“Ireland is the wild west when it comes to workers’ rights,” said Fionnuala Ní Bhrógáin on Monday as the trade union Respect at Work launched a campaign to make employment issues such as collective bargaining and recognition doorstep issues in the general election.
The campaign is asking candidates to commit to backing workers’ rights legislation after the election. It wants union members to press candidates about the issue over the remaining 10 days of the campaign.
The push to prioritise the issue comes after the Government opted not to legislate for the transposition of the European Union Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, with its provisions on the promotion of collective bargaining. A deadline last week was missed after the Attorney General said no new laws were required.
Employers are free to decide whether they recognise or deal with unions representing their staff. Unions say this has led to a steady decline in their private-sector membership.
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They say change is needed more than ever now to stem the rise of the far right by addressing its claims that the concerns of large sections of the population are being ignored by the political mainstream.
“What we’re looking for is new legislation to protect workplace representatives, protect the right to organise in the workplace and provide for genuine collective bargaining in Ireland,” said Ms Ní Bhrógáin. “The outgoing Government supported this directive in Europe and that directive requires the Government not just to support collective bargaining but to promote it. We currently have half the rate of coverage of our EU peers.”
Lynda Scully, a supervisor at the Dublin 12 Jobs Initiative and a Siptu activist, said it had taken workers in her sector 15 years to achieve recognition but that the benefits since they succeeded had been clear.
“It was difficult because we are so dispersed, across the whole country, and so it was difficult to organise people but since it was agreed we have received our first pay rise in 15 years, we now have a mechanism for sitting down and speaking with our employer when we are due another one. What we want is other workers to have that.”
Asked if she felt the Government’s reluctance to legislate might be rooted to any concern about the election of Donald Trump in the United States and fears of adding to the uncertainty around future foreign direct investment, she was sceptical.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard any government say now is a great time to look after workers. They’ll always come up with an excuse, whether it’s a recession, whether it’s Trump, whether it’s Covid. That can’t be the argument.
“Nobody’s looking to be a millionaire here but we have to make sure that we have fairness in the workplace.”
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