MOST of the leading officials of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in the Republic have resigned and applied for membership of the rival Technical Engineering and Electrical Union. Many of the 8,000 members are expected to follow them.
Last night, the former Irish divisional organiser of the AEEU, Mr Eamon Devoy, confirmed he had resigned on Tuesday and was to become an assistant general secretary of the TEEU. He said he intended remaining on the ICTU executive as he was elected to it by delegates to the congress's biennial conference, not by the AEEU.
The crisis in the AEEU follows the adoption of a new rule book by the British based executive. The new constitution abolishes most of the Irish representative structures. On Sunday night, the Dublin district committee of the AEEU voted to resign and on Monday the majority of 57 shop stewards in the area, representing members in 30 companies, voted to join the TEEU. Ironically, talks on a merger between the TEEU and AEEU were progressing, albeit slowly, until days ago.
The split in the union represents a potential windfall in members for the TEEU. It has over 23,000 members in the Republic and if the majority of AEEU members follow Mr Devoy, the TEEU could become the fourth largest union.
A high proportion of fitters and electricians, who form 80 per cent of the AEEU members, are expected to join the TEEU. Plumbers, who form the other 20 per cent, are expected to remain with the AEEU. Meanwhile, a senior official of the AEEU, Mr Brendan Fenelon, flew in from Britain yesterday to review the situation.
The other senior full time AEEU official in the Republic, Mr Patrick Guilfoyle, has also resigned. Both officials accuse the British based AEEU of adopting undemocratic structures.
This requires British based unions operating in Ireland to grant a considerable degree of autonomy to their Irish members. In his letter of resignation, Mr Devoy said: "I now find myself in a situation where I am no longer allowed to serve the members in a democratic structure, in accord with their wishes."
Last night, Mr Mick Brennan, a retired AEEU official who represented plumbers, said the union noted the resignations of Mr Devoy and Mr Guilfoyle "with deep regret".
Normally trade unionists cannot change membership against the will of their existing union without an 80 per cent majority within the workplace. However the TEEU and AEEU share representation rights in the great majority of workplaces and, in these circumstances, transfers can be on an individual basis.