SIPTU members employed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) have expressed “extreme disappointment” at the responses provided to elected representatives by FAI CEO, Jonathan Hill, at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Sport and Media on Wednesday, 13th December. SIPTU Services Division Organiser, Teresa Hannick, said: “Our members in the FAI are extremely disappointed with the responses provided by the CEO and believe that the public reputation of the organisation has once again been tarnished. Our members recognise their role is to support the development of the game and had hoped discussions relating to governance and executive pay at the FAI were behind us. “The FAI CEO said he has a good rapport with SIPTU representatives. Our members would like to outline the actual situation. The failure to recognise our union for collective bargaining purposes and other issues has resulted in our members requesting the assistance of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). “Staff in the FAI are continuously told by management that ‘we are one’ within the organisation. However, this is far from the truth. There are no pay grades, no pay plan and no collective shared bonus schemes.” She added: “We have consistently stated that staff in the FAI should be benchmarked against the public sector in a system similar to the manner in which the pay of the CEO is calculated. This has not been forthcoming. SIPTU members have also asked for engagement from the FAI remuneration committee but once again nothing has been forthcoming. “Four years ago, SIPTU members in the FAI asked for the creation of a worker director position on the FAI board. This was refused. We stand by this proposal to ensure best practice at all levels and to ensure there is a more informed board.”
SIPTU FAI members ‘extremely disappointed’ at CEO’s answers at Oireachtas Committee
