The Independent Workers’ Union strongly condemns Northside Home Care Services for suspending Sonya Borwick, who is both a member of our union and an elected union representative (known as a shop steward).

The company invited Sonya to a meeting but gave only a vague reason saying they wanted to “raise concerns.” with her.

When Sonya asked for more details, the company refused to provide them.

This morning Sonya attended the meeting and the company ambushed Sonya with a list of pre-prepared allegations and complaints against her and was suspended on the spot.

Most of those complaints centered on two things:

1. A voluntary petition: Sonya had helped circulate a petition among clients who receive home care. The petition was voluntary and asked clients to lend support to the strike by leaving a signature.

2. A dispute involving a former union member: A former union member falsely accused Sonya of being responsible for being confronted by coworkers. Those coworkers had reportedly challenged the former member for leaving the union and for repeatedly crossing a picket line (i.e., working during a lawful strike).

The union believes the company is trying to make an example of Sonya, and we will continue to support her and all our members throughout this process.

We also note that Northside Home Care Services has hired expensive legal and human resources representatives to handle these complaints. In our view, that money would have been much better spent giving healthcare assistants the pay parity they have been demanding.

These tactics from management are not new, who have through the course of the industrial action, refused to engage with our members in a meaningful way and have made intimidating remarks along the way. 

Our union, and homecare staff, remain resolute, intimidation tactics and suppression will not stop our task of achieving pay parity for Northside Homecare Services Staff!

We, the undersigned, did not wish to raise this issue during the busy Christmas period, as we were conscious of the immense effort made by volunteers and staff to support the Society’s work and to raise much-needed donations for those in need. However, having since observed the significant volume of donated items being dumped, we feel it is important to raise our concerns openly and constructively.

We respectfully call on the management of the Society to uphold the principles and values set out in the charter of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, particularly with regard to stewardship and respect for donated goods. The disposal of large quantities of perfectly usable items is deeply concerning to many volunteers and staff who give their time in good faith.

The challenges involved in identifying and processing donated items are not the responsibility of retail or local store managers, many of whom are already working under considerable pressure. Managing high volumes of donations should not result in the dumping of viable goods.

We believe there are more effective, thoughtful, and compassionate ways to distribute donations to those in need, rather than large-scale disposal. As volunteers and staff, we want to see donations handled in a way that reflects the care and generosity with which they were given.

We therefore ask senior management and leadership to work collaboratively with volunteers and staff to explore more creative, sustainable, and practical approaches to distribution, and to reduce and ultimately eliminate the dumping of usable donated items.

Finally, we ask that greater transparency be provided by publishing information on the proportion of donated goods that end up in landfill, so that volunteers, staff, and supporters can better understand the outcomes of their efforts.

“For our demands are most moderate, we only want the Earth”

James Connolly, Songs of Freedom (1907)

The Independent Workers’ Union of Ireland stands as a fighting organisation of the working class, committed to breaking the grip of exploitation and building a society where workers hold and exercise power. In 2026, our mission is to forge a disciplined, democratic, and unapologetically militant union that advances the collective strength, consciousness, and liberation of all workers across Ireland.

We are rooted in the belief that the organised working class is the primary force for change in Ireland and that only through united, organised, and determined struggle can we dismantle the structural injustices that concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the few.

We commit to:

• Building a powerful, worker-led movement that refuses subordination to corporate interests, political parties, or bureaucratic institutions.
  
• Organising the workers; precarious, migrant, gig, service, care, retail, and all workers denied security and dignity.
  
• Waging class struggle through collective action, using the strength of solidarity, direct worker participation, and industrial mobilisation to challenge exploitation and win transformative gains.
  
• Confronting the systems of power; economic, political, and social that profit from inequality, and advancing a vision of an Ireland where wealth is controlled by those who produce it.
  
• Reviving a militant working class tradition, grounded in the history of Irish labour, republican ideals of democratic sovereignty, and the international struggle against oppression.
  
• Building dual power in workplaces and communities, creating democratic structures where workers make decisions collectively, transparently, and independently.
  
