Get Up, Stand Up!
Jun 21 2005 20:31
Don't moan - organise.
From fast food outlets, to assembly lines, from corner shops to hyper markets there is one common relationship. That is the relationship between boss and worker. Those of us that have to sell our time as workers enabling us to pay rent, buy food and engage in leisure activities have nothing in common with those who buy our time. Those of us that sell our time are the employee class. Those that buy our labour are the employing class. These two classes have nothing in common.
Yet ideologues on all sides of the spectrum tell us that class is no longer an issue, history is closed and with it all debate son how society should be run. On one hand we are told we no longer need trade unions and worker's organizations, the unions sit around the table of social partnership as if the bosses, state and workers shared a common interest. The class war is over they say.
Yet the employing class come together under the banner of organizations like the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, local chambers of commerce and others. In these organizations the employing class safeguard and organize for their interests, using their powers to place pressure on government. Traditionally, we the employee class came together in trade unions to defend our interests. The existence of these two separate forms of organization are testament to the fact that these two classes have nothing in common. They class war is still being waged. However now it is been waged by the bosses, and the state against us, the employee class. It's time the tables were turned. It's time we organized for our rights and to win more
This Mayday weekend, the Get Up Stand Up Campaign will be organizing a block on the Trades Council March In Dublin. After the march we will be returning to the roots of Mayday and parading through the city to distribute leaflets on basic workers rights to people working in casualised labour. Join us in building the labour movement.
Don't moan - organise.
# posted by Antrophe @ 10:06 AM
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Thursday, April 14, 2005
Holiday Rights
Under the the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 workers are entitled to paid leave. Each worker builds up an entitlement to leave according to how many hours work they do within specific periods. In order to calculate your own entitlement to annual leave you should use the most appropriate of the following formulas.
Formula One
If you have worked 1,365 hours or more in any year your are entitled to 20 days paid annual leave. However, if you have changed employment in that year you are still only entitled to twenty days, and each employer will be responsible for leave accumulated during your time in their employment.
Formula Two
If in any month you have worked 117 hours, then for that month you are entitled to receive one third of the working week in paid annual leave.
Formula Three
If neither of the above formula are applicable, in general you are entitled to receive 8% of the hours worked in any year as paid leave.
It is important to understand that these days do not include public holidays which workers are normally entitled to in addition to the annual leave entitlement. All full time employees are entitled to public holidays without any specific qualification. However, if you are a part time employee you must have worked at least 40 hours in the five weeks preceding the particular public holiday in order to be entitled to that holiday. If the public holiday falls on a day where an employee would be expected to work the employer concerned can make arrangements for one of the following as an alternative to a day off on the particular public holiday.
* A paid day off within one month of the public holiday
* An additional days' annual leave
* An additional days' pay.
# posted by Antrophe @ 7:30 AM
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The Employment Equality Act
The Employment Equality Act, 1998 outlaws discrimination on nine grounds - gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race and membership of the traveller community. The Act describes discrimination as the treatment of one person in a less favourable way than another person is, has been, or would be, treated. The Act also provides for equal pay for equal work
# posted by Antrophe @ 7:30 AM
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Protecting Yourself and Others
Protecting Yourself and Others
Workplaces are potentially very dangerous environments. In some workplaces there are processes or materials that if used without due care and attention can result in injury to workers.
It is for this reason that employers and employees have responsibility to ensure that the work environment is safe. While employees are required to work safely without taking any unnecessary risks and to report any potential hazards, employers have a much wider set of responsibilities.
Under the Health Safety and Welfare at Work Act 1989, employers must produce a safety statement. In this statement employers are required to identify the potential hazards that exist in the workplace and to state what measures they have put in place in order to avoid accidents. In a typical safety statement an employer might identify that cables coming from the back of computers or machines as a hazard that might result in trips and falls. The employer might therefore have these cables concealed of covered to avoid this hazard.
The Health and Safety Authority is the State Agency that is charged with responsibility for enforcing the legislation and promoting a safer workplace. They have a division of inspectors who do safety audits of workplaces.
# posted by Antrophe @ 7:29 AM
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What if I am Dismissed Unfairly?
What if I am Dismissed Unfairly?
The law protects employees from being unfairly dismissed. The Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 -1993 sets out to ensure that workers are not unfairly or unreasonably dismissed. In order to make a claim under the Unfair Dismissals Act workers would normally have to be over the age of 16 and have worked for the same employer for more than one year. However in some circumstances these restrictions do not apply, for instance if you are sacked for being a member of a union you are covered by the terms of the legislation regardless of your period of service.
