THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on its Dutch counterpart, the FNV, to co operate in a campaign calling on employees of CRH to reject company proposals for a works council, writes Padraig Yeates.
If FNV responds positively, as expected, it will be the first time two EU trade union confederations have co ordinated their activities on the new European Workers Council (EWC) directive.
CRH is one of Ireland's largest employers with 2,500 staff in the Republic and another 3,500 in Europe. Last week, two main unions in CRH, the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union and SIPTU, objected to the company holding a ballot to set up a works council without consulting the unions and asked that the ballot papers to be withdrawn.
Yesterday, the company told SIPTU it planned to conclude the ballot on schedule on July 30th. If accepted, the proposals will be accepted under Irish law. The Act enforcing the directive allows recognition of works council agreements registered before the other main provisions come into force on September 22nd.
A spokesman for CRH said that the ballot was being administered by the Institute of Public Administration. The unions had been invited to contact the IPA and attend the count.