A two-day conference for craft workers in Ireland begins in Galway tomorrow.
Top of the agenda for members of the TEEU - Ireland’s largest craft union with 45,000 members - is the union’s survival strategies in today’s harsh economic climate which will be discussed at a series of workshops tomorrow.
On Saturday delegates will debate and vote on motions dealing with pay policy, ICTU, HSE, employment creation, and corporate governance – including that of trade unions.
Speakers will include David Begg, general secretary of ICTU; Denise Charlton of the Immigrant Rights Council of Ireland; Ger Deering, director of the National Employment Rights Authority; Proinsias de Rossa, MEP; Kevin Foley, director of conciliation services at the Labour Relations Commission; Professor John Geary of UCD Graduate Business School; Fintan O’Toole, author and journalist; and Jean Winters, director of the Electrical Contractors Association.
The union boasts members from sectors that have been hit hard by the recession, such as manufacturing, aviation and construction. It also has a significant number of members in the energy sector, health. and local authorities.
