“Pensions are deferred wages,” writes Joe Little, our representative on the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament’s executive. “So government-supporting legislators must be convinced to support a Bill currently before the Dáil which would give pensioners’ representative groups negotiating rights to protect them!”
The government continues to leave occupational pensions vulnerable to being slashed. It does this by forbidding pensioners’ representative groups to access Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) pensions negotiations. Strange, because the monies involved are deferred salaries!
In 2014, 15,000 Aer Lingus and Dublin and Shannon Airport pensioners lost 10%-20% of their payments (for life) in a “restructuring”. In 2021, your seniors’ parliament prompted Bríd Smith, then a People Before Profit TD, to table a Bill which would give negotiating rights to pensioners’ associations. With support from all opposition parties, the draft law progressed to Third Stage in the last Dáil and last May the PBP Deputy, Paul Murphy, reinstated it for onward progress through Committee Stage.
On the 4th November last, Minister Seán Canney, accompanied by several Oireachtas members from both sides of the aisle, attended a packed briefing on the bill organized by Deputy Murphy in Leinster House. It was addressed by Eileen Sweeney and Paddy Fagan of the Retired Aviation Staff Association, John Nugent of the National Federation of Pensioners’ Associations and Joe Little of the RTÉ RSA. Fianna Fáil’s Dublin North West TD, Paul McAuliffe, offered to arrange meetings between the Seniors’ parliament and Ministers Dara Colleary (FF) and Peter Burke (FG). Two days later, the Bills Office told us it was reviewing the Bill to see if its adoption would trigger public spending. If so, the government, which to date has opposed the proposed reforms, would have to send a Money Message to allow the Bill proceed any further.
So please lobby your public representatives asap to support what we’ll call for short The Industrial Relations Amendment Private Members Bill (2021)!