Members of Siptu who work for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) are planning a public outreach effort prior to next month’s international England match, in order to underscore their allegations of the association’s unwillingness to discuss their remuneration and working conditions. Employees, together with union representatives, have been distributing leaflets at club games to underscore this issue, part of the “Our Union, Our Team” initiative that they anticipate will reach its peak at the Nations League match scheduled for next Saturday.
The union alleges that a fraction of the FAI staff, comprising regional development officers who actively promote the sport in community settings, as well as part of the administrative team of the association, are earning salaries that haven’t changed for almost two decades. According to Siptu, the association is declining to enter into negotiations for a new collective agreement, opting instead for an internal employer-employee engagement platform.
Although the opposing sides have previously met to discuss the issue at the Workplace Relations Commission, Siptu has accused the association of terminating their engagement with the state’s mechanism for industrial relations in recent months.
Siptu representative Teresa Hannick commented, “The employees accepted considerable wage reductions following the economic downturn and have barely managed to return to their pre-crash positions since then, yet now they are finding that the management refuses to even sit down with them to negotiate salaries.”
She went on to express surprise that the FAI, a largely publically-funded entity, could deny its employees the basic right to collectively negotiate through their union with the management. According to Hannick, the involved staff forum deals with an array of issues apart from pay, which is left to the discretion of the management and is dealt with on an individual basis. As a result, certain staff members did not receive a wage hike this year.
Describing the situation as divisive and negative, former player for Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers and Derry City, Paul Whelan, who currently serves as a community development officer in Finglas and also acts as one of the Siptu union representatives at the association, voiced his concerns.
The long-standing frustration of earning roughly the same as I did when I first started with the football association 17 years ago is a challenge, particularly when the association won’t engage in discussions with the members wishing to be union-represented.
The core aim of our campaign is indeed to shed light on the current situation,” he noted. “It’s about demonstrating that they’re refusing to negotiate on pay and terms, and denying us the chance to have a representative amongst the management. Our struggle is primarily to highlight these issues.
However, the association contends that the union does not reflect the majority of its staff, many of whom are content with the status quo. The association chose not to comment on this.