# posted by Antrophe @ 7:28 AM
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Friday, April 08, 2005
Maximum weekly working time
Maximum weekly working time
The maximum average working week is 48 hours. Averaging may be balanced out over a 4, 6 or 12 month period depending on the circumstances. The provision relating to the 48 hour week operates as follows:
48 hour net maximum working week can be averaged according to the following rules:-
* For employees generally - 4 months
* For employees where work is subject to seasonality, a foreseeable surge in activity or where employees are directly involved in ensuring continuity of service or production - 6 months
* For all employees who enter into a collective agreement with their employers which is approved by the Labour Court - 12 months.
Rest
Every employee has a general entitlement to:
* 11 hours daily rest per 24 hour period
* one period of 24 hours rest per week preceded by a daily rest period (11 hours)
* Rest breaks - 15 minutes where up to 4½ hours have been worked; 30 minutes where up to 6 hours have been worked which may include the first break.
These rest breaks and intervals may be varied if there is a collective agreement in place approved by the Labour Court or if a regulation has been made for your sector. If there are variations in rest times and rest intervals under agreements or in the permitted sectors, equivalent compensatory rest must be available to the employee.
Night workers
Night time is the period between midnight and 7 am the following day.
Night workers are employees who normally work at least 3 hours of their daily working time during night time and the annual number of hours worked at night equals or exceeds 50% of annual working time.
Maximum night working time:
* for nightworkers generally - 48 hours per week averaged over 2 months or a longer period specified in a collective agreement which must be approved by the Labour Court
* for nightworkers whose work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain - an absolute limit of 8 hours in a 24 hour period during which they perform night work
Jun 25 2005 11:55
#2
The Stuff Your Boss Doesn't Want You to Know
Your rights, 2003-4- Taken from solfed
Regardless of work status (temporary or permanent, agency, full or part-time) or our contracts of employment, most of us have certain basic rights. These include:
1. The right to be told in writing how much and when we are to be paid.
Minimum pay is £4.50 per hour from October 2003 (up from £4.20). For 18-21 year olds it is £3.80 (up from £3.60). For agency workers, wages must be paid on the agreed day even if the hiring company has not paid the agency.
2. The right to at least 4 weeks paid leave per year.
Any employment contract should set out leave entitlements. If it doesn’t, then 4 weeks must be given (which can include public holidays). All workers, agency workers, homeworkers, trainees, so-called casuals and most freelancers are included in this. Holiday entitlement starts immediately, e.g. on day 1, we get 2 days leave, and, after 6 months, we get 10 days (for part-time workers it is less and it applies to jobs started since October 2001). NB many workplaces now sidestep this by allegedly factoring in holiday pay to your wages, thereby meaning you will lose money by taking the time off owed to you.
3. The right to breaks of at least 20 minutes during each 6 hours of work.
We are entitled to at least 11 hours rest in each 24 hours and a minimum of a day a week off. Rest breaks for under 18s are minimum 30 minutes every 4 1/2 hours.
4. The right to refuse to work any more than 48 hours each week.
We cannot be forced to work over 48 hours per week unless we have agreed to it in writing (note that this is averaged over any 17 week period, so we can be forced to do more in any one week).
5. The right to sick pay when we are ill.
We are entitled to statutory sick pay if we normally earn over £77 per week and we have been working for over 3 months (or are deemed to have been in continuous employment for 13 weeks).
6. The right to maternity/paternity leave when we have children.
From April 2003, most mothers are entitled to 26 weeks paid maternity leave and an additional 26 weeks unpaid leave. To get maternity pay, we must earn over £77 per week and have been working for over 6 months by the time the baby is 15 weeks from being due. For the first 6 weeks, this should be 90% of average earnings, then a flat rate of £100 for 20 weeks. If pay can t be claimed, Maternity Allowance may be claimed from the DSS. Fathers/male partners get 2 weeks paid paternity leave (subject to the same qualifying conditions as for maternity).
7. The right to be free from harassment.
We are all entitled to a workplace where there is no racial or sexual harassment, bullying, prejudice or discrimination. Agency and part-time workers have the same rights as full-time workers.
8. The right to defend ourselves.
We all have the right to protection from dismissal for asserting our statutory employment rights. We also have the right to join with our fellow workers and organise ourselves collectively, and to join a trade union.
