Congress General Secretary David Begg has told Seanad Eireann that until working people in Ireland enjoy the right to bargain collectively with their employers, we are failing to "honour the memory" of the 1913 leaders and activists.
Mr Begg made the remarks in an address to Seanad Eireann, the first occasion on which any Congress General Secretary was been invited to do so. Speaking on the theme of The 1913 Lockout and its Relevance to Modern Ireland, Mr Begg said:
'the central objective that the women and men of 1913 fought for - the right of workers to choose their representatives and have them bargain collectively with employers on their behalf - has never been secured.
"Indeed it is actively opposed by employers' organisations, by the IDA, by the Supreme Court, and by some legislators who fear that granting a legal right to collective bargaining would inhibit foreign direct investment. Why that should be when this right is enshrined in ILO Conventions 87 and 98, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and is the norm in virtually every European country (even Britain), is a mystery to me.
'so, we can erect statues to the 1913 leaders; we can name bridges after them; we can hold national days of commemoration to salute their sacrifice, but so long as their great grandchildren are deprived of the basic human right that they set out to achieve, then we don't really honour their memory," Mr Begg told the Seanad.
Mr Begg said youth unemployment levels of 50 percent in some countries, with seven million not in education or training and 26 million in Europe unemployed were "as close to a social catastrophe as you can get."
He said it was the task of unions in Ireland and elsewhere to make the battle for Decent Work their major focus in the coming years.
