SIPTU demonstration in support of Irish Ferries workers.

by siptuwatcher Mon Oct 24, 2005 12:38

at this march/rally will siptu be alerting the public to the fact that they wish to have the sparks/king report implemented? i bet they're not. this report states that officers (represented by siptu) take a 5% paycut and lose their 5% bonus (altogether now....awww). it also says that the catering and tcrew should be completely outsourced. nice. funny that because anytime i've seen paul smith on the news he's forgotten to mention that. but there lies the problem. siptu aren't really bothered about the catering crew (who are mostly represented by the seamens union). so as long as the officers and ratings are left on the ulysses (minus their 5% of course) it really doesn't matter that the catering crew will all be eastern europeans earning €3.50 an hour. will siptu charge them the same union rates i wonder?


it's about time siptu admitted to what they're doing here.

by Des Derwin Mon Oct 24, 2005 23:39

Can this be true? I was appalled by the suggestion, reported in the newspapers, in the Report that Irish Ferries be given more tax breaks including PAYE pay-backs in order to persuade them not to dump our members and grind new workers, but I had no idea that the Report suggested that the catering and the crew be outsourced. Are you sure? All the impassioned speeches of the past few weeks could not be reconciled with that.

by Des Derwin Mon Oct 24, 2005 23:49

By the way, siptu watcher, do you mean the catering crew, or the catering crew and the crew (seafarers)? You may have put in an accidental 'and'. SIPTU agreement to outsourcing the catering crew alone would still be mind boggling after the declarations of war against the 'race to the bottom' in Cork and today.

by siptuwatch Tue Oct 25, 2005 15:36

yeah that was an accidental 'and' in there. apologies. the sparks/king report was done by a consultancy agency for irish ferries. sparks king were nominated by siptu (namely paul smith because he's best buds with one of them). irish ferries want the whole crew outsourced so they can up their profits blah blah greedy bastards. anyway sparksking says leave the officers and ratings, and they take a small paycut and the whole catering crew be outsourced. i haven't got the exact wording of it to hand but will do later and i'll clarify the wording of it and the exact proposals then. this is what siptu want as they don't represent the catering crew. these are mostly seamens union members. siptu aren't bothered with them as there has always been tension between the two unions (refusing to go into talks together etc). if the report is implemented instead of outsourcing the whole crew, the result will be a number of irish ferries officers and other crew members on a slightly lesser wage than they're on at the moment, working alongside eastern europeans for pittance an hour. all as a result of siptu's "i'm alright jack..." philosophy. disgraceful behaviour. i'll detail this more later. once again, apologies for the typo.

by siptuwatch watcher Thu Oct 27, 2005 19:35

siptuwatch you're gone very quiet all of a sudden. You do have very legitimate greviances so a more detailed report would be appreciated. Having said that I hope that you will support the March on 3 November although somehow I get the sickening feeling that you are going to boycott the March. Interesting that Jack O'Connor and the SIPTU top brass don't give a damn about Irish Ferries and their workers. It was only because of the intense anger from their members on the ground that O'Connor and SIPTU were forced to act. This is the 1st large scale protest organised by the broader union in support of it's members in a specific area for many years. Is this being promoted as a half-day citywide/nationwide stoppage/protest by all SIPTU members? Are other workers in other unions being asked to join in and support this protest. If so I and most of my workmates will be there, and we will be organising to get other workers in other places to join in this protest/stoppage.

by siptuwatch watcher Thu Oct 27, 2005 19:41

It would be really great if the Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) and ICTU have been asked to support this March and protest and to mobilise for it. If they have, have they expressed support for it, and are they mobilising for it? Coz, this has the potential to be bloody massive.