Employers Talking Nonsense on Union Rights
18 Jun 2010
Congress has rejected as "extraordinary nonsense" a claim from the employers' union Ibec that greater levels of union recognition could threaten jobs.
Assistant General Secretary of Congress Sally Anne Kinahan said: "Ibec - which is a union representing employers - is engaged in reprehensible scaremongering. If you are trying to build an economy based on low wages, low pay and low standards then of course you see the right to union recognition as a threat.
"If Ibec's scaremongering had any substance, then the economies of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden would be in crisis and they would have record levels of unemployment, given their unionisation rates of between 70 and 80 percent. Instead, they sit consistently in the Top 10 of the world's most competitive, dynamic economies.
"There is a serious flaw in Irish labour legislation, which allows people to join trade unions but not to be represented by them or have them negotiate collectively on your behalf. That situation does not exist anywhere else in Europe.
"Ibec's view of Lisbon and the Charter of Fundamental Rights seems somewhat muddled. It is our advice - both legal and from EU sources - that the Charter assumed the status of primary law, upon passage of the Lisbon Treaty and EU primary law effectively trumps Irish constitutional law. Therefore, there is no legal impediment to legislating for collective bargaining, it is now a matter of political will.
"I think Ibec would be better served addressing the high levels illegality and the consistent breaches of labour law, in low pay areas of the economy such as catering, cleaning an retail. Repeat inspections by the National Employment Rights Authority have found remarkably high levels of illegality among employers, in terms of their failure to observe basic labour law."
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