National Public Service Alliance Meeting

national | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice Tuesday April 21, 2009 15:29 by pat c

A general meeting of the National Public Service Alliance will take place in Teachers Club at 8 pm. Next Wednesday, April 22. Meeting will discuss next steps to be taken in the light of developments at teachers congresses and an imminent outcome from ICTU talks with government and IBEC. A mass public Lobby of ICTU will be considered.

Here are some reports and analysis of the Teachers Conferences and on ICTUs inaction.

Teachers Congresses

Before ICTU entered the first talks on the economic crisis, the secretary of the public Services Committee (ICTU) issued a statement to PSEU members suggesting there was a danger of IMF intervention which could be followed by sacking of public servants with no pension. Peter McCloone, Chair of Public Services Committee (ICTU) issued a statement saying that public servants would have to choose between pay cuts and a pension levy and/or deferaal of pay agreement. In effect they had capitulated before they entered any talks. The decision to walk out was by no means unanimous. It is widely believed that the wal-out was at the insistence of Jack O’Connor whose union contains many lowly paid public servants.

Two days after ICTU re-entered talks, Government announced an embargo on filling of vacancies and promotional outlets in public service. Days later, government issued an emergency budget which savaged PAYE tax-payers but did not impose a cent in taxation on massive personal assets of the wealthy. Cuts in public services were included.This and future generations were saddled with the toxic debts of developers. There was no emergency measure to make these developers draw on their other non-toxic assets to service their loans.

When negotiators remain at talks ( no walk-out this time!) while the employer side announces huge income reductions on members, it has one meaning only. They have effectively agreed to these measures. They are merely allowing government to issue the measures unilaterally so that the union leaders can disclaim responsibility for them.

It can be expected that the leaders will emerge with minor alterations and with rumoured worse outcomes averted. The danger is that public service unions will then be pressurised into withdrawing all directives and campaigns with cuts, pension levy, jobs embargo and income levies in place.

This is the background to the discussions at the Teachers Congresses asnd the criticism of ICTU leaders

Paddy Healy    086-4183732
paddy.healy@eircom.net

Teachers Congresses

TUI

TUI Congress has unanimously passed the following emergency resolutions

“In the wake of the emergency Budget, the education cuts, the Public Service Embargo, TUI calls on ICTU to leave the talks with government and build a campaign of resistance through industrial action. The motion called for a special congress of ICTU to discuss the crisis.” Proposed Finbarr Geaney Dublin City Post-Primary
In the course of his speech Finbarr Geaney questioned the role of David Begg as a member of the board of the central bank while financial malpractice was rife in the banks "

“TUI will continue its campaign of industrial action against the pension levy and the public service embargo on the filling of posts and vacancies. Accordingly, this Congress determines that this union will oppose and will not be bound by any national agreement entered into by ICTU which does not remove the Public Service Pension Levy and the Embargo on the filling of vacancies and promotional posts in Public Service and the cuts in Education provision”

Proposed Paddy Healy DIT Branch

In the course of his speech Paddy Healy said that the Public Services Committee of ICTU had led public service workers to disaster after disaster over the years. Its officer board (Peter Mccloone, Dan Murphy and Matt Merrigan) should resign.
Attempts by national executive to have these resolutions referred back to it were overwhelmingly defeated.

Widespread criticism and lack of confidence in ICTU leaders was expressed by delegates. President Don Ryan, in his opening address questioned whether the executive council of ICTU had the capacity or the will to solve the problems of teachers and Irish education.

Bat O’Keefe received a very hostile reception. Rounds of applause for a very strong speech by President Don Ryan regularly turned into demonstrations against Bat—shouts of” shame” and “tax O’Callaghan” were to be heard.

ASTI

Colleagues inform me that branches are not permitted to put down emergency resolutions for ASTI convention. However delegates referred back a motion from national executive(Standing Committee) which committed the union to no action. A strengthened motion was later passed. President ruled out of order amendments which would strengthen the resolution. There was widespread criticism of ICTU during the debate.

Branches who wish to have stronger resolutions  passed, have collected the signatures to call a special meeting of the 180 person Central Executive Council (CEC) to discuss such resolutions –based on reports by delegates

INTO

At the annual Congress of the Irish National Teachers Organisation in Letterkenny there was a mood more of anger and resentment among the delegates (about 700 from all over the country, north and south).  This manifested itself particularly in relation to the reaction to the Minister for Education Batt O’Keefe.

An attempt by Dublin City North Branch on the first evening to have the invitation to Minister for Education Batt O'Keefe to address the Congress withdrawn was ruled out of order because it was against the rules. However there was a decent-sized walkout (between 40 and 50) on Tuesday morning when O'Keefe got up to speak and those who stayed gave him the silent treatment with many holding up placards. It was clear from the reaction to the General Secretary's response to the Minister that there was huge anger at the government.

But throughout the debates on motions over the next couple of days it was hard to hear that anger turning into anything positive in terms of a fightback.

Many people seem to have bought the line that 'we're all in it together, we have to take some of the pain' etc. and also seem to feel that there is little we can do. This despite the fact that 79% of the members of the union voted for industrial action just a few weeks ago. But it was amazing to listen to Executive members again and again repeating the line that members weren't ready for strike/didn't realise they were voting for strike etc. The line being peddled was that we need to take industrial action that won't affect children's learning!

An emergency motion from Dublin City North condemning the cancellation of March 30th and calling for a day's strike by the end of April never made it past standing orders so couldn't be debated.
Motions passed included one which supported industrial action in the form of "a range of non-cooperation measures which could not impact on the teaching and learning process" and called for a directive to be issued to "direct members not to undertake additional duties where a post/acting post of responsibility is not fulfilled as a result of the embargo" and another which instructed the Executive to "formally propose within the ICTU the holding of a Day of Action to be held before the end of June to defend Public Services and jobs."
Overall, not a great ‘Fightback’ mood but the challenge is to try to turn the limited motions that were passed into some positive action over the next couple of months. – Gregor Kerr