How the State funds unions to resist cuts
€1.5m grant pays for 'activist' training
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The taxpayer is funding a little-known grant to trade unions, of around €1.5m a year towards training officials and "activists", the Sunday Independent can reveal.
The grant, which has amounted to almost €10m in the last five years, is paid through the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu), which is organising a national protest likely to cripple the country for a day next month.
The protest, on November 6, will be the beginning of what is expected to be widespread action by trade unions against government public-spending cuts -- but also to protect the pay and pensions of public sector workers which are 25 per cent higher than those in the private sector.
Public sector unions are also considering strike action on November 24. While they are gearing up for these further protests, the unions will also avail of further substantial annual funding from the taxpayer to "promote partnership" at enterprise level.
Last week, it emerged that top trade unionists, several now household names, are on basic salaries of between €125,000 and €175,000 a year. In many cases these salaries are linked to benchmarked pay in the public sector.
Salaries of this scale, and further generous benefits and perks, can only be paid because members of the trade unions pay weekly or month subscriptions to their unions.
The Government, however, allow tax breaks on those subscriptions worth almost €20m a year, an income tax relief which the McCarthy report says should be scrapped.
Two-thirds of Siptu members work in the private sector. These members are, therefore, receiving tax relief to subsidise the salary of Jack O'Connor, the general president of Siptu. Mr O'Connor is spearheading the fight to protect the pay and pensions of public sector workers, a strategy which will ultimately affect private sector workers as the Government struggles to bring public spending under control.
Mass rallies at eight locations around the country to force the Government to adopt an alternative strategy to bring public finances under control are to take place on Friday, November 6. The demonstrations are being organised by Ictu, whose general secretary David Begg and president, Mr O'Connor have urged all workers to take part.
Ictu also plans a mail drop to 1.9m households. It is also to distribute 1.9m sheets of stickers and undertake a press campaign. A campaign on this scale, however, has begun to focus attention of the finances of the trade union movement.
It has been confirmed that an annual grant is paid to help Ictu meet the cost its "Education, Training and Advisory Service" (ETAS), which provides training for what the Department of Enterprise said were "union officials and activists" in affiliated unions.
The ETAS supports a range of courses, including health and safety, pensions, "activist development", "conflict resolution" and degree courses in business studies. The ETAS also involves the provision of all-year-round advisory services to affiliated trade unions.
The grants, paid by the Department of Enterprise, to meet costs incurred by Ictu, may cover up to 80 per cent of expenditure on training and advisory services for union officials and activists. The grant drawn down in each of the past five years was: 2004 €1.08m; 2005 €1.7m; 2006 €1.8m; 2007 €1.8m; 2008 €1.5m; 2009 €1.2m.
The taxpayer also pays a "workplace innovation" fund to Ictu, as well as employers group, Ibec, and the Construction Industry Federation, to "promote partnership at enterprise level": last year this grant amounted to €418,000 and this year it was €805,000.
Last week, it emerged that salary levels of trade union officials range from in excess of €170,000 to less than €70,000. Almost all are in defined-benefit pension schemes. Mr Begg has a salary of €137,400, is a member of a defined-benefit scheme and has a "company car". He is on the Aer Lingus board, from which he receives a €32,000 fee, which goes to Ictu.
Mr Begg is also governor of the Irish Times trust, and a director of the Central Bank, for which he receives fees of €10,960 and €15,750 respectively. This makes for a total annual income of €164,110.
The highest-paid trade union executives who disclosed information were Peter McLoone of Impact and John Carr of the INTO. Mr McLoone has an income of €171,313. Impact has 65,000 members, about half of whom are in the health sector, with a third in local government. Pay grades for union staff are linked to rates in the public sector.
Mr Carr has an annual salary of €172,000 and is a member of a defined-benefit pension scheme. The INTO has approximately 30,000 members in the Republic and 5,000 in Northern Ireland.
The three national executive officers of the State's largest union, Siptu, each earned €124,895 in 2008. They are general president, Jack O'Connor, vice president Brendan Hayes, and general secretary Joe O'Flynn. Mr Flynn is also a director of Bord Gais, for which he is paid a fee of approximately €15,000, which goes to the union.
Siptu has approximately 215,000 members, two-thirds of whom are in the private sector. These private sector workers, who are, on average, paid 25 per cent less than public sector workers, are, therefore, receiving income tax relief to subsidise the salaries of Mr O'Connor, Mr Hayes and Mr O'Flynn in their fight to protect the pay and pensions of public sector workers.
ASTI general-secretary John White has a €144,000 salary. He pays into a defined-contribution pension scheme. He has a car, and his expenses are at Civil Service rate.
General secretary of the TUI Peter MacMenamin is paid on a graded system linked to Civil Service grades that sets his salary at between €131,748 and €150,712.
Mr MacMenamin has a car and is a member of a defined-benefit pension scheme to which he and his employer make contributions.
The general secretary of the Civil and Public Services Union, Blair Horan, has said he is on a salary of "about €120,000" and is a member of a defined-benefit scheme.
- JODY CORCORAN
Originally published in
