Harney Has to Go

by a worker Thu Apr 14, 2005 11:35

she would be forced out but unless there is a concerted effort by everyone especially the unions she'll worm her way out of this scandal, disgraceful corruption

by SIPTU member Thu Apr 14, 2005 13:07

Union leaders to press Michael Martin for radical reforms of Labour Inspectorate and tougher penalties for rogue employers

Jack O'Connor, General President
- 12 April 2005

Irish Congress of Trade Unions General Secretary David Begg and SIPTU General President Jack O’Connor are meeting the Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment Micheal Martin this afternoon to discuss a number of urgent issues arising out of the Gama Construction dispute. In a statement entering the meeting Mr O’Connor said:

“We sought this meeting to press the concerns of the Gama workers. In particular we want to ensure that the Department opposes any attempt by Gama to send workers home before they have been paid all monies due to them. We also want to raise with the Minister what public monies maybe due to Gama. These funds should be withheld pending satisfactory resolution of the current dispute.

“Further, we will be asking the Minister to make provision to facilitate visa applications by Gama workers in the light of allegations about their treatment here while working on the provision of major infrastructure workers. There is a major labour shortage in the construction sector at present and the provision of visas would help ease this problem.

“We will also use the opportunity to press the Minister on the necessity to establish a very substantially better resourced labour inspectorate of between 50 and 75 inspectors, as opposed to the present inadequate level of 21. We will be reminding him that his Department opposed this expansion of the service when it was sought by the trade unions during last year’s talks on Sustaining Progress, even though the then Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy was prepared to lift the embargo on public service recruitment in the area to facilitate our concerns.”

Mr O’Connor said he appreciated that Mr Martin was not Minister at the time and he hoped that he would adopt a fresh approach to the problem in the light of the serious problems in enforcing labour legislation highlighted by Gama, and other disputes in recent times.

“We will be reiterating our demand for substantially increased penalties for employers who refuse to comply with labour legislation”, Mr O’Connor said. “After recent revelations of exploitation, particularly of migrant workers, by unscrupulous employers, we feel our long standing calls for action in this area require immediate action.

“The Gama dispute has also highlighted a long standing problem with public procurement contracts. We will be reminding the Minister that SIPTU pressed at last year’s pay talks for a stipulation that the employment conditions on Government contracts would be no less favourable than those for employees carrying out the same work in the public service.

“This matter remains outstanding from those talks and if it had been addressed many of the problems that have arisen since could have been avoided. Disputes at Gama, and elsewhere, have only served to highlight the legitimacy of the stance we took in those talks and the need for urgent action,” he concluded.

by LOL - "do the math" Thu Apr 14, 2005 14:27

"We have a great basis on which to improve public services, quality of life and social inclusion.
We should be proud of this, of economic success and social progress together. I believe you can increase your standard of living and contribute to your community at the same time. I believe you can seek a promotion in your job and aspire to a good house, while supporting local jobs and helping the homeless. I believe tax should be as low as possible, that everyone should pay a fair share and the government shouldn't waste it. People rightly want better public services, they want to see the law enforced, criminals caught and anti-social behaviour stopped. False dilemmas, real choices! Some people will say you're selfish to want these things and you can't have it both ways. They're just wrong. These are the old false dilemmas: that you have to choose between lower taxes and social justice, between increasing our living standards and helping the disadvantaged, between development and the environment, between rights and the rule of law. The choice is not between self or society. The real choice is about what type of society each of us wants and each of us contributes to. I believe in a society that values each person, that offers each person and each community the chance to be their best, that celebrates success and solidarity equally and together."
http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie/press_room/1364/

**** this sordid example of "success & solidarity" and succesful socio-economic-cultural targetted leaking, will I hope, underline & underscore the objections of any party interested in social justice, ethical governance or "honesty" entering into pre- or post- election pacts with the gamma party of choice the PDs.

take out the gamma.

by Merry Tallyman Thu Apr 14, 2005 17:19

Of course I'd like to see her driven out with her tail between her legs very soon indeed, but if by some means she manages to hang on til the next election, it is surely an intriguing prospect that she would be up against Cllr. Mick Murphy of the SP in Dublin South West, the man who blew the lid on the whole GAMA scandal in the first place.
It may not be likely, relistically, speaking, but surely many people would feel justice would be done if he won her seat.

by LOL Thu Apr 14, 2005 23:56

a free breakfast.
or rather "renders it in one easy to type line without using mathemetical formula or upload images (and btw if you get the supreme gamma out of government"you get a free liquid lunch as well & a range of t-shirts, I sort of expect some to be left over from the ratzinger fan club, and they're gonna be a bit difficult to shift).

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics campaigner Fri Apr 15, 2005 02:06

The State of our Nation.

We, the Irish were migrants .... and now it takes one man, Joe Higgins and his support workers, to unfurl a scandal that all human beings in Ireland should be ashamed of.

The Tanaiste has moved to Health from Enterprise.

Enterprise is about Touting for Opportunities namely attracting investment to Ireland.

Is it called a Trade Mission? Is it a Trade Mission that the Tanaiste and a complement of staff (investigative presumably) went to Turkey and got the Prize .... Gama.

Yes, Joe Higgins, what about the silent project managers, sub-contractor unions, directors, auditors, in fact anyone with eyes to see, and ears to hear and even a half brain, could not have responded in a humane way.

4 years. No pay check. 30 million in Holland? Many men working near 80 hours.

Do we care so little now?

Let's stop the personal vanity and unnecessary PR amongst politicians and get back to practical Common Sense approach.

Michelle Clarke

Quotation ex. Jonathan Swift Dean of St. Patricks (man who wrote the infamous Drapiers letters)

'Give vision to the visionless'

Well done Joe Higgins and other 'whisteblowers' imbibed with Courage