Dr. Thomas Turner & Dr. Michelle
O’Sullivan,
University of Limerick

• Focus on
– Challenges for unions following crisis
• public & private sectors
• immigration
– Challenge for dispute resolution system following crisis

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Employment Density
Employment Density
3

70
60
50
40
90
80
30
20
10
0
1990
1995 2000 2002 2003 2006 2008
Public sector union density
Private sector union density

Trends in working conditions
All employees
Private sector
2007
Casual and part-time workers on live register
20,457
Trends in part-time work
2007
380,000
% employ labour force
Average weekly earnings
18%
2008 (Q1)
€704.3
642.5
Public sector 904.8
2013
81,382
2013(Q1)
454,000
25%
2013 (Q1)
696.6
628.3
913.4
% change
+300%
+19%
-1%
-2%
+1%
5

Employee experiences
Any period of unemployment and work seeking lasting 12 months or more?
Any period of unemployment and work seeking within last five years?
Living comfortably on income
European social surveys 2006 and 2012
(Irish results)
2006 2012
46% 60%
50%
48%
72%
Coping with income
Difficulty with income
Mean Satisfaction with your job
0 to 10)
Allowed to influence policy decisions
(range 0 to 10)
(range
Allowed to decide how work done
(range 0 to 10)
41%
11%
7.3
4.3
6.1
22%
46%
32%
7.3
3.9
5.4
6

• Union presence still strong but likely difficulty in maintaining density levels
– Pay cuts & deteriorating conditions
– Voluntary redundancies amongst older age groups
– Lack of solidarity & consensus amongst unions

• Difficulty in accessing & protecting workers
• Changing profile of union members (about
20% are unionised)
• Fragility of wage setting for precarious workers
• Tensions regarding migrant workers

Low pay
2/3 medium earnings=€10.86
Less than €8.23
Low pay
Private sector
10%
%
Private sector
2.5%
JLC: €8.23-€9.68
€9.69 – €10.86
Low pay total
52%
38%
100%
13%
9.5%
25%

• Threats to JLCs & REAs
• Importance of State support – Labour Party
• Costs – loss of protection, more bureaucratic system
• Benefits – some JLCs moved to REA system

Hourly Earnings By Nationality & Unionisation –
Private Sector
Member of a trade union
Irish nationals
Non-Irish nationals
Original EU 14
EU accession
Others
Low Pay
(2/3 of median earnings)
Yes No
%
16
25
15
36
20
%
27
37
27
47
32
%
51
31
41
24
33
Above median hourly earnings
Yes No
%
40
25
38
14
30

Attitudes to allowing immigrants access in EU countries
Ireland
Ranked out of 12 countries
Allow in the same ethnic race as
Irish nationals
(Scored 4=allow many to live here to
1=Allow none)
2006 2010 Change
2006-
2010
2.94
3
2.64
8
-10%
Allow a different ethnic race from
Irish nationals
(Scored 4=allow many to live here to
1=Allow none)
2006 2010 Change
2006-
2010
2.78
2
2.49
7
-10%
Ireland
Ranked out of 12 countries
Immigration – good for the economy
(Scored 10=extremely good to
0=extremely bad)
6.05 4.43 -27%
Immigrants make it better place to live
(Scored 10=extremely good to 0=extremely bad)
5.72 5.09 -11%
1 11 3 6

Proportion agreeing with allowing in many or no immigrants from the same or different ethnic race
Ireland
Average for
12 countries
Allow many from same ethnic race as majority to live here
2002
%
2010
%
23
15
16
19
Ireland
Average for
12 countries
Allow many from different ethnic race as majority to live here
2002 2010
12
10
12
12
Allow none from same ethnic race as majority to
2002
% live here**
2010
4
%
14
6 8
Allow none from different ethnic race as majority to live here
2002
6
11
2010
17
12
13

• Crisis led to significant increases in referrals to state bodies
• Such increases a symptom of industrial relations & legal systems

18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Rights Commissioner EAT
2006
2010

Regulated;
Restrictions to collectivising
Unionised subsystem
Nonunionised subsystem
Disorganised;
Reliance on law

Contrast: The Swedish Employment Rights System
• Collectivist orientation –no state agencies except LC
• Cases referred to the Labour Court: averaging 400 to 450
• Union involvement in the dispute resolution process is mandated through legislation
• Disputes handled directly between union and employer
• Minimum intervention of the law or third parties
• In many instances, the ‘priority right of interpretation’ is assigned to the ‘established union’

Conclusion
• Crisis & work
– Worsening conditions in public sector and private sector
– Employees in precarious jobs further weakened by crisis
• Immigration
– Significant increase in negative attitudes between 2006 and 2010
– the decline in positive attitudes to immigrants highest in Greece and Ireland
• Dispute resolution
– Crisis accelerated trends in referrals to state bodies
– Underlying cause: separation of collective and individual disputes in law; weak role afforded to unions in dispute resolution