At an ICTU seminar on the future of collective bargaining for senior trade union officials in Dublin today (Thursday), our general secretary Owen Reid said:
“The full and proper transposition of the EU Adequate Minimum Wages Directive is the number one priority for the Irish trade union movement and the key issue for the Congress at this time.
“To date little if any meaningful progress has been made by government to bring Irish law into compliance with the requirements of a directive they voted for in Brussels.
“The directive requires the Irish government to promote collective bargaining and to increase collective bargaining coverage. This can only be done if workers have access to unions and unions to workers.
“The outdated and relatively unique situation in Ireland where the employer has a veto over whether their workers enjoy collective bargaining or not must end.
“Real and meaningful social dialogue is important, but for it to have a purpose and for the current version in Ireland to continue government has to honour the commitments they make."
He flagged: “We will be making full transposition of the directive our main issue in the forthcoming general election campaign.”
The seminar also heard from MEP Dennis Radtke and former MEP Agnes Jongerius who were co-rapportuers in the European Parliament for the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive; Ethel Buckley DGS of SIPTU and Fionnula Ni Bhrogain Head of Organising at the CWU and both from the Respect at Work campaign; and from leading academics in the field Professor John Geary of UCD and Professor Michael Doherty of Maynooth University.