• Fostering deep class consciousness, understanding that the fight for better wages and conditions is inseparable from the broader struggle for freedom, equality, and social transformation.
  

The IWU stands as a radical, independent force for working class empowerment committed to challenging the domination of capital, defending the oppressed, uniting the exploited, and building a future where workers claim the power that is rightfully theirs.

Plan of action with no action 

The Independent Workers’ Union is a trade union that has for long been outside the Irish Congress of Trade Unions because we felt that the political landscape that trade unions bought into in the 1980s was detrimental to the cause of the working class.

The action plan, recently published Ireland’s Action Plan to Promote Collective Bargaining 2026 – 2030 and subsequently positively commented on by Kevin Callinan (Trade unions and Government must build on EU’s wage directive for a better future for workers) has not been the subject of any serious debate in trade union branches or circles. 

The report opens with welcoming the “settled industrial relations environment” in reference to the ‘Programme for National Recovery’, which was a centralised approach to wage agreements; in short unofficial no strike agreements in exchange for modest and often below inflation wage increases.  The tone of this report positively reflects on the idea that ‘responsible’ social partners such as trade unions can come to terms with the government and employers and work together in an amicable and non-contradictory way. 

The tone of this report also presents the EU and its directives as socially responsible and positive. The IWU rejects the idea that workers rights will be advanced by the EU, An institution which has inflicted savage austerity on the European Working class, which has promoted endless conflicts and regime change around the globe to satisfy their economic interests and which is currently accelerating the war economy in step with NATO, Britain and the USA

We ask if it is at all plausible that any trade unionist can sincerely believe that placing our faith and trust in the institutions of the EU is in any way wise instead of investing in the rank and file membership of our own trade unions. Surely the immense resources that the trade union has could make significant inroads in rebalancing the power relations in places of employment through aggressive and member led union campaigns?

The report talks of a social contract between the organised representative of the working class trade unions and employers, incl. Government, but in Ireland the social contract has long been broken as the country faces crises in health, housing and education – so how can any trade unionist accept at face value the supposed desire of employers and government to suddenly have respect for trade unionists and their unions of choice? 

The consultant tone of the report hammers home this image of ‘responsible stakeholders’ that are simply doing the best they can in the national interest of economic development and of workers rights. This idea and tone re-affirms the untrue assertion that trickle-down economics under neoliberalism is an acceptable form of allocating and distributing wealth among workers in the many highly profitable industries in Ireland.  

In the absence of a trade union organising strategy that addresses the sharp decline in union membership, this report is a trojan horse for the trade union movement designed to co-opt what is left of the independence of the union movement and ensure the trade union movement does not obstruct the road to miltiarisation and austerity.

Here are a number of points that we believe should be of extreme concern to all trade union members:: 

1. The overarching theme of the report concentrates on strengthening the industrial relations machinery (Workplace Relations Commission & Labour Court) while respecting the voluntarist system of industrial relations and somehow adhering to the EU Directive. The voluntarist system in Ireland benefits the employer class and allows them to remain disengaged from recognising or engaging with the trade unions that their workers choose.  Our union and members regularly receive notification that the employer will not engage. The voluntarist system benefits employers and ensures that the constitutional right to freedom of association is redundant in practice. 

2. The report regurgitates the idea that social partnership and industrial peace are net positives for society – but a quick look at the many crises facing trade union members and non-trade union members as well as the collapsed union density suggests this to be the opposite. While there is industrial peace for the employer class, there is inequality, union busting and a cost of living crisis for the working class.

3. The report sells days ‘saved from industrial action’ as a net positive for society which further re-affirms the pro-employer and pro-government line of the action plan. Industrial action, and particularly strike action, has always been the strongest tool workers have and we would argue that the complete decline in days lost to industrial action directly reflects on the strength and militancy of the trade union movement e.g. it has significantly declined. 

4. This decline in the workers movement has resulted in its inability to leverage itself in the face of the financial crisis, the growing military jingoism from the government, solidarity with the people of Palestine, the dual crises in health and housing and many other issues that every single worker is facing the brunt of when they clock off and go home. 

