Labour Comment Editorial:—January 2006

The Worst has yet to come!

"The interests of capital and the interest of wage-labour are diametrically opposed to each other" … "To say that the interests of capital and the interests of the workers are identical signifies only this, that capital and wage-labour are two sides of one and the same relation. The one conditions the other in the same way that the usurer and the borrower condition each other" (Marx).

"Eighteen years and six deals later, partnership process is envy of developed world" states Turlough O'Sullivan, Director General of the business and employers' organisation IBEC (Irish Times, 16.12.05). This was in the aftermath of the settlement of the Irish Ferries dispute, which saw 540 seafarers made redundant.

But of course, Mr. O'Sullivan was at pains to state that the ferry dispute was a once-off and confined to the maritime industry. He believes that but we don't.

The one abiding lesson out of the Irish Ferries debacle is this—the leopard never changes his spots, no matter how often he may 'reflag' them.

Mr. O'Sullivan continues:

"Some lessons should be learned from the Irish Ferries experience. The dispute has shown us how even the most intractable and highly charged dispute can be resolved within the partnership model. The National Implementation Body, which has representatives of both Ictu and Ibec, devised a formula the Sunday before last which formed the basis for the eventual outcome. It is a pity that it took so long to give effect to the spirit and intent of that formula.

"When a matter is of national interest and jobs in many sectors are at stake, it is neither defensible nor strategically wise for the company involved not to engage in public debate. Of course there was misrepresentation and misinformation, but by vacating the public stage, the company was partially to blame for this. Union leadership should never again allow itself to be manipulated by elements within their ranks who are not working towards realistic objectives that are in the public interest.

"For politicians, there is something to learn as well. Never again, I hope, will we see them jump into a delicate dispute with no understanding of the facts and realities and no contribution to offer to constructive bridge-building. The wider community is not impressed with them" (Irish Times, 16.12.05).

If the Trade Union movement proceed to negotiate an arrangement similar to the last six agreements, then the demise of the movement in the workplace will proceed apace. An element in any future agreement must ensure that Trade Union members feel a distinct and personal ownership in the process.

As a force or an influence in our society, the standing of the Trade Union movement is at an all-time low. In the 70s and 80s, not a single debate on economic or social issues was complete without an opinion being sought from one or other of the main Trade Unions or the ICTU. Today, the media just ignore us.

There was a time when RTE gave a full week's coverage to the annual conference of Congress—Professor Brian Farrell would host a 30-minute review of each day's business—now we don't even have an annual conference. Many of the major unions have followed suit.

"The stock market value of Irish Continental Group, the parent company of Irish Ferries, rose Euro 13.5m to over Euro 250m yesterday, as the market digested the details of the agreement reached with Siptu and the Seamen's Union of Ireland in the early hours of yesterday morning." (Irish Independent, 15.12.2005).

Ferry Deal: the main points

Irish Ferries can proceed with its plan to outsource crews on its Irish Sea vessels.

Its new seafarers must be paid at least the Irish minimum wage—this is about twice what had been proposed.

Crews will also have more time off than initially planned.

The company will "reflag" its vessels to another state.

Pay and conditions of seafarers will be underpinned by a binding agreement grounded in Irish law.

Industrial peace is guaranteed for at least three years, with any issues in dispute going to binding arbitration.

Existing ships officers and ratings who wish to remain with the company will have pay and conditions protected.

The firm will achieve savings of Euro 11.5 million a year, rather than the Euro 15 million expected under the initial outsourcing plan.
All personnel, on returning to work, to be treated "as if this dispute had never happened".

"Both sides in the Irish Ferries dispute were yesterday keen to stress the merits of the agreement which led to the resumption of sailings.

"Brendan Hayes, vice-president of Siptu, said the "negotiated settlement" would provide a framework for the protection of workers in the company, and for the "viable operation" of the ferries business into the future.

"He said Siptu had secured substantial increases in the rates of pay originally proposed by the company, keeping them up and above the national minimum wage. It had also secured agreement protecting the terms and conditions of staff who wished to remain with the company.

