SIPTU Firefighters reject public service deal
SIPTU Firefighters reject public service deal
Meeting in Cork last night, the national committee of SIPTU firefighters voted overwhelmingly to reject the sell-out Public Sector "Pay Deal" that the union leaders are pushing.
This vote by an important section of SIPTU underlines the anger that is building up among rank and file workers in the public sector..
The firefighters are not the first section in SIPTU to repudiate the decision of the union’s NEC to recommend the deal.
The 3,000 strong Education Branch, which almost exclusively organises public sector workers, has come out against the deal.
Education Branch President Kieran Allen said,
‘The leadership of SIPTU are out of touch with the grassroots membership. The draft deal provides no genuine commitment to reverse the pay cuts and does not even guarantee there will be no further cuts in the future.’
The government has a huge ‘Get out of Jail’ card by being able to cite ‘unforeseen budgetary circumstances’.
This deal will dramatically worsen conditions and destroy public services. The draft explicitly endorses to the McCarthy, which seeks a 17,000 reduction in public sector jobs – including 7,000 from Education.
The deal will
- Lead to a re-writing of contracts
- A loss of automatic incremental pay
- Re-Deployment up to 45 kilometres from your workplace
- An extra hour a week work for all staff in education
- More extensive outsourcing
Kieran Allen commented, 'This is not an agreement – but a document of surrender. The fact that the leaders of SIPTU have joined ISME, IBEC and the Government to vote Yes is an ominous sign.
'We demand that the SIPTU block vote is not cast against the interests of its members in the Education Sector but that our NO votes are counted alongside the majority of other public sector unions.
'The Education Branch demands a change of union structures to provide a leadership that reflects grassroots feeling.’
SIPTU officials are frantic in the face of widescale anger among the membership at the sell-out, and are using every trick in the book to push trough the deal.
They have decided that there will be no conference to discuss the deal. The union paper will not allow the arguments of the No side to be published to the membership.
It is obvious that the union officials have been pulled together to sell the deal by frightening the membership. For example officals are telling members that if the deal is rejected, workers will be left out on strike and will likely lose their homes.
Against these dirty tricks, it is important that we organise. A number of leaflets are available for download on tis website which can be dupliocated and distributed in your workplace, etc. Click here to browse and download the leaflets.
If you want to help out in the fight to stop this deal by taking leaflets or in any other way text NO DEAL to 086-3074060 or email info@swp.ie.