9. The right to refuse work that is unsafe or where training is not provided.
We all have the right to refuse to work if we find ourselves in imminent danger. Also, laws governing agencies mean they should not send us to jobs for which we are not qualified, and they must ensure that proper training is provided. Read more about Health and Safety...
Standing Up for Ourselves
Casualisation and so-called flexible working are ways of undermining working conditions and exploiting us more than ever. They also make permanent jobs more vulnerable. So casualisation does not only affect temporary and agency workers, but all workers.
Employers will sack workers they do not like, knowing full well that many are reluctant or unable to go through an employment tribunal. It is not enough having a few statutory and contractual rights at work - we need to stand together to ensure that the rights long fought for are respected.
Only by standing together can we prevent bosses from intimidating and victimising us. We cannot leave it to the Government, the bosses, political parties, or the established trade unions. The most effective way of defending our rights is by organising ourselves and taking collective direct action. By forming our own groups where everyone is equal, we can resist exploitation and enforce our rights at work effectively.
Defending our rights is just the start. Once we achieve this, we can start to take the initiative.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Jun 25 2005 12:00
#3
does anyone in the north have further info about the current min wage and other updates!
Health and safety
Every year, over 1,000 workers are killed at work. 7,500 are seriously maimed and 750,000 are injured or become ill due to their employment.* Health and safety is important, this page is to help you know your rights. Read more about your rights at work...
All employers should:
▫ Provide safe and healthy working conditions;
▫ Provide proper information and training for everyone in all types of workplaces;
▫ Draw up and circulate procedures for dealing with risks at work;
▫ Inform all workers of Health and Safety agreements, policies and practices before we start work.
Health and safety in the workplace costs money and time and hits profits, so bosses inevitably try to avoid their legal responsibilities. By law, they have to provide health and safety for all workers in their
employment.
Remember, you have a legal right to walk off the job if you feel in imminent danger.
Casualisation Kills
Almost two million of us are now employed on a temporary basis. Hundreds of us die through work each year and many more are seriously injured. The vast majority of cases are easily preventable. Millions suffer crippling back pain, repetitive strain injuries and many other long-term injuries and illnesses simply because employers put profits first.
All workplaces are potentially dangerous and all work can kill - and the most vulnerable are temporary and agency workers.
The majority of temporary and agency workers are not self-employed but employees, with similar rights to other workers. However, our rights to basic Health and Safety are often neglected or totally ignored.
After only two hours on the job, Simon Jones, an agency worker in Brighton, was beheaded by a crane on Shoreham Docks. He had been sent to his death with no training or care for his life. This is just one shocking example among countless.
Recently, the courts fined a company just £6,000 for breaches of safety laws that led to a worker s death - so, £6,000 is the price of life at work in the UK today.
On average in the UK, 85 construction workers lose their lives in what the government say are mostly predictable and preventable incidents caused by some failure of management by employers (Tony O'Brien, Construction Safety Campaign).
For example: UK construction workers killed in 6 weeks in April/May 2003: 1 death each in Herefordshire, Bedford, Salisbury, Hillingdon, Staffordshire, Leicestershire & Leeds. 2 deaths each in Essex & Durham. 3 deaths in Wales. The youngest victim was aged just 17.
These are not just statistics, these are real people who met tragic and generally violent deaths, leaving families and friends going through the horror of bereavement.
Only by standing together can we prevent bosses from intimidating and victimising us. We cannot leave it to the Government, the bosses, political parties, or the established trade unions. The most effective way of defending our rights is by organising ourselves and taking collective direct action. By forming our own groups where everyone is equal, we can resist exploitation and enforce our rights at work effectively.
Defending our rights is just the start. Once we achieve this, we can start to take the initiative.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
* Source: TUC, 2004
Edited by libcom from a leaflet by the Solidarity Federation
Jun 25 2005 12:05
#4
macmaitiu wrote:
does anyone in the north have further info about the current min wage and other updates!Health and safety
Every year, over 1,000 workers are killed at work. 7,500 are seriously maimed and 750,000 are injured or become ill due to their employment.*
* Source: TUC, 2004
Actually I meant to change that, cos according to the TUC actually over 20,000 people are killed at work each yeah. I think Solfed must've just looked at a smaller number which didn't include asbestos and things like that.
Jun 25 2005 12:35
#5
cheers
Fair play to the WSM for producing this leaflet with others too. Hopefully, we can produce an all-ireland leaflet in the future especially, although employment legislation and rights is different in the North.
Does nayone have any ideas or info on current workers rights in the North?