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permanent civil service and the Competition Authority to use the social partnership process to achieve legal change for freelance workers. The arrival of the Troika threatened to sink our


campaign as Christine Legarde warned that amending Competition law could lead to the withdrawal of the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission recovery programme. NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet and


I visited the ILO in Geneva. At the IFJ Ronan beat the drum loudly. The NUJ placed the issue centre stage at every IFJ and EFJ conference and even hosted


conferences in Dublin to highlight the plight of Irish workers. Lay activists played a huge part in piling on the


pressure and when the bill finally passed representatives of Dublin freelance branch were to the fore in celebrating a victory which now brings significant organisat ional chal lenges and opportunities. Ultimately persistence paid off. Much credit is


due to Senator Ivana Bacik and Senator Ged Nash for taking ful l advantage of the current configuration in Seanad Éireann to push through the legislation.


You were right there Michael!


President Michael D Higgins is welcomed to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) World Congress in 2013 by then NUJ President Barry McCall, who recalled the President’s support for freelance workers. Also in the picture is NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet and then IFJ General Secretary Beth Costa.


On June 7, as President Higgins signed the Competition Amendment Bill


into law he could be


forgiven for feeling a sense of achievement as the legislative wheel turned full circle. Being above politics, he


could not show his pleasure at signing the bill and no doubt lifelong Equity member Sabina Higgins was equally inscrutable.


The bill has been


sponsored by Senator Ivana Bacik and had its origins in a 2006 bill drafted by then Deputy Michael D Higgins. That early legislation was


not accepted by the Fianna Fáil government and opposed by the then Fine Gael spokesperson on Enterprise and Employment Leo Varadkar. A version of the bill


sponsored by Emmet Stagg met a similar fate but Senator


Bacik persevered, with the help of the trade union campaign, and secured all party support. A feature of the most


recent parliamentary exchanges was the positive approach taken by the Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor. As a junior barrister, Ivana


Bacik had advised the NUJ when the spectre of the Competition Authority first loomed over the NUJ.


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