5. The report indicates several points of concern, but in particular Point 14 which talks of the feasibility of introducing statutory mechanisms of mandatory mediation process between notification and industrial action. Our interpretation of this proposal is that it will further strengthen the no strike wage agreements that ICTU unions make with government and employers and once more weaken the power of trade unionists and workers.

6. The report uses a monitoring framework and example metric to determine the proceeding of the action plan. Improving collective bargaining is one of the objectives and the metric is ‘national collective bargaining’ metrics. The IWU has studied some of the collective bargaining agreements written into workers contracts of employment. Our view is that the agreements are terrible for workers power and are effectively no strings attached no strike agreements with some of the worst employers in the country.  While on principle we accept that collective bargaining is a net positive, we must sincerely question the substance of collective bargaining agreements struck by ICTU unions if they fundamentally undermine and neuter workers’ abilities to take strike action. 

7. The monitoring framework further frames the reduction in industrial action and ‘days saved due to reduction in industrial action’ as metrics in implementing the collective bargaining plan.  The report does not frame higher quality of life for workers, or improved workplace democracy or a cessation of union busting – but simply the reduction in days of industrial action. To us this is the ICTU’s representative subscribing to a non-existent social contract that the employer class and government have never upheld and have no intention of upholding, thereby giving thousands of trade unionists around the country the false impression that the government and the employers are honest brokers. 

These 7 points outline the concerns of our union with this shallow and insufficient action plan. Misplaced faith in the institutions of the EU and the supposed good faith of IBEC and/or government reflect a sincere naivety among trade union leaders or a conscious effort to ensure that trade unionism in Ireland reflects Mussolini’s corporatist model of defanged, weak and powerless trade unions that are there to ensure their own members don’t get too uppity.  

Conclusion

The Independent Workers’ Union believes that social partnership has not been a net positive in Ireland and we place that belief on the many societal crises facing the working class in Ireland. Low union density, union busting, lack of any strikes and low levels of trade union consciousness among hundreds of thousands of workers suggest that only one layer of Irish society has done well out of social partnership: the employer class, HR consultants, legal representatives and the political class who represent them. Statistics from the CSO suggest that despite being a nominally high wage economy, the value of our ‘high wages’ is simply devoured through rent extraction, high costs of living and the privatisation and/or outsourcing of key industry and public services. 

The cosy relationship that several trade union officials have had with the government and employers has left trade unionists from all over the movement feeling disempowered and despondent about trade unions. Often we will hear people cursing the names of their unions and denouncing trade unionism.This double absence of any assertive and class orientated leadership is concerning and will only be accelerated by the readiness of senior officials to continue trying to cosy up to the employer class and government for personal gain in the form of committee/board/labour court appointments.

The way forward for our trade union movement is not to set ourselves up as a “responsible stakeholder” who dines with the employer class, but as the representatives of the wants and needs of the whole working class and to fight. We must fight for a better Ireland. We must fight for respect. We must fight for a better distribution of the super profits that are being made by many different small, medium and large businesses. We must invest in workers young and old instead of obstructing them through administrative and bureaucratic methods. 

We must rally our communities because when workers win a bigger share of the pie – so do our communities because that is where the money won from employers is spent.

The Independent Workers’ Union re-asserts the need for a class orientated trade union movement and a rejection of bad deals for workers. We call upon trade unionists of all Irish Congress of Trade Union unions to study the action plan comprehensively and to reject it within their own trade union structures and to join our call for a stronger and more militant trade union movement befitting the names of James Connolly and James Larkin. The Independent Workers’ Union re-asserts our commitment to the organising model that has been the core of success for trade unions for the last 150 years. We re-assert a member first strategy that focuses on the material wants and needs of our members and embraces strike action as a capable and potent tool that needs to be deployed regularly against an unscrupulous employer class.

END

Since the Abtran pay claim was submitted, one of its key elements has been a call for an enhanced Christmas bonus—greater than €50—that reflects each worker’s length of service. However, Abtran has refused to engage with any aspect of the claim. More recently, the Union raised the issue of a Christmas bonus again, but Abtran once again failed to respond.

While denying its workers the modest requests in the pay claim, Abtran is participating in the Late Late Toy Show drive, where its employees will staff the phone lines.

