Sir, - I would like to take issue with some of the arguments put forward by Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, March 4th) about Ryanair and trade unions.
Firstly, Ryanair, along with our economy in general, is a beneficiary of the past 10 years of social partnership. Many unions, including our own, have bitten the bullet and accepted the majority vote within the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for continuing support for such arrangements, despite the fact that many companies could pay more to their employees. Arguably, this has been done in the national interest and the fact that workers have more disposable income through tax breaks, etc., no doubt makes Ryanair a beneficiary, as more disposable income translates into more travel and holidays.
Drawing direct comparisons with companies such as IBM and Intel is not comparing like with like. There are no staff at the present time seeking, by way of trade union membership, to negotiate with IBM et al. If there were, the response of the trade union movement would be no different. Ryanair is not being singled out because it is "Irish", rather because it is refusing to engage in voluntary collective bargaining or to make its case to the Labour Court, a set of procedures generally accepted in this State. I am quite sure that if any group of workers behaved in a similar way to Ryanair management - ignoring procedures, the Labour Court, etc. - they would receive general opprobrium from our "national consensus". Incidentally, IBM does recognise unions - in the UK, for example - and in the US and Canada union recognition is provided for under State legislation. These companies also spend vast sums of money on sophisticated human resource systems as a means in general of evading union participation. I do not believe that if Ryanair were to make its case to the Labour Court, in parallel with SIPTU, the said Labour Court would recommend wage levels that would bankrupt the airline. The issue is not about wage levels, despite Mr Myers's obfuscation, but rather is it about control and management prerogatives. It is recognised in law that trade unions have the right to exist and the service that unions provide for their members is to address some re-balancing of the power that is implicit in minority control of wealth. Finally, may I say the current rate of unemployment is around 4 per cent, in large part because of the contribution made by workers to building our buoyant economy with a European social framework. - Yours, etc.,
Jerry Shanahan PC
Deputy National Secretary, MSF, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.