There has been some “noise” in the third-level education sector about changing existing flexible working arrangements for staff but this will be strongly resisted, the country’s largest trade union has said.
Siptu deputy general secretary John King said in an address at the James Larkin commemoration at Glasnevin Cemetery at the weekend that its “education members are standing firm against attempts to roll back flexible work options”.
He said subsequently that there had been “some stones dropped in the water” in the third-level education sector about changing arrangements for working from home but that any moves to alter these would be resisted.
The Siptu warning came just days after a row over moves by management in parts of the Civil Service to have staff work from the office more frequently.
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The Irish Times reported on Friday that the Department of Social Protection had sought that staff spend a minimum of two or three days per week in the office, dependent on grade.
Fórsa, the country’s largest public service trade union, vowed to fight the move and instructed members not to comply with the proposed changes.
However, the department and the union said that staff would retain their existing blended working arrangements while an industrial relations process was carried out.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was a “balance to be struck” in the Civil Service.
“Most companies have a situation where it could be three days in the office and two days at home and vice versa,” he said.
“It depends on the nature of work that is involved. There is an argument for people to meet as a team in various programmes and projects. So I think that will be worked out in the industrial relations process.”
Separately in his speech Mr King said Siptu would conduct with its members a “mid-term review” of the current public service agreement reached with the Government.
He said the union wanted “to ensure it continues to deliver for our members not only to protect existing good jobs, but to create new jobs, delivering essential public services which are necessary to serve the needs of the citizens of this country”.
He added: “The pandemic taught us that solidarity is not an abstract concept. It is a lived reality, a force that can transform lives and communities. We saw it in the way workers supported each other, in the way communities came together, and in the way the union movement fought to ensure that there was a pandemic dividend for working people after all we had been through,” said Mr King.
“But slowly, this solidarity is being chipped away. We must remain organised and strong.
“One in four workers struggles to make ends meet, while employers in low-pay sectors and high-rent landlords are subsidised by the State through generous tax breaks and VAT cuts. Meanwhile, some big companies use wage subsidies to pay dividends to shareholders. This is not just an economic inefficiency; it is a moral failing. We demand that this ends now.”
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