Vol. 526 No. 4
188 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if a non-unionised employer is obliged to apply the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness to its employees; if IBEC acts as a regulatory authority in such cases; and the action an employee can take where her 40 colleagues have not been granted the agreed terms in the national agreement. [27029/00]
The pay terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and other such social partnership agreements are negotiated voluntarily and they come into force in individual employments through normal industrial relations processes.
While the pay terms are not binding in the formal sense, it is expected that for members of ICTU and IBEC, implementation would be effected through local agreement. In the case of non-unionised employments and where the employer is a member of a body party to the agreement, there is a clear expectation that the terms will be applied. In that regard, the statistical evidence over the years is that the pay terms have been widely applied throughout the labour force.
Where employees and their employer cannot reach agreement through negotiations concerning the application of the terms of the pay agreement, I would urge the parties to avail of the services of the State's dispute resolution machinery.
Both the Labour Relations Commission and the Labour Court play a vital role in underpinning the industrial peace clause of the national agreement. Their objective will be to assist the parties to resolve any dispute, having regard to the terms of the national pay agreement.
Question No. 189 with Question No. 106.
