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| 14th December 2011 |
Mandate Trade Union Ezine - Issue 15 |
IN THIS ISSUENew Government follows old format and dishes out more pain for low income workers and their families in Budget 2012 Mandate support Dublin demonstration against austerity measures Savage cuts of Materials & Training Grant threaten future of community employment schemes Unfair Universal Social Charge has greater impact on low to middle income workers LINKS |
New Government follows old format and dishes out more pain for low income workers and their families in Budget 2012  John Douglas, Mandate General Secretary Budget 2012 saw the Fine Gael / Labour Government follow in the footsteps of its predecessor and target workers on lower and middle incomes to bare the brunt of savage cuts. The increases in VAT, carbon tax, public transport and other stealth taxes combined with cuts made to welfare payments, including the reduction of the social welfare week from 6 days to 5 and cuts to the back to school allowance and child benefit, represent a 'double whammy' for lower income workers. Read more Mandate support Dublin demonstration against austerity measures  Thousands took part in a protest against austerity measures of Budget 2012 on Saturday, 26th November. The rally organised by the Dublin Council of Trade Unions was backed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mandate, SIPTU and UNITE but also saw the wider public come out to support the demonstration for jobs and growth in Dublin. Mandate General Secretary John Douglas said: "The demonstration has been called to make clear to the government in the run up to Budget 2012 that austerity policies have only increased hardship on ordinary people. This approach has simply not worked and increased the numbers of people out of work." Read more Savage cuts of Materials & Training Grant threaten future of community employment schemes  Lone parents & the disabled have again been dealt the harshest blow Mandate Trade Union has today stated that the savage cuts to the Materials & Training grant will threaten the future viability of hundreds of Community Employment schemes across the country. Mandate General Secretary John Douglas stated "Community Employment schemes employ thousands of people throughout the country; however, they are now in doubt following a savage 66% cut in funding which was announced in Budget 2012. The materials and training grants for schemes provide vital services in the community but have been slashed from 1500 euro per participant to just 500 euro. Read more Unfair Universal Social Charge has greater impact on low to middle income workers Government fails to sufficiently tackle unfair nature of USC in BudgetMandate Trade Union has highlighted their concerns about the unfair nature of the Universal Social Charge which they feel targets lower to middle income workers who can afford it least and believes the Government failed to sufficiently tackle this problem in the Budget. Mandate General Secretary John Douglas stated: "This unfair charge has targeted lower to middle income workers who are least able to afford to pay and who are suffering most from other austerity measures imposed by Government to satisfy the Troika bailout deal." Read more Sign up to Mandate on its social networking websites and stay up to date!!   
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| Published by Mandate Trade Union Copyright © 2011 Mandate Trade Union. All rights reserved. Address: O'Lehane House, 9 Cavendish Row, Dublin 1 - Tel: 01 8746321/2/3 - Fax: 8729581 - Email: info@mandate.ie - Privacy policy |