"Similarly, it had secured the reopening of the redundancy offer, as well as crewing ratios and terms and conditions for officers and ratings which were higher than those originally proposed by the company.

"Alf McGrath, Irish Ferries' director of human resources, said the agreement would last three years initially. However it would contain a mechanism for this to be reviewed during that time, or renewed when this period had expired. He said cost reductions of Euro 11.5 million per year, "purely down to labour costs" was "not an untidy sum".

"The company, for its part, liked the binding arbitration element which is, in effect, a no-strike clause and guarantees it industrial peace for the next three years at least." (Irish Times-15.12.2005).

The decision to re-flag gives the game away: if the company didn't reflag, the Latvian workers would come under the Employment Equality law and would be entitled to be paid the same rate as Irish workers.

Robert Carrick, General Secretary of the Seamen's Union of Ireland, also welcomed the agreement. But stressed that those people getting a redundancy payment, as well as the foreign outsourced crews, would be particularly happy.

"I'm happy enough with it, but I could be a bit happier."

We are informed that the General Secretary of the Seamen's Union of Ireland,Robert Carrick retained his contract of employment with Irish Ferries when he left to take up his post as full-time secretary of the SUI; that he was entitled to the full redundancy package for all his years of service, including the period of his current stewardship as general secretary of the SUI.

According to the ICTU Executive Council Report 2001, 2003, the SUI had an affiliation of 520 members. With the current round of redundancies at Irish Ferries, it surely spells the end of that Trade Union which was founded in 1959.

Mr. Carrick wants to represent the new Latvian crew who are displacing almost all of his members on Irish Ferries' ships. However, it is unlikely the SUI will secure union recognition for these contract workers.

"Some SUI members are employed as mast riggers by RTE. In the 1960s and '70s, the SUI was headed by the colourful William Stacey, Snr. and then by his son, William Stacey, Jnr. in the 1980s" (Sunday Tribune, 18.12.2005).

IBEC and other industrial commentators keep referring to the Irish Ferries dispute as a 'once-off' but the breach in 'social partnership' was well signalled before that.

The most shameful episode in Ireland's industrial relations records for 2003, was the ADM Lock-out of 80 Trade Unionists and the subsequent laying-off of another 80 by the giant multi-national, Archer, Daniels Midland (ADM ), for 134 days. ADM is one of the largest agricultural processing companies in the world. In the United States, it employs 24,000 people.

Mr. Micheal Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and his political friends would have regarded ADM as a model company, the essence of what 'social partnership' was all about.

Under the Republic's Tax-Dumping policy of 12.5% corporate tax, ADM was one of the most profitable US companies in Ireland. Worker output at the plant in Ringaskiddy was 25% higher than that of any of their many equivalent plants in the States. And still it did not satisfy the employer.

The remarkable aspect of that dispute was not that the ADM workers were locked out for 134 days, which was 12 days short of the 146 in Larkin's great 1913 battle, but that such a dispute and behaviour by a 'maverick' employer was allowed to go virtually unchallenged by the entire Trade Union movement.

ADM tore up and trampled on every conceivable principle of industrial relations and it was allowed to get away with it.

A more sinister aspect of the dispute was the covert role played by a main pillar of national partnership, the largest employer body, IBEC, of which ADM was a member. ADM appeared to be encouraged by the Fianna Fail/PD government, especially by Ms Mary Harney, the Tanaiste and IBEC's 'eyes and ears' in the Cabinet.
The message was clear : teach the Trade Unions a lesson!

Minister Martin has been mouthing himself in the course of the Irish Ferries dispute, particularly after the large turn-out on 9th December 2005, when approaching 100,000 turned out to march—but he was a real quiet boy when the 134 day lock-out took place at ADM in his own Cork South-Central constituency. Martin and company cannot wait to get another bout of 'Social Partnership' up and running again. 'More Workplace Inspectors' he says and we are on our way!

Many of the ADM workers were Trade Unionists with a long service, a number had approximately 30 years. They were told to either take the minimum offer of redundancy or commence employment under the new regime and work their service out to their 65th year. Does it sound familiar?

