Ireland
Background information on industrial relations in Ireland
- 17 Dec 2003
Ireland: Radical Aer Rianta partnership compactlies dormantThe semi-state airport management company Aer Rianta’s compact for constructive participation, established in the mid-1990s, was viewed in many quarters as the most radical and wide-ranging exemplar of enterprise partnershipin Ireland to date. However, in late 2003 it appears to be dormant, or even defunct. Drawing on recent research, this article examines the main characteristics of the compact, as well as the opposition it encountered.
- 17 Dec 2003
Ireland: Few employers using binding 'inability to pay' proceduresAs of late November 2003, over 60 inability to paycases had been notified to the Labour Relations Commission under the terms of Ireland's current national wage agreement, Sustaining Progress. Employers which claim that they are unable to pay the wage increases due under the agreement may bring a case under a procedure laid down in Sustaining Progress. Only seven of these cases have so far gone as far as the formal LRC-approved assessor stage of the process, which ultimately leads to a binding decision.
- 17 Dec 2003
Ireland: Health service reform proposals face industrial relations problemsA number of potentially explosive industrial relations flashpoints will have to be circumvented if proposals on reforming the Irish Health Service, published in October 2003, are to be implemented. This feature examines some of these problems, which include renegotiating the common employment contract of hospital consultants, and reducing the number, and working hours, of junior hospital doctors.
- 15 Dec 2003
Ireland: Thematic feature - redundancies and redundancy costsThis article examines the procedures and costs involved in collective redundancies in Ireland, as well as current trends and debate in this area, as at November 2003.
- 04 Dec 2003
Ireland: Benchmarking pay increases under threat for some groupsPay increases due to Ireland’s public service workers in January 2004 under both a public sector benchmarking process and the terms of the current national agreement, are in danger of being withheld from some groups.
- 18 Nov 2003
Ireland: Thematic feature - social partner involvement in the 2003 NAPThis article examines social partner involvement in the preparation of Ireland’s 2003 National Action Plan for employment drawn up in response to the EU Employment Guidelines.
- 12 Nov 2003
Ireland: No strikesingle-union deal at Dublin’s new tram systemIn autumn 2003, the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) negotiated a single-union, closed-shop agreement with the Connex company on behalf of workers at Dublin’s new tram system, LUAS, which is set to commence operations in 2004.
- 22 Oct 2003
Ireland: Thematic feature - works councils and other workplace employee representation and participation structuresThis article examines the Irish situation, as of September 2003, with regard to works councils and similar workplace employee representation and participation structures. It looks at the regulatory framework, statistical data, evidence on practice and the views of the social partners.
- 08 Oct 2003
Ireland: Union agrees Bank of Ireland outsourcing dealIn September 2003, employees at the Bank of Ireland’s technology operation backed a deal reached by the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) on the terms of their transfer to Hewlett Packard, with which the bank has reached an outsourcing agreement.
- 23 Sep 2003
Ireland: Government launches consultations on implementation of EU consultation DirectiveIn August 2003, the Irish government published a consultation paper on the national implementation of the EU information and consultation Directive, which is likely to have a major impact in Ireland, as it has no general, permanent and statutory system for employee information and consultation. In the consultation paper, the government seeks views from interested parties on a number of key issues related to transposition.
- 23 Sep 2003
Ireland: Proposed new legislation may boost employee representationIn July 2003, the Irish government published the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2003, drafted partly in response to growing disillusionment among trade unions and their members with current procedures for resolving union recognition/representation disputes. The Bill is likely to come into force some time during autumn 2003. This article examines the Bill’s main proposals - which include a significant shortening of the timescales involved in resolving disputes, and a new Code of Practice on Victimisation – and also provides an update on the cases heard so far under the existing voluntary and binding recognition/representation procedures.
- 10 Sep 2003
Ireland: Thematic feature - implementation of the EU framework equal treatment DirectiveThis article examines the Irish situation, as of August 2003, with regard to the implementation and impact of the 2000 EU Directive establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, which seeks to combat discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation.
- 08 Sep 2003
Ireland: Later retirement on horizon for public servantsRetirement at the age of 67 for public servants recruited in future years is set to be one of the main changes included in a wide-ranging review of pensions in the Irish state sector, reported in August 2003.
- 04 Aug 2003
Ireland: Agreement signed for two new ESB power plantsIn July 2003, the Irish state-owned electricity company, ESB, concluded a novelgreenfieldindustrial relations agreement with its trade unions, covering two new power generation plants which are set to come on stream in 2004. The deal introduces team-based working, an annual hours system and new reward mechanisms.
- 22 Jul 2003
Ireland: Thematic feature - posted workersThis article examines the Irish situation, as of June 2003, with regard to: legislation and collective bargaining on the pay and conditions of posted workers (ie workers from one EU Member State posted by their employer to work in another); the number of such posted workers; and the views of the social partners and government on the issue.
- 21 Jul 2003
Ireland: Public service faces challenge of human resources modernisationEmployers and trade unions in the Irish public service are due to hold negotiations in the near future on the various changes associated with modernisation that are expected as a quid quo pro for pay increases recently awarded under abenchmarkingexercise. In this context, a conference held in May 2003 debated the integrated human resource management strategies which are seen as needed if the public sector's performance goals are to be achieved.
