Motions at Mandate BDC 2018

Sunday 22 April 2018

Union Affairs

1. Campaigning

Conference acknowledges that the lifeblood of any active organising and campaigning union is the ongoing development of shop stewards and activists in the local, national and international business of the union. A critical component towards continually reenergising Mandate’s activist base is our internal union democracy structures and in particular our Mandate house committees and local councils.

Conference welcomes the recent Mandate roadshow initiative to outreach to Local Council activists and to our wider membership base in the form of Divisional Roadshows. If Mandate is to retain and build on its place as one of Ireland’s leading activist based organising and campaigning unions then Mandate Local Councils must become our local campaigning base and the local face of Mandate in our communities the length and breadth of the country.

Conference instructs the incoming NEC to not only continue this outreach to members but to play an active part individually and collectively by showing leadership and encouraging others to become more engaged at their Local Council level. Conference further instructs the NEC to prioritise, where possible, the rebuilding of Local Council structures by engaging comprehensively with the roadshow concept and by applying relevant and adequate resources to ensure active and progressive Local Councils exist across all Divisions of the union

National Executive Council

2. Mandate Youth

Conference reaffirms Mandate’s previous position statements and commitments to developing a strong and truly representative, serviced and operational Mandate Youth dimension to the organisation. Conference notes that to date this still remains the case and therefore instructs the incoming National Executive Committee to dedicate the appropriate time and resources to ensure that there is in place the necessary structure(s) that delivers the vibrant youth dimension we all aspire to.

Letterkenny Local Council

3. Membership Pack

This conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council of Mandate Trade Union to ensure that every new member of the union receives a welcome pack upon acceptance of their application for membership by the union. The pack should include, at a minimum, the following:

• Personalised welcome letter from the General Secretary which should explain Rule 23.7, outline who their Official is and what Local Council are now a member of.
• Their own personalised Union membership card.

City Centre Local Council (Dublin North West Division)

Industrial Relations 

4. Challenges facing the Retail Sector

This conference notes with concern the increasing trend toward internet shopping and the expansion of self-service technology across the retail sector. Both these developments will have a detrimental impact on traditional retail employment both in terms of employment numbers and the quality of employment.

Other than the delivery by road of the online shopping orders, there is very little economic benefit to the Irish economy in terms of jobs or revenue. This conference calls on the incoming NEC to proactively engage with the appropriate government departments to level the playing pitch for traditional retail operations and to ensure that online sales, particularly those fulfilled outside Ireland, are treated equally for Tax/VAT purposes.

Furthermore, Mandate develops a strategy to engage with all retail employers on issues pertaining to self-service technology, including stress, security for staff, employment quality and all other matters arising, the purpose of the engagement should be a specific code of practice on self-service technology.

National Executive Council

5. European Convention on Human Rights

Article 11 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights states that ‘everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

The European Court of Human Rights, in the case of Demir and Baykara v Turkey stated that collective bargaining is an essential right protected by Article 11.

The Irish Government has passed the European Convention on Human Rights Act in 2003. However, it has only placed parts of the Convention into Irish law as opposed to fully incorporating the international Convention. This means that the Irish Constitution, may be relied on by employers in Ireland when Irish Courts are interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003. The Irish Constitution to date has been interpreted to mean that there is no legal obligation on an employer to engage in collective bargaining.

Conference therefore calls on the incoming National Executive Council in a manner of their own choosing, to commission a report on this situation, which would include recommendations and for the NEC to act on these recommendations in as much as they further the objectives and established policies of Mandate.

Tullamore Local Council

6. Closed Shop for all New Employees

Conference notes that where our union negotiators secure an improvement in terms and conditions of our members, many employers pass on these hard won improvements automatically to non-union members in the same employment. These non-union workers are a source of bargaining weakness, in that their free loading reduces the proportion of the workforce our negotiators can claim to represent. Further, where an employer is refusing to concede to union claims in negotiations, it is vital that our negotiators are in a position, if necessary to mobilize as a collective resource as many members as possible. Finally any segment of a workforce that is non-unionised is a potential reserve for an employer in such a situation.

