SIPTU Vice President Election

national | politics / elections | news report Wednesday January 14, 2004 22:07 by Des Derwin dderwin at gofree dot indigo dot ie

Des Derwin supporters,Supporters Meeting and Election Statement.

Calling any more interested in giving a dig out in the SIPTU elections. Offers to get involved in the campaign, requests for literature, suggestions for workplaces or activists that should be contacted, or any other communications, to dderwin@gofree.indigo.ie or 087 6229686.

The ballot for the election of a new Vice President of SIPTU will begin on 26th January and will continue until 20th February. There are two candidates. The other contender is Dublin Regional Secretary, Brendan Hayes.

Voting will be held in workplaces, and ballot boxes will be available in SIPTU Branch offices. Postal ballots are available on request to those who require them, subject to Union procedures. Retired members in benefit may vote. A big(ish) vote for Derwin: a small step for the rank and file.

You’re all busy people but… There will be a supporters meeting on Wednesday next, 21st January, at 8.00 p.m. in the Teachers Club, 36, Parnell Square, Dublin. I have already met with various groups of supporters and with individuals, and I’m grateful for all the support and offers of support. Wednesday will put final arrangements together and take stock.

Vote Derwin. Vote Change.
A voice from the shop floor.
A voice of experience.
A voice against the cosy consensus.

My 'Manifesto' (as printed in the SIPTU paper 'Liberty') is as follows:

Your vote for me will add weight to an alternative voice for a fighting and democratic SIPTU. For renewal and change. For a turn to independence, fighting-form and control from below by the general membership.

The unions should not be in partnership with the rich and powerful. It’s time for an end to wage restraint. Members need to be able to lodge substantial claims against their own employers. The Benchmarking payments must not be made a scapegoat for government spending cuts. Raise the Minimum Wage to €8 an hour.

The members’ vote for the National Executive Council, taken away in 2001, has to be restored. The members should be able to change the Rule Book. Conference decisions must be binding.

The 1990 Industrial Relations Act needs to be changed or stood up to. It hinders the defence of individual members, disallows blacking, weakens the picket line and strengthens the courts over the unions. There should be a legal right to union recognition, a real recruitment drive and the resources for the Branches to service new members. The Organisation unit is a step forward. Greenfield, no-strike agreements are not the way. How could we give away the right to strike on the LUAS (today’s tramway) on the 90th anniversary of 1913?!

Officials should be able to come to workplaces without delay. Restructuring should not reduce the service to the members. Shop stewards could be given more release and resources. SIPTU Officers ought to be paid workers’ wages, not executives’ salaries.

The Union must forcefully oppose privatisations. The CIE and Aer Rianta campaigns should be linked with combined action.

We need an active campaign by SIPTU and the ICTU against the “savage sixteen “ welfare cuts, hospital downgrades and double-taxation service charges, and for greatly improved health and social services and housing. SIPTU can defend CE and JI jobs and the community services they provide.

All members resisting job losses need to be fully supported. Keep pressing for statutory redundancy payments of three weeks per year of service.

A special effort is needed to bridge the gap between the average earnings of women and men. Childcare facilities should be a priority.

Our Union rightly says that all nationalities are at home in SIPTU. Work permits should not tie people to a single employer.

Our Union has opposed double-taxation service charges and the jailing of protestors. Many of our refuse collecting members wish to collect ALL bins. If the Union clearly backed them blockades and jailings might never be needed.

I have been a member of SIPTU and the ITGWU since 1973. I am an Assembly General Operative at the Mouldpro plastics factory in Finglas, Dublin, where I am Chair of the Section Committee. I have wide and varied industrial, negotiation and administrative experience including over twenty-five years on the Unidare industrial site in Finglas. I’m the President of the Electronics and Engineering Branch and have served on its Branch Committee for over twenty-five years. I’m an active delegate to SIPTU National Conferences, a member of the Dublin Regional Executive Committee since the establishment of SIPTU and a member of the executive committee of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions. I’m a socialist, and have been involved in many trade union and single-issue campaigns. I’m not a member of any political party.

If elected I will accept only the average industrial wage. I am well able to carry out the duties of Vice President and I have demonstrated over the years that I can work with people of differing viewpoints within democratically decided policies and structures. Contact me at 087 6229686 or dderwin@gofree.indigo.ie