Unite expresses solidarity with ASTI members ahead of Thursday’s strike action
Unions must unite to demand accelerated unwinding of FEMPI
October 25th: Unite today warned that the trade union movement as a whole would pay the price if attempts to divide public sector workers ahead of Thursday’s scheduled ASTI strike are successful. Expressing solidarity with teachers taking industrial action to restore equality of treatment between newly-qualified teachers and those with longer service, Regional Secretary Jimmy Kelly said:
“The trade union movement is built on solidarity between individual members, and between unions. That is what makes us strong, and that is why successive Governments have sought to drive a wedge between, in particular, different groups of public sector workers.
“The ASTI dispute highlights the inequality at the heart of the FEMPI legislation and the associated agreements. Not only are new entrants in various parts of the public sector discriminated against – members of non-compliant unions are also discriminated against.
“Rather than facilitating Government attempts to divide public sector workers, unions must unite in demanding an accelerated unwinding of FEMPI. At the same time, all unions must be free to negotiate collectively on behalf of their members.
”Our movement as a whole will pay the price for division”, Jimmy Kelly warned.
Unite the Union, Ireland Region 
Excellent statement from UNITE – unlike execrable officials like B Harbor who see themselves & their unions as some sort of semi-official praetorian guard for an appalling right wing government.
The same Mr. Harbor was a Labour Party special advisor in the last government. He managed to get a special salary deal which breached the ceiling set for so-called special advisors. What intrigues me is what did he precisely advise on? Maybe the introduction of FEMPI!!
ICTU, of course, has nothing to say about the grossly unjust anti-trade union FEMPI legislation which the ‘Labour’ Party is more or less responsible for.
At any rate, it is my view that ICTU – the dog that never barks or bites – has been, effectively, reduced to a canine carcass by three big unions SIPTU, IMPACT & the INTO.