It comes as little surprise to the Irish trade union movement that the state and government find itself in breach of a range of labour rights in particular the right to organise, to collective bargaining, and the disproportionate deductions for young workers when it comes to the implementation of the national minimum wage.
Responding to the conclusions of a report issued today by the European Committee of Social Rights ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy said, “Ireland remains one of the most challenging places in Western Europe to exercise your right to organise and access collective bargaining at work. Essentially, in many instances, it remains the gift of the employer. This is outdated, anti-democratic, and no longer tenable and was never acceptable. The new EU Adequate Minimum Wages directive which must be transposed in full into Irish law by November 2024 is the vehicle to address this. The directive requires member states to promote and facilitate collective bargaining and to develop action plans to enable more collective bargaining where collective bargaining coverage is lower than 80%. The average rate in the EU is 60% in Ireland it’s a mere 35%. This is a key priority for our trade union movement and we have waited long enough”.
“We believe this directive must be implemented in full in both the spirit and letter. The trade union movement intends to mount a robust and comprehensive campaign to ensure that this occurs. People post-pandemic support collective bargaining. They support workers getting their fair share and exercising their rights. We cannot have a light touch transposition of this directive. It is also an opportunity to once and for all abolish the penal and unjust reductions and deductions under the minimum wage for all young workers,” concluded Reidy.
