TRADE UNIONS:THE COUNTRY's largest trade union, Siptu, has said that it is in favour of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
Following a meeting of its national executive council yesterday, Siptu president Jack O’Connor said that, on balance, ratification of the treaty was in the best interests of working people and their families.
However, the union said that it “harboured a number of reservations” about the treaty.
The union said it was “particularly dissatisfied” that the European Trade Union Confederation’s proposal for a social progress protocol which would have addressed many of its concerns had not been acted upon.
“However, in our analysis, we are satisfied that the ratification of the treaty, (including the Charter of Fundamental Rights), would not make matters worse overall. Indeed, it has the potential to improve them,” it stated.
Mr O’Connor said that while Siptu would engage in the debate on Lisbon, it would not be sharing platforms with the representatives of the Government parties.
Earlier yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said spreading falsehoods about the Lisbon Treaty in the current economic climate “is tantamount to national sabotage”. He was speaking at the launch of the European Commission’s booklet explaining the Lisbon Treaty.
At the same event, the secretary general of the commission, Irish woman Catherine Day, said the EU’s existing rules were designed for a much smaller grouping which did not have to face challenges such as climate change, global recession and cross-border crime. The EU could only tackle these problems by improving the way it worked, she said.