Conference therefore directs that it becomes Mandate policy, that where the membership is strong enough, that employers make it a condition of employment that all new employees must join and remain members of Mandate Trade Union.

Athlone Local Council

7. Alternative Forms of Industrial Action

Conference notes that the measure of employee power in the workplace is the extent to which employees can attain their interests over management’s. Traditionally the tool by which employees have represented their interests at work is the strike. In some cases where strike action may not be an appropriate response to employer behaviour, unions can struggle to mount effective challenges to management action.

Normally, industrial action etc. short of strike such as overtime bans, go slows, work to rule etc. have proved effective. However, in some workplaces such forms of industrial action etc. may be difficult to organise and implement.

Conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council to commence research which aims to identify and determine the effectiveness of alternative forms of industrial action etc. for our members to avail of, should they so choose.

Athlone Local Council

8. Brexit

Conference is concerned at the potential Brexit impact on border counties, especially given the current British government’s repeated and continued failings in addressing the hard/soft border position. This will continue to represent negotiating challenges for our Mandate membership in those areas regards their pay and terms and conditions. Like the recession employers will use Brexit as an excuse to pare back on the gains made by Mandate in border county regions. Conference instructs the NEC to properly resource a fact and statistical based study and/or research paper that obviates these employer attempts during any subsequent negotiations.

Letterkenny Local Council  

9. Tesco Pre ’96 Dispute

Conference applauds those Tesco members and workplaces that engaged in the 2017 pre ’96 dispute, holding to the line of industrial action for 11 days. Conference recognises their heroic stance and efforts and further the company’s abhorrent recrimination activities for many of those same workers on their return to work. This recognition also extends to those workers in other non-striking stores that sought to support their fellow striking brothers and sisters, and in so doing attracted the unwarranted attention of company managers then and to this day. Conference directs the incoming NEC to use whatever organisational means necessary and at its disposal to ensure that this employer is brought to task for its previous and ongoing treatment of these Mandate members who strive to maintain an organisational presence and power within their workplaces.

Castlebar Local Council

10. Maternity Pay

Conference instructs the incoming National Executive Council of Mandate Trade Union to ensure that payment by the employer of Maternity pay is on the agenda when collectively bargaining, particularly given that retail workers are low paid and predominately women.

Limerick Local Council

11. Paid Bereavement Leave

This Conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council of Mandate Trade Union to lobby the Irish Government with a view to passing legislation granting paid bereavement leave to workers upon the death of an immediate family member.

Liffey Valley Local Council

12. Increase Minimum Break Entitlements

This Conference calls on the incoming National Executive council of Mandate Trade Union to develop and implement a campaign designed to lobby the Irish Government with a view to increasing the minimum break entitlements contained within the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.

Liffey Valley Local Council

13. Comprehensive Motion 1 – Full-time Contracts

Conference recognises that the majority of retail employers have little or no intention of filling full-time sales assistants’ positions. While at the same time, replacing full-time management positions on a like for like basis. This has led to an increase in insecure and precarious contracts for general sales assistants, which do not offer employees certainty of income thereby precluding workers from engaging in normal financial activity such as securing loans, rents, securing pensions, and generally struggling financially from week to week. Conference instructs the incoming National Executive Council to ensure that in all future industrial relations negotiations with national and regional employers, Mandate seeks an agreed ratio of full-time to part-time contracts of 5:1, an appropriate complement of general sales assistants to management grades and that all new fulltime positions are advertised and filled internally in the first instance.

Covering motions 34 Full-time Contracts – Leitrim Local Council, 35 Full-time Contracts – Sligo Local Council, 36 Full-time Contracts – Longford/Mullingar Local Council

(Secondary Schedule, Category A)

14. Composite Motion 1 Insecure Hours

Conference instructs the incoming NEC to maintain the union’s current and ongoing campaign for legislative protection of workers against the exploitative excesses of those employers using insecure hour contracts. Conference acknowledges the successes of this campaign so far but recognises its work is far from completion and will not be until such time those same workers, very prevalent in the retail sector, have legal recourse to exercise a legislative right and entitlement to secure hours and earnings.