The irony is heartbreaking. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis that is severely impacting Abtran workers, their employer continues to refuse to significantly increase wages or offer a fair and dignified Christmas bonus.

We urge Abtran to recognize the hard work of its employees and not use the Toy Show appeal to whitewash a low wage and anti-union job. 

National Organiser Alexander Homits stated that:

“Abtran is a multi-million euro operation that derives the majority of its profits from state or semi-state contracts. It then outsources some of this work to Romania and India in order to maximise the cut of the tender they pocket. Instead of workers in Ireland spending their money in Cork, Wexford or Sligo, the money goes to off-shore vehicles in the British Virgin Islands.  While we know Abtran has no conscience, we know their workers and members of the public do and we call upon them to rally behind the unionisation drive that continues within the company”.

The Independent Workers’ Union condemns Abtrans’ steps to continue the outsourcing spiral with the setting up of offices in Iaisi, Romania for their Electric Ireland operation. The minimum wage in Romania is almost half of what it is in Ireland which means Abtran will pocket an even greater cut of the monies paid to them by Electric Ireland. This is unacceptable to us as a union, to our members in the Electric Ireland contract.

Irish semi-state and state contracts should not be outsourced to a private company nor should they be leaving the country.

This is another step by the highly profitable company Abtran to maximise their profits at the expense of their customers in Ireland.

The Independent Workers’ Union calls on members of the public and elected representatives to voice their opposition to the outsourcing of outsourcing and demand the Electric Ireland customer service jobs be brought back to Ireland and back in-house.

END.

On the 24th of October, the Independent Workers’ Union organised and held an important seminar marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of our affiliate organisation, the World Federation of Trade Unions. The discussion was opened by our President, Cristina Diamant, after which Dave Gibney elaborated on the radical and fighting history of the Irish trade union movement. His talk guided the audience from the days of the early combinations, which saw workers deported for unionising, to the tragic deaths of workers from unsafe in-house living conditions in the Camden Street Holocaust; from the establishment of IDATU (Irish Distributive and Administrative Trade Union) in 1901, which was the first to welcome women, to the resignation of Cissy Cahalane from the Congress Executive for its failure to support Republican hunger strikers, and the Dunnes Anti-Apartheid Strike.

This overview of the class-oriented movement was followed by a presentation from the PAME delegation on the foundation of the World Federation of Trade Unions. The presentation outlined the important historical and contemporary role of the WFTU since 1945.

The WFTU was established in an attempt to bring workers of all nations together, but it later split to ensure that workers in Western countries did not join forces with workers in the rest of the world to overthrow their exploiters, bosses, and capitalist masters.

Despite this challenge, and the social conservatism and pro-employer, pro-government orientation of British, French, German, Irish, and American trade unions, the WFTU maintained hundreds of millions of members across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe—continuing the noble fight against war, resource exploitation, and anti-people measures.

The presentation regarding the WFTU was followed by an overview of PAME (All Workers Militant Front) by George Perros, a member of PAME’s secretariat. George explained that PAME was founded in 1998 to reverse the stagnation of the Greek trade union movement, to challenge the closeness of union officials to management and their anti-worker approach, and to help workers reclaim their unions and union structures. By focusing on these tasks, PAME met with great enthusiasm from millions of union members and workers across Greece who opposed anti-worker deals and timid steps from their so-called leaders. In empowering workers, democratising unions, and encouraging action, PAME helped restore dignity to the workers’ movement—and the results in Greece have spoken for themselves.

From a handful of trade unionists, PAME grew to several million members across branches, sectors, and affiliated unions. PAME became capable of organising interventions in ports to stop the transport of bullets to Israel, to resist anti-people measures introduced by the Greek government through general strikes, and to prevent companies from enriching themselves through the exploitation of workers’ labour.

