During the 6th UNI Europa Conference, four Irish unions and UNI affiliates won the first-ever “Forward Through Collective Bargaining” Award designed to recognise and celebrate groundbreaking union efforts that strengthen collective bargaining.
The “Respect at Work” campaign successfully united four Irish unions – FSU, SIPTU, Mandate and CWU – and put collective bargaining high on the political agenda in the Republic of Ireland.
Ian Mc Ardle, Deputy General Secretary who received the award on behalf of the Respect at Work campaign, said: “We are honoured to be given his award, big thank you for the recognition and the encouragement. It means a great deal for us.”
SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley said: “We are honoured to receive this international award for our organising and campaigning work. The Respect at Work campaign brings together four unions and in addition has the support of a range of other unions. It’s good to see our collaboration recognised and held up as best practice. The award is great but the campaign is really only getting started. There is a lot of work still to be done to protect workers who are unionising their workplace.”
The inaugural award has been granted to two initiatives selected by a high-level committee made up of the UNI Europa President, First Vice-President, four Vice-Presidents, the UNI Global Union General Secretary, and the UNI Europa Regional Secretary.
“This campaign is a shining example of what we can achieve when we work together across unions and sectors,” said Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa Regional Secretary.
The Forward Through Collective Bargaining Award signals UNI Europa’s continued commitment to driving forward workers’ rights through dynamic, coordinated and strategic union action.