Sligo Local Council

With Motion 37 Insecure Hours – Letterkenny Local Council

(Secondary Schedule Category A)

Amendment 1

Amendment to Motion 15. Trade Union Recognition

1. Replace the word “repeal” with “amend”
2. Delete ‘and to replace it with legislation that allows the right to trade union recognition and right for trade unions to use any form of industrial action as a legitimate tool in industrial relations without any fear of’
3. and insert he following ‘that provides compulsory collective bargaining across all Irish employments as and when workers in the same so decide, and that any and all official industrial action partaken by workers is free from recrimination and/or’.

Ballina Local Council

15. Trade Union Recognition

Conference calls on the incoming National Executive council of Mandate Trade Union through the ICTU to lobby the Irish Government to repeal the 1990 Industrial Relations Act and to replace it with legislation that allows the right to trade union recognition and right for trade unions to use any form of industrial action as a legitimate tool in industrial relations without any fear of repercussions.

Wicklow Local Council

16. Comprehensive Motion 2 Trade Union Rights

Conference recognises rigorous and continuous attempts by employers to ensure that their workplaces are union free. Conference instructs the incoming National Executive Council to lobby for legislation that provides a right of access to employments for trade unions to allow for the recruitment and organising of workers. This necessary legislation should provide for unrestricted access to union members including representation at grievance, disciplinary meetings, the circulation of union notices and publications within the workplace and the deduction of union subscriptions through the company payroll.

Covering Motions 38 Right of Access – Castlebar Local Council

39 Trade Union Rights – Wicklow Local Council and

40 Trade Union Dues – Dundalk Local Council

(Secondary Schedule, Category A)

Health

17. Portlaoise Hospital

The Local Council Portlaoise/Athy/Birr condemn the HSE’s decision to downsize Portlaoise Hospital. The HSE has made a decision to sacrifice Portlaoise as a front line hospital in order to concentrate resources in Tallaght, Tullamore and James’s Hospital.  The accident and emergency services will be divided between Midland Regional Hospitals and St James Hospital in Dublin.

The impact on the population of Portlaoise, many of which are our members, is that they will have to travel to another hospital for emergency treatment. This is a frightening prospect if the emergency is life threatening and time may be the difference between life and death.

Mandate demands that the HSE reverse this decision and put adequate funding into the hospital.

Portlaoise/Athy Local Council

18. Mental Health in the Workplace

This Conference notes with concern the increasing mental health difficulties suffered by workers in retail many of whom are expected work under unacceptable levels of stress with no support from employers, while suffering abuse from customers. This Conference instructs the incoming National Executive Council to relaunch the “Respect for Retail Workers” campaign with the added aims of seeking Employee Assistance Programs in all major retail companies and breaking down the stigma around mental health in the workplace which stops many workers from seeking help until it is too late.

Clonmel Local Council

19. Slainte Health Care System

We call on Mandate in conjunction with the ICTU to adopt the all-party agreement on our Health Care system, called Slainte, as Mandate policy and to seek to have it adopted as ICTU policy at the earliest opportunity.

We are seeking the whole Trade Union movement to use all its power and influence to ensure that this excellent plan is fully implemented within the 10 year time frame envisaged in the plan.

Drogheda Local Council

20. Louth County Hospital

Conference notes that Dundalk, one of the largest urban areas with a growing population year on year, has been stripped of critical health services and due to the looming Brexit crisis, limits on access to medical facilities immediately across the border, conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council to lobby all relevant government bodies to support bringing Louth County Hospital up to full operational capabilities.

