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Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link BBC Quietly Edits Question Time After Wrongly ?Correcting? Richard Tice on Key Net Zero Claim Fri May 09, 2025 17:00 | Will Jones
The BBC has quietly edited Question Time after wrongly 'correcting' Reform's Richard Tice on a claim about CO2 emissions. Tice said humans are behind just 4% of emissions but Fiona Bruce falsely said it was a third.
The post BBC Quietly Edits Question Time After Wrongly ‘Correcting’ Richard Tice on Key Net Zero Claim appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Electric Car Bursts into Flames on Driveway and Engulfs ?550,000 Family Home Fri May 09, 2025 15:10 | Will Jones
The moment an electric car suddenly burst into flames on a driveway has been captured on CCTV, as the vehicle sparked a raging blaze which engulfed a van and a ?550,000 family home.
The post Electric Car Bursts into Flames on Driveway and Engulfs ?550,000 Family Home appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link ?I Was a Super Fit Cyclist Until I Had the Moderna Covid Vaccine. What Happened Next Left Me Wishing... Fri May 09, 2025 13:10 | Will Jones
Danielle Pieton was a super fit cyclist until she had the Moderna Covid vaccine in January 2022. What happened next left her wishing she was dead.
The post “I Was a Super Fit Cyclist Until I Had the Moderna Covid Vaccine. What Happened Next Left Me Wishing I Was Dead” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Nature Paper Claims to Pin Liability for ?Climate Damages? on Oil Companies Fri May 09, 2025 11:09 | Tilak Doshi
A new Nature paper claims to pin liability for 'climate damages' on oil companies so they can be sued in court. This escalation in the climate wars is scientifically bogus and economically disastrous, says Dr Tilak Doshi.
The post Nature Paper Claims to Pin Liability for ‘Climate Damages’ on Oil Companies appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link What Does David Lammy Mean by a State? Fri May 09, 2025 09:00 | James Alexander
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said it is "unacceptable" that Palestinians don't yet have a state. Professor James Alexander wonders if Lammy has thought through what a Palestinian state would actually look like.
The post What Does David Lammy Mean by a State? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

SEIU Organise Janitors In Houston.

category international | worker & community struggles and protests | other press author Sunday December 11, 2005 23:26author by pat c Report this post to the editors

You wouldnt normally expect The Economist to write a favourable article about Unions but in this weeks edition (6 Dec) there is a piece about the Unionisation of janitors in Houston, Texas. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has organised 5,000 janitors, some readers might remember the Ken Loach film, Bread And Roses, which dealt with the SEIU organised strike in Los Angeles.

As The Economist requires a paid subscription to view this article, I am posting it here in full.

Janitors band together in Houston

UNIONS have never had much luck in the South. The region is home to Wal-Mart and other arch-foes of organised labour. For years, car plants have been built in Tennessee or Alabama to escape the grip of Detroit. So last week's announcement that nearly 5,000 janitors (cleaners and caretakers) in Houston were joining the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was a rare breakthrough. Julius Getman, a professor at the University of Texas, thinks it is the largest union victory in the South in decades.

The SEIU takes a different approach to organising. It has organised janitors at several big companies at once. Rather than mounting a campaign at each workplace separately, it will negotiate one big industry-wide contract. This, in theory, eliminates each cleaning company's fear of being undercut by competitors if it allows higher wages. The companies agreed to stay neutral. The strategy bypasses the National Labour Relations Board, which usually oversees the unionisation of workers. That is a bonus in a place like Houston, where undocumented workers would rather not get the government involved.

Janitorial success has come to be quite a hallmark of the SEIU which, with 1.8m members, is one of the largest unions in the country. The “Justice for Janitors” campaign has been going for 20 years. The SEIU claims triumphs from Los Angeles (raising pay by more than 25%) to Chicago (getting employer-paid health benefits). Pay talks will start soon in Houston, and the SEIU will be under pressure to deliver. The starting point could hardly be lower. According to the union, Houston's janitors earn an average of $5.30 an hour, less than half what their counterparts in Philadelphia get.

Whether the Houston milestone will lead to other triumphs in the South is an open question. Nonetheless, it is a small boost for a movement that has been going through tough times recently. Union membership is in steep decline in the private sector. This summer the SEIU and a few other unions split from the AFL-CIO, America's big labour federation. Since then, the SEIU has been pursuing new strategies to boost its membership.

One of the more intriguing ideas is a contest (at www.sinceslicedbread.com) for the best proposal to boost the economy and create good jobs. It closed this week with over 22,000 entries. Our favourite is national mandatory nap time, but others include teaching personal finance in high school and tax breaks for hiring workers over 40. Encouraging creativity in itself will do organised labour no harm at all.

author by pat cpublication date Mon Dec 12, 2005 12:01author address author phone Report this post to the editors

If cleaning staff can be organised in Houston, Texas then they can be organised in Ireland. While a Joint Labour Agreement operates in the Industry to protect conditions, there are not enouhj Labour Inspectors to adequately police this.

You cannot rely on the State to enforce minimum conditions, and trhat is what they are - minimum conditions. The Unions need to put more resources in to the area of recruiting in this vast srvice industry to establish Union rates of pay and conditions of work.

 
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