Young workers who wish to join a trade union face "fierce opposition" from employers, a leading trade unionist has warned. Mr Kevin O'Connor, south-west regional secretary of SIPTU, has called for "proactive legal protection" to make it illegal for anyone to interfere with an individual's right to join a trade union.
Speaking at the union's south-west biennial delegate conference in Tralee at the weekend, Mr O'Connor said: "Employer opposition can be covert and sneaky, or direct, with a clause in the contract of employment that you are not or will not be a member of a trade union. It is high time that this type of blackmail was eliminated," he said.