ICTU seeks 'modest' tsunami donations

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has announced a campaign for victims of the Indian Ocean Disaster and is requesting…

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has announced a campaign for victims of the Indian Ocean Disaster and is requesting a "modest" contribution from workers towards the fund.

ICTU will ask workers to contribute a small amount of money, which will be deducted from their wages at the end of January, with the co-operation of employers.

"The idea is to ask people for a relatively modest contribution, say for example half an hour's pay. By not raising the bar too high we hope to get a high response. There are 1.8 million people at work in Ireland so the potential is significant" said ICTU general secretary Mr David Begg.

He said the focus of the appeal will be on "restoring livelihoods".

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"Apart from the tragic loss of life, many thousands of people, particularly in the fishing and tourism sectors, now have no means of making a living. When the attention of the world's media move on they will still be in dire circumstances and we want to help them back to work," he said.

Congress said it had made preliminary contact with IBEC and the Government (as employers) to request their co-operation with facilitating deductions at source. It said the response was "broadly sympathetic in principle".

Mr Begg will now send a circular to ICTU -affiliated unions, which outlines the economic impact of the tsunami on the affected countries.

Some 150,000 people have been confirmed dead and at least five million have been displaced by the disaster, according to the circular. ICTU notes the figures are likely to increase in the coming days and weeks.

The fishing industry, accounting for 3 per cent of GDP in Sri Lanka, was wiped out. This involves the loss of 100,000 jobs and the entire fleet of boats. The tourism industry in Thailand has been severely damaged and one-third of bed space was lost from the industry in Sri Lanka.

Mr Begg's circular also notes that food prices could rise as a result of the damage to fishing. Sri Lanka, for example, imports $700 million a year in food "with obvious consequences for a population out of work"

"What we hope to do is to organise, through affiliated unions, and with the co-operation of employers, deductions from wages for the appeal. People will be invited to contribute say, for example, half an hour's pay on an agreed pay day at the end of the month," Mr Begg writes.

The money raised will be held in a central Congress account and agencies working on the ground will be invited to tender proposals for programmes focusing on livelihood restoration.

An evaluation committee will distribute the fund on the basis of the most effective proposals tendered.

Ictu says it envisages that the main Irish NGOs and perhaps the International Transport Foundation and Public Service International would be interested.

"The co-operation of employers and government would be necessary to make this a success as regards deduction at source facilities and we have been in touch with them in this regard," according to Mr Begg.

A project team set up by ICTU is expected to contact the affiliated unions early next week.