SIPTU calls for PfP referendum
SIPTU has joined the many voices demanding a referendum on Ireland's entry into Partnership for Peace. The union voted in favour of the referendum at its biennial conference last week.
Against a backdrop of military actions in the Balkans, SIPTU believes that the actions of NATO in the former Yugoslavia undermine its role and that of the United Nations in promoting world peace.
The union believes that these recent developments are leading to world re-armament and polarisation of ethnic and regional tensions.
SIPTU delegates emphasised the importance of Ireland's neutrality and argued that the establishment of the PfP was a step down the road to re-armament. It would heighten the possibility of force being a first option, establishing the potential for economic wars between groups of nations leading to military wars.
The SIPTU members voted for a motion calling on the incoming National Executive Committee to mount a campaign to seek a referendum on Ireland's membership of Partnership for Peace and if successful, that SIPTU would campaign against membership in such a referendum.
Good Friday Agreement backed
In another motion, SIPTU delegates endorsed the Good Friday Agreement and recognised that political progress is the only means of finding a lasting solution. The motion passed iterated that the Agreement must be implemented in full without any preconditions or rewrites. Delegates also recognised that the ``trade union movement must play a full role in influencing our evolving society to ensure that the agenda reflects the needs, aspirations and demands of the working people''.
This would mean that trade unions participate fully in the civic forum; that trade unions working on social and sectarian issues receive full and proper funding from government; that trade unions are fairly represented on the commissions created to address human and equality rights and other such bodies; and that the EU and 26-County experience of social partnerships establishes the minimum standards for participation.
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