Motion no: 26

Conference
Biennial Delegate Conference 2011
Proposing
Executive Council
Decision
Adopted

That this Delegate Conference notes the immense growth in the wealth gap in Ireland, as a small minority made extraordinary amounts of money with the economic boom during the Celtic Tiger years. Conference further notes that reports on income inequality reveal the following facts about income inequality in Ireland: 5% of families live on incomes exceeding €134,000. 58% of families live on less than €40,000. 26% of families live on less than ‚ €20,000. Income distribution became significantly more unequal between 1987 and 2005 as the gap between those at the top and those at the bottom widened. Women's income is two-thirds of men's income. - Allowing for differences in hours worked, women's hourly earnings are just 86 per cent of men's. Women are more likely to be at risk of poverty and that the twelve critical points of CEDAW including socio and economic benefits continue to be exasperated. Conventional measures of income inequality, consistently place Ireland (with Italy, Spain and Portugal) at the bottom of the league showing high levels of inequality. Relative poverty levels before social welfare transfers increased from 35.6 per cent to 41 per cent from 2001 to 2007. Social Assistance Payments played a critical role in reducing poverty levels from 21.9 per cent in 2001 to 16.5 per cent in 2007. Conference further notes that other indicators of Ireland remaining a deeply unequal society include: Both the Equality Authority and the Equality Commission's legal advice lines continue to take high levels of enquiries on discrimination related to gender, mainly connected to employment. The statistics in Northern Ireland reveal that the three biggest issues for women in 2010 were pregnancy/maternity related discrimination, equal pay and harassment/work environment. Pregnancy/maternity related discrimination was the biggest single cause of complaints North and South. Employment rates of people with health problems or disability, at 33%, are among the lowest in the OECD. 37% of people with a disability live in poverty compared to an OECD average of 22%. 25 women have been elected for the 31st Dáil, meaning that the next Parliament will be 15.1% female. This will marginally push us up the world rankings to 79th place in world rankings of gender make up of parliaments £4b cut to the Northern Ireland block grant from the UK disproportionately (75%) impacts on women. 0.8% of Irish Travellers aged 15 and over have attained third level education in 2006 compared with 30.5% of the overall population. The proportion of lone parents with third level education (23.2%) is lower than the 34.4% of other parents.

  • The absence of support for people to access affordable quality childcare remains one of the most significant barriers to women's equal participation in workplace and society which particularly impacts on mothers on low incomes and on lone parents. Conference notes that all the evidence is that more equal societies are better for all members of that society and that equality also makes for smart economics. Conference affirms that the goal of achieving equality at work and in society is a key objective of the trade union movement. Congress and its affiliated unions resolve to continue to resource our work to combat inequality, oppose discrimination, promote equal opportunity and encourage diversity within our trade unions and in our workplaces. Congress notes the results of our first equality audit showing the challenges the trade union movement faces in terms of gender balance at leadership levels. In order to measure our progress internally, Congress will carry out a further equality audit of affiliate trade unions and report to BDC in 2013. Conference resolves that the goal for greater equality and human rights cannot be merely something Ireland will attend to once our economic crisis is over and believes that investment in equality and human rights is not only the best way out of this economic recession but will also ensure the consolidation of our future. The trade union movement will therefore continue to work towards strengthening political commitment to an effective and resilient equality and human rights infrastructure North and South. Furthermore, Congress will redouble its effort to bring to fruition a Bill of Rights and Charter of Rights as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement. The benefits of these will contribute towards reducing the inequalities that society faces including healthcare, access to education, income and access to political and public life Finally, Conference resolves that organising workers in trade unions is an essential and central part of our fight for equality.