The Irish Congress of Trade Unions today welcomed the new Industrial Relations (Boycott of Joint Labour Committees) Bill 2025, proposed by George Lawlor TD.
The bill seeks to strengthen the system of Joint Labour Committees (JLC) by allowing the Labour Court to appoint a representative where an organisation concerned has failed or refused to engage in the process. This would end the current situation of effective employer veto over the JLC process.
Commenting, Congress General Secretary Owen Reidy said:
Joint Labour Committees exist to make sure that workers in low-paid, often precarious employment can be paid a decent wage. It is simply not right that such a core part of our labour relations infrastructure can be held to ransom by the whims of employers. The legislation proposed by Deputy Lawlor will ensure that the JLC process is one that is fair to all sides.
The Government has already signed up to the EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages, and the promotion of collective bargaining. We know that where employees are given a voice in their workplace that pay, conditions, and productivity improve. The Industrial Relations (Boycott of Joint Labour Committees) Bill will help ensure that the employer voice is not the only one that gets a say.
What Deputy Lawlor’s bill is seeking was already agreed by the previous government in October 2022 and by the social partners. Yet three years on it has not been acted upon. In light of rollbacks on the living wage, sick pay, and a proposed €600m handout through a VAT cut, the tale of corporate hardship at a time of economic prosperity is wearing thin.
We are urging Deputies from all sides of the Oireachtas to support this legislation. By allowing the Labour Court to proceed with appointments even when an employer body boycotts the process, this legislation will once again empower the State to protect vulnerable workers.