Dundalk Local Council

21. Hospital Consultants’ Contracts

Conference notes the RTE Primetime Investigates television programme, aired on Tuesday 21 November 2017, which exposed the widespread failure of the HSE and Hospital Management to implement the terms of the 2008 Hospital Consultants’ Contract and the impact this is having on Ireland’s healthcare system. How some consultants are treating large numbers of private patients while public patients are left waiting. Conference call s on the incoming National Executive Council of Mandate Trade Union to lobby Government with a view to ensuring that measures are contained within any future Consultants’ Contracts with the HSE, which will prevent a reoccurrence of the abuses contained with n the programme.

Dublin South West Local Council Number 1

22. Care Packages for the Elderly

This Conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council of Mandate Trade Union to lobby the Irish Government with a view to ensuring that adequate care packages for the elderly are provided to them and their families on a fairer, needs required basis.

City Centre Local Council, Dublin North West

Education

23. Training

Conference recognises that the decision of some employers in recent times in refusing the granting of paid release or simply time off from work for our union activists to attend the traditional Union Representative training programmes has increased and as a result of these challenges Mandate has been tasked with deploying a new decentralised model of learning and development to the core of its activists’ training and development programmes.

In light of the these developments and the opportunities that exist among the spectrum of blended learning initiatives, Conference calls on the incoming National Executive to invest and identify training, learning and development initiatives that seek to support and assist Mandates’ activist training objectives, while also offering our general membership learning opportunities through the resourcing of innovative personal development programmes and training solutions.

National Executive Council

Tax and Social Welfare

24. Illness and Maternity Christmas Bonus

Conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council to lobby the Government that people in in receipt of Illness Benefit & Maternity Benefit, should also receive the Christmas Bonus like other Social Welfare Payment recipients.

Galway Local Council

25. Pensioners’ Fuel Allowance

Conference calls on the incoming National Executive Council to lobby the Government for changes in all pensioners rights to fuel allowance.

The fuel allowance is paid out for 32 weeks @ €22.50 per week to each eligible pensioner.

Pensioners who are 80 years and over are denied this allowance if a family member who is in full time employment resides with them.

Older people who are not getting the full pension rely on the fuel allowance to help pay for coal and briquettes.

Galway Local Council

26. Water Charges

This Conference commends the central role played by Mandate Trade Union along with other Right2Change unions in successfully halting the water charges regime being proposed by Government. Conference is still concerned and vigilant that the ”Excessive usage” charges and limits may be used as a Trojan horse in the future to reintroduce a water charges regime by the back door. Conference also notes the failure of the present Government to give any indication as to a date for a referendum to enshrine the public ownership of our water resources and infrastructure into the constitution.

 

Therefore, this conference calls on the incoming NEC to continue to campaign against all government initiatives which could see the re-introduction of water charges and to fully support an active lobbying campaign to secure a date for a referendum on the public ownership of water.

National Executive Council

27. Pensions

Conference calls on the government to increase the state old-age pension from its current level of 32% of average earning to at least 40% and to make this pension universal.

We are also seeking the establishment of a new social insurance retirement fund which will be funded by earnings related to equal contributions paid by the employee, the employer and the state to deliver a defined benefit scheme.

We are insisting that a standard rate of 20% be applied for all pension-related tax relief and a ceiling of €75,00 adjusted in line with rate of inflation, be applied on earning which may be taken into account for tax relief purposes.

We are seeking that if adopted that this motion becomes Mandates Pension Policy and informs all our subsequent efforts to tackle the pension crisis.

Swords Local Council

 

28. Composite Motion 2 Calculation of State Pension

This Conference agrees that the current method used to calculate the State old age pension discriminates against women and instructs the incoming National Executive Council to mount a campaign to seek an alternative method which is fair and equitable.

Kilkenny Local Council

With Motion 41 State Contributory Pension – Dublin South West Local Council Number 1

(Secondary Schedule, Category A)

Social

29. Comprehensive Motion 3 Housing

Conference recognises that successive Governments lack of public housing building programme and the cost of private housing is the biggest factor driving poverty, homelessness, and the declining standard of living amongst members and workers in Ireland more generally. Cleary wage growth alone is not sufficient to address this massive cost. This Conference supports the demand for a massive programme of building public housing, built to the highest standards as the main way to overcome the growing housing crisis. The reliance on the private sector has been a complete failure and has resulted in massive speculation in house prices and land, extortionate rents and a growth in slum landlords.

