Fórsa call for job evaluation scheme at Roscommon County Council

Union plans to escalate following WRC negotiations

Members of the Fórsa trade union at Roscommon County Council delivered a Valentine’s Day message to local authority management, calling for an independent job evaluation scheme.

Union members gathered at Áras and Chontae this week to highlight the need for the scheme in order to establish the extent to which employees are taking on additional duties.

Local Fórsa representative Florie Hickey said union members wanted to send the message “because so many of them have been carrying additional duties for years, but without any rec- ognition for the extra work”.

“All we’re asking for is a fair and independent assessment of the work we’re doing,” she said.

“Fórsa represents workers in the HSE, Tusla and the higher education sector, where access to job evaluation has already been secured. The process is commonplace across much of Europe. We need the same kind of workload measurement applied in local authorities across the country”.

Fórsa treasurer Julie Flood, who works at Dublin City Council, said the union represents more than 30,000 local authority staff across the country.

“Close to 10,000 jobs were lost from the sector following the financial crisis in 2008, and services were only maintained in Roscommon because

Public meeting to discuss rural decline

Sinn Féin MEP for Midlands Northwest Chris MacManus will host a public meeting on addressing regional imbalance and reversing rural decline in Gullane’s Hotel, Ballinasloe on Monday, 20th February at 8 pm. The meeting will feature contributions from Claire Kerrane TD, Cllr Dermot Connolly and representatives of local community and farming organisations. MEP MacManus has encouraged the public to attend the meeting and the join the discussion on delivering change for the West.

staff here took on additional responsibilities above their pay grades, and this happened in every local authority in the country,” she said.

“Local authorities experienced the greatest reduction of numbers of employees during the austerity era, leading to what we see as a significant ‘grade drift’ in the sector.

“It means, simply, that many people are working above the grade at which they’re employed. We need to measure the extent of that and make sure that staff are treated fairly”.

Fórsa, which referred the issue to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), has said the only way to deal with the issue is to implement an independent job evaluation exercise.

“Delivering balanced regional development and standing up for the West has always been a key priority for Sinn Féin and I am delighted to be hosting this discussion on addressing regional imbalance and reversing rural decline in Ballinasloe,” he said.

Parish Youth Mass this Saturday

The next Parish Youth Mass will be at 7 pm on this Saturday, 18th of February 2023, in the Sacred Heart Church, Roscommon. This Mass has been especially designed for young people, by young people, and everyone is invited to attend. The theme of this month’s Mass is resilience/ not giving up.