In their own words:

“What we want to do is change working class consciousness. Bring workers consciousness closer to a future that is in the opposite direction to what we live in today. Future without exploitation, poverty or war. Because we believe that everywhere in the world, workers produce the wealth.
But workers don’t enjoy this wealth. Only the few enjoy this wealth, billionaires and big businesses. The big problem is profit. all the imperialist powers want to take the wealth of countries from the people. This is why workers strike. That’s why employee demand is big, prices are high, exploitation is big and we have to put an end to all this. Only the working class can put an end to all this. History changes only when the working class makes it possible. The trade unions must have this goal to stop exploitation. Workers must live with dignity. And the working class must be the boss in every country. It’s not easy but not unachievable. And we want to do this. We’re optimistic, and we’ve decided to do this. We are many, we have the power, and the real power is in our own hands.
One of our comrades in Palestine we visited recently said our own hands are to create wealth, not to get dirty by making weapons. This is our direction, this is how we think we need to go forward. We cannot be unoptimistic. We won’t bow our heads. Our flag is the flag of the modern rise of the working class, and under this flag we believe we can make it. We need to be patient, persistent and with a plan.”

The National Executive Committee of the Independent Workers’ Union fully embraces this mission and hopes to bring it, to the fullest extent, to Ireland.

The workers’ movement in Ireland needs a strong, democratic, and principled workers’ movement founded on solidarity, camaraderie, and a mission to end exploitation. Our trade union will continue to organise, fight, and struggle against employer and government exploitation of the working class.

Victory to the working class!

The below letter was sent to Eamonn Dunne, CEO of Northside Home Care, on Tuesday 08th October 2025.

Our members in Northside Home Care have been excluded from pay deals which were agreed between the HSE and other unions in March of this year.

The Independent Workers’ Union demands that our members be brought in line with their HSE counterparts, otherwise industrial action may be balloted on.

The Parliamentary Question which is referred to in the letter can be viewed here.

The Independent Workers Union expresses it’s unwavering solidarity with the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) and it’s members in their effort to shut down Italy over the Meloni governments complicity in the Gaza genocide.

The arrest of activists, including Irish citizens, transporting aid to Gaza aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla is just one in a long list of barbaric and criminal acts committed by the murderous state of Israel.

In response, Italian workers have declared ‘Let’s block everything’. A second general strike is planned for October 3rd, following on from a strike on September 22nd which shut down schools, transport and factories across Italy.

These actions highlight the power that organised workers hold. Without the consent of workers, not one ship leaves port, not one factory operates and not one school opens. By withdrawing their labour, Italian workers have sent a message of support for the Palestinian people that cannot be ignored by the Meloni government.

Through our membership of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), of which USB is also a member, we affirm our own commitment to class-based and militant trade unionism. If Irish workers are to end our own governments complicity in the genocide in Gaza, we must follow the example of Italian workers and build an Irish trade union movement that stands for internationalism and militancy. 

Bringing the struggle for Palestine into the workplace is the single most important task of the Palestine solidarity movement in Ireland. The IWU is committed to fighting alongside any worker who wishes to end cooperation with Israel in their own workplace, and is already doing so. 

Let’s block everything!

SIGN PETITION HERE: End Privatisation by Stealth and Outsourcing, Investigate Abtran! | MyUplift

Template Email for Supporters Please use the following template to contact PAC Oireachtas members: 

Subject: Request for PAC Scrutiny of Abtran

Dear [Deputy_______]

I am writing to you as a concerned member of the public to ask that the Public Accounts Committee examine the state contracts awarded to Abtran and its sister company Morgan McKinley.

Both companies have benefited substantially from government contracts, yet:

• Abtran refuses to engage with a trade union despite a Labour Court recommendation.
  
• It operates offshore entities in the British Virgin Islands for tax efficiency.
  
• It pays many of its staff the minimum wage, with limited benefits.
  

This raises serious questions about value for money, respect for workers’ rights, and Ireland’s commitment to transparent public procurement.

I urge you to use your position on the Public Accounts Committee to ensure these issues are investigated in the public interest.

Yours sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address / Constituency – optional]

CONTACT DETAILS FOR PAC AND TDS 

PAC Secretariat: committees.coord@oireachtas.ie 

John Brady TD, Cathaoirleach, john.brady@oireachtas.ie 

Paul McAuliffe TD, Leas-Cathaoirleach, paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie 

Catherine Ardagh TD, catherine.ardagh@oireachtas.ie 

Cathy Bennet TD, cathy.bennett@oireachtas.ie 

Grace Boland TD, grace.boland@oireachtas.ie 

The Labour Court has recently recommended that Abtran should recognise and engage with our Union to negotiate a collective agreement.

