How do trade unions protect you at work? How do they get better pay and conditions and support you in your career? Below gives just some of the ways trade unions protect you!
- Better pay and conditions
- Legal and workplace representation
- Collective bargaining power
- Health and safety
- Training and development opportunities
Being in Fórsa means being a part of one of the most proactive and powerful trade unions in Ireland. Besides the financial benefits, discounts, and exclusive savings you get as a member, every single day we go out to protect your pay and conditions, and we win!
We work at a national, regional, and local level to make your working life better. So join Fórsa today!
Better pay and conditions:
We negotiate with employers on behalf of our members to secure better salaries, pensions, and working conditions that promote a good work-life balance.
These negotiations can be at a national level for an entire sector, like the public sector pay deals, or it can be for specific groups of workers like when management tries to change your local rosters or working patterns.
Improved conditions:
Maternity leave, holidays and sick leave were not always part of working life. Trade unions fought for these rights, and we still are. We are always fighting for improvements and to defend issues like the retirement age, maternity rights and improvements to sick-pay for workers.
We also campaign to make the world of work better for everyone, like campaigning for a Four Day Week, Domestic Violence Leave, and Housing for All.
Legal and workplace representation:
We provide representation, expertise and support to our members in engagements and disputes with your employers. This means we can help with anything from approaching your manger to talk about something sensitive, to being your representative in the Workplace Relations Commission or even the Labour Court.
If you are not a member of a trade union, you can represent yourself. But many people end up hiring legal representation and running up legal costs of hundreds, if not thousands, of euros. But if you’re with us, you’re covered. We fight hard for our members…and we win!
Collective bargaining power:
It’s you alone against your manager, employer, HR and their solicitors. Or it’s you and your union of thousands of workers against them. By pooling resources and negotiating together, we hugely increase the bargaining power of our members, giving you a far stronger voice in the workplace.
So as soon as you can Fórsa, start talking to your colleagues about joining! Together, we are powerful!
Job security:
We negotiate with employers to protect your job, from lay-offs to taking action against unfair dismissals.
But it’s not only job security. It’s making sure you are getting fair pay for the work you actually do and that you are not overworked or unable to do your job because of issues outside of your control. We work to make sure job evaluations happen, we defend your contract terms, and make sure that issues like recruitment and capacity are dealt with.
Health and Safety:
You spend so much of your life working, you need to make sure you are safe and protected. Occupational health hazards and incidents can be extremely serious, either in accidents or in long-term damage. We advocate for safe working conditions and fair treatment of employees, and negotiate for better health and safety provisions for our members.