Workers Solidarity Movement

Following the vote by the Central Executive Committee of the country's largest public sector union, IMPACT, that they cannot recommend acceptance of the public sector deal in the forthcoming ballot of members, the deal is under huge pressure.  IMPACT's outgoing general secretary Peter McLoone has been one of the principal advocates of the deal and the failure of his union's executive to back the deal will have serious ramifications not alone within IMPACT but in other public sector unions as well.

The next major hurdle the deal will face will be at the Executive Council meeting of SIPTU on Tuesday next.  SIPTU members who are opposed to the deal should be making their views known to executive members over the weekend in advance of the Executive meeting.  There is a growing feeling that this deal is dead in the water.  A vote against it at SIPTU's executive meeting will not finish it off but will damage it considerably.  It was clear from Jack O'Connor's interview on Morning Ireland this morning that the union leadership are beginning to feel that the mood is swinging against their strategy.

Meanwhile the campaign against the deal within the INTO continues apace.  Following the major setbacks to the union leadership's attempts to sell the deal at this week's union conference, a large group of branch and district officers and delegates from around the country came together on Wednesday morning to launch the INTOvote no campaign.   A INTO Vote No facebook page has been set up.  Another facebook page 'Teachers Talking Back' has plenty of comment and debate on the issue as does the INTO's official facebook page.  INTO members should log on there and join the debate.

INTO Information meetings on the deal will be held around the country in the coming weeks and the INTOvote no campaign will be offering to provide speakers to those meetings.  No campaigners are confident that when members read the deal itself and analyse the arguments for and against that a majority will vote to reject the deal.  The leaflet distributed by no campaigners at the INTO conference can be accessed at this link: static.issuu.com