Irish Social Dialogue Model
Past to Present
and
Recent Policy Developments
Liam Kelly
Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Ireland
Irish System of Industrial Relations
• Inherited structures from UK model
• Irish System began to take shape in 1940s:
– Voluntarist System of Collective Bargaining
– Agreements binding “in honour”
– No intervention by State
– Floor of statutory rights e.g. minimum wage laid
down, sectoral agreements can be given statutory
effect, etc.
Role of State
• State provides framework that supports
collective bargaining
– Legislation and Institutions
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Trade Union and Industrial Relations Acts
Labour Relations Commission
Labour Court
Employment Appeals Tribunal
Equality Tribunal
NERA
Labour Relations Commission
• Conciliation Service assists employers and workers
and their trade unions in resolving disputes
• Advisory Development and Research Service works
with employers and employees to build and maintain
good relationships in the workplace
• Rights Commissioners investigate and
recommend/decide on grievances referred by
individuals or small groups of workers
Labour Court
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Tripartite
Court of last resort in industrial relations area
Mediates and adjudicates
Adjudications generally are non-binding
Also functions as appeals body in Employment
Rights cases
Employment Appeals Tribunal
– Determines matters of dispute under a range of
employment rights legislation, including
redundancy, Unfair Dismissals Act
Equality Tribunal
– investigate or mediate complaints of
discrimination
National Employment Rights Authority
– secure compliance with employment rights
legislation
– Inspectorate/Information/Advice
Reform of Institutions
• System confusing and slow
• New Workplace Relations Commission
• One single body of first instance and one
appeal body
• Single Point of entry for complaint
• Early resolution, inspection and adjudication
Trade Union Legislation
• Trade Union Acts 1871, 1913, 1941 and 1975
• Industrial Relations Act 1990
• Trade Union Negotiation Licence required to
engage in collective bargaining
• No explicit “right to strike” – tort protection
Trade Union Representation
• Irish Constitution guarantees right to join a trade union
• However – Constitution does not provide for obligations
• 2001 and 2004 Industrial Relations Acts
– Provided mechanism where “non-union” employers could have legally
binding terms and conditions imposed by Labour Court
– 2007 Supreme Court challenge by Ryanair
– Government committed to review the legislation
– Consultations with social partners underway
Negotiation Licence Criteria
• Trade Union must notify the Minister 18 months in advance
• Must have a minimum of 1000 members in the State
• €25,000 to €76,000 (approx) must be deposited with the High
Court - Minister can reduce amount of deposit
• Rules of the Trade Union must include provisions relating to
secret ballots
• Trade Union under the law of another country must have a
committee of management or other controlling authority
consisting solely of members resident in the State who are
empowered to take decisions
Trade Union Amalgamations
• Policy of Government and Unions to address
problem of union proliferation
• 1975 Act provides mechanism for mergers,
including financial assistance from State
• 120 trade unions were operating in State in
1941 – currently 39 hold negotiation licence
• Review
Trade Union Density
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1994 - 46%
2001 - 38%
2007 - 31%
2010 - 33%
2012 - 31%
Similar to patterns elsewhere
“Excepted Bodies”
• Allows bodies which do not have a negotiation
licence to carry on collective bargaining
negotiations
• Essentially single employer representative
bodies
• Exempted from having to make a financial
deposit with the High Court
Collective Bargaining
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Bargaining at Individual and Collective level
Voluntary – generally not enforceable in Law
Joint Labour Committees
Registered Employment Agreements
Joint Labour Committees
• Machinery for fixing pay and conditions in
low-pay sectors (e.g. Hospitality, Security,
Cleaning)
• Collective Bargaining not well established
• Committee draws up proposals - given legal
effect by Ministerial Order
• Old system struck down as being
unconstitutional
• New 2012 Act restores mechanism
Registered Employment Agreements
• Collective Agreement at enterprise or sectoral level
• Once registered given legal effect by Ministerial
order
• Effect is to make agreement legally binding on parties
and others who are not party but in categories
covered by agreement
• Mostly in Construction Sector
• Supreme Court -unconstitutional
• What next?
Social Partnership in Ireland
• Between 1987 and 2009
• Series of 7 national agreements between
Government and social partners
• Involved centralised pay deals
• Evolved over yearswider range of policy areas,
including competitiveness, education, social
policy, farming
Position in 1987
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Unemployment of 17%
Inflation of 12%
Public finances in disarray
High level of industrial unrest – 310k day lost
in 1986
Position in 2006
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Unemployment rate of 4.4%
Inflation at 2.2%
Public Finance under control
real earnings of workers increased by over
40%
• Days lost to disputes down to 4100 in 2008
2009 – All Changes
• End of Social Partnership in December 2009
• Severity of economic crisis too much
• One outcome is division of procedures
between private and public sectors
• Private sector returned to local bargaining and
governed by two Employer/Union National
Protocol governing orderly conduct of
industrial relations
Public Sector Agreements
• Agreements between government and Public
Service Unions - 2010-2014 and 2013-2017
• Three year pay freeze in return for efficiencies
and increased flexibilities
• No further pay reductions or compulsory
redundancies
• Further additional €1billion on pay savings –
some pay cuts, extended hours etc.
Position in 2013
• Unemployment at 12.8% (down from 15%) i.e. (-40,000 over
year and -20,000 in last quarter)
• Inflation pretty much flat
• Numbers at work increasing - +3% (60,000)
• Cost competitiveness within the EU has improved by over 20%
since 2009 –
• Labour costs continue to decline – down 5% since 2011,
• Our budget deficit will most likely fall below 3% of GDP by
2015,
• Long-term Government bond yields are now at less than 4%
down from 14%, five years bonds gone from 7% to 3%,
• We have implemented the conditions of the IMF-EU
programme and are on track to leave the bailout by year-end.
Future of Social Dialogue
• Social dialogue continues to play a critical role in
policy making
• Government values dialogue with key
representatives of civil society
• Social Partners and new mechanism
• Regular contact
• Dynamic