SIPTU members will join the march by the National Homeless and Housing Coalition (NHHC) which is taking place today, Saturday 28th May, in Dublin to highlight the need for government action to end the housing crisis.
The march which is being supported by a broad range of organisations, political parties and unions will begin at 2.00pm at the Custom House, Dublin 1, and end with a rally outside the GPO on O’Connell Street.
Calling for immediate government action to deal with the escalating homelessness crisis, including the declaration of a national housing emergency, a NHHC statement said: ‘Figures released by the Department of the Environment this week show that during the week of April 18th to 24th, there were 2,121 homeless children in 1,037 families across the State – a 90% increase in homeless children and a 105% increase in the number of families since April 2015.
‘Meanwhile, Wednesday afternoon’s announcement from Ulster Bank regarding the sale of 900 distressed home loans which are on the brink of repossession further exacerbates concerns that a new wave of families being evicted into homelessness is imminent.’
Sam McGuinness, Head of the Dublin Simon Community said: ‘This crisis has now been pushed past breaking point. There are no places left in hotels, guesthouses and emergency units, with an increasing number of people, families and children facing a future of uncertainty and fear. This fast moving tide will continue to increase in speed unless immediate action is taken.’
SIPTU National Campaigns and Equality Organiser, Karan O’Loughlin, said: ‘Decades of under-investment have resulted in Local Authority housing lists growing to beyond 100,000. This has resulted in ever increasing numbers of individuals and families finding themselves either homeless or at risk of homelessness. Homelessness denies people their human dignity.
‘High rents and unsustainably high house prices have also impacted harshly on the living standards of many workers, particularly those in low and middle income families.’ She added: ‘Housing is a human rights issue and a trade union issue. We are urging SIPTU members to take part in this important protest. We also urge the government, and all of the political parties represented in the Oireachtas, to provide the leadership needed to resolve the housing crisis.’
IMPACT trade union has also backed the National Homeless and Housing Coalition demonstration and written to its branches urging them to support the protest. Last week, IMPACT’s biennial delegate conference reasserted the union’s support for urgent solutions to the homelessness crisis, including the regulation of rents through an indexation system similar to those adopted in other European countries.
The union has been campaigning on the issue since its September 2015 homelessness conference, ‘A Roof Is a Right.’ Joe O’Connor, Organiser at IMPACT Trade Union said: ‘The announcement from Ulster Bank, whereby a further 900 owner occupier mortgages are to be sold off, magnifies concerns previously raised by this coalition group regarding a further crisis on top of the current crisis coming down the line.
‘Given that mortgages of this kind are typically bought by foreign funds at substantial discounts, this adds to the tens of thousands of family homes already at risk of eviction from vulture funds seeking to maximise the sale value of these distressed assets. A complete rethink of how we view the private rented sector is absolutely necessary, in order to ensure affordability and security of tenure into the future.’
• Meanwhile, SIPTU members providing laundry services at Cavan General Hospital, County Cavan, have served notice to management that they will withdraw their labour from Wednesday, 8th June, in a dispute concerning the outsourcing of the service to a private company.
SIPTU Organiser, Sean Nolan, said: ‘Our members voted in a ballot to take strike action in order to force a resolution to a dispute concerning the provision of laundry services at Cavan General Hospital and surrounding areas that has been ongoing for four years.
‘A report issued in October 2012 dealing with the provision of laundry services within HSE Hospitals has never been implemented by management at Cavan General Hospital. This year management took a unilateral decision to de-commission the boilers within the laundry area in Cavan General Hospital. Since this action the service has been outsourced to a private operator.’
He added: ‘This outsourcing of our members’ work, which is a breach of local and national agreements, left them with no option but to vote for strike action. This action is aimed at bringing management into negotiations that are focused on finding an agreed resolution to this dispute.’
• Residential care workers and night supervising staff have served notice of industrial action at the Oberstown detention centre in Lusk, County Dublin. The action is set to commence next Tuesday, 31st May. Earlier this month, workers at the centre backed an industrial action ballot by a margin of 95% in a dispute over the safety of clients and staff.
The unions, IMPACT and SIPTU, say staff and residents at the understaffed centre, are exposed to daily risk of violent assault. The unions propose to commence a series of four-hour stoppages (from 8am until 12 noon) next Tuesday and continue every Tuesday throughout the month of June (June 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th). Pickets will be placed on both gates onto the campus.
The Oberstown campus currently caters for 48 under-18s, including a mix of vulnerable young offenders and violent criminals with multiple convictions for serious offences. IMPACT official Tom Hoare said the union will not hold industrial action at times and dates that would interfere with State examinations being held on campus.
The industrial action comes against the background of a high and growing number of attacks on staff since the expansion of the State’s only youth detention centre to facilitate the transfer of offenders from the prison service.
Hoare explained: ‘Emergency cover will be provided across the campus, which means that 16 frontline staff will remain on duty during the stoppages. These will all be union members. Non-union or agency staff will be required to make their way to the picket line during the stoppage period. Any off-campus trips, such as court dates or routine hospital visits, will not be staffed by union members, except in an emergency situation.’
The most recent official figures revealed over 100 violent incidents in Oberstown last year, almost half of which were classed as ‘critical’. Critical assaults and injuries necessitated a total of 3,005 employee sick days, involving 65 staff members.
The unions have highlighted problems with staff recruitment and retention. Coupled with absences due to assaults, these have left the facility understaffed and incapable of dealing safely with the numbers of offenders in the unit.
The unions have said the recent expansion and refurbishment of the complex was badly planned and implemented, resulting in a totally unsafe living and working environment, and that staff are denied appropriate personal protection and safety equipment.
Unions have also stated that subsequent stop-gap measures, which were supposed to minimise risk to staff and residents, have been both inadequate and ineffective. The staff concerned work at three schools on the campus: Oberstown Boys School, Oberstown Girls School and Trinity House.
Responsibility for the campus was transferred from the Department of Justice to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in 2012.