According to a recent report, companies are employing measures to stifle trade union activities by refusing to permit officials into workplaces, monitoring employee communications, and discriminating against activists. The report, entitled “Union Access to Workers in Ireland – Barriers faced by representatives in Ireland within a comparative European context”, is the work of Dr Michelle O’Sullivan and Dr Caroline Murphy from the University of Limerick. They penned it for the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German government-funded foundation that champions social democratic principles.
This report, which was unveiled at a function in Dublin, includes a survey into the experiences of trade union officials on member organisation and representation in Irish workplaces. The findings reveal that 92% of respondents have seen or encountered cases of member or activist discrimination, with 30% claiming it is a common strategy used to discourage organisation.
A whopping 80% said they had faced situations where they were denied physical access to workplaces while 77% reported knowing of instances where employee communication was scrutinised. Additionally, 60% acknowledged that securing union recognition had become more challenging during their tenure.
The approaches adopted by companies to counteract unionisation varied significantly over the near 200 surveyed, with 82% having heard of cases where employees’ pay and conditions were enhanced bypassing unions and 78% mentioning the creation of substitute groups such as staff representative councils.
As unions persist to push for pivotal measures from the Government to increase collective bargaining coverage within the context of the EU directive regarding sufficient minimum wages, this research emerges. The EU average for coverage is around 56%, and in Ireland, it’s at around 34%, which drops below 20% when one excludes the public sector. In countries where coverage is less than 80%, the directive asks governments to endorse collective bargaining. Unions are urging for legislation to reach this quota, although Ibec says no legislation is necessary.
Unions see the directive as an opportunity to reverse the dwindling membership numbers in the private sector caused by the existing legislation. This restrictions currently leave industrial action as the sole way of securing union acknowledgement in workplaces where employers are unwilling to cooperate.
“The most effective method to enhance income through work is by endorsing and fostering collective negotiations, stated Owen Reidy, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. He continued by noting that the EU directive mandates the Government to support such an approach. It’s intolerable that vast numbers of employees throughout the nation continue to be denied union membership and the ability to engage in collective negotiation.”