Economics: Trade union leaders have taken great heart from the public's support for their national day of protest last month. Up to 100,000 participants applauded trade union support for Irish Ferries' workers and protested against the erosion of employment standards and exploitation of migrant workers.
The Irish trade union movement has not marshalled such widespread support since the 1970s PAYE marches.
The protests drew attention to two important issues: the presence and influence of unions in Irish workplaces and the mechanisms by which employees are able to voice, and would wish to voice, their concerns to employers.
Employee voice in Ireland, as in most western economies, was conventionally understood to be synonymous with union voice. In recent years, however unions have fallen upon hard times. Membership peaked in the early 1980s when almost two out of every three workers were members. Now only one-third of the workforce is unionised. The decline is evident across virtually all sectors and is especially marked in the private sector.
A shift in the stucture of employment away from sectors where unions have been traditionally strong to new areas like services and high-technology industries, and the growth of part-time and temporary employment are major reasons for this decline. Our industrial development strategy and associated dependence on inward investment is also an important factor.
Many foreign-owned companies, particularly those of US origin, have chosen to remain non-union. Many of these companies have adopted sophisticated human resource practices that emphasise direct communication between employees and management, and which substitute, sometimes deliberately, for the role performed by unions. The emphasis is to develop individual relationships between employer and employee whereby any incipient desire for union representation is precluded.
In other sectors, employers have avoided unions but have made little, if any, provision for granting employees effective voice mechanisms. In general, there has been a hardening in employer opposition to union organisation and representation.
These changing contexts - employers seeking to avoid unions, allegations of exploitation of migrant workers and the feared creeping erosion of employment standards and wage levels as represented by recent disputes at Gama and Irish Ferries - raise important questions:
How do workers perceive unions?
How do employees in non-union companies voice their concerns and interests to their employers?
Would non-union workers be prepared to join unions?
A series of representative surveys of employees conducted with colleagues in the ESRI and UCD allow us to examine these questions. The results indicate that, on the whole, union members are positively disposed toward union membership, value being members and are generally committed to trade unionism. Membership is valued principally for the protection unions offer and their ability to secure good wages and conditions. The predominant view is that unions are effective in representing workers' interests. This in turn feeds into employees' sense of commitment to unions. But many workers have never been approached to join a union.
Of those who have decided against union membership, their preference is to take up problems directly with management.
The majority of non-union employees report that their employer operates arrangements for the direct involvement of employees. In broad terms, employees are content with how these voice systems operate.
Given this level of satisfaction, one might assume there would be little appetite among these workers for union representation. Here the research reveals some surprising results. The willingness to unionise among non-union employees is striking. Almost two-thirds indicated they would join a union if asked and if management offered their support.
In the absence of such employer backing, however, many workers see little practical benefit in joining unions or are fearful that such a move may damage their career prospects.
If this pro-union sentiment was realised, there is potential for the proportion of workers in unions to rise from around 35 per cent to anything between 56 and 71 per cent. Such evidence suggests a significant representation gap exists in Ireland.
How might unions take advantage of this unsatisfied demand for union voice? They face a number of significant challenges. To give voice to employees in non-union companies, unions will first have to organise employers. The arrangements agreed under recent wage agreements, such as the provisions to establish workplace partnership arrangements and the "right to bargain" provisions, which unions hoped would increase their membership, have had limited success thus far.
A statutory mechanism providing for union recognition may be necessary. It is unlikely to be a panacea, however, as shown in the US and may constitute a double-edged sword: it may enable employees to win recognition but it also may aid employers to mobilise workers to campaign for union derecognition.
It is unlikely too that the Government will introduce new legislative measure which might force emloyers to concede union recognition. The international competition to attract and retain investment is likely to work against any such initiative, a point recognised by unions.
The recent Ictu request of unions to devote more resources to recruitment and organisation has its perils too, as it risks a reduction in the resources assigned to servicing the needs of existing members, and critically, the interests of co-operating employers.
John Geary is associate professor of industrial relations and human resources at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business, UCD.