To: Relate Care Management
Subject: Collective Grievance – Pay and Service-Linked Increments

We, the undersigned employees of Relate Care, are submitting this collective grievance regarding the inadequacy of current pay rates and the absence of service-linked pay progression within the company.

In the context of an ongoing cost of living crisis, we find the current rates of pay unsatisfactory. We believe that, at a minimum, wages should be aligned with the rate of €14.75 as recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group. This figure is determined using a comprehensive methodology that reflects the real cost of living, including expenses such as groceries, utilities, rent, and other essential needs.

Additionally, we urge Relate Care to implement a structured system of pay progression based on length of service. Employees should see their wages increase incrementally with each year of service, similar to the pay scales used by the public entities we support, such as the HSE.

We request that a formal investigation into this grievance begin within seven (7) days of receipt. Our chosen representatives [insert names here] are available to meet with management to discuss this matter further.

Please note that we reserve the right to escalate this issue through our union and to pursue industrial action, up to and including strike action, should our concerns not be addressed satisfactorily.

Sincerely,
[Signatories]

The Independent Workers’ Union welcomes the introduction of legislation in New Zealand that specifically makes the non-payment of wages to an employee by their employer a criminal offense that carries criminal sanction. The penalty may include a prison sentence of up to 1 year and/or a $5000 fine, or in any other case a maximum fine of $30000. 

It is long overdue for Ireland to recognise wage theft by employers as a criminal act, no different from any other form of theft. Currently, most employment disputes are handled through the civil system of the Workplace Relations Commission. In practice, this allows employers to repeatedly violate workers’ rights—including the commission of wage theft—without facing real consequences, leaving workers with no option but to file cases with the Commission.

This Union has extensive experience dealing with exploitative employers, a problem that persists across both rural and urban areas. Many employers are well aware that the penalties for violating workers’ rights are not stringent enough—and in some cases, they can even evade accountability through liquidation.

This Union firmly believes that wage theft should be treated as a criminal offense and urges progressive legislators to push for legislation that enforces this.

“Let’s treat employers who rob any and all types of wages from their workers like the immoral thieves they are” said Jamie Murphy, General Secretary of the Independent Workers’ Union. 

STATEMENT ENDS.

Despite the challenges, the dismissal of trade union members and the increasing difficulty to organise we remain resolute in our commitment to fight for better pay and conditions in Abtran.

To that effect we are launching our pay claim for the year of 2025.

We call upon all agents, team leaders, product specialists, trainers and quality assurance to support the pay claim and become members of the union.

We remind everybody working there that Abtran are generating millions per month in government contracts.

If the outsourcing model did not exist, the majority of work would still have to be performed, except it would be performed by public servants with clear pay scales and other pay and benefits that Abtran does not offer.

This pay claim seeks to put a bigger share of Abtran’s profits into the pockets of their hard working and skilled workers.

• Introduction of the 4 day work week that Gary Sayers promised to examine in meetings held with staff in August 2024.

• Rate of pay to be increased to 17 euro p/h.

• Restoration of the 15 minute welfare break that workers need for their mental health and well being.

• Full usage of the 1500 Small Benefit Exemption scheme.

• Recognition and additional pay to any worker who is cross trained in multiple accounts.

• Introduction of a clear pay scale for years served without hoops to jump through.

• Stop rostering workers on the weekends in between their annual leave.

Our member Jane* had this to say in support of the pay claim:

“Yes, the cost of living is so high. When we get paid fortnightly (no issue with that as such) you feel like your pay is nearly gone with the rent, bills and food shopping, you’re struggling the 2nd week. If we had better pay, this would take so much pressure and stress off, and leave us feeling happier and more productive. Nothing worse than worrying while working about if your pay is going to last the 2 weeks.”