Despite accepting much inferior rates of pay and conditions in 2003, the ADM workers did not save their jobs. In September, 2005, the US multi-national shut-up shop with the loss of 160 jobs and headed elsewhere.

They pulled another knack during redundancy talks, threatening the workforce that if a third party were called, i.e. the Labour Court, ADM would duly reduce the Redundancy package on offer. Unintimidated, the men went to the LRC but in the end they lost a week for each year in their final Redundancy package. No doubt this was an illegal stroke by the company but they got away with it. Other companies, of late, have exercised this ploy also.

Labour Comment has learned that the O'Flynn family of Fermoy, through their company, South Coast Transport have paid 20 million euros for the ADM site, including a major jetty in Cork Harbour. In 2003, South Coast Transport purchased the 100 acre site of the Mitsui Denman plant which closed down in Little Island for 15 million euros in December, 2003.

They intend to use the sites to landfill construction waste.

If the ICTU go for a 'Partnership' deal, the Benchmarking aspect will have to be sorted out and equally a series of Price Control mechanisms put in place—we don't for a second doubt the sincerity of the huge public service turnout on 9th December 2005, but we doubt whether the fate of Irish seamen were foremost in the minds of many of those marchers. Peter McLoone could hardly "calm his deep despair" that 'Partnership' might collapse altogether. But all turned out roses for Peter. (See Below).

One more thing: the Trade Unions should demand that if IBEC is a broker in any new 'Partnership' deal that all IBEC affiliates, associate or otherwise are bound by the new deal.

It is imperative that we also face up to the social disaster that was the decision to give full access to the Irish labour market by workers from the new EU Accession states in May 2004.

The real beneficiary here has been the employing class, especially the 'Gombeen' element. And if we have to put it up to the so-called liberal elements and the multi-cultural lobby, so be it. Trade Union spokespeople throughout the protest marches were almost apologising for fear their quest for rights and justice for workers, including migrant workers might feed a form of xenophobia.

Did anyone seriously examine the prospect of almost 70 million people being free to compete against the existing two million pool of labour available to this country's employers.

"A situation akin to the Mississippi engulfing the Liffey has arisen" (Letters, Irish Times, 19.12.2005).

"Up ahead, as the crowd snaked past Government buildings and into Merrion Square, where no one paid much attention to the speeches, a few Dublin Bus workers—some of the 2,500 taking part—were grimly discussing the behaviour of a "foreign national" driver who continued to drive his route during the march.

"Every foreign national refugee in Dublin Bus gets two years' tax allowance… That's discrimination and no one knows about it. Of course that's why he went on working." What would they do to him? "We won't talk to him."

"Nearby, four black bus drivers walked together, with a clear agenda. "This march is about protecting our job and our future. This job is all we know. This is all we do. It's how we feed and clothe our family. Irish Ferries used to be a big company like Dublin Bus before it was privatised. If that is accepted, no one is safe." The four radiated pride that one of their number had managed to acquire a house, a car, a family.

"They had heard about the other "foreign national". They didn't think it was about money. More probably, it was about fear of losing his job. "He is on a year's probation period and perhaps he thinks he can't say no. Of course he would not lose his job. But maybe he does not know that." (Kathy Sheridan, Irish Times, 10.12.05).

This will be Jack O'Connor's first occasion to lead SIPTU into new Partnership talks. He shouldn't only have his laptop on the table; he should make sure he has a good pair of hob nails boots on as well, and start stamping on a few pairs of hush puppies and they may not be all be on the employer's side, either.

Turlough O'Sullivan, the Director General of IBEC has laid it clearly on the line:

"Irish industry is now caught in a dangerous pincer movement. Our costs are rising at an alarming rate, while at the same time international competition is so intense that we have to reduce the prices we charge.

"While costs have been exploding factory gate prices have been falling—by almost 12 per cent—over the past five years. This squeeze cannot continue. It is not sustainable and must be addressed in the next agreement. Can you imagine trying to run your household on this basis?

"All costs to business must be hauled back if we are to compete successfully and prosper. If we can broker a deal with Trade Unions that will enable Irish businesses to compete successfully and secure the jobs in our economy, then it will be worth the effort. If not, the entire exercise is futile. Partnership is not an end in itself.

