Speech at the 98th GMB Congress
Citywest Hotel, 8 June 2015
A Dhaoine Uaisle,
A Cheardchumannaithe,
Tá áthas orm a bheith anseo libh inniu chun an chomhdháil seo a oscailt go hoifigiúil.
[Ladies and Gentlemen,
Trade Unionists,
I am delighted to be here with you today to officially open this Congress.]
May I begin by thanking your Senior National Officer Dave Seery Kearney for inviting me to address the 98th GMB Congress. I’m also grateful to your National President Mary Turner, your General Secretary Paul Kenny, and all of the GMB Executive for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today.
I welcome the many hundreds of delegates who have been elected to represent over 600,000 members of the GMB trade union from every part of Britain and Ireland and from every sector of the economy, especially those delegates who are visiting Ireland for the first time. Fáilte go hÉireann.
I note that this is the GMB’s second Congress in Dublin. The first one was in 1896. I certainly hope we won’t have to wait as long again to welcome you back. Last year the union celebrated its 125th anniversary and I wish to congratulate you all on reaching such a significant milestone in your organisation’s history.
As you all know, GMB has its origins in the Gas Workers and General Union (GWGU) which was formed in 1889 by Will Thorne, one of the great pioneers of the Labour movement who went on to became its first General Secretary. Like all early unions, the GWGU established itself in addressing the very poor working conditions which existed at the time; its first battle was for an 8 hour day and a six day week. Its efforts were successful and they resulted in the first working time agreement anywhere in the world. Following the success of the Union's campaign on working hours, within six months 20,000 workers had joined the union and by 1911 gas workers' union membership had increased to 77,000.
The GWGU joined forces with other unions and with the National Amalgamated Union of Labour, the Municipal Employees Association and the National Federation of Women Workers, in 1924 formed the National Union of General and Municipal Workers. Today GMB is the second largest Trade Union in Britain and Ireland.
Your union has had a long and distinguished history in Ireland, either under its own name or under the name of trade unions that transferred their engagements to GMB. Indeed, Adolphus Sheilds, the then organiser of the Gasworkers Union in Dublin, was instrumental in bringing James Connolly back to Ireland in 1896. Shields and other leaders of the Dublin Gasworkers envisaged a grand alliance between urban trade unions and various organisations representing rural labourers in Ireland. Many rural workers throughout Ireland adopted the programme and a meeting of the first Irish Labour Parliament was held in the Antient Concert Rooms in Brunswick Street Dublin on 14 May 1891.
GMB also has very strong Irish connections through its membership in first and second generation immigrants to Britain. I know that your President hails from Tipperary and the parents of your General Secretary came from Co. Galway.
I understand that during the week motions will focus on a number of key issues, including: the campaign for social justice and fair pay, the campaign for a living wage, jobs, security and a future for young people, rights at work and zero hours contracts.
These are all issues which are the subject of current debate in Ireland. Indeed, GMB Congress comes to Dublin at an important time in terms of the industrial relations landscape in Ireland.
Legislation is currently before the Irish Parliament which provides for significant reforms to Ireland’s industrial relations law.
A new Low Pay Commission has been established this year with the purpose of making recommendations to the Government on the appropriate rate of our national minimum wage. The Commission’s first recommendation is expected in mid-July.
As President, it would not be appropriate for me to address the details of these various important initiatives, but at the more fundamental level, let me say that the issue of decent work and the position of worker in society have never been of greater importance in society. The question of work is a concern which has been central to my Presidency and I have addressed the subjects of decent work, the position of the precarious worker and of what would constitute an ethical workplace in a number of speeches to national and international bodies over the past three years. I am pleased to see that these issues are all on the agenda of your Congress and I look forward to reading the results of your deliberations.
Most recently, I was particularly pleased that, under the President of Ireland’s Ethics Initiative, a national consultative process which I have been hosting for the past year and a half, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions ran a programme of activities under the banner “Ethical Workplace”. Working with their member unions, Congress set about gathering views from individual workers, workers’ unions and representative bodies on what are the essential qualities of a workplace that could be considered ethical.
In that process, the terms “respect”, “equality”, “trust”, “honesty”, “transparency”, “security”, “effort” and “creativity” recur in the collected messages of the workers, outlining a vision of the good workplace as that where workers are enabled to pursue their material well-being and personal development in conditions of dignity, economic security and equal opportunity, and also that where workers are enabled to participate, as citizens. Taking these goals, I believe that trade unions continue to have an essential role to play in defending and advancing such a conception of the good workplace, in a global context characterised by a huge and increasing concentration of wealth in the hands of financial capital, and unaccountable institutions and decision-making structure.
Beyond the workplace itself, the voice of the trade union movement is also much needed as we seek to rebuild and re-imagine the structures and models underpinning our economy in the aftermath of this great failure of speculative capital and a dominant model of economics that has caused so much damage to the lives of workers and their families. Your voice is needed as a new economics is brought forward, one in which the demands of economy, ecology and a sustainable form of development can be in balance. Your voice is necessary too as we renew our resolve to address the persistent inequalities in our society – and in this regard I want to pay special tribute to the leadership that GMB has shown in the area of women’s rights
Finally, I would like to congratulate GMB, who together with SIPTU and others have commissioned a beautifully illustrated new book: James Connolly & the Re-Conquest of Ireland. The book brings together a collection of previously unseen family papers and writings and sheds new light upon the writing and reception of Connolly's last major work. This beautifully illustrated book looks at Connolly's contribution to the cultural and political life of Ireland against the backdrop of the centenary of the Dublin Lock-Out and other major events in Irish history. It is a beautifully presented book and will make a significant contribution to our understanding of one of Ireland’s greatest republicans and socialist leaders. This publication is particularly timely as we prepare for the centenary of the 1916 Rising, a revolutionary event which had both nationalist and socialist strands and in which organised labour played a great role.
Asked why he had dedicated his life to the labour and trade union movement Will Thorne explained, "There is a world of freedom, beauty and equality to gain, where everyone will have an opportunity to express the best that is in them for the benefit of all, making the world a place more to our heart's desire and the better to dwell in."
These principles are as relevant today as when he uttered them and I know they serve as a guide to the GMB now.
I would like to conclude by congratulating everyone involved in bringing the Congress to Dublin. It is a wonderful city and I hope you have time to enjoy it.
I would like to wish you all the best for the remainder of your Conference and I hope that we will have the opportunity to meet in the future.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.