Unions at the Irish multinational CRH are meeting today to plan a response to the company's decision to establish a European Works Council (EWC) for more than 6,000 of its workers without consulting its unions.
Today's meeting, organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), follows a ballot of one third of the company's Irish workforce earlier this month which showed majority backing for management proposals on an EWC.
However, under Irish law, an absolute majority of EU workers is required to back the company's proposals before it can lodge an EWC agreement unilaterally.