Increase in dispute referrals to LRC

Employers and workers are not doing enough to resolve disputes internally, the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has said, after a record number of cases were referred to it last year.

Referrals to the LRC's Rights Commissioner Service increased by 18 per cent in 2005 with 2,809 hearings, while there was a 14 per cent increase in referrals to its conciliation service with 2,054 cases heard.

LRC chief executive Kieran Mulvey said the commission was concerned that industry was relying too heavily on its services and was not making sufficient effort to resolve disputes at local level. "In some industries it appears that the parties have one meeting, decide to disagree and refer the dispute to the commission. This is placing an undue burden on the commission."

Employers and workers, or their representative unions, had formed a "habit" of automatically referring issues to the commission's conciliation service and were failing to engage even on smaller issues easily solved locally. "Sometimes you would wonder if employers and staff are working in the same workplace," Mr Mulvey said.

The LRC received more than 500 referrals every month to its Rights Commissioner Service, reflecting the high level of employment, but also the increasing diversity within the Irish workforce, Mr Mulvey said. The commission had made strong efforts to ensure that information on workers rights was available in a variety of languages, he added.

Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen, launching the commission's annual report, said it was clear that industry needed to do more to resolve conflicts.

However, the commission had an excellent record in dispute resolution, he said, with 81 per cent of disputes referred to the LRC last year successfully resolved.