Care Homes at Threat

Martin O'Rourke
SIPTU Organiser

Vulnerable elderly people and workers are those who will suffer most if the private care group Southern Cross is forced to close.

The group runs 25 care homes across the north, and a further 725 across England, Scotland and Wales.

The company's financial difficulty, it's very future has come into the spotlight this week again when it became evident that they could only pay part of their sizeable annual rent bill of £230million. Southern Cross have been allowed 4 months to come up with a long term solution to their financial woes but it is feared that up to 200 of their care homes are at threat of closure.

To maximise profits the company decided to sell the properties it owns, lease them back, and take the money it received from the sale as profit but are now not in a position to pay the rent on them.

What has been allowed to happen is a disgrace and highlights the absolute failings of privatisation, and has signalled one of the many huge pitfalls in David Cameron's notion of a 'Big Society.'

Care homes and care for our elderly should not be subject to fluctuation in the markets, and rise and fall in demand; they are not factories but an essential part of our community that should be focussed on providing world class care for our elderly and not in meeting financial targets and recording profits.

SIPTU hope that a solution can be found to ensure that all care homes are kept open, and all jobs saved, but we also hope it highlights the obvious failings in privatising something as important as care for our elderly, and hope that long term lessons can be learnt in our approach to how we look after the most vulnerable in our society.

 

New Mayor of Belfast to visit cross community disability project



In one of his first public engagements the new Mayor of Belfast will today (Wednesday 1st June) visit a community project for children and young adults with disabilities in East Belfast. Sinn Fein councillor, Niall Ó Donnghaile will visit the Art Ability project in Agnes Street, just off the Shankill Road where he will meet users and staff of the project which provides respite for parents and young adults with disabilities. Funding for the project was halted by the health department just two months ago.

Councillor O’Donnghaile was born and raised in the Short Strand area of the city where he is well known for his community work and, at 25 years old, is Belfast's youngest ever Mayor.  

The Mayor will also meet members and representatives from SIPTU from both sides of the community who are working together to fight the cuts to funding for Art Ability and other organisations that provide essential services to the most vulnerable in society.

According to SIPTU Organiser, Teri Cregan, the staff at the project continued to work on a voluntary basis after funding was cut but have since been forced to look for work elsewhere.

“There has been a blatant disregard for the impact that cutting services such as Art Ability has on parents who depend on the respite, but most importantly on the children and young adults that use the centre.

“Art Ability helps these users lead a much fuller life and it enables them to integrate more fully into their communities and interact much better with other users.

“The callous decision to cease this funding says a lot about the lack of recognition of what centres such as Art Ability mean to local communities and how they help the most vulnerable in our society,” Teri Cregan said.

Video of Belfast May Day March 2011

Boots workers deserve to be treated with Dignity and Respect

Martin O’Rourke

SIPTU Organiser

Despite achieving record profits of over £1billion last year, Boots have threatened to cut premium pay and cease payment for breaks for their workers from June 1^st 2011.

Ireland’s largest trade union SIPTU who represent Boots workers are totally opposed to this decision which is punishing the very people who have helped Boots achieve their huge profit.

Rather than being rewarded for their hard work, dedication and professionalism in the workplace, and sharing in the success, Boots is actually withdrawing basic employment terms and conditions.

We will campaign against this, having already organised days of action outside the Cookstown and Coleraine Boots stores, and we will be organising more in the near future.

Over 100 Boots workers have already registered grievances in relation to the management’s unacceptable proposal. We do not believe that the management are dealing with grievances in the appropriate manner and we will be seeking the assistance of the industrial relations machinery of the state to resolve this issue to our member’s satisfaction.

We ask for you to join with us in supporting the Boots workers in protecting their basic employment rights and affording them the dignity and respect that they deserve in the workplace.

Please show your support for Boots workers by registering your complaint with the local Boots manager.

Coleraine Boots workers concerned at Proposed Cut to Premium Pay

SIPTU organised a day of action on Monday 23^rd of May at the Boots store in Coleraine in relation to the employer’s stated intent to cut premium pay and cease payment for breaks from June 1st.

SIPTU the trade union said that workers decided to call days of action outside various Boots stores across the local economy to advise the public of the chemist’s proposals and to seek public support for the campaign against the proposals.

Boots workers attended and engaged with the public on the day of action.

(SIPTU activists at the Coleraine Boots store)

SIPTU Lead Organiser Martin O’Rourke said,

“The workers concerned will be utilising the industrial relations machinery of the state to seek the re-instatement of the agreed terms and conditions of employment. 

Other “Days of Action” have been arranged for various Boots stores across the north.”

Plaque unveiled to honour the fallen Belfast Brigadista

Members of the local community, community activists, veteran’s relatives and SIPTU activists from across the community attended the unveiling of a memorial plague to William Tumlinson from East Belfast on the 16^th of April. The event was organised by Teach na Failte, Lower Castlereagh Community Group and Charter NI.

On what is the 75^th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War the unveiling of the plaque to William Tumlinson, a volunteer in the International Brigades holds a special place in the history of the working class of Belfast. Local historian John Quinn gave a speech on Tumlinson’s journey from an East Belfast lad living in Thorndyke Street to his eventual participation as a volunteer in the International Brigades and death fighting the fascists during the Ebro offensive of 1938.

William Tumlinson was an East Belfast protestant who imbued and emboldened by his belief in socialist politics went to fight in Spain in what is often termed the “Last great cause” in defence of the Spanish democracy against the rising tide of fascism. His experiences in Belfast were set against the backdrop of Outdoor Relief Riots, unemployment and depression. Experiences which would shape and confirm for him and many others that went to fight in Spain that it is class and not creed that matters.

William Tumlinson was a true working class hero and deserves to be remembered in the collective memory of the working people of Belfast, he is part of a hidden and often unsung history that transcends the sectarian divide and can be shared by all. The diverse attendance at the memorial was testimony to this.

Assembly Members sign SIPTU Community Sector Pledge

SIPTU have written to all the main political parties seeking their support in our campaign to protect the Community Sector from savage cuts.

SIPTU has also written to the MLAs seeking their commitment to protect our Community Sector, all MLA were afforded the opportunity to sign a pledge in this regard.  To date the following MLA’s have done so.

Martina Anderson, Carál Ni Chuilín, Fra McCann, and Raymond McCartney. Dawn Purvis and Fred Cobain signed the pledge prior to the May elections.

A number of Councillors from across the parties have also signed the pledge.

(New DCAL Minister Carál Ni Chuilín MLA signs the SIPTU pledge)

The wording of the pledge reads as follows;

“I am aware of the vital role our Voluntary and Community sector plays in lifting communities and individuals out of poverty. I believe the benefits to our society from this sector are not limited to economic but also extend to vital social benefits.

Noting the vital economic and social value of this sector to the local economy, I believe that cuts in funding to the Community and Voluntary sector make neither economic nor social sense.

If elected as an MLA I will endeavour to protect our Community Sector, the employees, volunteers and the service users from funding curtailment.”