[mike65]

http://www.thejournal.ie/siptu-says-...85057-Mar2012/

Words fail me, anyone who is a member of this union care to comment? That the leadership think this can be closed off to scrutiny and accountability is just boggling. Surely the Dail committee must have the power to force full disclosure?

SIPTU leadership throwing a bit of mud at the committee a few days ago.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...313154514.html

[COYW]

Originally Posted by mike65

Words fail me, anyone who is a member of this union care to comment? That the leadership think this can be closed off to scrutiny and accountability is just boggling. Surely the Dail committee must have the power to force full disclosure?

Are you really surprised? I always thought of this kind of thing as a given when it came to the upper echelons of the trade union movement.

[JustinDee]

These are the same people who, despite the current economic situation, deem a 'new' multi-million Euro version of Liberty Hall a necessity.

[antoobrien]

Is it in SIPTU's power to make a copy of the report public?

General secretary Joe O’Flynn said the Union did not have the power to provide a copy itself, saying one of the conditions of being granted access to the report was that it could not be provided to a third party, and that it be returned to the fund operators once SIPTU had inspected it.

So the question is who commissioned the report and why haven't they been asked for a copy of it?

[john reilly]

unions have been to the forefront of the problems we are facing today and will continue to do everything in there power to hamper economic recovery

[edanto]

The only cure for corruption is transparency.

“But if you ask me for one example where my country shines, I would have no doubt what to choose. Sweden’s Freedom of Information laws are a beacon to the world….In 1766, when a new young radical government came to power convinced that only transparency could deal with the corruption that was looting the Swedish state and society Freedom of Information Act was passed…All documents within the public sector are in the public domain so people can actually check and hold the people in power accountable for their actions…. Freedom of Information… is still a bedrock for transparency and accountability in Swedish democracy…You don’t have to tell why they want to see a document or you don’t even have to give a name…You can even read official letters before they arrive in politicians’ intrays………Yea, Freedom of Information does mean you sacrifice some personal privacy…Of course, Freedom of Information isn’t universal in Sweden. If you really want to hide information you can. But you have to work quite hard to keep things secret. The exemptions are limited and very specific.”

http://politicalreform.ie/2010/06/21...nd-corruption/

If there is only single political reform that we should all be pushing for, it's to make all government information about decisions/spending/everything public. It should be the polar opposite of the current situation, it should be difficult to keep stuff secret, not get information. Our culture of secrecy fosters winks and nods.

[dahamsta]

I don't understand the Liberty Hall thing either, every time I see a story about it I wonder why they need to build something, and why their members aren't up in arms over it.

What pisses me off is that this kind of incompetence and corruption will be used by people to try and kill unions, which will hurt far more in the long run. Unions are a necessary evil, workers need independent representation. They just need more oversight, both legally and simply by their own members; who really have to shoulder some of the blame for the above.

[mikemac1]

Needs to be term limits, leave some people in power too long and they will turn crooked and appoint others who then owe them favours

Jack O'Connor has been in charge since 2003

It's too long. Two years? Four years?
I don't know the proper limit but it might help to have this