Ireland
The ITUC affiliate in Ireland is the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Ireland ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1955 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 1955.
Legal
Freedom of association / Right to organise
Freedom of association
The right to freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution.
Anti-Union discrimination
The law prohibits anti-union discrimination.
Others restrictions
- Others restrictions
- Under the Competition (Amendment) Act No. 12 of 2017, Schedule 4, three categories of self-employed worker (voice-over actors, session musicians and freelance journalists) may engage in collective bargaining but the Act still does not protect the collective bargaining rights of a multiple number of other self-employed workers that are still not exempted from the competition law
Right to collective bargaining
Right to collective bargaining
The right to collective bargaining is recognised by law.
Restrictions on the principle of free and voluntary bargaining
- Prohibition or limitation of collective bargaining at a certain level (local, regional, territorial, national; enterprise, industry, sector or general)
- Sector-wide agreements are no longer binding following McGowan and Others v The Labour Court and Another [2013] IESC 21. A system of binding sectoral 'Registered Employments Agreements' (REAs), introduced by statute in 1946, has now been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. The Court ruled that REAs enjoyed such high status that law-making had effectively been delegated to the Labour Court under the REA regime.
Restrictions on the scope of application and legal effectiveness of concluded collective agreements
- Endorsed collective agreements not regarded as legally binding or enforceable
- See comments on McGowan (above) on legal status of sectoral agreements.
Undermining of the recourse to collective bargaining and his effectiveness
- Promotion of individual bargaining as opposed to collective bargaining
- See comments on McGowan (above).
Right to strike
Right to strike
The right to strike is recognised in the Labour Law.
Ban or limitations on certain types of strike actions
- Restrictions with respect to the objective of a strike (e.g. industrial disputes, economic and social issues, political, sympathy and solidarity reasons)
- A strike must be 'in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute' (section10 Industrial Relations Act 1990). This means that sympathy and political strikes, or strikes against an organisation that is not the direct employer, will not be lawful, exposing the union to unlimited civil liability.
Limitations or ban on strikes in certain sectors
- Discretionary determination or excessively long list of “services of public utility” in which a minimum operational service is can be imposed in the event of strikes
- Special provisions extend to postal workers and municipal gas and electricity workers (sections 4-5 Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act 1875; section 110 Electricity Supply Act 1927).
In practice
Members of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) employed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) publicly expressed deep dissatisfaction with the continued refusal of the organisation to engage with the union to resolve a number of industrial-relations issues. By mid-October 2021, the union had grown increasingly frustrated at the difficulties it was facing in negotiating terms and conditions.
The SIPTU sector organiser, Michelle Quinn, said: “Our members are now calling on the FAI to engage with SIPTU in a timely and meaningful manner. The FAI is in receipt of significant public funding, and it should recognise and utilise the states dispute resolution mechanisms, including the Workplace Relations Commission.”
Back in April, SIPTU had criticised the FAI for making unwarranted threats against a union representative who had spoken out about staff issues. The union wrote to FAI management to remind it of the Code of Practice on Victimisation.
Management at the biopharmaceutical company, AbbVie, in Carrigtwohill, County Cork, consistently refused to engage with representatives of the workers’ union, the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), for collective bargaining purposes.
This refusal persisted despite two recommendations by the Labour Court in 2017 and 2020 to engage with SIPTU representatives on behalf of their members “in relation to all matters associated with terms and conditions of employment including pay”.
SIPTU representatives wrote to management on a number of occasions outlining their members concerns in relation to its failure to fully implement the two Labour Court recommendations and engage in collective bargaining with the union. To the frustration of members, management still refused to respond to or engage with their union, either directly or indirectly.
Finally, at the beginning of August 2021, SIPTU members at the AbbVie plant commenced industrial action in the form of an overtime ban in the manufacturing process.
Two weeks later, no progress had been made, and the union announced they were considering escalating their action.
The union noted to their frustration that the company did engage with union representatives at its plant in Westport, County Mayo. In that plant, management reportedly had a good working relationship with SIPTU members and representatives.