Ohnonothimagain!!…Derwin runs in SIPTU National Executive Council election.

dublin | politics / elections | news report Friday September 10, 2004 20:26 by Des Derwin dderwin at gofree dot indigo dot ie

“There’s been a twenty-year project to take the fight out of the unions…It’s time to put the fight back in!”

VOTE DERWIN VOTE CHANGE

On October 7th the Dublin Region of SIPTU will elect 9 of the 25 National Executive Council positions at the Regional Conference in Croke Park.

Earlier this year I stood in the election for the Vice President of our Union and received 23% of the vote. This represents a substantial number who in some measure want a new and different way for our Union.

The election for a new National Executive Council presents another opportunity, not just to register a message, but to send representatives on to the governing body of our Union who will work for change, democracy and fighting-form in SIPTU.

I am standing for the NEC to again offer an alternative voice to the members, a voice against the cosy consensus. My policies are outlined below.

Every member used to have a vote in this election until it was taken away in 2001. Nevertheless the new Rule gave the vote to each Regional Conference delegate and to them alone. I am asking delegates to vote ON POLICIES and to consider giving me your No.1 vote. I am asking members who support my policies to ask delegates to vote for me.

INDEPENDENT AGAIN 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. Raise the Minimum Wage to €8 an hour now.

DEMOCRACY Democratic votes for strike action must not be overturned by the National Officers. The members should be able to change the Rule Book. Conference decisions must be binding. The members’ vote for the NEC has to be restored.

A STRONG UNION The 1990 Industrial Relations Act needs to be changed or stood up to. There should be a legal right to union recognition, a real recruitment drive and the resources for the Branches to service new members. No more binding arbitration. It was clearly rejected at Conference but embraced in national agreements. No more no-strike agreements like that at LUAS.

THE BEST OF SERVICE 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.

PRIVATISATION: NO THANKS! The Union must forcefully oppose privatisations. The CIE and Airport campaigns should be linked with combined action. The government are pressing ahead with their plans. Press back. The present decentralisation plan is unfair and unacceptable.

A CAMPAIGNING UNION We need an active campaign by the unions against the welfare cuts and double-taxation service charges, and for greatly improved health and social services and housing. SIPTU can continue to defend CE and JI jobs and the community services they provide.

DEFEND JOBS All members resisting job losses need to be fully supported. Raise statutory redundancy payments to three weeks per year of service.

EQUALITY A special effort is needed to bridge the earnings gap between women and men. Childcare facilities should be a priority. Our Union rightly says that all nationalities are at home in SIPTU.

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. Earlier this year I stood in the election for the Vice President of our Union and received 23% of the vote. 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.

Vote Des Derwin No.1, and after that vote for candidates with similar polices in order of your choice.