2 NUJ celebrates major victory in the Dáil


(from page 1) The new Act grants rights for certain categories


of self-employed workers, to be represented by a trade union for the purposes of collective bargaining. They include freelance journalists, voice-over


actors and session musicians. Other groups will also be able to secure an exemption from the Competition Act 2002. This means that in time a wide range of workers currently denied union rights can secure recognition. The bill’s sponsor Ivana Bacik cut a celebratory


cake which was later shared on a cross-party basis with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor, whose support for the bill was in sharp contrast to her predecessors and enabled smooth passage of the bill. Labour leader Brendan Howlin praised the joint SIPTU/NUJ campaign and joined in tributes to


current ICTU General Secretary Patricia King and ETUC Confederation Secretary Esther Lynch for their consistent support for freelance workers in a battle stretching back to 1998, when the then Competition Authority began to assert that Competition law had supremacy over the right of freelance workers to be represented by trade unions. Speaking at the reception in Buswells Hotel


Séamus Dooley, Acting General Secretary recalled that in 1998 the Irish Executive Council had vowed to fight attempts by the Competition Authority to undermine the rights of freelance workers. His predecessor Eoin Ronayne had warned the ICTU that action taken against the Irish Veterinary Union could be the first step in a protracted campaign. Subsequently the Competition Authority moved


against Equity, sparking a campaign during which SIPTU and the NUJ persisted in the face of unimaginable obstacles at national, European and international level.


Senator Ivana Bacik, bill sponsor, cuts the celebratory cake assisted by: Séamus Doyle, President, Irish Musicians Union; Bernie Ni Fhlatharta, Leas Cathaoirleach, Irish Executive Council, NUJ; and Padraig Murray, President, Irish Equity.


Pic: Tommy Clancy. Anything to add?


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