A May Day march in Dublin will today call for the establishment of a recruitment campaign which encourages people to join a union and protect workers' rights, according to Dublin Council of Trade Unions.
The event, which is themed "Organise now. Protect workers' dignity; join a trade union", departs Parnell Square at 2.30pm and culminates in a mass meeting at Liberty Hall.
Speakers will include the Cuban ambassador to Ireland, the president of the Belfast Council of Trade Unions, secretary of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions and the national industrial secretary of Siptu.
In a statement, the presidents of the five councils said that they were acutely conscious of the fact that trade union membership is not currently matching the pace of the growing workforce and it was time for a major recruitment drive.
The series of public meetings, demonstrations and seminars being organised over the coming week is intended to initiate awareness among workers of the protection trade union membership can provide, said Arthur Hall, president of the Dublin Council of Trade Unions.
"We would urge all unions to mount effective recruitment campaigns in the coming months to show that human solidarity, the motivating spirit of our movement is not alone alive, but still kicking at all forms of injustice in our society," he said.
Today's march coincides with a range of events organised by five of the country's largest trades councils from Belfast, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin and Galway.