"If any party decides to abandon partnership then this should follow rational discussion on the key issues; it should not be based on a single dispute between one company and one union. Negotiation on the basis of preconditions will not be acceptable in future.

"The partnership approach is not simply based on a narrow economic agenda, but includes wider social issues. It should be obvious to all that social benefits can only be paid for if we run a successful economy. Nobody owes us a living.

"A successful outcome to any future partnership negotiations hinges on all parties having a realistic goal and working to achieve that. Our goal is to continue to develop this era of Irish prosperity. All involved in the negotiations must focus their minds on this imperative. Excessive wage increases would price us out of the international marketplace and put thousands of jobs at risk. Genuine leadership from politicians, Trade Union leaders and others should be grounded in this reality." (Irish Times, 16.12.2005).

For eighteen years 'Wage Control' in the form of Social Partnership made an enormous contribution to the creation of wealth in this state. The elements who have benefited most significantly want to forget the role played by Trade Unionism. It is not dissimilar to the manner in which the Dublin establishment are treating the Republican Movement now that the IRA have forsaken the armed struggle. We can now be taken for granted.

"Score draw comes after hard-fought ferry brawl", writes Senator Maurice Hayes, in his own Irish Independent, well he is a director of Sir A.J.F. O'Reilly's Independent News & Media PLC:

"It would be a pity if the very genuine urge for protection which brought people onto the streets should become a demand for the exclusion of foreign workers.

"We are a country which requires immigration and we should welcome this and make the best of it. For better or worse, Ireland has set its sights and based its economic future on openness and the free movement of labour and capital and on multi-culturalism" (Irish Independent, 15.12.2005).

Of course, like a plethora of other media commentators, Maurice wouldn't have a blind notion of the immigrant psyche. We know how 'open' and 'free' these people were when the island was haemorrhaging in the recent and not-so-recent history of the state. They couldn't get us out fast enough. At least when we went to London, Chicago or Melbourne, we were paid the rate for the job—Maurice's buddies have plummeted a new depth in the art of labour exploitation in their endeavour to drive wages down and roll back other hard won gains. His own company are at the same game, down-sizing andoutsourcing. So is the Irish Times and the Irish Examiner, not that you will ever read about it in their own publications.

This writer saw rows of homes empty overnight, poor craitures with their families in trail making for the Derry boat in the dark of early morning to avoid the social shame of not hacking it on this glorious island. And by Jesus, nobody shouted stop.

Even in 1991, a leading presidential candidate was telling us that the island was too small for the current population.

And take a look at the cowardly shrimps that stayed: As they jockeyed and jostled their way into secondary and tertiary education to aspire to the safe comfort of government jobs.

Professor Tom Garvin has been lauded in recent months for his fierce and courageous exposure in his new book Preventing The Future : Why Ireland Was So Poor For So Long. But if the politicians, the priests and the public servants were cowardly and morally spineless—were they much different from the intellectual cream, the academics. What academic or group of academics had the courage to speak up and light the way forward—you must be joking—they were even more craven and spineless than their lay and spiritual leaders.

What's happening today is unprecedented in terms of immigration—when Immigrants went to Chicago, Vancouver, Auckland, they were paid the rate for the job—this is the fundamental issue in the so-called debate on Immigration, if you can call it a debate.

Trade Unionists are not opposed to fair opportunity, equality and integration. If you encourage immigration, treat these people as equals, as neighbours, as New Irish—providing them with all the same rights and entitlements as Irish men and women : NO MORE, no less. It will cost, but only economically and are we not rolling in 'dosh' just now?

But so far as Senator Maurice Hayes' 'Multiculturalism' is concerned, he can stick it where the monkey stuck its nuts. 'Multiculturalism' is only another middle-class slogan, sounds good but has no substance, just like New Labour.

Only a small minority of immigrants will ever attain the middle-class status—the success or failure of integration falls on the acceptance or otherwise by the working class of these people.

There is no way you will have integration if East Europeans are turned into second-class citizens and that's what they will be if they don't get the same wage rates and conditions of Irish workers.