Our member Saoirse* had this to say in support of the pay claim:

With the current cost of living crisis it should not be enough that a company offers just above the national minimum wage when they are emailing about record profits at the end of the year. The bare minimum just isn’t enough anymore. 
We are not compensated for the extra upskilling in training that we go through that directly benefits the company, nor do we see a share of the profits through bonuses. Raising the wages is the very least that could be done across the board

Our member Mary* had this to say when commenting about Abtran pay and conditions:

I dunno what to say as I’m speechless with the shit they do now.

At its last meeting the members of the Cork Operative Butchers Society noted with sadness the death of our colleague Bill Cogan on 27^th January 2025.

Bill was one of the founding members of the Independent Workers Union where he served on the National Executive Committee in his role of National Treasurer until his illness forced his retirement.

A stalworth trade unionist Bill cut his teeth in the Cork Operative Butchers when he worked for Byrne Butchers. When an injustice against a fellow worker was being implemented or contemplated by an employer of the trade, our man took leading positions in putting wrongs right.

His staunch trade unionism was recognised by others when he was elected to serve as President of the Cork Council of Trade Unions in 1998/99 where he served us all with honour and distinction.

He was a strong advocate of workers strengthening themselves through collective organisation at local, national and international level. He believed that organised workers properly motivated, did not need to participate in collaboration with either Government or Employer bodies but advanced themselves better through direct confrontation in the workplace.

The meeting of the Operative Butchers branch of the Independent Workers Union agreed that the best way to remember our fallen comrade was to take to heart the words of the great American Trade Union organiser Joe Hill with the simple message:

                                                       “Don’t mourn – organise”

Since before Christmas, Relate Care workers were asked to fill in a survey concerning pay and conditions.  Members of our union leafletted outside the Waterford and Tralee offices and conducted extensive outreach to engage with as many Relate Care staff as possible. While this survey is not an exhaustive reflection on how everybody thinks inside Relate Care, it does show a snapshot into a pattern.

10 questions were asked and below we share some of the results of those questions.

Q1: If there is one thing you could change, what would it be?

The majority of responses stated PAY and RESPECT needed to be improved. One worker gave a very detailed response:

“just wrecked over the way we’ve been treated this year. It’s like, we’ve all been killing ourselves working hard, and what do we get? An email from the CEO saying ‘thanks for the hard work’ and to ‘keep it up.’ That’s it. No recognition, no gesture, not even a cheap voucher or anything to show they actually care. It’s like they don’t even see us. All of us in the office have been chatting about it, and honestly, we’re just done. From now on, it’s minimum effort for minimum wage. Why would we bother putting in more when this is the thanks we get? Even the small things, like buying biscuits or soup for the break room, are a joke. It’s always the cheapest Tesco Value stuff, like they’re going out of their way to remind us how little we matter to them. I’ve been working with the company for three years now, and it’s only after getting worse. I work on the Beth Israel Lahey Health lines, and the days I have to go into the office are absolutely draining. By the time I get home to my husband, I’m completely shattered and depressed. Then I’ve to deal with the kids, and it just brings me down even more. I can’t see myself sticking with the company much longer if things stay like this. I’d much rather work full-time from home than be stuck in that kind of environment. The worst part is, we’ve no proper way to say how we feel. This anonymous questionnaire is the only chance we have to speak up without getting in trouble, and to be honest, I’m glad it’s there because there’s no other way to get heard. The communication between management and staff is shocking. We’ve got one manager in Tralee, and she’s hardly ever around. When she does show up, she just sits in her office and doesn’t talk to anyone. If she does say hello, it’s barely a word, and there’s no personality in it at all. The whole atmosphere in the office is pure negative now. No one talks to each other anymore, and why would they? There’s nothing encouraging us to be friendly or even try. It used to be grand because we all got on well, but after everything that’s happened, the mood’s completely changed. Now it’s just this attitude of ‘minimum wage, minimum effort,’ and honestly, I don’t blame anyone for feeling like that.”

Q2: Did you receive a Christmas bonus from Relate Care?

100% of responses stated they received no Christmas bonus.

Q3: Do you think Relate Care should provide a more comprehensive sick pay scheme in addition to the statutory sick pay of 5 days provided by the government?

