The Labour Relations Commission has warned the Government that it will need more resources if it is expected to continue resolving public sector disputes. Last year, 20 per cent of the commission's staff was tied up in talks to resolve major public-service disputes like those of the teachers and nurses. Traditionally, groups like these have had their own arbitration schemes, but the LRC could be in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. There is heavy staff involvement in the current CIE restructuring talks. The commission is also expected to become involved shortly in efforts to avert a strike over pay involving 60,000 health board and local authority employees.
The commission's workload in European legislation is also expected to increase. The introduction of the working time directive will probably fuel claims from unions for full implementation before the 1999 deadline, as well as compensation claims for lost earnings in sectors such as transport and security, where employees may face sharply reduced hours of work. The chief executive of the commission, Mr Kieran Mulvey, was speaking yesterday at the launch of the commission's annual report for 1996. He said the continuing success of industrial relations institutions like the LRC and Lab our Court was attracting growing attention. Central and eastern European states had shown particular interest in the Irish model as a means of helping them resolve their own problems of adjustment to the market economy.
Last year, two-thirds of the Republic's largest 100 companies sought the assistance of the LRC. It successfully resolved 81 per cent of disputes referred to it, well up on the 1995 settlement rate of 70 per cent. The number of referrals to the commission was slightly down on 1995, but the disputes took longer to resolve. Mr Mulvey said this was because of the growing complexity of the issues. "Issues like new work practices and managing change dominated the case load," he said. Usually, this meant "downsizing" the workforce but even where companies were involved in expansion schemes, they usually wanted to recruit new staff on different rates of pay and secure changes in work practices from existing employees.
Globalisation and increased competitive pressures were the driving forces behind the accelerated demand for change, Mr Mulvey said, but the industrial relations machinery of the State remained effective in averting strikes.
The number of production days lost in 1996 because of disputes was 102,940, considerably down on the 130,000 lost in 1995. As in 1995, disputes at Dunnes Stores accounted for a high proportion. If the Dunnes Stores disputes over Sunday trading and issues hanging over from the 1995 dispute were excluded, he said, the number of days lost through strike action in 1996 would shrink to 38,000.
Almost half the remainder were accounted for by the protracted dispute over restructuring and associated redundancies at Wellman International's synthetic fibre plant in Co Meath.
The LRC's advisory service saw a worrying increase in "frequent users" during 1996. Companies with endemic industrial relations problems accounted for 347 referrals in 1996, compared with 322 in 1995. Twelve of these companies are major public service employers, who account for 5 per cent of the employed workforce. Mr Mulvey expressed concern at the re-emergence of a small hard-core of "frequent users" in the public sector.
The workload of the equality service increased sharply. There were 91 referrals in 1996, compared with 64 in 1995. Referrals under the 1974 Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act and the 1977 Employment Equality Act were both significantly up.