SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, has warned the Fine Geal party that it will be signing its “political death warrant” if it attempts to press ahead with raising the age of entitlement to the state pension to 67 years. In her address on the opening day of the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference in the Clayton Hotel in Sligo, Buckley said: “Let us be crystal clear at this conference here today and say to Minister Heather Humphreys: ‘Minister, our Union is putting you and your party on notice. If you cast aside all the evidence, if you ignore all the opposition, if you scorn the public outcry and increase the pension age to 67, you will be signing your party’s political death warrant and SIPTU members will make sure of that.” Highlighting the role of SIPTU members in leading the Stop67 Campaign against the proposed raising of the state pension age to 67 in January 2021, she said, “They were forced to repeal the pension age increase because you told them they had to. We showed them that they would be wise not to ignore our union and our strength. Because our union has power, our union has votes, and our union can change the outcome of elections.” Buckley said that SIPTU members welcomed the announcement on International Women’s Day (8th March) that the Government will shortly publish regulations giving effect to legislation requiring companies to publish the gap in earnings between their male and female workers. She said: “If they do not specifically provide a role for worker representatives in agreeing action plans with employers that will shrink the gender pay gap, then we say that the legislation is toothless. “Whatever about there being a glass ceiling, there’s certainly a concrete floor the keeps women trapped in low-paid and precarious jobs. Ireland’s women cannot continue to have an 11% gap in earnings when compared to men.” More than 350 delegates are attending the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference in the Clayton Hotel in Sligo from Monday (28th March) until Thursday (31stMarch) to debate and discuss motions on improving the lives of workers in Ireland.
SIPTU warns Fine Gael that pension age rise will be signing its ‘political death warrant’