95% of responses stated yes.

Q4: Are you treated with dignity and respect in the workplace?

53% of respondents stated yes, 47% of respondents stated no.

Q5: Do you feel your hard work is recognised by the company?

92% of respondents stated no.

Q6: Do you feel that you are able to make professional progress in Relate Care?

78% of respondents stated no.

Q7: Have you recently experienced changes to your t&c such as reduction in hours, moving around of rosters or other changes that you are unhappy with?

This question raised many issues and points of contention, but in order to avoid exposing the workers’ raising specific issues, here are the responses to some of them:

1. If you meet the criteria for a bank holiday payment, you must benefit from it in one of 4 ways: a) paid day off on that day b) paid day off within the same month c) additional day of annual leave or d) an additional days pay. If you are scheduled to work a bank holiday and subsequently ask for it off/refuse to work, you may be forfeiting the benefit you receive from the bank holiday.
2. If you are constantly being moved around from campaign to campaign – you should object in writing. If your individual objection is rejected, you should unionise so we can lodge it as a collective grievance.
3. Any enhancement in increases for maternity/parental pay can only be won through unionisation and collectively.

Q8: Do you feel your voice is heard as a worker in Relate Care?

80% of respondents stated no.

Q9: Do you think your voice would be better heard if you approached Relate Care as a union?

90% of respondents said yes.

Q10: Do you have any other comments to add? 

Here’s what some of you had to say.

• “The pay is really low and needs raise. I’m working for 3 years already and I’m still getting paid the same as new employees.”

• “The company is not interested in retaining staff. The entire business model is around short term contracts. Incremental pay increases abolished at the start of 2024. Team Captain now earns just about the same as standard staff, so what’s the point. Genuinely advise anyone that can to leave, find something better, take interviews while you’re working, do whatever it takes.”

• “We as team captains get paid a euro more than the agents. We work so hard and don’t get recognised for it. We can’t grow within the campaign. We can’t express our opinions they don’t get heard. I’d appreciate my name be anonymous to relate care for now.”

• “A meeting once a week allowing teams to discuss difficult calls would be very beneficial and help agents feel further supported. The opportunities to cross train are very good. Wages need to be higher.”

• “People on pcrs take many degrading and difficult calls, dealing with these calls we don’t have specific training for sure should be recognised and compensated for.”

SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KepakWorkersSurvey

English:

The Union in Kepak is launching a comprehensive survey to ask questions about certain issues workers are facing. 

We are also calling on all workers in Kepak who fill in our survey to attend a general meeting in the Fermoy Youth Community Center on 08/02/2025 from 2:30 – 4:30pm to discuss the issues and how we can act on them.

Any increase in pay for Kepak workers is a win for the North Cork community where they all live and spend their money. 

Portuguese: 

O sindicato está lançando uma pesquisa abrangente para coletar informações sobre determinados problemas que os trabalhadores da Kepak estão enfrentando. 

Estamos também convidando todos os Trabalhadores da Kepak que responderem o questionário para participar da Reunião Geral, na Fermoy Youth Community Center, no dia 08/02/2025 a partir das 14:30 às 16:30 para discutirmos sobre as questões levantadas, e como podemos agir sobre elas. 

Qualquer aumento no salário dos trabalhadores da Kepak é uma vitória para a comunidade de North Cork, onde todos eles vivem e gastam seu dinheiro.

Polish:

Związek zawodowy w Kepak rozpoczyna kompleksową ankietę, aby zadać pytania dotyczące niektórych problemów, z którymi borykają się pracownicy.

Apelujemy również do wszystkich pracowników Kepak, którzy wypełnią naszą ankietę, o uczestnictwo w ogólnym spotkaniu w Fermoy Youth Community Center w dniu 08.02.2025 w godzinach od 14:30 do 16:30, aby omówić te problemy i wspólnie ustalić działania.

Każda podwyżka płac dla pracowników Kepak to korzyść dla społeczności North Cork, gdzie wszyscy żyją i wydają swoje pieniądze.

SURVEY: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KepakWorkersSurvey