We call on the Government to declare a housing crisis and to bring forward a supplementary budget that would provide matching funding to the amount that is currently spent on various rent supplement payments paid to private landlords. The money raised by this supplementary budget should be used solely for building public housing. In addition, we are seeking the deferment of all future infrastructural spending in favour of tackling the scourge of homelessness. We also demand the implementation of the Kenny Report which we believe will bring down the cost of building land.

This conference instructs the incoming National Executive Council to support by all means necessary a campaign to force Government to build and invest in public housing, to introduce robust rent controls and anti-eviction laws. Mandate should work closely with other trade unions, the ICTU and political activists to win this campaign to the extent that Government commits to building 10,000 public housing units per annum for the next five years and that in parallel an adequate number of affordable housing units are is also built, in doing so this should eradicate homelessness and improve the standard of living for all workers particularly workers in low paid precarious employment.

Covering Motions    42 Public Housing – Dublin South West Local Council No 1,

43 Housing – Balbriggan Local Council,

44 Housing – Artane, Finglas, Santry Local Council,

45 Homelessness – Dublin City Centre Local Council Dublin North West,

46 Housing – Ballina Local Council

47 Housing – Letterkenny Local Council

48 Housing – Galway Local Council,

(Secondary Schedule, Category A)

 

30. National Planning Framework

Conference notes with due concern at the lack of necessary regard and recognition towards North Western and Western regional developments in the Governments 2017 launched National Planning Framework document. This is strikingly evident in that there is absolute no provision for upgrades in the road network infrastructure north of an imaginary Dublin/Galway line and that this governmental strategy is to remain in place until 2040. Conference instructs the incoming NEC to affirm its commitment to all and any lobby campaigns that seek to address these obvious inequalities which will seriously impair regional employment and societal prospects.

Letterkenny Local Council

31. Protected Disclosures Act 2014

Conference notes with concern at the lack of adequate protection afforded brave Garda whistle-blower Maurice Mc Cabe and others. Conference recognises the incredible and sterling efforts of Ind4Change TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace who consistently highlighted the unwarranted attention and treatment meted out to Garda Mc Cabe and other whistle-blowers in that organisation, but is equally concerned at the potential protective deficiencies in the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 given that the states national police force – at all levels – exercised abhorrent victimising behaviours against their colleagues exercising the same, and in the full knowledge of the highest levels of government. These recent disclosures provide little or no comfort for future necessary whistleblowing actions at all levels in all employment sectors. Conference instructs the incoming NEC to consider the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 and where appropriate lobby for due legislative change that removes the fear of whistleblowing altogether.

Ballina Local Council

International

32. Columbia

This conference welcomes the peace agreement reached between the FARC and the Columbian Government as an important first step in the development of an inclusive and functioning democracy in Columbia. Conference condemns the continued murder of trade union, community and political activists in Columbia during 2017, and conference calls on the incoming NEC to call on the Government of Columbia to fully implement the Peace Agreement and to actively halt the murder gangs targeting progressive forces in Columbia.

Further that Mandate Trade Union should continue our affiliation to the justice for Columbia Campaign and that we continue to work closely with this campaign and Columbian Trade Unions in their fight for justice and democracy.

National Executive Council

33. Palestine

This Conference condemns the unilateral declaration by the United States of America recognising Jerusalem as the de facto capital of Israel. Conference applauds the over whelming United Nations vote of rejection of this unilateral declaration, including the vote of the Irish Republic.

Conference further condemns the declaration by Israel that members of over 20 international pro Palestine campaign groups, including the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be barred from entering Israel.

This conference instructs the incoming NEC to continue to work closely with the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and to actively campaign with all Palestine Solidarity groups in Ireland and abroad to end the illegal settlements and further settlement expansion on Palestine lands. And further, the NEC to actively campaign for the Irish Government to formally recognise the State of Palestine.

National Executive Council