The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is calling on the Irish Government to support the EU Commissions' proposed directive on seeking to make work pay across Europe by way of fairer wages and the promotion of collective bargaining.
Speaking today as the ICTU submitted its submission to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Patricia King, General Secretary stated, 'this directive is potentially one of the most important pieces of EU law for workers in decades. We know that in Ireland and across many parts of Europe work just simply does not pay. The pandemic has shone a light into areas of our economy where some essential workers are amongst the lowest paid. This EU directive seeks to address this. The directive proposes that all governments in consultation with social partners would develop action plans to increase collective bargaining coverage (the number of workers covered by a collective agreement) to 70% over time. In Ireland, this stands currently around 40% even though the EU average is about 60%-65%. This would be a crucial initiative to ensuring that workers achieve their fair share and would also potentially boost productivity.
We believe that this directive would also address the crucial issue of the gender pay gap. It is important that the Irish government align itself with progressive EU member states that wish to may work pay and support this crucial initiative from the EU Commission," concluded King.
You can access the Congress submission via this link.
