Madam, – Catherine O’Flynn (October 7th) raises some very interesting points regarding pay and expenses of union heads. Like her, most ordinary trade union members would like to know about the levels of pay, perks, allowances, travel arrangements and board memberships enjoyed by all senior trade unionists.
I see that at the current Siptu conference, Kieran Allen stated that he did not want to be represented on television by people who had been at the head of Fás and who had discredited themselves and that he would far prefer to have people who did not have this baggage defending the public sector (Home News, October 7th).
Some years ago when I tried to bring up this problem of pay and expenses within my own union, ASTI, I got a solicitor’s letter back from union headquarters to shut me up. In the present economic climate, it is vital that the issue of pay, expenses, bonuses, travel arrangements and board memberships with regard to politicians, bankers, company directors and trade union leaders be transparent. – Yours, etc,