Trade unions were undermining the partnership model to such an extent that employers were finding it very difficult to see the benefit of such agreement, the IBEC director-general, Mr Turlough O'Sullivan, warned yesterday.
"As a small, open economy we are sending out a most damaging message when our airline and public transport services are constantly under threat. These and the very worrying disputes in the health and education systems are hurting every family," he said. A year ago the unions had agreed to deliver industrial peace. Then, in December, under increasing pressure employers and the Government had agreed to raise the pay terms of this agreement still further in return for increased commitment from the unions for industrial peace, he said.
"What we have in return is a strike-ridden society, most apparent in the `public interest' disputes where trade union activity can deprive the public and business of key services," he added.
What was not so visible to the public was that alongside this the trade unions were lodging pay claims that showed scant regard for the agreement, Mr O'Sullivan said.
Meanwhile, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions is asking members to avoid further damaging "poaching" rows, such as those at Aer Lingus and Iarnrod Eireann, by adopting new procedures.
Delegates at the July conference will be asked to adopt a report from the ICTU executive asking that affiliated unions not "solicit or encourage members of another affiliated union to terminate membership".
It states: "Unions should not take members of another union into membership, save with the consent of their existing union, pending the outcome of any dispute procedures referred to Congress under paragraphs 4546 of the constitution."
The report proposes that in future "transfer requests should only be the outcome of unsolicited applications and even then can only be considered in the light of the congress constitution and the likely impact on inter-union relationships.
"The maintenance of friendly inter-union relations can best be assured by adopting the following procedures when approached by members of another union seeking transfer."
The existing rules already state that groups of workers cannot transfer union unless at least 80 per cent of the "bargaining unit" agree to switch.
Neither this dispute, nor the more recent inter-union row at Iarnrod Eireann, would have been averted by the new guidelines.