SIPTU representatives have condemned the tone of a letter from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to the management of Community Employment (CE) Schemes, which requests the names of workers involved in industrial action and implies that funding will be reduced due to the dispute. SIPTU Sector Organiser, Eddie Mullins, said: “It has been brought to our attention that in recent days the management of CE Schemes across the country have received a letter from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection concerning the industrial action which will be undertaken by SIPTU and Fórsa members on Monday, 18th February. “The letter requests the names of any CE Supervisors who join the industrial action and also states that the funding of schemes will be reviewed ‘having regard to the industrial action taken’. “Our members working as CE Supervisors have been greatly angered by this communication from a department which has refused for more than a decade to honour a Labour Court recommendation concerning their right to a pension. The implied threats contained in this letter have only strengthened their resolve to take industrial action on Monday, 18th February and bring their protest to offices associated with the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in five locations across the country.” He added: “As well as the five regional demonstrations, a protest will also be held outside the Department of Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform (DEPR) in Dublin between 12.00 noon and 2.00 p.m. on 18th February. This is because SIPTU and Fórsa members believe that the Minister for DEPR, Paschal Donohoe, should honour a commitment made by his predecessor to honour the Labour Court recommendation from 2008 relating to the creation of a pension scheme for CE Supervisors. “In order to remind him of this commitment the SIPTU Public Administration and Community Division Organiser, Adrian Kane, wrote to the Minister last week. He also called on him to immediately meet our members to discuss this issue. We are yet to receive a reply from Mr Donohoe.”
SIPTU condemns funding threat to CE Schemes involved in upcoming strike action
