Today’s demonstration starts at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin’s Upper Merrion Street at 12 noon and finishes at 1.30pm.
Fórsa and SIPTU members, working in Local Employment Services (LES) and Job Clubs are set to demand an immediate intervention from Taoiseach Michael Martin today (Monday) at a protest outside the Department of the Taoiseach. Unions say the protest will highlight the threat to the livelihoods of their members and the vital services they provide to the community from the imminent threat of privatisation.
The unions have said a Government-imposed tendering process favours for-profit providers over the current community-focussed, not-for-profit service. This means that privatisation, job losses and a diminished employment service is likely unless the Government changes course.
Vital community employment services will be damaged at a time when over 300,000 people are unemployed or on PUP payments.
#OurCommunityIsNotForSale @SIPTU pic.twitter.com/5chEGQ2AIA
— Fórsa trade union (@forsa_union_ie) September 6, 2021
Fórsa official Lynn Coffey said: “Jobs have been lost already and more are on the line if these changes proceed as planned, with the prospect of staff being thrown out of work as early as January. At the very least, pay and working conditions are likely to be greatly diminished. And vital community employment services will be damaged at a time when over 300,000 people are unemployed or on PUP payments.
“We are demanding that the Taoiseach listens to our concerns over jobs and service quality, and works with us to establish a stakeholder forum involving service providers, job-seekers, workers’ representatives, government and academic experts,” she said.
“Jobs are on the line if these changes proceed as planned, with the prospect of staff being thrown out of work as early as January. At the very least, pay and working conditions are likely to be greatly diminished. And vital community employment services will be damaged at a time when over 300,000 people are unemployed or on PUP payments,” she said.
Fórsa says the expertise and experience of local employment staff has been praised by jobseekers, agencies, employers, third-party quality management assessors, independent auditors and policy think-tanks.
Fórsa members who provide community employment services are balloting for industrial action after it emerged that their jobs and working conditions were in jeopardy as a result of a changes to a Government tender for the future provision of the service.https://t.co/tXxbCzPfc5
— Fórsa trade union (@forsa_union_ie) September 3, 2021
SIPTU official Adrian Kane, said: “Our action is backed by both unions and employers to highlight the decision by the Minister for Social Protection, Heather Humphreys, to change the tendering process for the provision of these essential local employment services. The reality is that these workers and local development companies have been providing these essential public services for over 25 years very successfully and now after all those years of loyal service have been left with no other option but to take to the streets to fight for their jobs and livelihoods.”
He added: “The calls from SIPTU and Fórsa representatives for an urgent meeting with the Minister have consistently been met with silence. This is not acceptable or sustainable. What is needed now is for the Taoiseach to step in and establish a genuine stakeholder forum to agree a fair way forward. A real plan that all parties, providers and service users can get behind. If this does not happen, this dispute will only escalate further and that will undoubtedly have an impact on these essential community services.”