Delivery riders, supported by ELSU, Migrants Rights Centre of Ireland, the Irish Network Against Racism and SIPTU (the largest trade union in Ireland) have an important meeting with the Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar on Tuesday the 9th of March. This meeting is about trying to improve the safety, pay and working conditions of delivery riders during the pandemic and afterwards. We have achieved so much in less than a year with basically zero resources. We are very fortunate to now have the support of SIPTU, that is massive. If you are a delivery rider, cleaner, carer or doing any type of work then it is very important to join a Union, especially during a pandemic. SIPTU is supporting ELSU’s calls for visa extensions until the end of the pandemic as well as removing the requirement of having to attend classes for Stamp 2s and granting them the right to legally work 40 hours, not just 20 hours for Stamp 2s. While also calling for optional publicly-funded flexible online English language classes until then, a period of at least a year. We really need to support eachother to make sure that we get justice for English Language students and workers here during and after the pandemic. You can join SIPTU and remain completely anonymous, yet still benefit from access to their lawyers, legal support, Workers Rights Centre, SIPTU college and other important supports/trainings. It is especially important to join if you are a delivery rider without your own account, if your visa is expired/about to expire or you are currently without documents. They will fight for you at the heart of government and you can remain an anonymous “confidential member”. It is the largest trade union in Ireland and central to how all decisions about work, safety and pay have been made in Ireland since even before our independence from the UK. When SIPTU speaks the government listens with both ears. As we weather this current storm, it is vital to join a Trade Union, not just ELSU, which is just a Students’ Union for mostly just educational matters, but to join an actual Trade Union like SIPTU that has a negotiating license with the government. SIPTU is much more powerful and much more important than ELSU, and they are now supporting what we want to achieve, which is a massive help. It’s really important to actually join and become a member though, not just talk about it. It’s about taking individual and collective action, actually joining them in order to have their full support. You can join SIPTU now from as little as €1 a week. Please do so now, so then it’s done and we can move to next steps together.
Most recent video update from ELSU, following on from meeting with Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and SIPTU
The iReport system was launched in July 2013. It allows the people, communities, and organisations of Ireland to confidentially report racism nationwide
Report racist incident!“A union representing thousands of English language students in Ireland has been formed. The aim is to fight for better living conditions and fundamental rights of foreign language students in Ireland.”
““What I learned the hard way was that the fact I said I was taking the food with me, Deliveroo didn’t pay me,” says Albuquerque. To him, he says, it seemed like the food was considered his payment.”
“A recent large-scale survey conducted by Fiachra Ó Luain, a language specialist and teacher, revealed that international students coming to Ireland frequently find it difficult to deal with the bureaucracy required by Irish immigration.”
“Fiachra Ó Luain, an English language teacher based in Dublin, has carried out two surveys to find out how the Covid-19 crisis has impacted English language students in Ireland”