A public consultation on what should be included in the Government’s action plan on the promotion of collective bargaining has been launched by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
The plan is required under the terms of the European Union (EU) Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages which obliges any member state with collective bargaining coverage of below 80 per cent to set out what it will do to achieve that level across the economy.
Commenting on the launch, the Minister for Enterprise, Peter Burke said: “A strong and well-functioning collective bargaining system is an important element in the economy to support and promote fair wages, particularly in low paid sectors.
“Collectively bargained agreements also play a positive role in increasing productivity for businesses and promote the protection of industrial harmony, which is critical to our economy. I hope that Ireland’s action plan will be instrumental in promoting collective bargaining and raising Ireland’s collective bargaining rates.”
The directive is to be considered by the European Court of Justice next month after Denmark took a case, supported by Sweden, in which it suggested the European Commission and European Parliament had exceeded their authority by adopting it. After a preliminary review, an advocate general recommended the directive be overturned.
The court tends to follow such recommendations in a majority of cases although Owen Reidy, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said union bodies remain confident it will reject it in this case, “given how incredibly broad the interpretation of the term pay involved in the case made is”.
Mr Reidy said what remained to be seen was what would any action plan would consist of in the event the directive survives the court’s consideration or whether the Government might proceed with an action plan at all in the event it is annulled.
“They could still say ‘we are going to press ahead with this because we think it’s a good thing to do, although clearly the mood music doesn’t look good.”
Speaking about the issue in the context of announcements due today on supports for businesses, he said, the failure to honour previous commitments on employment rights would be a “breach of faith” and would not be tolerated by unions or their members.
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec), which successfully argued against significant legislative change at the time the directive was transposed last year, has consistently said any action plan needs to respect Ireland’s voluntarist model of industrial relation.
It is the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s (Ictu) view the directive requires engagement between employers and trade unions.
The consultation, launched on Monday, runs until 5pm on Monday, May 12th.
“It is intended that this consultation process will help guide us on the proposals which may be included in the action plan. I hope that there will be a strong response from a wide variety of stakeholders, and I would encourage all interested parties to engage with the consultation,” said Mr Burke.
