Owen Wills Exposed

national | worker & community struggles and protests | opinion/analysis

Tuesday December 02, 2008 02:05

by John McCoy

TEEU General Secretary wastes taxpayers money while bashing self-employed Electrical Contractors

Am I the only person in the Electrical Contracting Industry who is getting more and more annoyed at the double standards that are now being clearly exposed by the TEEU leadership? Mr Wills the general secretary of the Union is also a director of EPACE and FAS.

The same Mr Wills who has a substantial annual salary from the Union also receives payments and expenses from Taxpayers Hard Earned money to attend 9 FAS Meetings per year. Now we find out that Mr Wills was the one of the lucky campers on the lavish trip to Orlando. Among the many questionable expenses on this trip, the taxpayer was stuck with the bill for renting 10 surfboards at the Cocoa Beach Resort Country Club. This was after spending €20k of taxpayer's funds on 3 airline tickets. Mr Wills spent over €600 per night of our money on his hotel for the trip and racked up a hotel bill of €3000.

All this and much more information is available in the links to below.

Of course we don't know how much Mr Wills gets from his involvement with the Limited company EPACE as they are accountable to no one. Looking at his track record one could assume that his EPACE involvement is not for the good of his health.

Now maybe its just me folks but it sickens me to the backbone is the TEEU of which the same Mr Wills is General Secretary, is hauling Electrical Contractors into the Labour Court and nailing them to the cross for not complying with an illegal agreement that they were never part of. Mr Wills actions have caused great distress and hardship to ordinary people whose only crime is to employ people and attempt to make a decent living. This has contuined even when the legality of the agreement is being challenged.

The Two minority employer body's in the Irish Electrical Contracting Sector have allowed to situation to arise where Employers are being totally beaten down by a trade union. This situation is crazy, and has only succeeded in encouraging the sub contract culture and given contractors a fear an employing people.

Mr Owen Wills has stated "that he does not have to answer to an elected TD" and clearly needs to be taken down a peg.

Mr Wills has been appointed to the advisory board of NERA(National Rights Employment Authority) where I am sure he will apply all his efforts to gaining statuary powers for his Electrical Contracting bashing machine the private limited company EPACE (Pensions and Conditions Electrical Limited)

Its Time to stand up and be counted . If this guy gets his own way you all might as well shut the door and retire.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/fas-bills-surfboards-to-taxpayer-1558305.html

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fas-board-not-answerable-to-labour-leader-1558911.html

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/fas-is-great-on-the-ground-rotten-at-the-top-1558279.html