Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 January 2018
339. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a company (details supplied) in County Limerick that is in receipt of public funds is refusing to recognise a union as the chosen trade union of persons. [4468/18]
View answer340. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to introduce a legal requirement for employers to recognise authorised trade unions in receipt of a negotiating licence for the purposes of collective bargaining and disciplinary matters. [4469/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 339 and 340 together.
Under Irish law, there is no requirement for an employer to recognise trade unions for the purpose of collective bargaining. Article 40 of the Irish Constitution guarantees the right of citizens to form associations and unions. It has been established in a number of legal cases that the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of association does not guarantee workers the right to have their union recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining.
I can assure the Deputy however that it has been the consistent policy of successive Irish Governments to promote collective bargaining through the laws of this country and through the development of an institutional framework supportive of a voluntary system of industrial relations that is premised upon freedom of contract and freedom of association. There is an extensive range of statutory provisions designed to back up the voluntary bargaining process.
Arising from an earlier Government commitment to bring Irish law on employees’ right to engage in collective bargaining into line with decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act was introduced in August 2015. In the lead up to this legislation, in-depth consultations with stakeholders, including employer and worker representatives, took place.
The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 which came into effect in August 2015 provides an improved framework in this area for employees’ right to engage in collective bargaining. The 2015 Act provides a clear and balanced mechanism by which the fairness of the employment conditions of workers in their totality can be assessed where collective bargaining does not take place.
The Act ensures that such workers, aided by a trade union, can advance claims about remuneration and conditions of employment and have these determined by the Labour Court based on comparisons with similar companies. It provides definitions of key terms as well as guidelines to help the Labour Court identify if internal bargaining bodies are genuinely independent of their employer, and policies and principles for the Labour Court to follow when assessing the comparability of the remuneration and conditions in dispute.
In addition to the improved framework introduced in the 2015 Act, a statutory Code of Practice on Victimisation was adopted in October 2015 that includes an explicit prohibition on the use by employers of inducements (financial or otherwise) designed specifically to have staff forego collective representation by a trade union.
The introduction of the 2015 Act, combined with the Code of Practice on Victimisation, provide strong protections in the area of collective bargaining in this country and I have no plans to introduce further legislation in this area.
