No amount of bargaining can persuade foreign employers to reverse their decision to relocate from Ireland, Labour Relations Commission (LRC) chief executive Kieran Mulvey has said, citing recent trends.
"Concerned as we all are with appropriate conditions of remuneration, employment and productivity, in these islands we have to be more conscious and fearful of the nature of the rapidly intensifying global competitive labour market," Mr Mulvey told the British Universities Industrial Relations Association Conference at NUI Galway.
"It is relentless in a sometimes brutal marketplace and it is truly universal."
Of 10 enterprise closures involving the commission's conciliation service last year, four companies were moving to China or the east Asia, two to central America, two to North America, and two were relocating to eastern Europe, Mr Mulvey pointed out.
This trend has continued into 2006, as the country "haemorrhages" low-skill, labour-intensive production facilities in the manufacturing, IT and electronic sectors.
"All too often in recent times the corporate decision to relocate is final and no amount of bargaining or compromise can meet the opportunities presented in countries with less employee rights, labour standards or regulation," the chief executive said.
Mr Mulvey said he was more concerned about "the race abroad," where companies shift production to cheaper locations, than evidence in Ireland of a "race to the bottom", which came under the spotlight during disputes over the employment of non-nationals at construction firm Gama and at Irish Ferries.
The number of high-profile incidents of workers' exploitation, particularly of migrant workers, should diminish as inspection procedures, employment rights and user-friendly dispute investigation/resolution institutions become more robust, Mr Mulvey said.
"Certainly the recent highlighting of such cases in both jurisdictions [ Ireland and the UK] should enhance the vigilance of trade unions, employers and State institutions," the LRC chief executive said.
