SIPTU has called for the inclusion of measures to ensure residents of the North East Inner City of Dublin have access to secure, quality employment to be included in proposals for the rejuvenation of the area that will shortly be presented by a taskforce to the Government. At a community meeting this morning (Wednesday, 1st February), in Store Street Garda Station, Dublin 1, SIPTU representatives directly called upon the Chairman of the North East Inner City taskforce, Kieran Mulvey, to include the union’s proposals on quality jobs in his final report. SIPTU Services Division Organiser, Ethel Buckley, said: “At the meeting, Kieran Mulvey outlined the draft taskforce proposals, I was one of several speakers who raised the issue of a lack of access to secure, quality jobs for residents of the North East Inner City. “SIPTU has made a submission to the North East Inner City taskforce which outlines a number of proposals which would assist residents in securing quality employment. Having a quality job is key to wider community change as it provides people with financial security as well as the economic and social resources to assist in developing their local area. “The SIPTU proposals include supporting the development of Community Benefit Agreements, which ensure the use of local labour, people’s right to a decent standard of living and decent working conditions are accepted by businesses in the North East Inner City area; recognising the damage precarious employment causes in communities and proposing measures to end the practice; and ensuring that workers’ representatives are included at every level on committees to oversee the implementation of the taskforce’s proposals.” She added: “At the meeting, Mr Mulvey publicly accepted the need for a greater concentration on the issue of access to quality jobs for residents when the taskforce finalises its recommendations for Government. He also stated that the taskforce would recommend that businesses should accept their so-called ‘corporate social responsibility’ by supporting residents’ employment, traineeships and apprenticeships. “The draft recommendations presented to the meeting included a number of other measures which SIPTU supports. These include greater investment in education, the creation of a ‘use it or lose it' approach to derelict sites in the area and making it easier for persons with youthful criminal convictions to enter the workforce if they have no history of reoffending.”
SIPTU calls for focus on quality jobs in Dublin North East Inner City taskforce proposals
