Workers made to pay for banks’ errors
NORMA PRENDIVILLE from the Irish South West branch was elected Cathaoirleach (chair) of the Irish Executive Council.
The Limerick Leader journalist takes over from RTÉ regional correspondent Damien Tiernan and will hold the post for two years.
In his final address Damien Tiernan criticised the role of social partnership in Ireland.
He said the tripartite approach involving government, unions and business organisations meant that Irish workers were being asked to pay for the failures of the banking system and policy mistakes which were not of their making.
Irish Congress of Trade Unions General Secretary David Begg, the keynote speaker, also criticised the way economists and the media had dealt with Ireland’s economic crisis.
There was a tendency, he said, to look for one cause and one party to blame — and an unwillingness to look beyond blaming public sector workers and the cost of public services.
David Begg strongly endorsed the NUJ’s Stand Up for Journalism campaign.