No to workfare
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The end result of the government's new `Employment Action Plan'
will be to force people into low paid jobs
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``My aim is to provide a new start for young people and bring them
into the world of work''. This was the promise from Enterprise and
Employment minister Mary Harney last week to the under 25s who
are long term unemployed. Harney was speaking on the first day of
the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats Action Plan on Employment.
Next week members of the Irish National Organisation of the
Unemployed (INOU) from all over the 26 Counties will protest
outside the Department of Enterprise and Employment showing their
oppositon to the plan.
Also opposed to the plan are the Scheme Workers Alliance. Their
chairperson, Martin Walsh, believes that ``the end result of the
government's new `Employment Action Plan' will be to force people
into low paid jobs''.
Under Harney's new plan 400 under 25s will be interviewed by a
Fás team of 500 placement officers. People called to interview
will be offered four options. They are: training, a job, a
community employment scheme, or employment experience. If any of
these options are turned down the person could be deprived of the
dole.
Mary Harney counters this view, saying that ``I find it hard to
understand that anyone would interpret a job offer as a threat
rather than an opportunity''.
However, there is still no assurances that unemployed people who
refuse the four options will not be cut off the dole. The INOU
wants voluntary, quality-based intervention. A spokesperson for
the INOU told An Phoblacht that they believed the minister's
figures didn't add up. There are 33,000 long-term unemployed
people under the age of 25. Harney has ``ring fenced'' 7,500 Fás
training places. The INOU question what will happen to the other
25,500 unemployed young people as last year Fás was notified of
only 5,000 jobs vacanies.
other major inconsistency in Harney's appraoch is the problem
of educational resources. Many of the unemployed have been
deprived of access to proper educational resources. The UN
Poverty Report last week highlighted the massive literacy
problems in the 26 Counties.
Many of the job opportunities in the 26 Counties involve a need
for third level qualifications yet Harney's Employment Action
Plan does not specify how this very obvious skills gap will be
overcome.
Next week you have your chance to oppose Harney's flawed plan,
support the unemployed and say ``No to workfare''.
Aer Lingus set for sell off
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Why is it wrong for state-owned companies to dominate their
domestic markets but it is perfectly acceptable for private
transnational companies to dominate global ones?
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Isn't it funny how different words can mean the same thing,
especially when it comes to business. Take for example the Dublin
Government and their future plans for Aer Lingus. They want a
strategic alliance, an international partner for the airline.
In plain words Aer Lingus is to be sold off to a foreign company.
The state-owned airline is set for a dual process of stock market
flotation and partial sell-off to an international airline.
This has to happen because the company is deemed too small to
compete in international markets. Already this year TEAM Aer
Lingus has been sold to a Danish airline maintenance company. Now
Aer Lingus itself is to go under the hammer.
Last week Aer Lingus management delivered a Strategic Alliance
Report to the Dublin Government. Now the cabinet have given the
go ahead to Aer Lingus management to seek ``their strategic
alliance partner''.
Double Standards
The forthcoming sell-off of Aer Lingus highlights the double
standards at work in global markets. Aer Lingus has to be
privatised partially because it is deemed wrong for airlines to
be state-owned, especially those operating in the European Union.
The second axiom at work is that global airline markets have to
be liberalised and deregulated.
The strategic report inadvertently exposes what a sham such
deregulation is. It concludes that the international aviation
market is set to be dominated by four or five global groupings.
Why is it wrong for state-owned companies to dominate their
domestic markets but it is perfectly acceptable for private
transnational companies to dominate global ones?
Full Disclosure
SIPTU, who represent substantial numbers of workers at Aer Lingus
said that it wanted ``full disclosure of information and
participation with Aer Lingus in arriving at a decision on any
future partnership''.
The union stressed that ``the decision cannot be made solely on
business criteria''. They wanted maximising employment, working
conditions and the interests of the travelling public also taken
into account.
However, when you read the Aer Lingus management's strategic
alliance report you find that there is little mention of the
implications for employees. It says in one small section of the
43-page report that ``direct employment would be protected and
enhanced as Aer Lingus continues to achieve profitability and
growth''.
Concern over BA
Aer Lingus pilots have also raised their concerns about the
proposed ``alliance''. One of the issues they highlight is the
prospect of an alliance that includes British Airways,.because of
the company's industrial relations record. Last year BA
management used every method possible to break workers' resolve
at the company when implementing their own cost reduction plans.
Aer Lingus management has been stressing their partnership
approach to the proposed sell-off of the company. Time will tell
if there are perhaps two meanings to what a partnership approach
really means and whether the workers really will have a say in
the future of the company. It is clear that the Irish people who
actually own the company have no say in its future.
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