- 08 Jul 2003
Ireland: Public health doctors strike ends after pay dealIreland’s public health doctors returned to work in June 2003, after 10 weeks on strike, when the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) decided to accept pay and restructuring proposals brokered by the Labour Relations Commission and the ad hoc Public Service Adjudication Board.
- 10 Jun 2003
Ireland: Guinness moves away from traditional pay systemIn June 2003, Guinness Ireland is set to push further ahead with plans to replace its current pay arrangements, which are based on the traditional combination of agreed national wage rises and structured annual increments, with a new performance pay system.
- 10 Jun 2003
Ireland: Civil servants may face disciplinary 'fines'Civil servants are to be subject to a monetary penalty as a disciplinary measure, once the Irish government passes the new Civil Service Regulation (Amendment) Bill 2003 into law at the end of 2003.
- 20 May 2003
Ireland: Bitter public health doctors strike continuesIn May 2003, Ireland’s public health doctors, represented by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), are engaged in a long-running strike in protest at perceived deficiencies in their pay, status, and terms and conditions of employment. The dispute between the doctors and the Department of Health and Health Service Employers Agency (HSEA) has become increasingly bitter, and the IMO has applied to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions for anall-out picketof public healthcare workers.
- 06 May 2003
Ireland: AIB partnership deal includes 35-hour weekIn April 2003, the staff of Allied Irish Banks (AIB) voted to accept a three-year industrial relations agreement that includes a 35-hour working week, as part of an ongoingpartnershipapproach to change between the bank and the Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA).
- 06 May 2003
Ireland: Print union members transfers on holdIn spring 2003, atrucewas called in a membership transfer dispute between Ireland’s largest trade union, the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), and the UK-based Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU).
- 22 Apr 2003
Ireland: AIB/IBOA workplace partnership set to developWorkplacepartnershiparrangements are currently an issue of considerable debate in Ireland, with the National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP) promoting their wider diffusion. A notable example is the partnership process at Allied Irish Banks (AIB), involving the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), which was examined in detail at a seminar in March 2003. The AIB partnership is set to move up to a new level, with a major agreement expected to be signed soon.
- 08 Apr 2003
Ireland: Social partners ratify new national agreementIn March 2003, the main Irish social partner organisations ratified the country's latest national partnership agreement,Sustaining progress. The accord includes an 18-month pay deal, providing for increases of 7%, along with measures in areas such as compliance procedures and statutory redundancy pay.
- 08 Apr 2003
Ireland: Report calls for change at Labour Relations CommissionBetter pay for existing key employees, the recruitment of extra staff and changes in organisational structures are among the key recommendations of a report on Ireland's Labour Relations Commission (LRC), made public in March 2003
- 27 Mar 2003
Ireland: Few signs of special cost-of-living allowance for DublinResearch published in Ireland in early 2003 indicates that there are currently few signs of a move towards the widespread introduction of special cost-of-living allowances for workers employed in Dublin. There are few examples of such allowances in practice and considerable employer opposition to them. While some trade unions have demanded Dublin allowances in recent years, the issue no longer features prominently on their agendas.
- 24 Mar 2003
Ireland: 2002 Annual Review for IrelandThis record reviews 2002's main developments in industrial relations in Ireland
- 12 Mar 2003
Ireland: GPMU members apply to join SIPTUIn what would be one of the largest ever transfer of members between two trade unions in the Republic of Ireland, a majority of Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU) members applied in early 2003 to join the print division of the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU).
- 12 Mar 2003
Ireland: Intel implements pay freezeIntel Ireland has implemented a pay freeze covering 2003 for a large proportion of staff at its manufacturing plant in County Kildare, in a bid to cut costs during the economic downturn in the information technology industry.
- 05 Mar 2003
Ireland: New system seeks to improve efficiency of Labour InspectorateIreland’s Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is to introduce a new computer system in 2003 which, it hopes, will increase the speed with which the Labour Inspectorate can process employment rights cases and enquiries. In this feature, we look at the role of the Employment Rights Units in the Department and examine the implications of the new system.
- 11 Feb 2003
Ireland: Complete smoking ban to be introduced in all workplacesThe government has announced that the smoking of tobacco products in all workplaces in Ireland is to be banned from the beginning of 2004. The move follows the publication in January 2003 of a new report on the health problems caused by passive smoking.
- 11 Feb 2003
Ireland: Aer Lingus pay freeze ends as fortunes reviveAfter a 14-month pay freeze, all 4,000 employees of the Irish airline, Aer Lingus, are set to receive a total pay rise of 9.5% from March 2003, with the company’s 400 pilots due a further 12.5%.
- 29 Jan 2003
Ireland: Breakthrough on new national agreementIn mid-January 2003, the Irish social partners and government are close to finalising the terms of a new national agreement to replace the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, which expired in December 2002. The draft deal provides for a 7% pay increase over 18 months, as well as concessions on trade union recognition and increases in statutory redundancy pay entitlement.
- 20 Jan 2003
Ireland: Relations between Aer Lingus and cabin crew 'non-existent'In January 2003, a confidential report has drawn attention to thealmost non-existent bargaining relationshipbetween management at the Irish state-owned airline, Aer Lingus, and the trade union representing the vast majority of its cabin crew, IMPACT.
- 20 Jan 2003
Ireland: Mandatory drug testing for defence forcesOne in 10 members of the Irish Defence Forces are to be randomly tested for drugs on an annual basis under a new Compulsory Random Drug Testing (CRDT) scheme, introduced in November 2002. The move has been opposed by associations representing defence force members.