This of course, runs counter to IBEC's plan for the full implementation of Ireland into a unique Globalisation model! Well, too bad.

And by the way: has anyone given the immigrants a choice? We are bombarded by the likes of Pat Kenny of RTE talking abort Polish plasterers willing to work for six euros an hour.

Kenny says thousands of Poles are working in the construction industry. Is that so—at six euros or less an hour—Pat could you tell us as a good Dublin petty bourgeoisie, why the prices of houses in Dublin have not fallen dramatically with such a cheap labour force. The Gombeen Republic has never been more alive, they just could not resist the opportunity to exploit the most vulnerable.

Sir A.J.F. O'Reilly, the West British baron, who owns the Evening Herald, has a 12-page supplement in the Polish language each Friday night in his gutter tabloid. When did you last see a paragraph in Gaelic in that organ? His publications spend vast columns denigrating our native tongue! Self-loathing it's called.

In November, 2005, the Howard Liberal Coalition Government in Australia unveiled new Industrial Law proposals in the Canberra parliament. These proposed laws were to replace an Industrial Relations system which have served Australia for nearly 100 years.

Historically, the Australian States as well as the Commonwealth Government have had separate industrial relations systems, which developed from the earliest years of Australian Federation in 1901.

In essence, the Howard Government aims to abolish the State systems, shift employees off awards onto workplace agreements, remove the power of the Industrial Relations Commission to set minimum pay rates and shift it to the new Fair Pay Commission.

Under the new system, the negotiations will be transferred to ordinary workers, who will have to become industrial relations experts overnight. They will have to navigate their way through a minefield of minimum conditions, minimum and award classification wages, and entitlements (which can be bargained away), even before getting down to determining actual wages, which can be negotiated either individually or through a collective agreement.

It seeks a cultural change in the workplace where individuals have to individually press for a rise or a change of circumstances—based on the mistaken belief that there is a level playing-field at the bargaining table between a 19-year-old uneducated person and a multi-national conglomerate.

The new system is clearly intended to marginalise Trade Unions.

* Billy Attley, the former General President could not make it to the great day of protest on 9th December 2005, but we forgave him. Billy was the recipient of an honorary fellowship from the National College of Ireland for his contribution to Irish society.

Former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds who was present to present the citation for Mr. Attley, said

"The trade union activist had lived a life of protracted endeavour. 'His legacy is seen all around us today in the modern society we have had the good fortune to enjoy.' Mr. Reynolds told the audience: 'Few would doubt the critical role played by Billy in fostering the climate that allowed this economy to flourish.'"

The ceremony took place at the International Finance & Services Centre, Dublin.

* We had winners and losers in December's great industrial battle with Irish Ferries, but there is no doubt there was one big Trade Union winner on Xmas Eve, 05, when it was announced that Peter McLoone, the General Secretary of IMPACT and President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has been appointed as the new Chairman of FAS, in succession to Brian Geoghegan, former director of Economic Affairs and Research with the Irish Business and Employers' Confederation (IBEC).

"As leader of one of the State's largest public service trade unions, Mr. McLoone played a key role in the drive for the benchmarking pay deal for State employees, which added over one billion euros a year to their wages." (Irish Times, 24.12.2005).

*"TOMORROW is not a public holiday and workers do not have an automatic right to a day off, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has warned.

"A common misconception is that, as New Year's Day falls on a Sunday this year, the public holiday automatically carries over to the following day. This is definitely not the case," said the Department.

"Whatever about private sector workers, the Department has decided to exercise it's 'discretion' with regard to its own staff who, along with all other civil servants, will not have to be back behind their desks until this Tuesday. The same applied last Tuesday, December 27.

"The vast majority of the country's 30,000 civil servants also availed of their additional 'privilege day'. In line with most other departments, Enterprise did not re-open last week until Thursday, 29 December. Privilege days were agreed back in the 1930s and were originally designed to give civil servants enough time to return from rural areas to Dublin after the holidays. The two privilege days—one at Christmas and one at Easter—have since been formally agreed and are additional to annual leave entitlements" (Sunday Tribune, 1.1.2006).

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