The Irish Congress of Trade Unions said today (March 22) that new European Commission proposals on the right of unions to take strike action could result in the right to strike being undermined across Europe and could well be in contravention of International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions.
Congress Legal Affairs Officer, Esther Lynch said the Commission proposals - known as the Monti II Regulation - were flawed and "will almost certainly have to be rewritten and revised. In our view they could well contravene key conventions of the ILO. The rationale behind these proposals was to repair the damage done by the Viking and Laval rulings from the European Court of Justice."*
"The avowed aim was to provide for binding legislation to ensure 'economic freedoms' respected fundamental social rights, such as the right to strike. As drafted however the Commission's regulation would undermine the right to strike. It is our view - and the view of the European Trade Union Confederation - that neither economic freedoms nor competition rules should have priority over fundamental social rights. It needs to explicitly state that in case of conflict, human and social rights shall take precedence.
Ms Lynch said that separate Commission proposals on Posted Workers were "more in line" with commitments made on preventing the abuse of workers 'posted' to other EU countries.
*Note to Editors
The Viking and Laval rulings related to two separate disputes that took place in Finland and Sweden and involved employees striking to protest against plans to pay lower wages to cross border workers. The central issue was the tension between the employers freedom to provide services cross border and the lawfulness of industrial action that could in some way limit those freedoms. Rulings from the ECJ were seen to throw into question the right to strike when there is a cross border context.
