Government must confirm Covid Recognition Payment for non-HSE healthcare staff

Posted on October 23, 2022 by unitetheunion

Frontline workers need firm payment date as cost-of-living crisis bites

Trade union Unite, which represents workers throughout the economy, has written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly seeking confirmation that the Pandemic Special Recognition Payment, introduced to recognise the unique contribution of frontline workers in healthcare settings during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be extended to all non-HSE staff working in a healthcare setting, including hospital security guards and contract cleaners. The union also urged the Minister to set a date by which all eligible workers will receive the payment.

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New Living Wage highlights need for supplementary increase to Minimum Wage

Posted on October 20, 2022 by unitetheunion

Cost of living crisis driving widening gap between Living Wage and statutory wage floor

Responding to today’s announcement that the Living Wage Technical Group has calculated the new Living Wage as €13.85 per hour, an increase of 95 cent on the previous rate of €12.90, Unite Regional Coordinating Officer Tom Fitzgerald called on the Government to announce a supplementary increase to the National Minimum Wage to help bridge the widening gap between the Living Wage and the statutory wage floor.

Commenting, Mr Fitzgerald said:

“Last month, the Government accepted the Low Pay Commission’s majority recommendation that it be increased by just 80 cent, ignoring the views of the Congress representatives on the Commission, the wider trade union movement and the workers we represent.  

“Unlike the National Minimum Wage, the figure calculated and announced by the Living Wage Technical Group today reflects the income actually needed to ensure a minimum acceptable standard of living during a cost-of-living crisis, and is based on painstaking research into a range of costs.

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Unite lays blame for mounting repairs backlog firmly at employers’ door as NI Housing Executive strike enters ninth week

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Unite the union NI

As Unite members employed by the NI Housing Executive enter their ninth week of strike action, the union has hit out at the employer’s failure to resolve the dispute, which is causing mounting problems for vulnerable tenants. 

According to Unite, the strike is having a huge impact on the operations of the NI Housing Executive (see notes to editors). 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called on the employers to move to end the dispute by addressing the workforce pay claim: “The blame for this strike and the mounting backlog of repairs lies firmly at the door of the NI Housing Executive. 

“Basic and necessary repairs are not being done and that is the fault of the NI Housing Executive who ought to have resolved this dispute months ago.

“Disputes across NI councils have been resolved where management sensibly negotiated a deal.  It is high time that the Housing Executive and the Communities Minister did the same.”

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Domestic violence leave: IBEC stance highlights toxic ‘culture of doubt’

Posted on October 6, 2022 by unitetheunion

IBEC’s objections to legislation dubbed ‘anti-woman and anti-business’

October 6th: Unite, which represents workers throughout the economy, today (Thursday) said that demands by employers’ group IBEC earlier this year that domestic violence victims be required to provide evidence of abuse when seeking leave under new legislation highlight what the union termed a ‘toxic culture of doubt’ surrounding domestic violence.

Commenting, Regional Women’s and Equalities Officer Taryn Trainor said:

“It is estimated that, globally, fewer than 40% of women experiencing domestic violence and abuse seek help – not only because of practical obstacles, but also because of misplaced shame, embarrassment and the fear that they will not be believed.

“The fact that IBEC not only objected to the very concept of domestic violence leave, but also apparently sought a provision allowing employers to seek proof from a worker applying for such leave in order to ‘avoid any potential abuse of domestic violence leave’ sends a chilling message to workers caught up in a domestic violence situation and reinforces a toxic culture of doubt which forces women to stay in unsafe situations”.

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Unite survey of striking housing workers exposes shocking impact of poverty pay at NIHE

Posted on October 5, 2022 by Unite the union NI
NIHE picket line, Craigavon

90% struggling to make ends meet, 73% borrowing to get by, one-in-three forced to use foodbanks

A Unite the union survey of its members working for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has exposed the scale of the financial pressures bearing down on housing workers. 

Many of the workers on the picket lines surveyed are skilled craft workers – carpenters, plumbers and plasterers – who could get much higher rates of pay elsewhere. The failure of pay to keep pace with that elsewhere in the sector is resulting in an extensive staffing crisis.

The workers are now into their eighth week of strike action and are seeking a pay increase above the meagre 1.75 percent offered by the National Joint Council for the 2021-2022 year. Unite is seeking all housing workers to have two pay point increases and a lump sum in addition to the national pay offer.

The survey identified that a startling 95 percent of workers had suffered declining living standards, and that 96 percent worried either often or constantly about their household finances. More than 90 percent experienced trouble making ends meet and 73 percent admitted that they had had to borrow to get by. Shockingly 32 percent of these public sector workers had visited a foodbank in the last six months.

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