuss the impact of new HSE contracts that come into force for the service next year. SIPTU Organiser Miriam Hamilton told Liberty: “These new contracts are a step in the right...

SIPTU has set up a committee to deal with equality issues in Northern Ireland.The SIPTU Northern Ireland Equality Committee will be comprised of activists drawn from across the union’s membership with the first meeting scheduled for early 2014. The...

Electricity consumers using prepay meters are spending significantly more than those paying the ESB and other suppliers through the traditional billing system. Retired public service worker, Anne Dunleavy, has estimated that she is paying 75 cent per...

SIPTU members in Resources Facilities Services Ltd, a contract cleaning company, are conducting two one-hour work stoppages at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, today (Monday, 16th December) in protest at the company implementing a cut to...